1956 F100 what can it pull?

Towing heavy vs light depends upon the class/gvw of the truck. A 4000 gvwr truck, towing heavy might be a 6000 lb trailer, where as light might be 1000 lbs. A class 3 or 1 ton, light might be a 6000 lb trailer, heavy 15-20K trailer! A class 8 light might be said 15-20K trailer, heavy is over 100K lbs of trailer......
Heavy to a corvette, might literally be a 1000 lb trailer, or a Harley/Honda goldwing!

Marty

I thank you very much for all the time you have put in helping me understand what I need to look into in able to tow a trailer with my truck. I will not be adding a turbo charger after consideration from all the commenters. The trailer I'm getting is considered a light weight trailer by the manufacturer. We will probably not go with the heaviest weight for the half ton series but look at something a little lighter that Outdoors RV carries for my half ton truck. The best information/suggestion I have received is the Gear Vendors. I am really happy I was able to find this out through this forum. I will definitely post pictures when the project is complete sometime in April. Thanks to all for the help with my original question.

Am trying to help...and save you some money & heart ache...

Do hope your builder and engine shop have a good line of communications,
as they will NEED to talk a LOT

dvargas2040 wrote:
My builder has been restoring cars for over 30 years and specializes in building classics, hot rods and muscle cars, frame off restorations.

How many have they built for towing heavy?

There is a BIG difference between a hot rod/muscle car to towing
heavy

The motor is being sent out to an engine building machine shop that specializes in building the motor to customer specs. Which in my case will be towing not racing.

What questions did this builder ask you?

• Octane
• HP Desired
• Gearing for both the tranny and diff
• Tire Dia

My engine builder would ask those question and much more before taking
on the job

Has the tranny builder talked to the engine builder? The engine balance vs
the flex plate very important...among many other mating issues

Touch on the TC again...HotRod/MuscleCar really doesn't need a locking TC,
but towing heavy does. Is there one that will mate between the engine
and tranny correctly? How will the locking function be managed? no
computer, right? So vacuum or preset RPM to turn on/off the locking TC?

Hope a new, built radiator, as IIRC...back in the 50's...the radiators
did NOT have in-tank ATF radiator...

The turbo is something I thought I might add on after the truck was completed to help with towing, it is not something my engine builder recommended.

Tell your engine builder that now and betcha he will ask for a definitive
Yes/no, as most of the engine innards changes with that answer. If
they ordered stuff...either pay for another set or restocking charges

Ditto the cam

The builder will need to work with the body guy to figure out how
they will plumb the engine oil to the turbo(s) or a separate oil system
will be installed

As will the body guy need to know if there is enough room under the
hood for the raised TBI/air-filter assembly. They might have figured
on a high raise intake manifold, which will exacerbate that hood
clearance problem

Might (should) tell you that you will need an inter-cooler for that
turbo and where to preset the wastegate(s)...they will need to be tuned
to the pump gas & towing vs ambient/etc conditions

The body shop will also need to know, as the room for the turbo(s)
will need to be checked. As will be the floor board heating problems
that most all after market turbos cause

My builder has been restoring cars for over 30 years and specializes in building classics, hot rods and muscle cars, frame off restorations. The motor is being sent out to an engine building machine shop that specializes in building the motor to customer specs. Which in my case will be towing not racing. The turbo is something I thought I might add on after the truck was completed to help with towing, it is not something my engine builder recommended.

parker.rowe As to you comment regarding the weight of the trailer that I wanted in the beginning was 9800 pounds. Realistically the dry weight is 7750 pounds with a max trailer weight of 9995. The manufacture claims it can be towed with a half ton truck. Since my truck is a half ton I figured I could pull this trailer with no problems. After reconsideration I feel that this might be too much for my truck to handle based on comments. Now I'm thinking of a smaller lighter trailer with a max trailer weight of 6600 pounds. They say to buy your third trailer first so we are looking to find a balance between comfort and safety.

Great post Ben as was the one before. :)

It's going to take a lot of engineering to pull this off. Does the OP's builder have the engineering background to do this? I have no idea? I sure hope so because it's a cool project.

Am assuming (always dangerous on these forums) that your builder(s) have
the proper engineering for the "WHOLE PACKAGE" and to your specifications...

Also assuming you are not into that level of detail engineering and just
talking about the stuff/level you like...and nothing wrong with that and
repeat...like your pictures and am envious...wishing my project gets
started soon...

But...the details of engineering is what most are talking about and
too often taken out of context of the 'whole system'...

Like yes/no on the turbo...says to me...that the engine builder needs
to know before they start spending money, as yes/no changes lots of every
expensive stuff...not to mention the machining, assembly, etc of just
the engine itself, but the other components that are bolted to the
engine *AND* working with it

Simple stuff like the compression ratio changes with a yes/no and that
brings in lots of other components. Like the crank, rods, pistons to
the head work and a BIG ETC

Another is the simple comparison of an EcoBoost vs your build also has
tons of engineering needed as mention above.

A simple thing like intake manifold & all the runners is air/fueled and
the other is just plain air. Meaning the charge stuffed into the CC
will not ignite easily with a direct injected system vs your planned
TBI (air/fuel mixture in the manifold).

The cam also changes between NA vs forced fed, as does the the rest
of the intake/exhaust systems.

Comparing a +60 year old vs a current gen has +60 years worth of trial
and error engineering and fraught with risks and so many hidden to
us outsiders from the design teams

Many more and actually everything on this project (again, love these
but know it must be engineered well) and will just touch on the disc
brakes the OP mentioned

There are disc brakes and then there are disc brakes...

If from a 'car', then they were designed for both lighter duty and
spins much faster. Most are designed for tires in the 21" to 24" dia
range. They also depend on the air flow from a much lower to the
ground vehicle (and it looks like you will have it car height, not
truck height).

Some have hidden ducting and that only works if the ground clearance
is in the 2" range and not with a trucks range nearing 12". It would
or might be starved for enough 'good' air flow

Wish you well...that your builder(s) have the proper engineering and good luck!

dvargas2040 wrote:
So in comparison to the Lightning which is similar to my truck in an updated form, the Lightning is about 18" longer and has a wheel base of 10" longer and a curb weight of 4670. It can pull a 5000 pound trailer. My truck in stock form weighs 3100 pounds. Since my truck is a little more beefed up I am guessing and hoping a tow weight of 8000 pounds would be OK. We are reconsidering the turbo option and will just see what the Gear Vendors will do for us.

I think that is the point everyone is making.

A Lightning has:
-a 10" longer wheelbase (quite a bit in the car world)
-1500lbs more curb weight
-rated to tow 3-4000lbs less then your target

Your initial question mentioned a 9800lb trailer which is even heavier yet!

Now...it sounds like you will have plenty of power and brakes to do the job, and you can easily get it to tow level with the right springs, air bags, and a WDH. It will do it no doubt.
However you may find it is a stressful towing experience once cars and semi's are passing on the freeway or you get a good crosswind.

You can definitely try it out and decide...sounds like you will be building the truck either way!

So in comparison to the Lightning which is similar to my truck in an updated form, the Lightning is about 18" longer and has a wheel base of 10" longer and a curb weight of 4670. It can pull a 5000 pound trailer. My truck in stock form weighs 3100 pounds. Since my truck is a little more beefed up I am guessing and hoping a tow weight of 8000 pounds would be OK. We are reconsidering the turbo option and will just see what the Gear Vendors will do for us.

SoCalDesertRider wrote:
I think it would be really cool to build a '73-'79 F350 Camper Special, with a 7.3 Powerstroke...

Ooh, nice idea I love that Ford body style. Hmm, classic 70's F-series body style with a 7.3 PowerStroke would be quite a combination.