1986 Ford towing guide

[K-9_HANDLER]

Ford 1986 RV and trailer towing guide. Interesting read
www.garysgaragemahal.com/1986-trailer-towing-guide.html

[garyp4951]

I had an 86 6.9 diesel with 4:10's, and it was pretty stout, but diesel fuel stations were scarce back then.

[blt2ski]

My 81 GMC with 292 might have had 120-130 hp iirc. muncie 4 spd made sure it never stalled out on hills. Meanwhile my 88 and 89 3500's with TH400/4.10/454 conbos could not get out of there own way on steeper grades. Did great on level areas......

[K-9_HANDLER]

Had a 85 F150 with the 5.8/C6 that spent most of its time tied to a livestock trailer. It wouldnt go fast or stop fast. But despite being a turd. It never broke down. Sold it just a few years ago and it was still going strong.

[rjstractor]

Grit dog wrote:
The good ole mid 80s....
The pinnacle of emissions death and no power!
In fact 85-86 were the worst years I think. and 86-87 it started picking up with fuel injection.

So true. I had an '84 C20 with a 305 4-barrel and a '94 Ford Explorer V6 at the same time, and towing the same load the Exploder would smoke the truck on any hill. And a brand new Honda Ridgeline would demolish either one.

[Grit_dog]

^True story, for the most part.
But that’s the beauty of it. There’s so many high powered options available now that it doesn’t make sense to suffer.
I grew up in the worst era for automobiles. 70s and 80s. Back then we cherished the 60s models for their power and were elated when the 90s rolled around and engines started getting uncorked again.
If you told me then, that by the time I was middle aged, I could get a 485hp “normal” sedan with an 8 speed transmission that would get over 20mpg on the highway AND that there were 2 bigger factory models with 700 and 800 hp that would blow the doors off the 500hp model, I would have either fainted or called you a bald faced liar! Lol

[RoyJ]

The next time someone complains engine xyz doesn't have enough power to tow something, keep in mind a Pentastar V6 with an 8 spd ZF transmission can put down more power/ torque to the rear tires, and nearly any given road speed, than that big-block 460.

Mid tier engines like the 5.0 / 5.7 / 5.3 would run circles around the old 1 tons with 12,500 lbs hitched up.

[Grit_dog]

The good ole mid 80s....
The pinnacle of emissions death and no power!
In fact 85-86 were the worst years I think. and 86-87 it started picking up with fuel injection.

[specta]

K-9 HANDLER wrote:
Ford 1986 RV and trailer towing guide. Interesting read
www.garysgaragemahal.com/1986-trailer-towing-guide.html

Ford 1986 RV and trailer towing guide.