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Old 06-27-2021, 03:12 PM   #41
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2016 F-150 3.5 EB pulling 2021 Cherokee 23MK about 6,000 lbs. On a recent trip from Tenn. to Ok. and back I averaged 10.5 mpg. I keep top speed at 65 or lower on freeway. Mostly country roads on this trip.
Will be leaving for Maryland this week so will have lots of interstate to run.
Best I have got todate was 14 mpg but that was a short trip. Worst mileage was a return trip from Fla.in January when I hit a heavy head wind for 4 1/2 hours that gave me 8 mpg.
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Old 06-27-2021, 03:32 PM   #42
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I have a 3.5 eco boost Ford F-150 super crew with topper. Towing a 6000 pound trailer when fully loaded. My gas mileage was 7-8 mpg driving on i90 in flat south dakota. A mostly headwind and crosswind of between 15-20 mph. Does this seem about right? I was using premiim gas.
That is about right. I get a shade better than that towing in the high Sierra (Donner pass etc). On the flat you should do a bit better if you keep your speeds down.
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Old 06-27-2021, 05:45 PM   #43
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Besides speed and wind. What makes the biggest difference? If I can move 300 or so pounds from truck to trailer or vice versa would it make any difference? Assuming I am within all the proper guidelines would you load heavier in front of trailer or back. In other words if I can be 15percent tongue or 12 percent what would you do?
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Old 06-27-2021, 05:53 PM   #44
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I don't suspect there would be a difference. Even trailers that are twice my weight seem to get same mileage given same driving conditions with similar tow vehicle. It's that frontal area of the trailer that is killer. Like it's been said on this forum so many times, like standing a barn door up in the wind. I see those enormous fifth wheels coming towards me, that look higher than a tractor trailer, I can't even imagine that wind resistance.
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Old 06-27-2021, 06:12 PM   #45
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Slow down!

Air resistance -- the fuel eater when towing compared to not -- is exponential. It's twice at 70mph than it was at 50. OK, no one is gonna drive 50 but even the difference between 60 and 70mph is an additional 36% resistance.

10 years ago I routinely towed our Roo from Cleveland to Gettysburg where my daughter went to college. If I drove a bit slower I could get there on one tank of gas. If I got in a hurry I had to stop for fuel -- and I got there in the same total elapsed time by either method. Driving faster doesn't mean you always get there faster. (Sample of one (1)).

Let the computer in your truck determine what gear the transmission should be. Select D -- it's that simple.

Ford 3.5 EcoBoost will develop more power and use less fuel on Premium fuel (93 octane here) but my 6000 pound Roo tows just fine on 87 octane. Increase in MPG doesn't justify the 60¢ price premium. That said I run 93 when towing in the mountains and summer temperatures. Never made any data comparisons though.

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Old 06-27-2021, 06:40 PM   #46
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Yup. Definitely not a linear relationship between speed and drag.
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Old 06-27-2021, 07:49 PM   #47
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Slow down!

Air resistance -- the fuel eater when towing compared to not -- is exponential. It's twice at 70mph than it was at 50. OK, no one is gonna drive 50 but even the difference between 60 and 70mph is an additional 36% resistance.

10 years ago I routinely towed our Roo from Cleveland to Gettysburg where my daughter went to college. If I drove a bit slower I could get there on one tank of gas. If I got in a hurry I had to stop for fuel -- and I got there in the same total elapsed time by either method. Driving faster doesn't mean you always get there faster. (Sample of one (1)).

Let the computer in your truck determine what gear the transmission should be. Select D -- it's that simple.

Ford 3.5 EcoBoost will develop more power and use less fuel on Premium fuel (93 octane here) but my 6000 pound Roo tows just fine on 87 octane. Increase in MPG doesn't justify the 60¢ price premium. That said I run 93 when towing in the mountains and summer temperatures. Never made any data comparisons though.

-- Chuck
Chuck- appreciate the advice. Speaking of the computer. I put it in tow/haul and then restricted the 9th and 10th gear. Does this make sense to you?
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Old 06-27-2021, 08:01 PM   #48
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I only have 6 gears in my F150. Strangely, last time I towed through hills of PA in tow/haul mode, the dash display didn't even SHOW 6th gear, and most of trip truck stayed in 5th or 4th gear. Closer to home, stopped for gas, turned truck back on, and put in tow/haul, THEN 6th gear showed up on display, and it used 6th gear sporadically.
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Old 06-27-2021, 08:06 PM   #49
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I only have 6 gears in my F150. Strangely, last time I towed through hills of PA in tow/haul mode, the dash display didn't even SHOW 6th gear, and most of trip truck stayed in 5th or 4th gear. Closer to home, stopped for gas, turned truck back on, and put in tow/haul, THEN 6th gear showed up on display, and it used 6th gear sporadically.
Kris, you must have bumped the gear selector button. That's the only way I know of that 6th does not display, if any others display. You can also bump it up enough to turn off the gear display completely, but that doesn't sound like what you're describing.
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Old 06-27-2021, 08:14 PM   #50
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Thanks, I'll play around with it next time. You mean the little up/down button to manually shift gears? I was wondering why sometimes the gear are shown, and sometimes not.
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Old 06-27-2021, 11:59 PM   #51
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Thanks, I'll play around with it next time. You mean the little up/down button to manually shift gears? I was wondering why sometimes the gear are shown, and sometimes not.
Push it up a few times past 6.
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Old 06-28-2021, 07:37 AM   #52
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Chuck- appreciate the advice. Speaking of the computer. I put it in tow/haul and then restricted the 9th and 10th gear. Does this make sense to you?
Not to me.

Just engage Tow/Haul and put the transmission in D. Done.

No need to block out any gears, the computer is smart enough to pick the right gear by itself and likely will never select 9 or 10 anyway with a trailer on the back. All by itself without coaching from amateurs like us. If it does select 9 or 10 you just need to stop looking at the gear display, the transmission is happy doing it's own thing.

And don't worry if you forget to select tow/haul either after a stop. It's the same transmission regardless of setting. You'll probably never notice but if you do just press the button.

If you want to watch something on the dashboard (other than the fuel gauge falling like a rock) watch the engine oil and transmission temperatures. Mine don't seem to vary more than 5° - 10°F between the trailer and running without it or normal or tow/haul.

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Old 06-28-2021, 08:03 AM   #53
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Besides speed and wind. What makes the biggest difference? If I can move 300 or so pounds from truck to trailer or vice versa would it make any difference? Assuming I am within all the proper guidelines would you load heavier in front of trailer or back. In other words if I can be 15percent tongue or 12 percent what would you do?
I run 15-16% tongue weight, trailer behaves like it's on rails behind me. Can't say how it would behave at 12% no reason to experiment.
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Old 06-28-2021, 08:10 AM   #54
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[QUOTE=Chuck_S;2587019]Not to me.

Just engage Tow/Haul and put the transmission in D. Done.

When towing up extreme grades I will shift the truck myself to keep the tranny temp down. Going up Chief Joseph Highway my 3.5 EB w/6 speed in tow/haul would downshift some but if I dropped another gear myself I could keep the tranny 10 degrees cooler. We checked on several occassions and it did it every time.
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Old 06-28-2021, 08:14 AM   #55
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Proper weight on the ball for a "bumper tow" conventional trailer -- neither a 5th wheel nor a boat trailer -- is 10% - 15%. Somewhere in that range, +/- a percent or two won't matter. 12% is not a magic number -- no clue why folks insist on posting it. You'll find out what works for you soon enough.

Few folks weigh their trailer tongue...

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Old 06-28-2021, 08:21 AM   #56
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Thanks, I'll play around with it next time. You mean the little up/down button to manually shift gears? I was wondering why sometimes the gear are shown, and sometimes not.
I have the 10 speed, but yes…if you press the + on the gear selector it turns the gear display on or off.
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Old 06-28-2021, 09:30 AM   #57
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People seem to like the small Ford engines with Turbos.
They seem like they would be economical.
It is very ironic to me that an old F-350 with a 7.3 liter diesel which is ancient technology gets much better fuel mileage and will last much longer.
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Old 06-28-2021, 03:56 PM   #58
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Not to me.

Just engage Tow/Haul and put the transmission in D. Done.

No need to block out any gears, the computer is smart enough to pick the right gear by itself and likely will never select 9 or 10 anyway with a trailer on the back. All by itself without coaching from amateurs like us. If it does select 9 or 10 you just need to stop looking at the gear display, the transmission is happy doing it's own thing.

And don't worry if you forget to select tow/haul either after a stop. It's the same transmission regardless of setting. You'll probably never notice but if you do just press the button.

If you want to watch something on the dashboard (other than the fuel gauge falling like a rock) watch the engine oil and transmission temperatures. Mine don't seem to vary more than 5° - 10°F between the trailer and running without it or normal or tow/haul.

-- Chuck


Again. Appreciate your advice. Likely last question. I do watch the tempature gauges but my gauges don’t show a specific temperature. It is just a gauge with the pointer moving along the axis. Is there another spot I can look for the specific temperature. 2018 f150
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Old 06-28-2021, 04:55 PM   #59
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A scan gauge plugged into the OBD2 port under the dash can be set to read temperatures and other items on the buss including Transmission Slip. You'll have to shop for a Ford specific gauge for some parameters.

In my '07 Explorer towing a 6000 pound trailer I monitored Engine Coolant, Trans Temp, Transmission Slip, and Cylinder Head Temperature among other things. Nothing ever went out of spec and after a while I stopped looking at it. I did get a high Trans Temp alarm one (1) time in bumper to bumper traffic on a back road. Don't recall where I set the alarm to trip and it only did it once.

-- Chuck
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Old 06-28-2021, 06:19 PM   #60
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This is pretty much my experience as well although towing a lighter trailer (but not sure weight affects it much compared to wind resistance of big surface). I generally settle in at about 62 mph and going faster has a big impact on fuel usage.
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