69Shark

So,
Yesterday I was driving home with my family in the PU towing our 22' travel trailer. Traffic was very light, it was sunny and 82 degrees! Cruise set at 65 and life was good!

We were driving westbound from Idaho back to Everett Wa on interstate 90 and had just gone through George Wa ( yes it is a small town ). We crested the top of the canyon where the road drops down the Columbia river gorge. I slowed to 60 as the hill is steep, slightly curvy, and it is well known there can be heavy winds on the bridge crossing the river.

Dropping down the slope, I was surprised by a Silverado towing a ski boat. He must have been doing at least the posted 70 MPG. Other than being surprised I thought nothing of it.

We crossed the river at Vantage and I reset the speed control to 65 and settled in to see how my little eco would do climbing Ryegrass hill. Now Ryegrass hill is steep. Not exceptionally steep but it is steep. The problem is that it is over 10 miles of steep. Many rigs blow radiators or hoses on this hill in the heat of summer. My F150 downshifted and just flat out cruised with minimal effort lugging 4 adults, a Corgi, and our trailer up this hill! Not really a surprise as I'd dragged a decent sized sailboat here before without incident.

About half way up the hill still moving nicely, my wife noticed . . . . . . .yes . . . . you got it . . . . . that same Silverado . . . .

He was in the far right ( 3 lanes ) doing hmm . . . . let me guess . . . . . a lot less than 65mph!

Well, I was not racing, I was driving home. However we took notice of the chebby, I smiled and nodded as we rolled by and managed to see what appeared to be a bit of stink eye from the guy driving the other PU! Even my bride commented on it! Well, we crested Ryegrass, not stopping at the rest area, dropped down onto the flats before Ellensburg still on cruise at 65 when sure enough . . . . . . . here he comes. I'd rather not guess what speed he was driving at however it was well in excess of 65 and he did not even turn his head my way when he passed! LOL!

Either way it was an uneventful trip home for us.
I suspect there is another driver out there that arrived at his place in a bad mood! LOL!


MY F150 ROCKS


Scott

tanked_darren

I used to own a chevy, any hills=high rpms when towing. Forget towing in OD best to lock that gear out...

cerhai

I went to a eco because I was that guy in a cheby putting up 4th of july pass and lookout heading to lolo montana to camp, hauling our 26 TT 5000rpms @40 miles an hour, you know you have a pile when the semi's pass you up the passes, now the eco 2000rpms turbos whistling doing 65+ up the pass. love it.

HCFX2013

Same here. 5.3L V8, 4.10 gears and a 4 speed transmission. Sometimes that truck wouldn't shift out of second gear for half an hour at a time. That's 5400rpm at 70mph for half an hour towing 5000lbs.

Small wonder why that thing burned so much oil.

depami

Cool story!

What was your MPG on that trip?

YoungDiesel

Doesn't that feeling make you feel good? It's even funnier that they catch up on the flats to make it seem like their truck isn't a wimp. I used to do this all the time in my 89' with 5spd 300 i6. My friend and i ( he drove a chevy... ) would haul our 26' boats out to the Mississippi and every hill i would pass him up! Then he'd gun it on the downslope and pass me and grin.

69Shark

Over all it was 8.7 mpg.

I did play a bit with MPG on the way out to Silverwood theme park Northern Idaho. On the flats doing 70 mph I was getting in the 8's for MPG However if I dropped to 60 and set the cruise on straight flat I could get 11+ .

This includes running air, 4 adults, climbing Ryegrass hill, and Snoqualmie Pass. I also have MAX TOW so the 3.73 gears were a great help but mileage suffers LOL!



. . . . and yes . . . . it did feel good!


Scott

MattN03

What do you get unloaded? What is the weight of your TT?

Wannafbody

Even a 6.0 Chevy needs to spin to 4500 rpm to pull a hill when towing. There is a replacement for displacement...it's called Ecoboost.

69Shark

My apologies, it is a 21' not a 22'!
Model:Keystone Cougar 21RBSWE
Shipping weight:5285

Full specs are here: http://www.keystonerv.com/cougar-half-ton/


Normal driving to and from work I get 15-17 around town depending on season and driving habits, 18-21 freeway again driving habits are an issue.

I find it extremely difficult to NOT bring the boost gauge into the plus side of zero! LOL! I can and HAVE actually babied the throttle and managed much better city mileage but hey, I read here on this forum somewhere the best way to enjoy the ecoboost is to quit looking at the economy gauges! So . . . I generally ignore the mileage, drive and enjoy! I do not romp on it all the time but when I do, I do not think about it and simply enjoy the wonderful acceleration!

This logic has increased my driving pleasure dramatically!

Scott