xcntrk

Apparently the Eco in my EcoBoost is broke. Every time I tow my enclosed trailers my MPG's are lousy! This trailer weighed in at 7800# and has 12" extra height so it's not the most aerodynamic, but damn single digits suck!

A7B2FX4

My 6.2L gas Superduties 4X4 with 4.30 axles do better than that towing that much weight.

brulaz

Ouch. Head winds? Any individual trip can be all over the map.

I monitor my towing and non-towing carefully with the lie-o-meter, which in my truck does NOT lie.

But never seen 8.4 mpg. My very ,very worst was 8.7 mpg when towing. Cold+Headwinds going around Lake Erie in Nov. And anything that low has been rare.

My very best towing was 11.9 mpg, heading east with prairie tailwinds.

The average has been 10.7 mpg towing a 8000#, 64sq ft sail, usually with kayaks on top of the bed cap.

But I only rarely go over 100 km/h (62 mph), and this is a 4x2 with Michelin MS/2 LT-E tires which are good on gas.

I'm probably doing a bit better than a 6.2L Superduty when towing, but not by much. No doubt the Ecoboost uses fuel when you pull hard. But I'm pretty sure my un-loaded mileage (19.4 mpg) is quite a bit better than I could do with the 6.2L.


EDIT: hmmm, 12' tall? Mine is only 10-11' I think. That's sticking way up there. If it were a 5th wheel might not be so bad for airflow, but you've got a big gap between your cab and that 12' front.

RLXXI

You sure your not forgetting to release the parking brake? I see the light in the cluster glowing, that light only comes on to prove out the bulb when starting or in the event of hydraulic failure or when the parking brake is set.

tll

I don't think you can totally blame it on being an ecoboost. My 5.4 gets in the mid 9's for gas mileage when towing our camper. The worst I saw last summer was 8.7 mpg. On a calm day, absolutely flat roads, and towing at 60 mph I can see a bit over 10 mpg. 7500 lbs, 11.5 ft tall, 68 sq ft of frontal area.

xcntrk

There's a number of factors contributing to my terrible gas mileage. First, it's a MaxTow and has the taller 3.73 gears and huge elephant ears. I also run aggressive AT LRE tires which have more rolling resistance (and weight) then OE. Lastly there's a number of grades around my area. Nothing crazy but certainly not flat prairie towing. Also I don't drive like a maniac. Set the cruise and stick to 65mph even though many of the highways in my area are 70mph.

Usually I average between 9~10mpg with my travel trailer (in sig below). This tow above was with a new enclosed car hauler trailer and vehicle payload. The trailer has 12-inches of additional height (above the standard) so I'd say it's about 11-foot tall going down the road. Definitely not as tall as my travel trailer which is closer to 13-foot.

A travel buddy pulls a 15k pound 5th wheel with a Duramax diesel. When we travel, I get the 9~10mpg and he gets closer to 16mpg. My point with the EcoBoost motor is that it CAN be fuel efficient without any real load and sip by at higher MPG, but as soon as you load it down the little turbo 6 has to constantly spin those fuel hungry turbos to produce enough power to sustain the load.

xcntrk

Of course not. That pic was parked. I don't think you can drive with the e-brake on or the annoying warning chime will drive you insane. BUT, a buddy of mine suggested that I disable trailer sway control. His "theory" is that the trailer sway control is constantly monitoring and applying trailer brake to curb highway sway. I do see in the gauge cluster menu an option to disable it thought I'm not convinced his description of how that feature functions is accurate but you never know.

RLXXI

Quite possible, the trailer sway control activates the antilock brake module to adjust by grabbing and releasing each wheel to compensate and will activate multiple times if sensors/module deem it necessary.

clearnetedm

Hmm I had thought in the event the anti-sway is activated you'd get a chime and a message on the dash, no? Or is it doing small adjustments all the time for the small stuff?

RLXXI

Yes it appears that it should trigger the message center.