Ecoboost towing
#1
Ecoboost towing
Towed my boat yesterday for the first time with my new Eco, 130 miles. Very disappointed. I averaged 11.9 mpg, mostly highway. With my 09 Platinum 5.4 same gears as the Eco, I averaged 13.5. The boat pulls easier with the eco but I had no trouble with the 5.4 pulling a 3000# boat. My point is, I kinda of bought the Eco for the supposed extra 1 or 2 mpg ratings. I haven't pulled my 6500# travel trailer yet, I hope that my mpg won't drop on that also. I used to average 12mpg with that on the 09. I plan on pulling the travel trailer for thousands of miles and 2mpg better would make a good bit of difference. Pretty disappointed, live and learn. Anybody else get fooled with Fords advertising?
#2
Senior Member
I'm opposite of you on this one. I used to pull an 18 foot aluminum open place atv trailer with 4 quads on it and got 9mpg and would drop gear going up hills. This is with my old 05 5.4 with the 3.55's. Total weight of that trailer setup was around 3500lbs.
A month ago I towed a 8.5"x30" enclosed steel trailer loaded with quads, gear, tools etc. Total weight was 7,500lbs and the flat front is a killer for wind resistance. I was in 6th gear the entire time traveling 65mph. I did drop down to 5th for a decent size hill we crossed. I averaged 10.4 mpg. I hauled more weight with better fuel economy. The Eco walked all over my old 5.4 in term of instant power and torque. (I am also blaming the old 4 speed tranny for the towing performance too).
Not sure why you were 9mpg. Maybe it's was windy that day and the engine was using more boost. After reading stories here on the forum it sounds like if you hook up any trailer to an Eco weighting over 1000lbs to 11,000lbs, you going to get somewhere near 10mpg.
A month ago I towed a 8.5"x30" enclosed steel trailer loaded with quads, gear, tools etc. Total weight was 7,500lbs and the flat front is a killer for wind resistance. I was in 6th gear the entire time traveling 65mph. I did drop down to 5th for a decent size hill we crossed. I averaged 10.4 mpg. I hauled more weight with better fuel economy. The Eco walked all over my old 5.4 in term of instant power and torque. (I am also blaming the old 4 speed tranny for the towing performance too).
Not sure why you were 9mpg. Maybe it's was windy that day and the engine was using more boost. After reading stories here on the forum it sounds like if you hook up any trailer to an Eco weighting over 1000lbs to 11,000lbs, you going to get somewhere near 10mpg.
#3
And I'm in the middle. Exact same gas mileage as my 5.4 but much better and faster to tow with. I'd tow a couple times, maybe you had more of a headwind or something.
#4
Grumpy Old Man
With mine and no trailer, if I can make myself cruise along at 65 MPH, it gets about 20 MPG. But hang on a TT or enclosed trailer of any weight from empty to 7,000 pounds gross trailer weight and MPG drops to 10 MPG if no headwind or hills, or 8 to 9 MPG with a headwind or hill country.
But who wants to poke along at 65 with no trailer when the ticket limit is 79? So I usually lock the cruise on 78 or 79 and get 14 to 15 MPG per the lie-o-meter.
Last edited by smokeywren; 05-18-2014 at 01:15 PM.
#5
Senior Member
Towed my boat yesterday for the first time with my new Eco, 130 miles. Very disappointed. I averaged 11.9 mpg, mostly highway. With my 09 Platinum 5.4 same gears as the Eco, I averaged 13.5. The boat pulls easier with the eco but I had no trouble with the 5.4 pulling a 3000# boat. My point is, I kinda of bought the Eco for the supposed extra 1 or 2 mpg ratings. I haven't pulled my 6500# travel trailer yet, I hope that my mpg won't drop on that also. I used to average 12mpg with that on the 09. I plan on pulling the travel trailer for thousands of miles and 2mpg better would make a good bit of difference. Pretty disappointed, live and learn. Anybody else get fooled with Fords advertising?
#6
Senior Member
It was the low-end torque I wanted. I was pleasantly surprised at the mileage.
And yes, you need more than one tow to gauge your mileage. Wind, terrain, traffic, all have a big effect.
#7
True North Strong & Free
Personally, we've had our TT since new in 08. Pulled to OR coast and many other places, with my 03 f150 SCrew FX4 max tow 5.4 3.73 and avg ~10mpg at 90kph. Next was the 07 classic Dmax and steadily got 14 mpg towing everywhere at 110kph. Now I got 12mpg last summer 5500km towing for the season at 105kph....TT weighs in at 6k loaded +/-....
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#8
I have been doing the same trip with the same boat and the same route for years and I don't go fishing when there is a heavy wind as I fish Lake Michigan and wind means waves. Started using a Chevy Avalanche 3:73 gears 5.3 averaged 13.5 mpg. Bought a 09 Platinum 5.4 3;55 gears,rated at 19mpg. averaged 12.5 to 13 mpg. Now have 13 Platinum Eco 3:55 gears which is rated for 22mpg 11.9 mpg. I have done this trip at least 50 times since owning the Avalanche. By the way do the math on how much 2mpg more means if you tow up to 4000 miles a year. Just a little disappointed after all the hype on the Eco. I always got the rated mileage on my vehicles, can't seem to do it with this one.
#10
Senior Member
You have a platinum, which is one of the heaviest equipped F150's they make. The gas standards are set with the lightest equipped truck, usually a single cab 4x2. So your comparing apples to oranges on the fuel economy. You will never get 22mpg in your configuration.
Your numbers look to be right on...
Your numbers look to be right on...