TommyB80

Thanks to all for the responses. I towed it home today and it was all downhill but the truck only averaged 14.5-15 and I set the cruise on 65mph. I know that towing will drop mileage, but not by this much.

I do however think the main culprit is my gear ratio. Going uphill, especially with the trailer on the back, the truck was constantly dropping in and out of gear. I bet the same truck with the 3.73's or 3.55's would get better mileage that mine. Been thinking of trading up to a loaded FX4 with MaxTow...maybe this will be a good enough reason!

mechanicboy

I think their is merit to you thoughts on gear ratio because it makes the engine work harder and causes the eco to boost more with uses more fuel. I personally think my 5.0 with 3.55 would do better than that. To be fair I have never towed faster than 60mpg because the speed limit here in CA is 55mph for all towing.

93Cobra#2771

iTrader: (2)

I have to agree as well. When towing, I've found I get better mileage at 55 mph when I lock out 6th gear and run in 5th gear. Load drops from 80-83% to 55-60%.

Even though you turn more rpm with sixth locked out, less load equals less fuel consumption.

mechanicboy

Where are you getting that load information? This might be something the OP should try.

93Cobra#2771

iTrader: (2)

I have a ScanGauge. I can also tell you when towing and in tow haul mode, it will allow the toque converter to stay locked up to 92-93% load in sixth gear. Then it will either unlock t/c or downshift to fifth...

TommyB80

Thanks 93, I'll try using tow haul more climbing those hills next month when I make the same exact trip with the exact load.

tarheel - 2

Tommy
I have a 2011 Screw with the max tow option ( 3:73 etc) I tow a 6000 lb trailer all over the country and rarely get above 11 mpg, pulling at 60 or 65. Bottom line - if you bought your truck for MPG you bought it for the wrong reason. This is a power puller almost as good as a diesel, but a heck of a lot cheaper. That capability comes at a cost.

TommyB80

Although I appreciate your post, I have to disagree a little. I did buy the truck for MPG's and around town and highway empty it does great, a lot better than my 04.5 tuned Cummins and a fraction of the cost to operate. Towing a 1k load should not yield 11mpg...your case, a 6k trailer, should yield that mpg and thats great mpg for the load. My uncle tows 6-7k with his '12 GMC 1500 and gets 9mpg, so your ahead. In retrospect, I should have bought the MaxTow package with my truck, but at the time I needed a truck and this one was available. I never thought that having this current setup would have these results, but it does. My friends and I are planning a quad trip at the end of July towing a 7x14 open trailer with 3 utility machines on it, and we were considering taking my truck, but at this rate it would do even worse due to the added weight so we'll have to take my buddies Powerstroke.

I just don't think the 3.31's are meant for towing anything, as it means more downshifting, more boost, and more fuel. I should have realized this after I hooked my 5x10 open trailer empty and it sucked gas down. I believe if you hooked your truck to the load I towed you would have yielded much better results. I'm going to think about what to do, because I tow this load frequently.

Again, I do appreciate the response and all in this thread and am taking into consideration all the suggestions I have gotten.

MadocHandyman

I've got 3:31 with my Eco and have yet to see it that low while towing my 3000lb enclosed which is also about 7' high. Lowest so far was 13 mpg heading north to a job but on the way home from that job, I was getting 17mpg.
A lot has to do with direction traveling (wind, hills etc) and speed. I'm rarely above 60 mph.

isthatahemi

Less load at higer rpm esssentially means the injectors are firing 55-60% duty cycle, but at 600 rpms higher, they fire 300 more times per minute.
Why do you suppose Ford has programmed the truck to load up before downshifting? Because all esle being equal, larger throttle openings, mean less throttle plate drag / less vacume. Combined with lower frictional losses of lower rpms. That is how these new trucks get a lot of their mileage. If higer rpms, lighter load were the trick, we would all have 3.73's for best mileage. Or easier still, no sixth gears.
I have a scangauge as well, or I just sold it last week to be honest, and every data point I monitored disagrees with what you have posted.

Higher gear, lower rpm is the way to go.