Towing MPG Ecoboost
 

So I love my new 150 Limited. But I towed my boat yesterday ... About 150 miles...8000 point boat...and I used Tow/haul mode at about 60-70 mph. I got 5.1mpg. The trans indictor only got to 4th gear. Pretty much flat roads. Did I make a mistake leaving it in tow mode?

I would say yes, some guys will disagrre. I use tow haul on hilly terrain and pulling through stop and go traffic. But something doesn't sound right you should have hit 6 gear easy and your mpg is low. What rear end ratio you have ?

I assume you mean 8000 pound boat.
Tow/Haul will extend your shift points so the tranny doesn't hunt gears, so yes, you were probably higher rpm than if you had it turned off.
5.1 is pretty bad, though. I pulled 7000 lb enclosed trailer and got 8.5 mpg, most of that interstates.
I would guess a boat would be slightly more aerodynamic than an enclosed trailer.
Did you launch and retrieve, or just tow? Maybe the extra grunt to get your rig out of the water skewed your results a bit.

Something is wrong. I pull an 8000lb travel trailer through the mountains at over 10,000 ft and typically average about 9 for the trip.

Also, check your tires, most trailer tires are ST rated with a max speed of 65.

Using the T/H is the proper thing. It does two things, 1st it changes the shift points for better acceleration under load. 2nd it locks the torque convertor up which helps pump more tranny fluid to the cooler under load. You need to provide more info on your truck config, ie maxtow gearing GVWR.

You said 'new'....how new are we talking. My 2013, 5.0 sucked gas up to about 10,000 km after which it must have jumped 4-5 mpg overnight. From what other people are saying this sort of thing is pretty common so a new truck sucking on fuel is nothing to worry about. If the truck is ok (and it probably is) than check the trailer. Tires, bearings, axles out of alignment, dragging brakes anything that would cause the trailer to resist forward motion.


I use the tow/haul mode in everyday traffic with the truck unloaded. It puts a stop to all the short shifting and with tow/haul mode holding the gears better I have a little extra snot should I need it (on ramps, lane changes). Never had a problem, use it all the time.

Get a cheap laser thermometer and point it at each tire, hub, and brake drum after 10 miles. If anything reads more than roughly 10F higher than the others then it is suspect.

I have a 2013 eco 6.5 box crew cab max tow pkg 1500 miles on it. First tow this weekend 20 ft enclosed snowmobile trailer probably total weight around maybe 4500 lbs. 7.5 mpg on the way up , 9.5 on the way down. No wind. Strong head wind and I could see 5 or 6 mpg probably. Played with the tow haul took it off on the flats definatly lowered the rpm, but in the hilly area left it on. The mpg may get better but it is what it is I guess. Sure tows nice though.

Well I can say that on summer vacation, we left home at 1800' above sea level, travelled to CO. passing through two passes of 11000', putting on some 4500km in 3 weeks, and I avg 11mpg US with our trailer weighing in at 6000+ #s loaded.

http://www.fuelly.com/driver/buckshot/f150/fuelchart