hello,

So I pulled our 30' toy hauler for the first time (besides around town) with our 07 F350 CC SRW 6.0 and it just didn't seem to pull like I thought it would. So I'm wondering if I might have a problem with the truck.

We pulled from Reno to Pismo Beach, probably averaged 8 to 9 mpg round trip. The trailer probably weighted between 8K to 9.5 at the most. Anytime the turbo psi hit around 20 to 30psi a blower sound would come on for a bit and go out.. does that sound normal? The turbo psi was never below 10psi unless I was coasting going down a hill.

coming home through the Sierra's 55mph was about the best I could do and 50 was about as far dropped down going up some of the bigger hills.

I don't have much to compare to but our friends were pulling a 37' TH, probably 5k pounds heavier and doing better in mpg and mph. Then there was the 4-runner pulling away from me with a 18' trailer.

Just wondering if I might have sort of issue with the truck? When I don't have the trailer, it drives fine. Truck it stock

 

Maybe you have a bad turbo boot. They are known to crack and fall apart. Due to getting oil soaked. Is your truck throwing any codes? Could also be your turbo vanes sticking. You should have been able to do better on mpg's too. The blower sound was prolly your engine fan kicking on. They tend to make the truck run like a dog while they are roaring.

 

I think you have a problem. I have pulled 15,000 lbs in the past on many occasions, (my truck has injector problems right now) and have looked down at the speedo and said "holy crap!!" and backed down from 80 mph and set the cruise so I wouldn't get a ticket. Fuel mileage isn't going to be much better than what you're getting, maybe some, but you should be able to pull 9000 easily. I don't know how steep your hills are, but it should pull better than that I think.
The noise your hearing is probably the clutch fan, no?

 

Treed. :-)

 

I have noticed a difference of throttle response compared to others. I have the 20in factory wheels and tires with 3.73's. Always figured that was the issue. What setup do you have? When was the last fuel filter change? I just finished changing mine and I will be posting pictures. Both were beginning to collapse within 10.000 miles. No more fuel from there unless gelling could have done it.

 

I had a 30ft Weekend Warrior that weighed around 12,500 loaded. I could only pull that trailer at max 52 mph up the cojon pass on the 15 frwy since new. My truck is lifted with 35" tires 18" wheels and 3.73 gears (which is a little of my problem) I notice last year sometime going to Glamis, we always go down the 60 frwy to the 10 and the hills are not bad enough that would really slow these trucks down too much. Well last year I could only go 45 mph with the peddle on the floor and @ that point I knew there was something wrong. Turns out the oil cooler was gumed up and semi pluged which created excesive heat and the computer was defueling to compinsate. After this fix I hit the Conjon pass again the following trip and could go 60 mph no problem. Not saying this is your problem but might be worth checking. Brent

 

You need to read codes, wonder if turbo is sticking, injectore are failing. The fan coming on when pullong is totally normal. What is your max boost? Should be 26 to 28 max. Any more and turbo vgt is sticking. The other thing to check is ficm voltages if you look up on this site. Are you getting smoke, black or grey or white, does exhaust smell like open diesel coming through? Like fordx4 said, you should be having to let off due to exessive speed up those hills, not struggling up them. Other thing to check is engine oil temp vs coolant temp, steady state not pulling they should notbe more than 15 degrees apart, if they are, its oil cooler issues. Like said above, computer is derating due to heat, need gauges or dashdaq to figure out or have ford monitor witha computer while test drive.

 

Yes, I have the stock 20" wheels and 3.73, but I can't imagine that would slow me down like this. I’m not sure about the fuel filter but I’ll get that taken care of. I bought the truck used but I was able to get all the service records. It had the 30K and 60K service done and a few things around 75K. The guy who had it had some 75K service package through Ford. I’m close to 90K now so I’ll take care of the fuel filter.
Foredx4 – Would your truck drive normal without pulling a trailer? Mine seems to drive good and gets on it, but with the trailer it was a whole different story. Did you fix that yourself or have someone do it? Mine is still under warranty but I don’t have much faith in my Ford dealer after taking it in for an exhaust leak to which they said I didn’t have one. I had to point it out to them and they put a gasket on the manifold.

 

Along I-5 (pretty flat) boost was about 10psi, when it dropped a gear it would hit 20psi and if I had to drop anther gear it was close to 30psi.... never went past 30psi. As for smoke, while driving I've never really seen smoke. Now yesterday morning I had blackish/grey smoke when it first started up... 15 degress out. It turned to white but that went away as the truck warmed up. Where's a good place to go to have the codes pulled? Thanks for everyones replies.

 

This theory sounds very possible to me. If you don't have gauges, and don't have the latest flash, you will not know that the PCM is defueling. You are basically blind. If I were the OP, I would be putting an Insight on the truck to monitor the temps.

If the above is true, you won't find any codes regarding the issue. The codes for this issue were not introduced until the newest flash.

 

So I'm taking the truck in to the dealer today. Hoping they find whatever the issue is

 

The truck would drive great without a trialer, and you would never notice the diffrence. But when you had a load, it would show loss of power. I never knew there was a loss of power from new till that trip to Glamis and it would only do 45mph throught the 60 frwy. The truck didnt throw any codes what so ever and when I took it to my dealer (Hemborg Ford) they said they would be hard pressed to find something. I told the Fords tech of this problem I found on this web site. If you do a search here you will find more info. on the oil cooler being plugged. My tech was nice enough to dig into the situation and found that this was true. The oil cooler was replaced through warrenty and I have the power I should of had all along.
He told me it was probably gumed from the factory as I do all oil changes every 3000 miles through them. Hope this helps. Brent

 

They generally plug up on the coolant side of the cooler, which is why proper cooling system maintence and a filter are so important.

 

Is there a particular gauge recommend for this truck? Edge Insight was mentioned, any particular model? Thanks

 

This is one of the main reasons why adding a coolant filter was my first mod.
I bought some Stainless steel then fab'd a filter bracket.
I think it's better than what's out there because it has two bolts that hold the filter housing to the truck. All I've seen was a single point of contact. I should share some of these nifty project pictures when I get more time, (more time, yea right)