what were the gear ratios in the trucks you were using for a comparison? could a slightly lower gear help towing milage?

 

I 100% agree with your gas saving strategies, but 16-17 is really optimistic, unless you're only going 45-50mph. I have a friend that drove to colorado towing a work trailer and averaged only 7.5. Going 65 is going to burn the gas.

 

The concept you're illustrating here is one and the same as a certain pres....er politician we now have in power here uses. If you take heed of the exact thing they're telling you in the advertising, you will know what they're saying is true. This is very deceptive to the uninformed mind. They're essentially telling the truth, but the truth can be misleading, if you're not paying attention.

 

I am roughly the same as you Kev. I have a 2012 Crew Cab with Ecoboost and Max tow. I have about 1600 miles on the truck and this past week I towed a 9,500 trailer for 300 miles and was roughly in the 9 mpg range running between 60-65. Did hit some stop and go traffic. I was very impressed with the trucks towing this trailer. Everyone told me I was crazy, but the truck towed just like the Ford videos show.

 

Yup, same here. 2012 Ecoboost with 7000 miles. Recently pulled a 2300lb enclosed V-Nose trailer. Averaged 10mpg highway.
Just tested the highway mileage running 89 octane. 60 MPH = 27 MPG, 65 MPH = 20 MPG.
I was curious because I want to try the 91 octane next. I have been running 89 for awhile.
Not happy!

 

Are you sure your trailer isn't dragging brakes, and everything is spinning freely ?

I tow a 3500lb trailer with my 5.0 and get 14 +/-, depending on the wind, speed, weight,etc,...

 

It's a brand new trailer.

 

I also get around 10 mpg pulling my xp800 ranger on a 6.5x14 single axle trailer. I also got 10 a few weeks ago with 1500# of feed in my bed and pulling a 22' car hauler with my 7' disk & 6' box blade and a 40 HP John Deere with a 6' bush hog. However I still get 18-19 out if mine while running around.

 

Normal Driving= 17mpg= drop down during cold weather
I'm getting 14 pulling my riding lawn mower on small trailer, 70 mph on highway
I'm getting 12 pulling my boat , estimating around 5000 lbs, highway miles

 

Great thread. Been over on the 6.0 spot since 04. In the process of pawning my 04 crew cab short bed diesel and going to a Eco- Super crew 6-1/2 bed max tow. I use the truck to tow once a year for 1500 miles so looking, as I do after 8-10 years for a new ride. Loved my 96 150 XLT and miss it so I'm going back to a 150. When I tow it's a 20' box weighing in at 8000# with my race car to Bonneville.

04 got 19 mpg on the road empty and 10-11 pulling the load; so from what I read here looks like things will be the same just loosing some pulling power on the hills.

The 04 has a Bully Dog Monitor so I could keep my eye on the EGT at the header, EGT after the turbo and the boost along with volts cause the 04 took that off the dash. Hopping I could put a boost gauge and EGT on the Eco...anyone doing that?

I know it's rare but the 04 has all the original injectors, turbo, etc. Ran an additive in the tank every time and never had a problem. 69K on the clock..............Moving to this site as a favorite now.....................JD

 

I have a 2012 Ecoboost Screw 4X4, 3.73 Max tow package. Mileage comparisons with different drivers in different parts of the county are subjective due to variance in speed, roads, hills, stop signs, lights, etc on the routes. I pull about 4 different trailers with mine ranging from 800 lbs to 7000. Just driving my most common route the Ecoboost gets 18.5 empty and my most common camper route, about 6000 lbs, it gets around 10. The same routes with my old 2009 F250 Screw 4X4, 3.55 open rear, 6.4 diesel got 12 empty and 8.5 on the camper route. The Ecoboost has great power and I am happy with the mileage. I will say that speed on the camper has a big effect on mileage. It does MUCH better at 55-60 verses 65+. Hope this helps.

 

Billy,

Just took the time to read this thread in its entirety.

I don't know much about the ecoboost. I know less about diesels.

I (from my handle) understand a fair ammount about wind resistance, drag, fuel burn/consumption. I also have a firm grasp on turbo charging, supercharging, octane, volatility, etc. You get the idea.

Not tooting my own horn. Just laying the background.

The short opinion from me (they're like a-wholes...everyone's got one)...there is definitely something amiss with your mpg.

Correct me if I'm wrong but your mpg isn't "half of non-tow" as some have implied but rather it has been cut by 2/3 right? You are getting roughly 1/3 the mpg towing that you're getting when you are not towing.

Although I don't have a solution to your specific issue, I did have a very similar experience.

Got the wife a lightly used 2010 EXPY-EL 5.4 4x4 Flex Fuel. Bought in May 2011. Drove all summer and early fall (Atlanta area). Come Nov (temp drop) she's having serious problems getting it started when cold. Either first start in the am or after sitting outside the office all day on cold days. Then she tells me it bogged down pulling out of the subdivision first thing in the am (25ft from the driveway...ie stone cold). She had mentioned that before but since my wive drives like the accelerator is an on off switch...I ignored her. Once she was taking 5-10 min to get the rig started at work, in the dark...I listened.

I finally witnessed the behavior first hand. I then noted that I thought it smelled like it was running rich. Really smelled like raw fuel...all the time. Then I recalled that the wife had told me she was getting really bad mileage. 11mpg compared to the 17 we had been getting. I also recaled a time under acceleration the rig lost power (hammer down at 65mph) like it shut off for 1-2 seconds. Initially I had written off the mpg to my wife's above stated use of the accelerator. Once the hard starting got to be a regular issue, I took it to the local dealer.

Dealer keeps it for over a week. They put the diagnostic computer on it and start it each am @ 7:30am when they show up to work. They confirm it is hard starting. The service manager tells me...and I QUOTE "they do that sometimes".

I bought this truck when it was less than a year old. It had been a rental vehicle. It had a service history. The past winter the throttle body had been changed out. It was sold at auction and the dealer I got it from had bought it at that auction. I got the extended warranty on it when I bought it. the throttle body thing had been an issue on earlier expys. the 2010's and later this was not the case. Somebody was parts swapping because they didn't know what was wrong. The rental company unloaded it when the problem reappeared. I put all this together after the fact.

Back to the local dealers comment. I ask the service manager..."since this thing is barely one year old, it's essentially new. If I was to walk onto the lot to buy a brand spanking new $40,000.00+ rig and the salesman told me that when it took 10min to get it started for our test drive, do you think I'd buy? Would you?? Stunned silence.

Fast forward. I go to another dealer. They have a huge truck division. I tell them our tale of woe. They repeat the diagnostic procedure for nearly 2 weeks. They at least admit that something is definitely wrong but they don't know what. I take the truck back because we have a road trip to Florida. No matter what gas we put in it, 11.5mpg. GA gas, FL gas, regular, mid grade, super, 75mph, 65mph (a rolling road hazard on I75 mind you), city/local driving...11.5mpg. No doubt, something is wrong.

We get home and it goes back to the larger truck dealer. I tell them I don't care if it takes a month...get on the freaking horn with Dearborn and the eggheads up there and fix this thing. After 3 weeks more, they did. The engineers in Dearborn had uncovered an issue with the 2010 and later 5.4 FlexFuel units. Their fuel filters are not the replaceable types we're used to but rather a "lifetime" filter. When they looked closer at this, they discovered a faulty batch of fuel pumps (filter and pump are a single unit). The pumps didn't fail completely but put out lower pressure. This fooled the FlexFuel computer into thinking I was burning E85 (85% Ethanol). Computer says "oh, E85...add more fuel". Hence the raw fuel smell I noticed and the consistent 11.5mpg.

New pump, back to 17-18mpg. Wife still drives like the accelerator is an on/off switch :-)

It sucks they won't look at tit til 5k miles. You should be there by now but I kept going up the food chain til I could find someone with both brains and initiative.

Like I said, I don't have a solution per se but at least now you should know you are NOT crazy!

Good luck and keep us posted on your progress.

Pm me if you want my dealers #.

 

I was kinda hoping to hear better mpg in response to my post. I am shopping these trucks right now but to even justify running a second truck (I currently use a 4wd Toyota Highlander) to run empty or work and back and tow the boat I would like it to achieve at least 15mpg. I am keeping the F350 for hauling the other trucks on my flat deck.
How can the ecoboost not get 15mpg towing a 5000lb boat/trailer when my 6.8 4wd crew cab F350 can get at least 12mpg?
I don't need to drive fast and I will drive at 100kmh (62mph) if I can get an increase in economy. And the boat does not drag a lot of air.
Here is what I want to tow.

 

Wind is the biggest varible I see when towing.

I currently have the V10 and will get anywhere from 11 MPG to 5 MPG depending on the winds.

I tow mostly in Texas. Flat country. I have made a number of trips to Colorado. Actually get good milage in the Mountains. Up is costly down is almost free. Best tank full in Colorado towing my trailer was 15 MPG!!!

The worse was between Houston and Dallas. 7 MPG. Slow steady climb no down slopes. Even between and Dallas I can se 6.5 to 8.5 MPG depending on the wind. Cross wind is about as bad as a head wind.

I am towing a high profile travle trailer 30 ft long and about 5500 lb.

Hoping the Echo Boost will get better performance at high altitiude. The V10 has problems over 10,000 ft. You loose 3% per 1000 feet so that is a 30% loss of power. With a turbo it should be better.

 

My 2011 F-150 Crew ECO gets 20 on long hwy runs. 16 around town. 11 pulling ~6000#.

That's a whole lot better than my 2002 5.4 that got 15 on the hwy. 14 around town and 7-8 pulling the trailer.

It also pulls extremely well. The 5.4 would be out of O/D, screaming and struggling to do 70mph. The ECO can pull it uphill at 70mph.

The 5.4 made 240k miles when I got rid of it.

Have 71k on the ECO so far, I'm very happy in comparison with the old.