Just hauled 4,489 miles from Florida to mountains of New Mexico and back. Drive a Job 1 2009 350 DRW crewcab with aux. fuel tank, Job 2 air dam (which made no difference in fuel mileage when installed), and 6 extra leaf springs to easily handle the weight of gooseneck and trailer. Pull a 14,000 pound horse hauler RV. Total rig weight for trip was 25,000 pounds. Truck now has 29,000 miles on it.

My hat's off to whoever can drive 55 or 60 on a long haul. I drive 5 to 8 over the speed limit and occassionally, if anxious to get somewhere, take it over 80 for awhile. This trip was mainly on interstate so normal cruising speed was 75 to 78, including hammering the throttle to maintain that speed up every hill or mountain if the truck could handle it. (Slowest speed up the steepest grade was 49). Total hours on truck for trip were 89:29 so even with much idling and stop and go traffic we averaged 50 mph for entire trip.

The lie-a-meter said 7.4 mpg. Hand calculations show 7 mpg.

The truck regenerated 8 times on the trip with the shortest interval being 110 miles in hot humid Florida and the longest being 1405 out west.

Ran 80 pounds in truck tires the entire time.

Truck ran flawlessly and had awesome power and performance. Used truck-haul mode the entire time and believe the downshift/brake system is better than the Banks exhaust brake on my last truck.

The navigation system, satellite radio, seats, and creature comforts of the truck made the trip a breeze. Easily the best truck I have ever driven on a long trip.

As a matter of information, folks can argue truck manufacturers all day, but the number of trucks hauling on the road do not lie. With no exaggeration, working trucks on the road are almost entirely Ford or Dodge, with more Ford pickups than anything. It was rare to see a Chevy, GMC or Toyota pulling anything on the highway.

 

good report. I see the same thing when it comes to the mix of trucks on the road.

 

Ran a 8000 mile trip with a 4,000 lb truck camper from PA to WA state. Truck also ran flawlessly, averaged about 10.5 on the lie-o-meter, and generally the hand calcs run 0.8 mpg less. Only once had a tankful give mileage in the 7s and cause excessive regens. Regenerated about every 120 miles normally. Tow/Haul prevented any excessive braking on the mountain pass downhills. Huge wind resistance with my camper, so over 65 would cause the mileage to drop significantly. No problem at all going up the hills. Love the lumbar support in the driver's seat - no problem driving 8-12 hours a day before handing it off to the DW.

 

I agree 100% here. I drive all over the place with trailers and my F250. Creekowl, I tell you. I average 800-1000 miles every week towing trailers of all kinds and weights and the truck is an absolute beast. After all those miles and hours I am ready for more. Did not used to be that way when I drove other kinds of trucks.

My MPG is similar to yours. I have 108,000 miles on the truck, I tow a 14K load sometimes, I get around 8 MPG. I can get 9 or 10 with some lighter loads but I've never towed anything and gotten higher than 10.5 or 11. I'm just talking big picture here, some isolated trips with unique terrain and things can bring in better numbers, or worse.

These trucks tow trailers better than any other vehicle out there. Only improvement would be one of those Freightliner Sport Chassis rigs.

 

I believe the reason you were down to 7 MPG was because of your speed. If you were to hold 65 instead of 75-80 I believe you'd see between 9-10 on the same trip. But if it's worth the extra fuel cost, go fer it!

As a comparison, in my work truck I cruise at 62 MPH. With a trailer I'm 72 feet long and 13 1/2 feet high. At 75,000 lbs I get over 7 unless I'm fighting a headwind.

 

I agree. I did a load one time and got 11.2. Speed was 65 the whole way. It (the load) was over 10K.

 

Thought I'd throw my 2 cents in here. I have been very actively RVing for 9 years now. All towing with a ford. Up North there is some support for GM trucks, but over all I would say that trucks pulling big 5th wheels are Ford by a 4 or 5 to 1 margin over GM and Dodge combined. And to add to the chorus, my 08 tows awesome.