Im getting ready to take the family to Disney Worlds Fort Wilderness camp ground for two weeks. We'll be leaving Saturday 11/26 and coming home 12/11. Leaving from Upstate NY.

The camper is a 28' coleman and weighs around 7000lbs loaded. The truck is an 06 F-150 XLT with a 5.4 and it will also be loaded. Im looking for towing tips, MPG tips and any others you might have. Im getting about 10mpg with the trailer behind me now and its not loaded. I would like to see if I can do better than that for this trip.. What do you do to maximize MPG when hauling down the highway??? I assume with a load like that I will want to take the tranny out of overdrive, correct??

I'm not a fan of K&N filters on any offroad vehicle but was considering one for the truck to see if that helped??? Do they make any noticable difference in MPG??? My truck has 85k miles on it, plugs were recently changed...

Thanks for any tips.....

 

Skip the K&N all together.

I would recommend a call or email to Mike Butler @ 5 Star Tuning. Have him set you up with a SCT X3 tuner with custom tunes (87 octane tow for instance - he'll build you 3 tunes as a part of the purchase). It might not net you any huge MPG gains, but it'll definitely help save your transmission with a new shift strategy.

Here's his site, oh he's also a sponsor here. Great guy to work with.
5 Star Tuning | Custom Dynomemeter Chassis Tuning Products and Services

 

The tuner is a good idea.
The best thing you can do is get rid of half of the weight you are going to carry.
Paper plates and plastic utensils.
NO WATER IN HOLDING TANKS!!
The best driving tip I can offer you is to accelerate at a constant rate to your cruising speed, then back off the throttle.

Have you done many miles with the trailer?
Do you have a weight distributing hitch and some sort of sway control?
Make sure that your spare for both the trailer and the truck are in good condition.
Make sure that the trailer brake controller is properly set for the load when you leave.
Be careful of your tongue weight. If you get a shimmy in the trailer move some weight forward of the trailer axle.

Head over to here for more; Towing, Trailers & 5th Wheels - Ford Truck Enthusiasts Forums

 

^^^^ great advice. Weight and less of it is crucial. Go as light as you can.

 

save your money....you DONT need a custom tuner for a stock engine. You can get a tuner and not get custom tunes just to change the shift points. Check ebay and craigslist for a tuner if you want one. You will not want to try to drive in O/D. Make sure tire pressures are at max and accelerate moderately. New fuel and air filers and "roll on south"

 

Did pretty much the same trip last February, except opposite direction (Ft Meyers to Putnam Cty, NY) w/ a 6000 + lb boat and an '09 FX4 4x4 F150. Got between 11 and 12 mpg on the trip. Dual axle boat trailer has surge drum brakes on one axle.

1. Stay out OD.
2. Don't use gas pedal too hard, nice and easy and even.
3. Don't use cruise control.
4. Check tire pressures and trailer bearing temps at each fuel stop.
5. Be sure your brakes are in good working order before heading out.
6. Carry spare tire and wrench / socket for trailer lug nuts.
(We blew tire 40 miles into trip. F150 jack worked perfectly on that
trailer..... Air pressure was good. Dry rot suspected. Replaced all 4
with a set of matched new ones then continued trip.)
7. Suggest servicing trailer wheel bearings before trip and if you have
bearing buddies, check pressure plate position when checking bearing
temps and give a couple shots of grease if needed.

We maintained about 65 mph most of the way with no problems at all. Did forget to push OD button a couple of times after rest / fuel stops, but were immediately reminded when shifting up and down began to happen. Tried cruise control a couple of times on long flat strips, worked, but truck really didn't like it.

All in all, the truck handled it with no problems, even in traffic and up and down long grades / mountainous areas (just use a lower gear going down the grades). There weren't any "white knuckle" periods, untill we hit a crazy snow storm in central NJ on the turnpike, all the way up to the last stop in Putnam County, NY. Truck handled that with no problem, either, but was surely a bit un-nerving, to say the least.

Just take nice and easy and be safe. Big trucks blasting past usually makes for the worst moments with the wind blast and all, but not bad.

 

Try to keep at constant speed without OD. Don't be afraid to go 5 mph slower than speed limit, allow vehicles to drive pass you, it helps knowing that it's in the best interest of your wallet. And keep the rpm lower than 3000, I usually pay attention to RPM more than the speedometer while towing. Like others say, keep the weight minimal, don't bring too much, keep water and holding tanks empty during road trips. I like to keep couple gal of water in black tank to "wash" the residues inside from previous campouts, thou.

 

NY to FL with no CC? I wouldn't.
Check tire psi and use premium it burns slower.

 

A great way to scrub the black tank of residue is to take a 10# bag of ice and dump it down the toilet.
Then as you travel the ice will slosh around and knock the sticky stuff off the surface of the tank.

 

When backing a trailer place your hand on the bottom of the steering wheel at the 6 O'clock position.
Then if you want the rear of the trailer to move to the right move the steering wheel to the right. (counter-clockwise)
The same goes for backing to the left.
Starting with your hand at 6 O'clock move the wheel left.(clockwise)

 

Well lots of good stuff here. To save gas air up the tires, slow down to 55-60mph, use overdrive on the flats. If it starts shifting back and forth a lot then lock it out for the time being.

 

Doin the trip w/ no CC wasn't a problem for us.....

 

Whats a CC??

 

Cruise Control

 

OIC... Well I may use it in some areas but probably not much. I'll be trying to conserve fuel while still making the best of our travel time...