Just completed my summer trip. 7 weeks, 5700 miles, probably around half towing the 5er, one oil change in Michigan. ATL up Nashville and Indy then through michigan, across the UP, over to minneapolis and then back to ATL. With a lot of stoups and touring. Truck was perfect, pulled like a young mule. I only checked the mileage on one tank. From just north of the IL. state line to Paducha KY. I think it was 540 miles and a hand measured average of 11.2 MPG. Best I've ever gotten towing and I'm thinking maybe I didn't get it full but it sure seemed to be full. Might have had a tail wind. Anyway, I'll take anything over 10 so I'm happy. I now have put 50,000 miles on the truck for a total of 54000 and have had no real problems. Just thought you would like to know that some of these 6.4s have done fine.

 

Just got back from a 5450 mile trip from Michigan out to Portland, Or, up to Seattle and back through Yellowstone, Devils Tower and Mt. Rushmore pulling an 11,000 lb 5er. 559 gal of diesel and a trip average of 9.75 miles. The '10 F-350 SW CC ran like a top. Only frustration that I had was regens during mountain climbs. Once I started up a pass the truck would go into a regen (I realize that is where I was generating max soot) and it would reset the regen several times due to the high boost and high soot generation. Pulled up over Granite Pass in Wy at 10 miles of 8% grade with one transmission overheat warning from my Edge. Pulled over and took some pictures while it cooled down and then made the rest of the climb without issue.

Neil Schiller
'10 F-350 SW, Stock with Edge programmer as gauge pack while towing
2011 Bighorn 3185 at about 11,000

 

Both good reports. Neil on the tranny temps what did you have yours set at? I have mine at 215 for the alarm but I will let it get to 220F before I get concerned. It can take 220F for about a half hour if I remember correctly.

 

You should have stopped by the MN chapter when you were in Minneapolis!

 

What rear axle do you have. I made that same climb in 2010 when the DPF was still on and had no problem with the tranny temps. I did get a "DRIVE TO CLEAN' when I stopped at the top. I'm thinking my 4.30 rear end made the difference.

 

Didn't know where it was. My sister in law and their big family live in lakeville so we were pretty busy. But, I do have a question. What are y'all doing about the mandatory bio out there. They were already supposed to be at B20 this summer but pushed it back.

 

Whattya mean?

 

Good report... Sounds like the biodiesel wasn't a problem after all.

 

Love hearing about good reports from our 6.4s! Thanks

 

My truck is rated only for B5,I think your's is also. Using B20 should cause some kind of problems. Best I can determine it would damage seals and gaskets. But it's very hard to pin down. Neither Ford nor the Bio board want to talk about it.

 

My Edge Evolution is set for warnings at 232°F. My research shows that a tranny temp of 250°F can be sustained for 1 hour. The warning came just as we approached a turnout on the way up, so I stopped and we took some photos while the engine idled and the EOT, ECT and TFT temps came down. I have my Edge Evolution set with ECT (top left), EOT (top right), TFT (bottom left) and EGT (bottom right). When not towing I set Boost, EOT, Bat V, and EGT. I tow in stock mode and run in mode 1 otherwise.

 

I'm running the stock 3.55/1 rear end. That was one of my big concerns when we took off for the trip, but it handled everything just fine. I was impressed at still passing the big rigs going up hill and the engine braking was good coming down hill. My only complaint was the regens while going up hill where the regen would reset every time boost would exceed 30 psi. It made for some long regens in some of the hilly areas.

 

I had that discussion on this forum a couple years ago. Consesus was that I was wrong. But I continue to believe (know) that there is some loss of power from the high ratio rear axles. There is some grade/load that I can pull with my 4.30 that you won't with a 3.55. Now whether we would ever encounter such a hill or load is a different question. But I feel pretty sure that the hot tranny is a result of the 3.55 rear axle. I tell ya, with the dpf off and the 4.30 rear end I think this truck could pull my trailer up a pine tree.

 

I am with you on this one. I notice that with my 3.73's I run warmer than the 4.30's as well.

Sometimes I would rather have 4.30's. Seems that the 3.73 is the best combo for me though.

 

Couldn't agree more. I would have liked to go a little higher in ratio, but I really didn't want a dually. I am not hauling on a frequent basis and a SRW was a better fit for me. I am sure that the overheat was due to being in 2nd gear at 25 mph with little to no air going over the heat exchangers. That is why I had the gauge pack set to monitor temps. The interesting thing is that the dash gauge was still in the middle and didn't show the higher temps at all (for both ECT and TFT). The ECT was a little over the middle but at 230°F I was already making mental calculations as to when I would hit 250°F (as a Mechanical Engineer, not uncommon to do). All-in-all I was happy with how strong the truck pulled. I think my mileage would have been a little better with a higher ratio. My only complaint was the severe shift when transitioning between engine braking back to power mode when in 3rd gear. I, for the life of me, can't figure out how Ford though removing 4th gear from a 6 speed transmission was a good idea.