Hello everyone,

Just wanted to share my first long haul since owning my truck. On July 31st I set off to deliver my daughters horse to Dewy, Arizona (close to Prescott, Arizona) from Vacaville, California. The trip would take roughly 12 hours and 16 minutes according to maps...but it ended up taking a lot longer than that. I left home at 7:30 am and didn't arrive in Dewy until 11:50 pm. For those of you that have driven this route you will know that there are a LOT of mountain areas and elevation changes once you get past I-5. My route took me down Interstate 5, through Bakersfield, the Tehachapi mountains, Barstow, the Mohave, close to Lake Havasu, through Kingman, into Flagstaff, and finally down highway 17 to Dewy, Arizona.

I should add that these were the hottest days I have had to travel towing. Here in Vacaville the whole week we had over 100 degree days (usually 105 at my house) and during the whole trip except for early in the morning the temps ranged from 100 to the hottest in Needles, California just before the Arizona border of 109 degrees!! The poor horse would sweat his @@ off from the heat during the trip, but I did my best to stop and offer him water etc. which was part of the reason the trip took so long.

I did not have a chance to actually weigh anything but I know the horse trailer weight is about 3,250 lbs. empty (according to the manufacturer) it had tack and saddles loaded in the front of the trailer, I had a smaller old Pepsi fridge and a large tote full of tack in the bed of the truck, and the horse I would estimate probably weighed around 1,200 lbs. (that is just a guess). All in all I would say I was towing at least 5,000 lbs if not a little more. I also had some tools and things in the truck just in case I had a flat on the trailer I would be prepared. If the weight was 6,000 lbs. total it would not surprise me. I did NOT have a weight distribution hitch since the trailer was so small and really it tracked straight as a bullet.

Here is a shot from one of the rest stops in California.



I had just regular 89 octane fuel in the tank and I also had my air bags set to about 40 lbs. Of course I was using tow/haul mode and I also was using cruise control most of the trip except in the really steep areas due to traffic. My speed through most of the trip was 65 mph except some of it when I had to do 55 mph and of course those times when I had to slow down for the Cone Zones and also do some passing. I also had the AC running pretty much the entire trip.


Just a quick shot of the trailer being towed for my daughter to let her know how the trailering was going with her horse. There was noboby in front or behind me so it was a good time to take this picture...lol (texting police can relax )



This was Bakersfield during one of the times I stopped to offer water to the horse. It felt like an oven standing out there and I really wish I had an air conditioned trailer for the horse. I did stop every couple of hours to check on the horse and offer him water. If I trailered horses all the time you can bet I would have one!



I got back on the road and this was the result thus far of towing at 65 mph on cruise as much as possible. Seeing that I have 3.73 gearing I was pretty happy with the gas milage so far.




Here is the final tally of my gas milage at the end of my trip, I was so tired from driving straight through due to not feeling well before I left. I think it did very well on milage!! Honestly in Arizona the big rigs can drive 75 mph and I was dueling with them in the mountain ranges. My milage suffered with all the constant elevation changes but I was impressed none the less.



I was REALLY glad to have the 36 gallon tank!!!! Not having to stop as much for fuel is an awesome thing especially when you get into those areas when there aren't any fuel stations or the fuel is way to damn high in price. When I had to stop in Needles, California the price of fuel was $4.89 per gallon!!!!!! I just wanted to shoot someone for gouging people like that. The truck also steam rolled past 40,000 miles and I cannot believe I have that many miles racked up already.

Needless to say I just added enough fuel to get into Arizona and filled up there at a reasonable $2.79 per gallon. The truck towed and performed flawlessly!! At no time during the trip did I feel like I didn't have passing power or any issues with braking. The EGOboost towed like a happy little diesel and left me with a smile on my face passing other rigs towing. (There were tons of trailers and campers) The power was always there and during the passing felt happy to be pushed harder. My transmission temps never got over 209 degrees even in the hottest steepest parts of the trip!

Starting out on the drive back the EGOboost felt like a rocket ship not having the towing weight behind it!!! LOL It literally wanted to scream up the mountain ranges and it was fun passing all the struggling trucks and vehicles going up the steep grades with ease.

Sorry for the long post everyone, I just wanted to share the trip and also maybe help someone on the fence about whether the EGOboost is worth it or not. Stay tuned I have a shorter trip I will post on my drive to Bend, Oregon and the milage results. (it will be a shorter post too I promise...lol)

Happy trails!

 

Looks great Rob. My truck is also nearing the 40k mark, and I still love the Ecoboost.

 

Excellent report rob, reps sent.

 

Glad that trip went well! When towing with my truck, I generally average about 9 mpg, trailer and gear probably weigh in at about 8000 lbs, this truck tows so much better than my 3 valve 5.4, night and day difference!

 

Nice post Rob. It's quite fun hearing the empty truck load up the turbos and plow up 5-7% grades. Great write up and result, and I'm sure your daughter is pleased to have her horse with her. Nice job dad!

 

Thanks for reporting on your trip and including all the fuel mileage info. I just loaded up my old '67 F100 on a flatbed and took it for a shake down run. I have the 5.0 engine and noticed that pulling about 7,000 lbs I would only get 9 mpg when I was over 70 mph, then dropping it to 68 mph gave me 11.5 mpg, and that was on mostly level ground at 7200 ft. You know what speed I'll be towing at.

Thanks again for the info and I'm glad everything went well

 

Great report Rob! Glad to hear the truck is living up to its reputation.

 

Hey...nice looking Platinum!

 

Thanks everyone...I was extremely pleased with the performance of the truck during the tow. One thing I did notice after driving 1800 miles or so was that I think I am going to look into getting some different shocks for the truck. There were lots of bad roads that I traveled on and it seems that the stock shocks have a hell of a time absorbing the rough ones.

The only way I can describe it is like going over successive tractor tracks and the whole truck basically hops all over the place side to side. I am wondering if a set of Bilsteins would do the trick? (unless they are all for lifted trucks which mine is not) I like the smooth ride most of the time but when you really start hitting the beat up freeways those tires are hopping all over.

Any suggestions?

Cheers

 

Yes...FOX.

I've tried the F150lifts branded stuff and they are similar to the Bil's. They are both a little too firm on entry for my tastes but good once the shock is in motion heavily. From everything I've read the FOX will smooth out that initial motion and still provide control throughout the compression and rebound. However, your airbags might work favorably with the BOSS from F150lifts.

PM if you want some info. I have something you might be interested in.

 

Good report. I agree that the 3.5 twin turbo is so much better than my old 5.4 3V Triton.

As for Needles, CA, let's say it has a very well earned rep on the RV board I frequent. Everyone's advice there is to avoid Needles if humanly possible. The gas prices are terrible. Much better across the AZ state line.

 

I am a big fan of the bilstein heavy duties. They are for standard height trucks. I always felt the stock shocks were a little soft for towing heavy loads. Why did you use tow mode with such a light weight? Did you lock out any gears on your trip?
I have 82000 on my EcoBoost.

 

I used tow/haul mode to allow it to keep a certain speed in the mountains. I am also used to just switching to it when towing to allow better shifting when towing. I did not lock out any gears...there was no need for me to do that. The truck did shift down to 5th and a few times 4th on some steep grades but that was normal. When it did downshift it maintained the gear to climb the grade and was not "seeking" to shift up all the time so in my mind there was no reason to lock out any gears.

 

I hear ya...that is a wretched place. If I had known about the gas I would have filled up sooner but I was trying to get through there since it was so hot for the horses sake.

 

Yep Chandler she was very pleased although she is in New Mexico and will have to go pic up the horse soon. Her horse went to her grandmother's ranch for the time being until she could procure boarding for the horse in New Mexico.