I've had the vehicle for only 4 months, but I have towed from Jacksonville, FL to Iowa, to the upper peninsula in Mi. back down through the blue ridge mtns. and then through the Ga. mtns before heading back home. I pulled an 8500 lb fifth wheel dry weight, so I would say about 9500 lbs loaded weight. 2 wheel drive extra cab, xlt, 4.3 axle, and of course 6.2 gas engine. Went as fast as I ever needed to go, but mostly stayed around 60-65. Mpg was mostly around 9.5-10, didn't really change much. I found the tow haul mode does not work as well with the gas as the diesel. And the cruise control is a pain on hilly terrain. It will downshift to a lower gear to keep up the speed, like third gear, just because it may have dropped a couple mph. increasing rpms too much for my taste. The tow haul can have the same problem in that getting it to upshift from too low a gear can be difficult unless you shut it off. I do keep it on most of the time though and slowing down and tapping the brake it goes nicely into lower gear. With that said the shift button on the column is just the greatest feature. Downshifting to 5th or 4th going into a hill before it would do it itself is really very nice. 4th gear is a power house and 90% of the time that is all one needs to keep it not only moving at speed but to increase speed. Going thru the blue ridge montains I used 3rd gear and kept speed up to 50mph. However, the GA mtns, there were a couple of 1,000 foot increases that were fairly steep and 2nd gear at about 35mph was what I did there. I could have gone to maybe 40 mph but at that gear I feel more comfortable at max 4,000 rpms. but that's just me. red line is closer to 6k. 3rd gear and 4th gear I kept the rpms around 3500. I've owned a ford diesel for 10 years, and this is not the same thing for sure. You need to think ahead when encountering hills and use that push button gear shift and lay off the cruise and tow haul. If you just want to sit back, set the cruise, then a diesel will do that for you. me, I was sick of all the maintenance of the diesel, the pollution systems, the oil powered fuel injectors, the egr system, the turbos.etc. Hope this critique helps. Also, the locking rear differential works very well. A couple of times in mud or wet grass trying to back up with the trailer and locking the rear worked well and stopped wheel spin.

 

Good report.


Cruise is worthless on a gas motor when towing. You certainly could give it somemore RPMS without any harm.


Good gas mileage.

 

Thanks for doing the write-up. Our fiver is a short and light so we go back and forth about whether to switch from diesel to gas for the same reasons you noted above.

Steve

 

Good write up and virtually mirrors what I saw with my '06 with a V10 though you seem to be a gear lower to do the same work. The V10 did OK, but the diesel just does it easier with a 12K 5er and without the anticipation for hills. I would consider moving back to a gas truck if Ford would reintroduce the V10 in a 250/350 or at least an engine with about the same displacement, Hp and torque levels as the maintenance costs are pretty high on the diesel in comparison.

 

[QUOTE=buster0392;15570810

[I]Here's the rig. 31 foot grand design reflection 27rl[/I]

 

Nice looking rig and great review Buster!!!

I wish they made a gas rig that would pull the 18k trailer I have reasonably...
I love my 6.7 and it never breaks a sweat when pulling - but I am always waiting for some part of the fuel or emissions system to leave the mrs an I stranded..

 

I have a Reflection 303RLS which is just a little bigger and heavier than yours. I used to pull it with a 2013 6.2L but after 6 months upgraded to a 2014 6.7L. I don't regret it at all.

 

Great report. I just need clarification on your rear gears. You say 4:10s. Do you mean 4:30s? 4:10s are not available.

 

article corrected to replace rear end numbers with 4.3 not 4.1

 

If I'm going to use cruise, I use manual mode in 5th for my rig. Then, I drop the gear to 4th if necessary for an upcoming grade.

Normal overpasses, I'll just let it bleed of a few mph's in 5th.

Try it...you might like it...much more user control and less shifting.

 

Randy, quit waiting for failure and enjoy the truck. Your going to get an ulcer.

 

Already have the darned ulcer... Maybe that's part of the problem!

I do enjoy my truck and the 6.7 is brutally strong - I just hope it stays that way...

 

Randy.... enjoy! I've got a 6.0 and I don't sweat it at all......It's just a truck! That '15 model is a no-sweater as far as diesels go..... compared to my 6.0. And I took mine pulling my 5er from Maryland to Calif to Wash and back!

 

Randy - you have a bullet resistant '15. If you need to feed your ulcer, own an '11 Job 1 with 75+K miles and wait for a broken valve or blown turbo

If you read the iRV2 forum occasionally, some character there claims he has seen 'many' 6.7 failures. I challenged him for specifics and he posted a single photo of a blown engine with saying it's a well known problem by the Ford hot line when he calls for help. Of course I got slapped down by the Ram/GM fanatics including via nasty PMs along with the mod (who modified my post) when I called him on that BS.

 

No the CC isn't worthless with the 6.2, like ATP stated you just have to learn how to use it. When on flat ground I just set it in drive and let it downshift on overpasses and if we are in hills I use manual. Unlike my V10 it works great with the 6.2 and 6 speed. The only time I use the TH is coming into towns and sometimes going downhill but for normal roads it's worthless because of the shift strategy, it just hangs in gears to long and kills the acceleration. The programmers used max HP and ignored max torque that happens in the mid 4K range that's why I very rarely go over 4500 when pulling it hard. Under normal diving it hangs around the 2K range in 6th.

Denny