First big trip with my new truck (in signature line).
Got weighed at a truck stop; full of fuel, Victory motorcycle loaded in the bed, pulling my RV, my gross weight was 13,500 pounds (about 8500 truck and 5000 RV trailer).

Drove from Indy to Buena Vista, CO (I-70 and US24). 2300 miles out and back running about 65mph everywhere I could, and no lagging in the mountains of CO. Never wanted for more power; very impressive. After coming out of a 2006 Dmax truck, I thought I would be concerned that it'd lack power for the hills; not true at all. All you have to do is be willing to let the 6.2L rev; and rev is does! It rev's with aplomb! Just keep it spinning and you'll have all the power you need. Fought a headwind nearly all the way home going east; probably 10-20mph headwinds all day solid for two days. If not for those, the fuel mileage would have been even better. Got a high of 9.3mpg and a low of 7.6mpg. Averaged 8.6mpg the entire trip. There were times with the trans would go into 6th and stay there; mileage improved. There were times when it could not hold 6th, and I held her in 5th and mileage dropped a bit. Going up slight hills, it would drop into 4th, then pop back into 5th at the crest. Some of the bigger, steeper hills dropped into 3rd (about 4000 rpm). Overall, very impressed and satisfied that I don't "need" a diesel; this engine can do what I ask of it.

I do wonder if I had 4.30 gears, would that make it hold 6th a bit better more often, but then again it would still spin 15% faster for any given road speed, so it would probably negate any perceived savings? For folks with heavier loads (closer to the GCWR max) I would certainly recommend having 4.30 gears. But for those with more moderate loads, the 3.73 gears do a great job.

This engine is awesome. Spin it up and let it eat!


A note about the fuel tank/gauge ....
Horribly inaccurate for the DTE, as already known by several of you. I had been carrying a spare 5 gal jug of gas, so I thought I'd experiment a bit. The "low fuel" alarm will come on at DTE 50 miles, 25 miles, 10 miles and at 0 miles. Most of the trip, when it hit 50 DTE, I'd pull over at first chance and fuel up. The most I ever got into the tank was 28 gallons; similar to what others have experienced. Then, just to test my luck, I ran it all the way to "0" DTE, and then drove another 8 miles to the first fuel station opportunity. Because I was averaging a very consistent 8.4mpg for this leg of the trip, I had essentially used 1 gallon of fuel past the "0" DTE notice. When I fueled up, it took in 33.0 gallons of fuel. Which means that (given the 1 gallon used past the DTE of 0), I essentially use 32 gallons of fuel to get to "0" miles DTE. Essentially, when I hit DTE = 0, I still have 4 gallons of fuel left. I seriously considered actually purposely running it out of fuel, just to see where the true "empty" was, but given the heavy traffic on I-70, I didn't want to loose power on a hill or in a congested area, so I decided against this trial. All I know is that I feel very comfortable running it truly to DTE "0", because 4 gallons is a very safe "reserve". Now when I'm traveling, all I have to do to mentally calculate a real "range" for the fuel, is take 32 gallons x MPG and then I'll have a very fair estimate of my real DTE range.
NOTE - a correction here .... the tank is 34 gallons, not 36. Therefore I had 2 gallons in reserve, not 4. (edited 9-27-18)

BTW - for each fuel up I hand calculated the fuel MPG and I was VERY pleasantly surprised to see that my "avg mpg" display was always right on, or only 1/10th shy. If it said 8.5mpg on the display, then I got either 8.5 or 8.4 (taking into account the variation of fueling stations and rounding to the nearest tenth) with real measured calculations. So, that helps in determining my "range" of DTE, since I can count on the "average mpg" to be very consistent and accurate. Calculated this 11 times over the entire trip; never was off by more than 1/10th, and several times was spot-on correct.


Overall, I'm glad I got the 6.2L engine and didn't pay the extra money for the diesel; I'd never be able to pay off the higher investment cost with fuel savings given my limited use of the truck, and the gasser engine has more than enough power to do what I ask of it. Great engine and a great value.

 

Thanks for the report. 99% sure I'll have a 6.2 by next summer.

 

Good report....

 

What tires do you have? I have the 245/75r17. I'm looking at going to the 275/70r18 but I'm worried the truck would work too much being that I have the 3.73 gears

 

I have the std size, as you state.

The radius of the standard tire (245/70-17) is 15.75" (negating the comprehensive effect of load weight). The larger tire you mention (275/70-18) is at 16.60". That is a change of 5%. The net effect of torque loss at the wheel (resulting in loss of thrust force at road surface) would be that same 5%. To put it in a perspective that would make sense, if all other things were all the same, and you lost 5% torque, it would be like a 430 ft-lb engine only making 408 ft-lb. The only time this would really make any big difference is if you had a load you pulled often that was right at the cusp of causing the powertrain to downshift to a lower gear, but that only happens under specific conditions.

OTOH - under very light loads, you'd get an increase of 8% more distance traveled for every rev of the tire, which would improve the fuel efficiency by some nominal manner (not equal to 8% though).

 

Thanks for the info. Looks like we have the same truck except mine is a F350. I have over 4000 miles towing a 7000lb travel trailer with an extra 1000 lbs in the bed. I'm right around 16000 lbs in combination. I'm averaging 8.25 mpg towing. Empty on the highway, I've seen 18 mpg but that goes to crap as soon as I hit hills and red lights!
Truck does great pulling but I've been thinking about 4.30 or 4.56 gears.

 

Sounds like our pulling experiences are similar, and our mileage is similar.

I have a close friend that just ordered his 2019; due soon. He ordered an F-250 with 6.2L; CCLB 4x4 and 4.30 gears. He has a toy hauler that's much larger than my RV. I think he made the right choice. But for me, I took my truck off the lot, and as much as I had concerns over the 3.73 gears, I no longer worry about it. The 4.30 gears are a good choice if your tow load is going to be at/near the rated chassis limit. He has a 15,000 tow rating and I'm at 12,500 (rounded numbers). I'm only about 1/2 way to my tow limit with my set-up as described. He's closer to 12,000 pounds and while technically he'd be "ok" with 3.73, he'll be happier with 4.30 gears.

 

Thanks for the awesome and encouraging report, dnewton3.

I'm pretty new to the forum, and have a F250/6.2 on order. I'm trying to follow the math on your observations.

When you reached DTE=50, you could only fill with 28 gallons. The advertised tank size for your truck is 34 gallons. At 8.4mpg average, that checks out. (50 / 8.4 = 6.....and 28 + 6 = 34)

Then you used 32gallons to reach DTE=0. So wouldn't you have 2 gallons of reserve - not 4 ?

I think it was good test the limits in the interest of science and all, but you probably don't want to do that often. Fuel cools the pump. Repeated long-term dry spells can shorten the pump life.

 

I took mine off of the lot as well. I couldn't turn down the offer they gave me. For the money I saved, I can put new gears in and still come out ahead. It seems like no matter what I am towing, as soon as I hook up, fuel mileage goes down the drain. I towed a small Carolina Skiff on a 800 mile round trip and averaged 10- 11 mpg. Next week I'll be towing my empty 2000 lb utility trailer 150 miles up to the mountains. I'll see what the mileage is then but I'm not expecting much over 10 mpg

 

I am wrong and you are correct.
When I was first shopping for trucks, I was also considering an F-150 with the HD package, and that included a 36 gallon tank.
For some reason, in my mind, I transposed that 36 gallon capacity to the F-250; that was my mistake.
My F-250 truck has a 34 gallon tank; I would have had 2 gallons in reserve.
I have edited the post above with a note of correction.
Thanks for catching that.

 

I wrote a little formula in excel to help me understand my ROI for the gas vs. diesel choice. I made it fairly detailed, even splitting out the unloaded mpg vs. the towing mpg; it matters.

As I only average about 6k miles a year (3k unloaded and 3k towing), in fuel savings alone, it would take me 24 years to pay off the extra cost of the diesel engine option. Heck - I won't keep it that long. And I didn't even include the higher costs of diesel maintenance (filters, lube, coolant/additives, etc) in the calculation; that would push it out even further! As near as I could tell, I would have to drive about 25k miles a year (12.5k unloaded and 12.5k miles towing) to make the ROI break out at 6 years.

I hope to retire soon, and that will let me use the truck a bit more for towing the RV on vacation. But still, even if I were to drive 10k miles a year (2.5k unloaded and 7.5k miles towing) my ROI breakpoint would be 12 years in fuel savings. I only keep a truck 10-12 years. Hence I'll never be able to get a diesel to pay me back. And, the maintenance costs need to be accounted for .... Routine maintenance costs are very expensive on the diesel; heck the fuel filters are $75 and have to be done every 30k miles. That means an additional $225 in fuel filters alone, contrasted to the 6.2L engine that has no fuel filter cost at all! Air filters are more expensive for the diesel. Coolant volume is nearly 2x more with the diesel, and it also requires SCA as well. So in short, I would never be able to make a diesel pay off in my time-frame of use. And then there's the topic of unforeseen costs of break-down type maintenance, because after 5 years, the diesel warranty expires just like the gas engine warranty expires. The diesel, should it suffer a failure of the EGR system, DPF system, coolant loops, turbo, etc are going to be FAR more expensive to repair, over the cost of a very simple gas motor.

There are only three reasons to buy a diesel
1) you drive a LOT of miles annually, and can make the ROI balance out reasonably well vs. the depreciation rate in perhaps 6 years or so
2) you pull so much weight that only the diesel option will work for you; (6.2L max with 4.30 gears at 15,000 pounds for bumper pull)
3) you have an ego that makes you want one, even though you don't need one (I would know; I did this 12 years ago when I bought my Dmax, and I was not willing to make that same mistake twice)

 

Thanks for your detailed break down, this info is very informative.

I too went back to the gasser as I was sick and tired of the modern diesels since the government is not backing off the emissions.