Picked up a f150 supercrew about a month ago(5.4 lariat 69k miles) so I could tow my Jeep. I hooked it up for the first time this weekend and was stunned. I averaged about 8.5mpg for the trip, mostly interstate. My Jeep and trailer together weigh about 6,000#'s. I ran between 70 and 75. The truck idles flawlessly, pulls great, so there is no hint that there is a problem with this engine but can this be possible. One of my Jeeping friends has a 36' motorhome with a v-10 that he flat-tows his jeep behind, he gets 8mpg. Should I be getting the same gas milage as a 36foot motorhome with a v-10....ouch. Can anyone tell me if this is normal...what should I expect for the f150, and should I sell this and buy a diesel immediately.

To make matters worse, I come from a Chevy family. To buy a Ford is to be ridiculed for life. Well I did it, and have even recieved some compliments, though tough to come by. I have to literally force them to even test drive the truck. Then my cousin, who accompanied me on the Jeep trip, calculated our milage. He ran the numbers twice(thinking there was an error) and then busted out laughing. I can still hear him say 8.46 mpg ha ha ha, snort.

Help.

Darren
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Should you get better mileage? Maybe with the right gears, tires, pressure, timing and so on. However you are using a 5.4L motor to tow with and comparing it to a V10. The V10 is a torgue monster on par with diesels. The 5.4 is not. It takes torque to tow with, so if you run the gambit od maximising tire pressure,timing and final drive ratio you can get more miles.

 

Thanks for the info....I would like to hear from other 5.4L owners, especially supercrew owners to see what their mileage is during towing. I'm trying to figure out if there is something really wrong here...thanks to any who will reply.

D

 

My 5.4L Supercab 4x4 gets about 10mpg towing 6000# with 3.55 gears and 17" wheels. I usually lock out OD when towing which is why I don't expect much more while towing. I get about 14mpg around town unloaded, and about 17mpg on the highway.

 

that's still a couple miles more than me on all accounts....what speed are you running.

D

 

how hilly is the terrain your towing, and how much is it revving to maintain those 70-75 mph speeds? those would be the questions. the 250 that your friends 250 is in has at a minumum 3.73 gears, and quite possibly 4.30's, so in addition to much more torque, it has more multiplication, so its working a lot less to move that much weight. You also have a fairly heavy truck with that supercrew i imagine. keeping those speeds down to 65 might make a huge difference. If your going ot be otwing often, i might up your gears to a 4.10. this will give you more pulling power and make the engine work less. For reference, in my 2004 5.4L f250 I have 3.73's with 32 inch tires, and since i am planning on running bigger tires, i am probably going ot step up to 4.30 gears myself after i get my trailer and start towing more. for now, it has plenty of guts for what i do.

 

I knew that I posted to the exact same thing in another forum...

http://www.fordtrucks.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=267182

You will do a whole pile better in the mpg dept if you dont try to set any land speed records....at 75mph with OD locked out, my SC F-150 does pretty close to 3000 rpm....way too high, and way too fast if you are worried about mpg.

Your buddys motorhome milage was prolly at the 55-60 mph range....and even then I have a hard time buying its that good considering the large brick he's driving.

I can tow my 16' fiberglass bass boat with a 120 Johnson down the intersate at 75mph with relative ease, till I hit the hills, then I have to pull OD, and slow down to 65-70 mph.

Loaded with my boat I can get about 13-15 at 60-65 in OD or 10-12 with out OD, but have gotten as low as 8-9 in very high winds.

Unloaded at 80 mph I get 15 mpg, at 65 I get pretty close to 20.

But this is considering a boat that may (not sure) weigh 3000-3500lbs dripping wet...I plan on swinging by a scale outta sheer curiosity.

 

Great info....

I did find one reference that is the same as mine...at about 78 on interstate hooked to nothing I get about 15.3 which is about the same as one of you noted.

I would not mind towing with the OD off but that seems to drop me all the way to 3rd gear... If I leave it with the OD on i can watch the rpm shift from 3rd(around 3000rpm), then a big drop to 4th(around 2400rpm) and another small drop(to around 21-2200rpm) which I am guessing is the torque converter kicking in. If I then push the button to turn OFF the overdrive it immediately kicks back to the RPM's of 3rd gear(back over 3000). I would not mind pulling in 4th and giving up OD but third puts me at over 3k on the tack. Have any of you noticed the same thing, i.e. are you dropping all the way back to 3rd and is my transmission functioning properly.

D

 

In a 4 spd tranny, OD is the 4th gear.

Lock out OD, and you run in 3rd gear.

 

You are running right on par with the mileage I am getting. I have notice around town lately I am only getting 11 mpg with the hot weather. When I tow I am in the 9 mile to the gallon range.

 

I run about 75mph. You SuperCrew is a bit heavier than my SuperCab, so that may make a little difference. I also have a K&N filter (direct replacement) and a Flowmaster muffler with dual tailpipes.
If I am on flat ground, I will use OD, but to accelerate or when a hill comes, I drop back to 3rd because it's going to kick out anyway and it's easier on the tranny.

 

Icwldcat,
Maybe the torque convertor doesn't lock up in third?
I don't know, I'm not familiar with your tranny.

 

I have a 2003 E350 and tow a 6000LB camper. I average 10.5 mpg running mostly in OD. Empty I get 17 hwy and 15 combined city/hwy.

 

I have a 2003 Expedition with a 5.4. I tow a 3600 pound car on a 2400 pound 22 foot open trailer, plus tools, equipment and luggage. On a recent trip from Florida to Bowling Green, Kentucky, I got between 10.5 and 12.2 mpg running between 60 and 70 mph going through some hilly country around Birmingham, Al. and Nashville, Tn. RPM's are betwen 1900 and 2200.

 

Great info and again thanks...keep your milage/speed info coming. I think part of my problem is that I am towing a Jeep on 36" tires. With the trailer under it that puts the Jeep almost above the truck. I am getting just about the full front in drag of 2 vehicles and the engine of only one. Anyway, looks like from your posts I could slow down to 65 from 70ish and probably save a little $$. Anyway, as I said before, please keep posting you milage/towing/speed/rpm's etc so I will have lots of info to compare.

thanks
D