Hey all,

Well, I took my new SuperDuty out on it's first tow last weekend, and I have to say I'm very impressed. This is a 2006 F350 King Ranch, FX4, CC, PSD, DRW, Tow Master, 800 miles at the start of the trip.

I'm pulling a 29' toy hauler, fully loaded down with 100gals of water and 20 gals of fuel, generator, 3 atvs, food, beer, propane, etc. I figured about 11k lbs loaded. I put another 400lbs atv in the bed of my truck.

The first 150 miles are mostly on I5 south from Portland to just south of Cottage Grove, then west on Hwy 34 to the coast where I camp and play on the dunes. Some hills on I5, but not much really (a few medium-sized ones just south of Salem), and probably 2 hills on Hwy 34 as you near Reedsport, Or. Hwy 34 is a bit curvy, and is a 2 lane undivided highway with some narrow bridges and a narrow tunnel, so speed is kept down.

I have to say things went great. I set the cruise for 70 on I5, and did between 55-65 on the other roads. I averaged about 8.0mpg according to the lie-o-meter, but this calcuated out to be pretty close when I filled up. The truck has great power over my previous gasser (1986 F350 DRW, 460, C6), got better milage, and was way more fun to drive. It was great to have the tunes going (Sirius Radio), AC blasting, pulling a big hill with ease, and handling the curvy stuff with aplomb.

I really like the tow/haul mode, with the downshift when breaking and holding the gears longer under throttle (no hunting)...very nice. The integrated brake controller worked wonderfully...stopping made me forget the trailer was back there!

The fan came on now-and-then when pulling the larger hills, but having read these forums, I knew what to expect. I didn't find the noise unpleasant, and it was only on for 30 seconds or so at a time. The temp gauge never moved more than I could notice when it came on or went off.

Absolutely no issues with the truck. I am very happy! This one's a keeper.

Dan Martin
2006 F350 King Ranch, FX4, CC, PSD, DRW, Tow Master
2005 29' Thor Fury Toy Hauler

 

Congrats on your new truck! Love mine.

 

Glad to hear that all went well for you on your trip. I have a 29 foot boat (about 8k when loaded with fuel and gear). I have towed it only once and for a short distance (about 5 miles). But the difference between the SuperDuty and my last truck (Chevy K3500 CC LB 4x4 7.4 liter gasser) was night and day. I LOVE this truck !!!

 

Bet you are easily over 11k, swing by a scale when you're at a truck stop and weight it out. It's nice to know how much weight you really have back there and how much is on each axle.

For comparison, my 26' toybox loaded with 120 gal water, 38 gal gas, an MX bike, a medium sport quad, and a mini kids quads scaled out at 11.5k.

Glad you like your new rig, I know we really like ours for towing as well.

 

cool. a toy hauler, full of quads! i have always wanted to play around in the dunes. what quads were in/on the rig?

 

3 Banshees and a Raptor (2 banshees are friend's that I haul for them). All of them are modded to some extent for the sand (longer swingarms, bigger engines, etc).

It's a lot of fun. I think the dunes on the Oregon coast are the best in the world for quadding. Winchester Bay is very technical with lots of hill climbs that wind up through trees, as well as big drag-race hill climbs and lots of jumping. I've been going 3-4 times a year for 7 years now and never get tired of it.

Dan

 

Thanks for the report. My experience has been similar with my 05 F350/drw pulling a 14K gooseneck. What a pleasure compared to singles and a bumper pull.