What do you get on the highway empty? For me I get 13.5 MPG at 70 MPH?
The answer to this is 17.5 MPG if I am using the cruise controle but will only get 16.0 MPG when I am driving the truck.
one has to remember that in San Diego we are always going up or coming down a hill I live 2 blocs from the north county fair mall so our MPG has to different from the others because of that reason.
Mattebury just so you know when I came back I used the calexico East border drove 4 miles to catch the 8 west when I stopped to refuel in el centro the only one there with sign ULSD on the pump was the chevron right of the 8 at the 86 hwy and gas there was 3.48 per gallon which 0.42 dollar more than the others call it price gouging or whatever you want to call it when I was going to san feilpe I refilled at chevron in calexico on the 98 hwy west of the 111 and I paid 3.02 per gallon and this is the only one that sells ULSD in all of calexico but it is not a main road going to the crossing to mexicali as a IE (hwy111) which goes straight from the border to the 8 freeway.

 

I agree but I live in san diego and everything here is moutains so you get on a free way 15 or 8 and you are either going up or down and that is the reason I think our MPGs are the way they are.
this the my frist diesel and my first truck I am from france, Paris to be exact and in europe the culture is trucks are for farmers and it took 20 years to remove this idea from my head and now i do not have to borrow the neiboors truck anymore. but I think that we in america are taken for a ride in terms of diesel tecknology why does Ford in europe produces exellent quality diesels and know how design and produce them to compete against bmw MB audi VW ald lets not forget the little diesel from Renault which has been the best and the most reliable small diesel in europe for the last 10years at only 1.5 litter it pumps 110 horses and gets 49 MPG. another thing i should add is in europe 70% of vehicules sold are diesel including luxury vehicule they sell the 7 series bmw diesel the S mecedes in diesel the A8 audi in diesel the big jagwar in diesel which is owned by Ford and I think that the engine of that car which i think is 4.0 litter is the one going to be put in the upcoming ford F150 diesel.
the know how at ford is there why they do not use it is the million dollar question.
and in europe they will not buy anything that get 8 MPG, gas and diesel over there is in the 7.0 to 8.0 dollars gallon price range.

 

I live at 6K, I routinely go on a trip that includes two 10.6 foot high passes that is climbing four times for the round trip, my MPG on those trips, 16.7/9 over all round trip. I do understand the issue with climbing, I have also pulled my trailer over those passes, (see gallery) Overall average for the trip was 11.9 rig weighs in at 26+.

Sadly (and I mean no disrespect to anyone in this forum, I am not better then the next guy) if given their vehicle I could get a plus up of 3/5 MPG and turn right around with the same truck and get worse then they…that is how sensitive these trucks are to driving habits/style, gearing and tire size. I know many will argue this point if you have two different drivers in the same truck overall MPG will drop 2/4.

 

I'd agree with that. Good post.

 

These trucks are so close to getting good MPG and yet so easy to make it junk….a VERY fine line between the two….took me two years to learn that ……slow I am.


Case in point, this thread ...post #28
https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/6...-to-a-car.html

I know this does not seem to correlate too much …however there are four of these around town that I know, all three of the others get 80/91 MPG I am getting routinely 112/118, it is a different style of driving, believe me they don’t have a lot of HP and if you WOT all the time it drops the MPG…

Driving style is HUGE

 

Okay Admin, give us some of your driving tips. I would guess you get the best fuel mileage with the cruise control off, letting the speed drop as you go up hill, coasting down hill, etc. My driving preferences may be different but I would like to know some of your suggestions to see if they might be incorporated into my trips. Thanks.

 

First off I don't ever coast; it is just not fun, I always look very far down the road, meaning if f you are coming up on traffic or stop or any reason to decelerate, get off the throttle. I roll out of the throttle going up a hill, a bit quick going down and then by the time I get to the top of the hill I have lost 4mph on the posted speed limit.

Going down hill you really never need to squeeze the throttle at all, roll into it just enough to maintain speed…or a bit more…..VERY easy on the throttle, NEVER over ¼ throttle leaving a stop…why what good des it do, you end up running up on the person in front of you…so back off….these are only a few, however if you do them for 10k worth of miles it adds up big time…is it fun NO…when I want to have fun I put a tank in the truck and go let it eat knowing I will kill my MPG…that is acceptable …the other thing get rid of the big tires that everyone likes so much…they KILL MPG…period.

None of what I do is special, it is things I have learned over three different trucks ALL ford….but it works, and again it is my belief these trucks are so close to being good or real bad….you can change the very direction the MPG issue goes.
Anything above 73/74 MPH you are hurting MPG with the very frontal area of these monsters….
Anything under 61 you are pushing the throttle to much to keep the thing going, not using momentum in your favor.
33/40 inch tires will yield you a loss of 3 to 11 MPG ALL the time …no way around it.


All this boils down to common sense.....something each one of us have, do we exercise it every time we leave a stop sign of pass just because one guy gets in front of us....probably not…sadly I see more SD’s leaving a stop faster then most rice rockets….funny when you think about how much power it takes to launch a 6/8k truck…it is amazing stop after stop after stop…..MPG gone. JUST change that one thing and see.

 

I am totally with you about looking ahead and getting off the accelerator if a stop or slowdown is ahead. This was my biggest headache teaching 3 kids to drive...they had no concept of coasting up to a light or stop sign. You know how kids are, push the accelerator until they push the brake.

I realize that starting slowly from a stop is the efficient way to drive but hate people that do it in front of me and cannot force myself to do it. I try not to mash the pedal around town but get on it enough to get up to the speed limit and out of the way.

Since my truck is used primarily for towing, and mostly interstate driving, most starts involve entrance ramps, which in my opinion necessitate hammering it pretty good to get up to merging speed. Nothing worse than someone who merges at 40 mph when folks are traveling 65 to 80. I shouldn't have to change lanes or slow down so someone can save a gallon of fuel getting on the highway, especially since it costs me fuel to get on the accelerator to get back to cruising speed and bounces my horses around in the process. Trust you were talking about daily driving around town and get up to proper speed when necessary on interstates.

Just my 2 cents.

 

...and this is a huge MPG killer...you are starting a seven thousand pound truck from a dead stop....or what ever they weigh..it draws the fuel...day after day. mile after mile

 

How true is that, I wish I could teach my wife, when she drives (car not a truck) she gets 21/22. When I get inside of it and drive not like a raging maniac speeding up to every stop light/sign, or slower traffic, I am able to get 26/27 same vehicle.

Many of my family members work in the auto industry on the corporate ends, and they all say whenever I bring up fuel economy they all reply "It is all about driving habits."

I have an older expedition which I will replace with an F350 in the near future, however I also have a Lexus and everyone on those boards is saying there best is high teens when hand calculated. After 24,000 miles my hand calculated average is 25.8mpg. So yes it is all about smart driving. Yes my car goes 0-60 in 6.1 seconds or less but thats not how I drive.

 

Well, like I said, everyone has their own driving preferences. I choose to spend more on fuel so I can drive my truck the way I want. I understand your desire to get maximum fuel mileage and just hope you are in the other lane when I am behind you.

 

Words never spoken truer.

 

I agree with all of you but a truck when driven to only 60 is getting better MPG than 70 is a problem for me I need to drive my truck towing my 15k trailer at 70 MPH and I should get at 10 MPG with it at that speed I do not care who makes the truck but I thin that is why we buy diesel and I do not think it is about driving habit because when we tow we can not go 75 80 MPH pulling the trailer we can not stop at that speed and it is not safe anyway so I still think that this truck consumes more that it should anyway no matter who drives it and how they drive it.
I got 8 MPG towing 15k towhauler at 60 MPH on cruise controle I thinks that is very low speed and I should be driving 70 MPH and get 10 MPG.
we are all people that have been driving for over 15years at least in here and we are all not crazy thinking to drive our trucks at 80 or 90 MPH on the freeway towing our trailer it should be more than a 10% difference in our MPG regardless of our driving habits when we tow because we can not go fast even if we wanted to.
so do not defend the ford for this not so good mpg truck that they made they knew this before it went on sale and they did not care remember the government does require them to put MPG on the windows on these trucks and they figured if you buy the truck at 63k out the door you should not care what it consumes and I agree with them to a certain point where it consumes a way more than it should for personal use IE pulling 15 toyhauler and the availbilty of gas every where and the segond reason is propably why a guy like me is talking about this in here.
I used to have a gas motorhome and hated when diesel pusher fly by me going up the grade and still got 10 to 12 mph when you talk to them about there MPGs so we said lets change to a diesel truck with a trailer and the result is not what we expected especially when you can not find ULSD every where.
And by the way I have met today a guy that put any diesel in his truck IE LSD and ULSD and he has been doing that for 2 months he said and so far no problem he said he lives no where close to UlSD station in the high desert and he said it is not his fault he said I am a consumer that was not told you can not buy this truck because you live here or there and there is no ULSD near you so you can not buy a new truck today.

 

Cruise killed 2/4 MPG while you towed.....maybe even a bit more....

 

What do you mean should we use the cruise control towing or we should not I do not answer your comment
Thank you