Thought everyone would get a kick out of this photo. We moved from Georgia to Texas ... it was about 1,100 miles with my wife, 3 kids, and 2 dogs. We also had a LOT of junk in my pickup The V-10 got around 9.5 miles per gallon on the highway with overdrive off and the cruise set between 60 and 70 mph most of the way.

 

Sounded like a fun trip

 

Did you have the overdrive off because the engine wasn't making enough power to tow with it on, or for the transmission?

I found that even towing a load of about 6000 lbs or so, the V10 was perfectly happy in OD on straight ground, and is sure a lot quieter below 3000 RPMs.

 

You did well. I would guess basing on your photo and description that I would have only done 12mpg with my 6.0.

 

thats not bad, did u have a lot of wind comin at u?

 

That's pretty good! I didn't get that good of mileage on my road trip in OCT 2006. Olympia Washington to Eagle River, Alaska. Trailer had my 67 Mustang vert, plus tool box, compressor, and several hundred pounds of spare parts for the car. And, just me in the truck (thankfully!).

Mileage averaged around 8, but I was pulling in the mountains, and one full day in heavy snow.

Man I love these things!!!

 

@ FordCrusherGT - the engine felt like it was making plenty of power ... I've just heard some horror stories about cooking the transmission while towing. I figure gas is less expensive than a tranny rebuild.

@ i eat hybrids - yes, lots of wind, and that trailer didn't have any anti-sway features so it got to swaying when large trucks passed me. Of course, my total weight was about 15,500 lbs, so I *may* have been slightly over the limit on that little trailer

For my next move (3 or 4 years) I'm buying my own trailer that will be more heavy duty than the U-hauler

 

How long and heavy is that trailer?

 

26' long, Curb weight 3880#. Figure the car was 3000#, plus estimated 2000# of tools, parts, etc.

It was HEAVY (that's part of the reason I upgraded the trailer to the 10k axles!)

I liked my truck before that trip. I loved it after! It pulled like a champ!

 

Soco, I have had four trucks that I've used for towing with automatic transmissions. Three of them were GMs with 4L80-Es, the fourth one is the Excursion with the 4R100. I have taken any of the trucks out of overdrive while towing unless the engine has not been able to produce enough power to keep the setup moving.

The one GM truck, a '93 with a 6.5 turbo diesel in it, had the transmission fail, but that was at 220,000 miles. It was a rebuild that the previous owner had had done at 120k, and I think it was probably a bad rebuild. That transmission was never great in the first place.

The other three ('97 6.5TD with 173k at time of sale, '95 454 with 214k at time of sale, and '00 Excursion currently with 99k) so far have not had problems because of it. Best I can tell, it makes no difference. Note that I've always seen warnings in the manual about taking it out of OD while towing, which I've promptly ignored. If nothing else, the people who I talk to with 7.3 PSD trucks and the 4R100 don't take it out of overdrive for towing, and those trannies still last forever, and it's the same as what the V10 has. It's far easier on the engine to be revving lower. Yes, the V10 likes to rev fine, but higher revs still put more wear on the engine vs. lower revs.

My suggestion: leave it in OD and just go with it.

As to trailers: A few years back I bought a trailer off of eBay from a guy in Sikeston, MO. He's still producing the things. The price is unbeatable and you get a new trailer. He will custom make a trailer for you based on your needs. In my case, I bought a 20' total length (18' + 2' dovetail) trailer that was... I want to say 83" between the wheel wells (can't honestly remember), made for a 2 5/16" ball (heavy duty tongue), 7-pin connector, flip-up jack, etc. for something around $1400. It was a great deal and I put over 100,000 miles and tons of abuse on the trailer in 2 years before it got stolen. I can find you a link to the guy's contact info if you're interested. I would buy another one again in a heartbeat if I still had a need for a trailer like that, but I don't.