F350 DRW
Recent trip Pa to Fl to Louisville Ky. back to Pa.total 2677 miles 222.9 gal. diesel=12mpg.Trailer is high profile fifth wheel weight 12000# 90% of miles towing.Truck now has 3800 miles used no oil so far.I had pulled this trailer w/06 F250 6.0 11mpg but never as many hills as this trip.Truck never seamed to work hard on hills never needed truck lane.Exhast brake worked great.Motor oil temp went to 230 on steepest grade not sure what to look for there,trans at 203.outside temp upper 90s.Truck weight w/o trailer9300 w/21340.Really impressed w/truck wife also says it was good idea she managed a new Fusion at same time,it was worth it.

 

that sounds great my 08 6.4 only gets 11.0 MPG on flats and not towing anything and towing a 12000# 5er around 7-8 MPG my 2011 should be in 8/9 I can't wait

 

I had a good tow a couple of weeks ago. 11,000 lbs at high altitudes (over 8,000 feet mountain passes and twisty gravel roads) and the truck got about 11 mpg. Unloaded around town is 14ish, level freeway is 20mpg.

 

That's awesome. Unfortunately, I'll probably never get to test my truck in that environment. From where I live, it is about 800 miles before I see any mountain ranges. Have been through the rockies and other mountain ranges a long time ago but don't think I'll ever get to head that way again. Purely flat land down here but still, they are impressive towing machines.

 

Just pulled a 24' car hauler to Alaska from Florida with a 2011 F350 DRW 6.7 diesel. 23500 CGVW with 13500 in tow. The truck pulled great and even more importantly it did a great job controlling down hill speed.

Most of the road was great, but some of it is still a challenge including 10-12% up and down hill grades. The worst part was west of Haines Junction where the road looked like an earthquake had hit....too bad it was just frost heave damage.

Calculated mileage of 8.5 mpg interstate 75 mph, 9.5 mpg at 65 mph, and 10.5 at 55 mph. I am getting 18.5 unloaded now with 5800 total miles. Total trip was 5200 miles total by my less than direct route over 7 days. Thank God for the great interior comfort and airconditioned seats.

 

I posted this in another thread back on 7/17.

If anyone's interested....

My first tow with my new '11 6.7 F250

Roughly 8K of travel trailer, about 300 miles today through ATL past Montgomery, AL.

I found out I have a 25 gal fuel tank. Not good.

My truck is 10K GVWR, 23.5K GCVWR, 3.55 E lock rear diff.

My trailer made the rear bumper sag 3.5" so I had to install the weight distribution bars. Never was an issue with my '08. Not that crazy about that. For some reason, I only have 2 leafs in the rear with the 3rd one being the bottom. My '08 had 3, 4th being the bottom one.

MPG? Wow, I only got 9.6 with cruise set on 70. RPM's were steady at 1600-1650. Not much better than my '08 got.

Manners? I get more sway and wiggle on downhill runs and from passing vehicles. The trailer pushes my truck around more than I ever experienced with my '08. Otherwise, the engine and tranny are pure silk. No contest, amazing driveline, pulls like a dream, no lag, pure grunt. Downshifts/engine braking in tow/haul are like melted butter on fresh lobster.

Interior and dash? No contest, amazing vehicle/ergonomics/technology w/nav and Sync. Air conditioned seats are da bomb.

I need airbags and mostly to be conviced that MPG's are supposed to be up. I know that running empty is supposed to be better, and, for the most part I believe it. Towing? Nothing so far. I planned on saving $4-5K this year in fuel, I don't drive more than 50 miles/week without a trailer.

Don't tell me to run 65MPH! I average 900 miles/week and an extra 5MPH average nets me significant time.

At any rate, I love the truck. I really had a great experience with my '08 though I don't regret trading it in at 154K miles. It was starting to go in a few ways.

I need airbags badly as two of my work trailers won't accept distribution bars the way they are configured. Hopefully with some tire wear and the airbags the trailer dancing will calm down. I'm starting to wonder how much lighter these '11's are compared to the '08-'10s. That weight made a nice towing platform.


Now, I have more to add:

Printed on the dealer invoice, weight of my F250 CC 4X4 6.7 is 7345lbs. (shipping weight) With family of 4, toolbox, hitch, line-x prob pushing 8K, maybe more with fuel.

I towed the camper 300 miles yesterday, averaged 11.4 cruising at 67 mph. Much better than any other truck I have towed with.

I reported that the leaf springs are more forgiving, and they are compared to the '08 F250. Verified by Tom (Crazy001), payload cap. is the same as previous years though. Just a better ride and a bit more sag with weight.

I reported experiencing more trailer sway and feeling less stable with the '11. Last time I towed I had 80 psi in the rear tires and 60 in the front, using a wight distribution hitch and a friction sway bar. Same set up this time but I added air to the front tires, running at 70 in front, 80 rear and the sway is all but gone. Hard to believe it made that much difference.

The '11 now feels just like my '08 did, which is important because the '08 was the best tow vehicle I ever drove, until now.

 

I just returned from an 1850 mile trip today. 1300 miles towing the 13000# Bighorn and 550 miles running empty on the freeway at 75 mph. The average was 13.1 mpg for the entire trip. It runs around 11.5 loaded with the Big Horn at 65 to 70 mph. If I run at 60 it will get 12 to 12.5 mpg.

 

I was not aware you made the trade! Look forward to your impressions as time goes on.

sorry to see your 08 go.

 

Hey Scott, yeah my '08 was a good girl but with 4 rads and waiting for new thermostats and trying to figure out why my coolant level dropped an inch every week we kinda figured running it much past 150K would be ok but with our extended warranty running out at 200K we figured to pick up the '11 since my dealer had one that was spec'd out the way I like it.