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-   -   First tow....not too bad (https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1229204-first-tow-not-too-bad.html)

Amelio 03-11-2013 08:55 AM

First tow....not too bad
 
I towed for the first time on Saturday.....went down to Reynolds Ga at Silver Dollar raceway. Its about a 2 hour ride from my house....my truck has just under 5k miles on it. Under normal driving I did not even know the load was back there....the biggest thing I felt was a lot more stable. The truck did not move much at all over bumps and during braking. On the way down on 75 I ran between 70-80mph nice and smooth it averaged 12.5.....on some of the hills it would drop out of 6th to 5th. Once I got off the interstate I had 20 miles of back roads which were nothing but big hills up and down pretty steep pulls. I manually shut off 6th and left it in 5th ran about 60-65 and mpg's dropped to 11.5

Not to bad at all I am very happy with the truck! The load was not real heavy my car is only 3400 pounds and the trailer is probably 1800-2000 plus a few hundred pounds of tools and crap in the bed.
http://i1285.photobucket.com/albums/...ps273f5b47.jpg

jhawkins 03-11-2013 04:02 PM

Amelio, which rear end do you have, 3.73 or 4.30? I will only be towing about 2000 lbs. more than you on a similar trailer. Your towing mileage sounds real good.

Amelio 03-11-2013 04:36 PM

it's got 3.73......I don't tow much just occasionally to the race track....hopefully later this year I will be able to get a 24' v-nose enclosed trailer that's gonna bump up the weight a good bit but again I don't tow a hole lot during the year.

biz4two 03-14-2013 01:07 AM

Good report! I'll say...that when you tow the 24' v-nose...you'll notice mpg's drop. It's just the wind resistance that you generate. Plus on the Interstate highways...you notice it more when the 18 wheeler's pass.

Yeah...I have a 20' v-nose enclosed. Still tows like a dream...but you do know it is there.


biz
:D

GSSF17 03-14-2013 07:37 AM

Nice towing report!

I pulled my camper (bumper pull @ 6k loaded) this weekend and the truck did great. I fought a headwind the whole way to our camping destination (180 miles away) and the mpg was 9 running 65-70. ouch. The wind drag is what killed me on this trip.

Oh, and nice grand nash!

Lakelover 03-14-2013 07:11 PM

I like the Truck!

Amelio 03-17-2013 01:02 PM


Originally Posted by GSSF17 (Post 12947669)
Nice towing report!

I pulled my camper (bumper pull @ 6k loaded) this weekend and the truck did great. I fought a headwind the whole way to our camping destination (180 miles away) and the mpg was 9 running 65-70. ouch. The wind drag is what killed me on this trip.

Oh, and nice grand nash!

yeah the wind drag is the killer......I have not pulled my motorcyle yet but with my Denali I used to have I could swear it felt as heavy as the car just due to the tail gate being like a wind sail catching all the air! Fortunately my car site below the cab and I thnik most of the air goes right over.

rondupree 03-18-2013 06:43 PM

We just completed a round trip to Florida with our truck. 2013 6.2 2wd crewcab Lariat, pulling a 22 ft Haulmark enclosed trailer that was special ordered extra tall to fit our car into. This is a square nose trailer that has the aerodynamics of a box car. Trailer grosses at about 7000lb. Going down, towing at about 62 mph, mileage was about 9, give or take a little. Coming back, I stepped it up to about 67, and mileage dropped to about 8, closer to 7 when we were going into some headwinds that were hard enough to keep me in 5th gear. For comparison, my 99 7.3 with manual transmission typically got a little over 10 towing at 60 mph. Was hoping for a little better mileage, but I can live with what I have. This trip was done with the transmission in automatic 95% of the time.

What is the opinion on tow/haul vs automatic? Better or worse mileage?

GSSF17 03-18-2013 06:50 PM

Leave it in tow/haul. Just my opinion, but it is there for exactly that. Shifts better under all kinds of acceleration and fuel mileage will be what it will be.

Amelio 03-19-2013 02:09 PM

I always tow in Automatic mode in tow/haul....i would probably use manual mode in a real heavy application pulling a hill


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