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MPG towing?


portageman

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04 GMC 1500 crew cab, fully loaded to Grand Marais and back a week and a half ago I got 13.9 average for the round trip voyage running 65-70 most of the way. I set the tripometer and that was the final reading once we got home. 17' crestliner fishhawk, 90 yamaha. I made sure my tires were all up to the right air pressure prior to the trip on the truck and the trailer. I didn't think that was too darned bad.

Tunrevir~

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Originally Posted By: Lund4ver
I am getting 16.8 towing a 1700 Lund Fisherman, with 135 Optimax, 9.9 Fourstroke, and roughly 15 gallons of gas. I am towing it with a 2005 F150 w/ 5.4 4x4

What gear do you pull in?

Good call! Never thought of that. Im guessing its not third as most do.

Hey honey, why is the tranny shifting into overdrive....... whistle

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I don't know 100 people with this truck yet but I have talked to 2 others that I know well enough to know they are not feeding me a line and they are having similar results both construction workers so the trucks are definitly broke in. Just very dissapointed in the 6.4 is all that's great if some are getting up to 19 and it's not just when there going down hill with a 40mph tail wind. Maybe his truck will improve I am just very doubtful.

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When towing both leaving or entering the city, I tow with overdrive off, and then once rolling, I return to overdrive, unless I am driving in hills. This is the same way that I have driven all of my trucks, and never had any problems, and each truck had well over 100,000 miles on them in time that I had them.

Believe it if you want to, if not, then who cares. I have had/driven numerous different trucks with various mpg, on basically the same truck. I find it odd how if one person gets mileage that is better with their truck, they are in the wrong.

Everyone drives differently.....there for different mpg.

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When towing both leaving or entering the city, I tow with overdrive off, and then once rolling, I return to overdrive, unless I am driving in hills. This is the same way that I have driven all of my trucks, and never had any problems, and each truck had well over 100,000 miles on them in time that I had them.

Believe it if you want to, if not, then who cares. I have had/driven numerous different trucks with various mpg, on basically the same truck. I find it odd how if one person gets mileage that is better with their truck, they are in the wrong.

Everyone drives differently.....there for different mpg.

You are not in the wrong. We just wanted to understand why. Now I do at least. I assumed you were in 3rd towing and OD explains the better MPG.

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I don't know 100 people with this truck yet but I have talked to 2 others that I know well enough to know they are not feeding me a line and they are having similar results both construction workers so the trucks are definitly broke in. Just very dissapointed in the 6.4 is all that's great if some are getting up to 19 and it's not just when there going down hill with a 40mph tail wind. Maybe his truck will improve I am just very doubtful.

So these construction workers are driving straight highway miles, not towing or hauling anything? Or are they typical construction workers? Let the truck idle a half hour a day or more (big no no, 2 minutes max ) constantly pulling or hauling something, city driving, running through mud at contruction sites, having many different drivers in a truck. Another thing is the computers learn driving habbits, if you are pulling a trailer and hauling something, the computer runs it richer for awhile, even after you unhook, or unload your trailer. Many things come into play.

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I am fully aware of all the variables. 1 of the guys drives his from the Mankato area to the South Dakota border quite frequently and does it unloaded because of the milage he uses the older trucks to pull the equipment he still says the truck only gets 15 at best. In my travels I noticed the drive to and from South Dakota is my best fuel milage drive so that is how I like to compare trucks.Do you own this truck? Are you a diesel mechanic? If so in your professional opinion are you satisfied with it? What have some of these people you talked to done to improve there milage? I am not trying to start a battle here it's just some people tend to exagerate on what mileage they are getting because they like they truck so much or they are Ford guys or Chevy guys and they want people to be impressed with there brand. My own brother in law told me once that the super duty plow trucks they have with V-10's where getting 20mpg believe that? He is a die hard Ford guy and wanted me to think they were the greatest thing ever.

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I have worked at a Ford dealership since 1990 as a mechanic, I have worked on Powerstrokes since 95 when the first Powerstrokes came out. I am diesel certified through Ford! I get the word right from the owners of the trucks. I do not own a 6.4 Powerstroke. I do believe Fords best diesel was the 02-03 7.3. Then the whole 6.0 nightmare, some people hate them, some people love them, I was not one of the 6.0 lovers! The 6.4 has been better then the 6.0.

I am not trying to argue either, trust me, the reason I ask everyone with a 6.4 their milage is because I get alot of people complaing of their milage. Some of the biggest milage issues are people letting them idle, thinking it is a diesel it should idle. Letting them idle is a big waste of fuel, and it just soots up the engines, Ford says 2 minutes max! Other things are speed, if you drive 55 you will get atleast 4 miles per gallon better then if you drive 70.

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I have a 16' boat with a 20hp....so it's not very heavy. Recent trip to Canada towing that with gear I got 18 mpg with my 03' Dodge 2500 CTD 4x4 on 35" tires. The 2001 Dodge 2500 CTD 2x4 that was with me got just slightly better towing the same size boat/load. I think I filled maybe .5-1 gallon more than him at each station.

Around town I get more around 15-16mpg. Freeway unloaded and keeping under 70 I can get close to 19.....around 60 I can get close to or above above 19mpg.

If I drive 50mph over a long distance trip with not much stop and go I can get 21-22mpg........but I can't (never) drive that slow....so it's kind of a mute point. I had to try it though.

Slowing down makes a big difference though!

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Another variable that I did not see mentioned is whether you tow your boat with the cover on or off. Makes a difference for me as I have to take the windshield and trolling motor off for the cover to fit. Much more aerodynamic with cover on so I always do longer pulls with cover and local stuff without because it is a hassle to put on/off.

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I definitly agree with you on the 7.3! It was a great diesel engine if they could have gotten the sound level down and stuck with that engine it would have been something. I now understand where your coming from a little more now my dad has tried all of this stuff to no avail. As a matter of fact I sometimes don't let it warm up enough just starts and goes. Other guys I am not sure of. Do you work at the ford dealer in Le Sueuer then? Do you guys do anything to them to improve the mileage Mankato Ford has told him twice there is nothing they can do and that all of the trucks are getting the same milage as him.

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'01 Ranger 4.0L, 150,000 miles, towing a 16 ft. with a 25 merc, cover on..............16-18 mpg at 65 mph. Driving to and from work, if I keep it at 70 on the highway, I get just over 20 mpg.

My dad has the same truck, drives 10 mins to work, does all the tricks (uses cruise, coasts down hill, brakes slowly, accelarates slowly, etc.) and only gets 17 mpg..........different strokes for different folks I guess.

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No I dont work in Lesueur, I have from 90-96. There isnt any magic solution. Reflash of the pcm, slow down, dont let it idle, no wide tires, visors, install a box cover of some sort, keep maint up. Some trucks seem to get lower milage, some seem to get better milage. Some of the mods you mentioned earlier work also, but for others it just gives them more power to play with! You can put a thinner gear lube in.

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Just returned from a trip to Canada. Pulled my Sylvan 1600 Adventurer with 90hp 2-stroke, loaded with about 8 coolers and two other guys. My vehicle is a 2001 Ford F150 with 5.4L V8. I averaged roughly 14.5mpg running at speeds from 55mph - 65mph.

Note: my mileage dropped when I was running on Canadian fuel. My system is designed around 87 octane oxygenated fuel. I believe they do not blend 10% ethanol and suspect that is the reason for the drop.

Bob

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03 Dodge ram hemi 5.7 pulling a 03 stratos 185 w/150hp yamaha, get about 10mpg 70-75mph. I dont drive very nice, could be better but the hemi's sucks down the gas no matter what I do.

Anyone with the same truck pulling about the same weight doing better?

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