3.5l Ecoboost first tow observations & concerns

[pavementends]

Put 1,400 miles on my truck before my first tow over the weekend, per manual/break-in recommendations. Towed ~2.5 hrs each way, mostly 65 mph mountainous/rolling hill highways plus about an hour of freeway between 70-75 mph. 2,500 lb single axle enclosed trailer.

Observations

• Well aware the engine is either BOOST or ECO, never both. At 65 mph and rolling hills I noticed that if I locked out gears 9 and 10 (using the minus button on the shifter) the turbo boost gauge dropped immediately and my MPG gauge increased. Do you guys generally tow with gears 9 and 10 locked out? Or just let the default Tow Mode do its thing?
• When all 10 gears available, up slight hills the truck resisted downshifting to 8th gear and boost will hold 15+ psi and MPG plummets to 4-5 mpg. If fuel economy is such a priority, why would Ford program the transmission to hold at higher gears but use far more fuel (with more boost) rather than upshift sooner? This was surprising to me.
• Like the way the truck down shifts in Tow Mode to make engine braking help when slowing to a stop.
• Transmission shifts throughout the trips were super smooth. Not a single hard/abrupt shift. Very happy with 10 speed tranny performance.
• Average fuel economy was 11 mpg, which is exactly the same as my old 2006 F-150 with the 5.4 Triton, same trailer/weight, same route (last summer). Vast majority of trip I used cruise control set at 65 mph. Of course new truck has WAY MORE power up the hills and didn't budge from the set cruise speed, but I really was expecting better tow MPG from new truck, especially because my little trailer is about 1/4 of the max capacity. I've seen many others mention disappointing towing fuel economy. Will MPG improve as more miles put on the truck?
• Trailer Light Check function is awesome. Trailer Status screen (confirms brake and running lights working) is awesome.

Concerns

• Sometimes driver side BLIS detected a vehicle when no vehicle was there. Light on mirror would stay on for several seconds then shut off. This happened a few times randomly while towing straight, no turns (so truck didn't mistake trailer as a vehicle). Otherwise, BLIS functioned normally with trailer. Anyone else?
• I'll be hooking up to my little trailer often and discovered that when I push the little "+" button in the upper lefthand corner on the backup camera screen, it zooms into my trailer ball which makes aligning so easy! Cool feature. Except... it only works about half the time. Sometimes I shift into reverse, wait for the backup camera to activate, push the "+" and nothing happens. Other times, same routine, push the "+" and it zooms in. I can't figure out if there is some scenario when the zoom is deactivated. Anyone know? Really annoying when it doesn't work and I have to do the old fashion jump in and out of the truck routine.

Thanks

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[serinjune]

Your results sound like mine. I recently towed my Can AM maverick x3 on my 18' trailer, and both combined weighed ~4k lbs. I wasn't at 100% full tank, maybe an 1/8th less. My trip was only ~130 miles total and I used almost exactly a half tank. I wished I had used the actual trip odometer for actual numbers, but I didn't expect that it would use so much fuel for a small load and trip.

Even though I was less than impressed with the towing performance, the pro-trailer backup assist is amazing. I can park that trailer perfectly each time and it's a big stress reliever!

 

[gtotco]

That fuel economy seems really low. I’ve only towed twice with mine:

Once around 300 miles with a 3500 pound empty utility trailer that was loaded with 3000 pounds of lumber for half the drive. Multiple mountain passes for total of probably 7000 feet of elevation gain up and down and I think averaged around 13. The other time was a 6x12 covered Uhaul 400-500 miles total (again a lot of high mountain passes probably 20k total elevation gain/loss), loaded for half the trip and averaged around 15 overall.

 

[Ed21]

Put 1,400 miles on my truck before my first tow over the weekend, per manual/break-in recommendations. Towed ~2.5 hrs each way, mostly 65 mph mountainous/rolling hill highways plus about an hour of freeway between 70-75 mph. 2,500 lb single axle enclosed trailer.

• Sometimes driver side BLIS detected a vehicle when no vehicle was there. Light on mirror would stay on for several seconds then shut off. This happened a few times randomly while towing straight, no turns (so truck didn't mistake trailer as a vehicle). Otherwise, BLIS functioned normally with trailer. Anyone else?

Thanks

Yes, had the same experience on straightaways with the passenger side remaining on for 5-10 minutes.

 

[DT444T]

You'll find towing fuel economy isn't always about the weight, but the drag. My 6x12 enclosed with a roof AC unit gets about 10mpg at 70mph. Loaded to maybe 5500 pounds. I've gone across the country multiple times with it. It gets 10.

My dad's 6.2L F250 gets 9 towing his 7x14 at 70.

Towing my tractor on back country roads doing 55mph tops I got like 14. I haven't a clue what the trailer weighs but it's pretty heavy.

It costs fuel to move air out of the way and your little trailer has a LOT of drag with the square back end on it. Aerodynamics are very concerned with how smoothly the air comes back together behind the trailer.

Another fun fact: You should be able to go into your screen(s) and set up individual trailer profiles that remember your brakes setting, tracks your average fuel economy with that trailer, and even the number of miles you've put on that trailer. It's under 'towing' in there, somewhere.

 

[daemonic3]

I got >11mpg on my recent return trip with my 7500# travel trailer but I do not like to go >61mph or so. Otherwise I cannot cruise in 8th without going into boost and its about where I'm comfortable with any winds or passing semis.

If I use tow/haul mode, my truck doesn't "lock out" 9-10 but it simply will not enter them due to the weight/drag. I think it may enter 9th and super mild downgrades but its rare. So effecively yes, tow/haul will make better decisions than to allow upper gears with boost.

That being said, I have a powerboost and I prefer to use Normal mode and manually lock out 9-10 most of the time, and then lock out 8th when I see even the slightest uptick on the boost PSI meter. To me, it just gives me something fun to do in trying to get the best mpg and try to set a new personal best. And in a powerboost, you can even go full electric on occasion which makes it even more fun (Tow/Haul will lock out electric-only mode). So I have the most fun on boring tow trips by 1) having the live fuel economy bar in my cluster, 2) have the boost PSI meter as a configurable gauge, 3) using Normal mode and have a hand on my shifter and toggling 8th lockouts at cruising speed, and 4) re-allowing 9th and 10th during descents where I don't need any engine braking assistance (watch the instant mpg fuel bar shoot up with lower RPMs is very satisfying!)

So my suggestion is if you find it fun to try to optimize, I'd use Tow/Haul (since you have an EB not a PB) and manual lockouts to avoid boost but re-enable those upper gears on mild descents. It's fun!

 

[BLoflin]

As others have noted, on a level roadway, the mpg is MUCH more affected by driving 75mph vs 65mph then it is by having the tow weight go from 2000lbs to 5000lbs.

ie. tow weight is not as big a factor as higher speed is.

If you have a chance (and it is safe) find a level road, put the instantaneous MPG graph on and drive at 55 then 60, then 65, then 70, then 75. You will be astounded by the decrease. Much different then driving a (slippery) sports car. The F150 with a box or RV trailer is like pushing a big billboard down the road as far as frontal area

 

[{tpc}]

Now I’m not the authority on this so I’ll say that right out of the gate. However, on the vast majority of truck forums and trailering forums I have noticed a trend for mpg while towing.

That trend is 9-12 mpg.

Doesn’t matter if you have a light camper, heavy camper, 2.7, 3.5, 5.0, diesal, 5.4, gm, ford, dodge, etc etc etc..when hauling as someone above described, “a big sheet of plywood” against the wind, that is what you get.

Now of course aerodynamics, uphill, downhill, with the wind, against the wind all play a part. But at the end of the day, when someone is talking about pulling a travel trailer any distance I can pretty much ballpark the mpg within a gallon or two and that’s 9-12.

If you getting more than that, awesome but I’m guessing distance was shorter than average. If your getting less, I guess it depends exactly how much less before it gets concerning. I’ve seen as low as 7 in an older gm truck, only to see 10 from the same truck later on, but different conditions.

I’ve had friends say they got 22 pulling a 7000 lb, 35 ft trailer. I just say ok and smile, ask them another time later on and hear 10…

 

[DT444T]

I’ve had friends say they got 22 pulling a 7000 lb, 35 ft trailer. I just say ok and smile, ask them another time later on and hear 10…

-EVERY diesel guy, ever...

 

[Platinum Peasant]

Your experience doesn’t sound too different from mine. I had the 21’ 3.5 EB (3.55 max tow) and 34” tires. I got 12.2 highway and 9.4 up and down the hill (3-6% grade) with a 7700lb camper. My current truck is 21’ 3.0 (3.55 max tow) and same wheels and tires that the ecoboost had. Both were leveled and 5.5 bed. I got 17.8 highway and 12.9 in the same trip on the 3.0, same trailer (1st trip was in may, second trip in September last year). I share the same frustration with tow mode and how it chooses gears. I don’t really use tow mode anymore. Going down hill during one of my trips, it downshifted too aggressively and pushed the RPM too high and threw the truck into limp mode to protect the engine. Made me pull over and cycle the ignition to return to normal.

 

[Gros Ventre]

Read the Ford Towing document. It specifies an area square foot limit.

 

[DT444T]

Your experience doesn’t sound too different from mine. I had the 21’ 3.5 EB (3.55 max tow) and 34” tires. I got 12.2 highway and 9.4 up and down the hill (3-6% grade) with a 7700lb camper. My current truck is 21’ 3.0 (3.55 max tow) and same wheels and tires that the ecoboost had. Both were leveled and 5.5 bed. I got 17.8 highway and 12.9 in the same trip on the 3.0, same trailer (1st trip was in may, second trip in September last year). I share the same frustration with tow mode and how it chooses gears. I don’t really use tow mode anymore. Going down hill during one of my trips, it downshifted too aggressively and pushed the RPM too high and threw the truck into limp mode to protect the engine. Made me pull over and cycle the ignition to return to normal.

Damn. Those are some good numbers for towing.

 

[Platinum Peasant]

Damn. Those are some good numbers for towing.

I’m the dude in the right lane driving 55 ?

 

[780]

2) have the boost PSI meter as a configurable gauge

Is this something that is only available on the fully digital gauge cluster? (Lariat and above)

 

[pavementends]

Is this something that is only available on the fully digital gauge cluster? (Lariat and above)

No, you can select Turbo Boost gauge as one of two selectable gauges at the top of your screen through the Menu accessed on the steering wheel. At least you can with my XLT 302A.

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