F150 3.5l w\EcoBoost, MaxTow package

Atlee wrote:


I've just finished about a 2000k mile trip towing. Went from Richmond, VA area to Blacksburg, VA, then across WV through Ohio to Michigan, back down to Columbus, OH, then to Richmond, VA and back to Blacksburg, VA.

I'm impressed that you drove 2,000,000 miles in your truck.

EcoBullet wrote:

2112 wrote:
Do you ever use anything higher than 87 octane? That's all I burn.

My first couple of trips I ran 91, or sometimes 89 if I couldn't stand the price difference. Then I decided to just see if I noticed a difference by using 87. I couldn't tell any difference in power or mileage. Now I just run 87.

That's my story as well. I didn't notice any difference either on performance or mileage.

2112 wrote:
Do you ever use anything higher than 87 octane? That's all I burn.

My first couple of trips I ran 91, or sometimes 89 if I couldn't stand the price difference. Then I decided to just see if I noticed a difference by using 87. I couldn't tell any difference in power or mileage. Now I just run 87.

2112 wrote:

Atlee wrote:
...Filled with 87 octane pure gasoline, and driving the most gentle route home, sans trailer, I got 19.9 mpg.

Do you ever use anything higher than 87 octane? That's all I burn.

I've recently been trying 91 Octane. Don't really notice any difference in power with the 7500# trailer, but I'm a conservative driver.

The MPG towing is about 8-9% better so far, but that can change as I accumulate more miles for the comparison. Will know more this winter once we get down to Florida.

Another supposed advantage of the "premium" fuels is the cleaning additives they claim to put in. But who really knows ...

I do use premium full synthetic oil, so thought I'd try the premium fuel route as well.

Atlee wrote:
...Filled with 87 octane pure gasoline, and driving the most gentle route home, sans trailer, I got 19.9 mpg.

Do you ever use anything higher than 87 octane? That's all I burn.

I have a new '14 Ecoboost, SuperCab XLT 4x4, 8ft box, with Max Tow Pkg, and the HD Pkg which has a 3.73 rear end. It has a 8200# GVWR and Cargo Capacity of 2286#. I pull a relatively small TT, which has a 4995# GVWR.

I've just finished about a 2000k mile trip towing. Went from Richmond, VA area to Blacksburg, VA, then across WV through Ohio to Michigan, back down to Columbus, OH, then to Richmond, VA and back to Blacksburg, VA.

I averaged 10.2 mpg during that time. And by making a mistake on how to return from Columbus to Richmond, I definitely put this new EcoBoost through it's paces. In Ohio, I decided to drive across WV on US 50, which is part of the "Loneliest Highway". The second half of the drive was at night, and I was going up and down 9% grades and hair pin curves. I had all the power I could ever need. There was always more power left in reserve. Coming down the mountains, most of the time the tow haul would down shift enough for engine braking. A couple of times, I just shifted to M(anual) and selected a lower gear.

I realize 5k mountains aren't 10k mountains, but 9% grades are 9% grades no matter where you are driving.

All in all, I was quite pleased.

Sunday, I left the TT in Blacksburg since we have 3 back to back games. There was no sense in pulling the trailer home, just to pull it back this coming weekend.

Filled with 87 octane pure gasoline, and driving the most gentle route home, sans trailer, I got 19.9 mpg.

The EB is the only 1/2 ton on the market I'd buy for frequent towing use. I love how ours performs when towing.

Works fantastic in the mountains, where it can climb a 7% grade at 65 mph in 4th gear, 2500 rpms just humming along. Engine braking is fine, too, despite what some have said. Yeah, it has a little less, and I need a gear lower than I did w/ my GM 5.3 sometimes, but it isn't a big deal. Put it this way -- we came down from 10,500 ft to 5000 ft over about 20 miles a few weeks ago, and I barely touched the brakes. Oh, and the engine never needed more than 2500 rpm going the other way.

I know fuel economy is a hot issue w/ the EB, but mine has met or exceeded my expectations. I can easily exceed 21 mpg on the freeway unloaded. Around town, it is 17-18. Or, in other words, better than both my diesel or my 5.3 1/2 ton by a couple mpg!

joshuajim wrote:

goducks10 wrote:
If your looking at new then remember MaxTow is not Heavy Duty payload or Max Payload.
MaxTow is a step above reg tow and comes with 3.73 gears and the payload ranges in the 17-1850lb range.

Heavy Duty payload gives you and extra 500lbs or so of payload and puts it in the 21-2300lb range.

I'd opt for the Heavy Duty payload and then you'll have plenty of truck if youwant to upgrade.

The HD Payload on my 13 is 2,592#. Better than some 3/4 ton!

That's pretty good. I know it can be as high as 3000lb in a reg cab 2wd. Just going by what guys have posted on here and the F150 forums.

It's more than my Ram 2500. Mines at 2176lbs. But where 3/4 tons have the advantage is the RAWR. Yours is only 4800lbs. Mines 6000lbs and limited to tires. Gotta say though the HD F150's are a good alternative to a 3/4 ton truck.

WyoTraveler wrote:

MitchF150 wrote:
WyoTraveler, The Eco does pull grades with ease and will do it going 60 mph while pulling around 2800 rpms in 4th gear. If you want to go 65 mph, you'll be closer to 3000 rpms and not even close to the floor with the pedal.

The smallest size wheel that can go on the new F150's is a 17" wheel and the 4 wheel discs are huge.. Even with my 20" wheels, the brakes fill the hole..

With the Tow/Haul feature going down hill the trans will downshift to lower gears as you tap the brakes, so if you don't mind winding out over 3500 rpms, you won't have to hit the brakes much at all..

It's hard to believe a little 3.5L engine torque peaks at only 2500 rpms and that's over 400 lb/ft of torque too... :)



Bash it all you want.. Until you have driven one, you will never know the truth.. :)

Mitch

Others that have them admit they have a lot less engine braking while descending grades. Of course we don't have any wind in WY so guess wind wouldn't be a problem. LOL. Last trip in Feb South Pass was closed so we went around through Rawlins and encountered 60 MPH cross winds.

I'll admit my EB has less engine braking than my previous 4.6L. It's noticeable but not a huge difference.

fatheraccountant wrote:
We are relatively new to RVing. We have a 30' Sunset Trails ultra-light (6,400#) empty. We've been using our son-in-law's Tundra but we're seriously considering a F-150 3.5L with Ecoboost. The ones we're looking at have a 3:43 rear end. It sounds like this truck should handle our trailer. We're kind of resigned to getting lousy mileage when towing but would like to get the best we can the other 95% of the time. Any thoughts?

You may wish to start a new thread as this is a new question. When you say 6400 empty is that as measured at a truck scale or is that a dry weight? If that is a dry weight you are likely at 8000 lbs of trailer. It would be very helpful to get a handle on the real weight of your trailer loaded for camping. How many passengers and how much gear do you bring along? I believe you will want at least the HD Tow and possibly the Max Payload. These packages will provide the 3:73 rear end, transmission cooler and more payload.

Bottom line is yes, you want to get good milage when not towing, but you really need to have the right truck to safely tow your trailer when you do tow. Please consider a new post and see if you can give us a little more info regarding the weights.

Good luck,
Stu

P.s. Good job asking your questions before you buy the truck!