Most Efficient .5 Ton While Towing

Groover wrote:

Lantley wrote:

Groover wrote:

Lynnmor wrote:

Groover wrote:


Ford does NOT require or even recommend Premium fuel. My own experience using nothing but the recommended 87 octane for over 100,000 miles, much of it trailer pulling, is that there has not been any engine or drivetrain issues.

This is a direct copy and paste from the owners manual:

For best overall vehicle and engine performance, premium fuel with an octane rating of 91 or higher is recommended. The performance gained by using premium fuel is most noticeable in hot weather as well as other conditions, for example when towing a trailer.

There is a difference between "best performance" and "you need to use it". I have never found the performance of my truck to be lacking and certainly have never felt the need to pay the price for premium fuel.

I think it would be worthwhile to try 91 octane and then make your decision. You may notice more power and increased MPG's. Then again you may not notice much difference
But without giving it a try you will never know

I have a very similar 3-horse aluminum trailer and I get about 11.5mpg towing it under mixed conditions, including the usual stops. If anything, they got much worse on 91 than I would expect with my 2016 or 2013 truck using 87. From their results I feel like it would be losing proposition to try 91. Heck, I get about what they got pulling my 11,000lb equipment trailer with a tractor on it. If their results indicate what 91 octane would do for me I am not interested. Now, if they had gotten around 13mpg I might consider it.

The comparison is not between your data and there's. It's not a contest. The issues is will 91 octane improve your trucks performance.
You have data on 87 octane with what you currently tow, Try a fill up with 91 octane and see if you have any improvement in you own results.
If Ford recommends it I would hope you see improvement.