2017 F350 impressions.

womps wrote:

1jeep wrote:
ill keep my antique 2016 model, going up hills it stays in 6th gear doing 65mph using cruise.

I am curious what gear ratio your truck has, 3:31? 6th to 4th is a big drop for a diesel.

It has the 3:31 ratio. My 2016 had the 3:55 ratio. Yet both turning over at 1,500 rpm at 60 mph.

Going from 6th to 4th gear only increases the revs by about 700 rpm. I checked when towing again today. Towed into a heavy headwind. Locked it in 5th and didn't use cruise and it towed it effortlessly.

womps wrote:

...
Talked to another camper last night pulling his 5th wheel with his 17 Lariat 350 with the Powerstroke and he said he will drop about 5 mph when using cruise before it decides to step on it to get up to its pre set speed.

Same issue with my Ram 2500 Cummins. Not specific to Ford. Guess they allow a substantial speed drop on the off chance that you can get over that hill without any downshift. Sometimes it works that way ...

But I lockout 6th if the downshifts under cruise get too tiresome in the hills, or will manually downshift at the base of a hill if I know it will happen anyway (less roaring as the speed is maintained that way). Or just lock out cruise and do it all manually if I'm in the mood.

Dunno if GMs cruise is any different.

alexleblanc wrote:

blofgren wrote:

alexleblanc wrote:

womps wrote:
Towed 5th wheel first time. Cruise control basically useless. Going up a moderate grade will loose 7 mph then kick down to 4th to catch up. If I don't use cruise it will go up the same grade without shifting out of 6th. Same going down a small grade. Speed increases about 7mph before the exhaust brake decides to try and slow you down. Regardless of setting, the exhaust brake doesn't do much. Not impressive!

I'm not sure if you quite understand how the exhaust brake works on these trucks but after turning it on and pushing the brakes with enough force to scrub off a MPH or two it kicks right in and keeps speed within a few MPH of the current speed on mine, I am extremely happy with how it works on mine, it's an improvement from my 2013 and I found that one to work decent too, but not as aggressive as the 17.

I think he was referring to how it works on cruise control. By letting the truck speed up 7 mph before kicking in, you are already going too fast, especially on the grades here in the West.

In that case it must be some pretty serious grades, probably a good idea to be turning cruise off and actually having manual imput to the braking system. Cruise obviously isn't optimal in the big grades out west.

They were not big grades at all. Longer mild grades. The cruise while pulling is definitely not performing to make using it enjoyable. Talked to another camper last night pulling his 5th wheel with his 17 Lariat 350 with the Powerstroke and he said he will drop about 5 mph when using cruise before it decides to step on it to get up to its pre set speed.

blofgren wrote:

alexleblanc wrote:

womps wrote:
Towed 5th wheel first time. Cruise control basically useless. Going up a moderate grade will loose 7 mph then kick down to 4th to catch up. If I don't use cruise it will go up the same grade without shifting out of 6th. Same going down a small grade. Speed increases about 7mph before the exhaust brake decides to try and slow you down. Regardless of setting, the exhaust brake doesn't do much. Not impressive!

I'm not sure if you quite understand how the exhaust brake works on these trucks but after turning it on and pushing the brakes with enough force to scrub off a MPH or two it kicks right in and keeps speed within a few MPH of the current speed on mine, I am extremely happy with how it works on mine, it's an improvement from my 2013 and I found that one to work decent too, but not as aggressive as the 17.

I think he was referring to how it works on cruise control. By letting the truck speed up 7 mph before kicking in, you are already going too fast, especially on the grades here in the West.

In that case it must be some pretty serious grades, probably a good idea to be turning cruise off and actually having manual imput to the braking system. Cruise obviously isn't optimal in the big grades out west.

alexleblanc wrote:

womps wrote:
Towed 5th wheel first time. Cruise control basically useless. Going up a moderate grade will loose 7 mph then kick down to 4th to catch up. If I don't use cruise it will go up the same grade without shifting out of 6th. Same going down a small grade. Speed increases about 7mph before the exhaust brake decides to try and slow you down. Regardless of setting, the exhaust brake doesn't do much. Not impressive!

I'm not sure if you quite understand how the exhaust brake works on these trucks but after turning it on and pushing the brakes with enough force to scrub off a MPH or two it kicks right in and keeps speed within a few MPH of the current speed on mine, I am extremely happy with how it works on mine, it's an improvement from my 2013 and I found that one to work decent too, but not as aggressive as the 17.

I think he was referring to how it works on cruise control. By letting the truck speed up 7 mph before kicking in, you are already going too fast, especially on the grades here in the West.

womps wrote:
Towed 5th wheel first time. Cruise control basically useless. Going up a moderate grade will loose 7 mph then kick down to 4th to catch up. If I don't use cruise it will go up the same grade without shifting out of 6th. Same going down a small grade. Speed increases about 7mph before the exhaust brake decides to try and slow you down. Regardless of setting, the exhaust brake doesn't do much. Not impressive!

I'm not sure if you quite understand how the exhaust brake works on these trucks but after turning it on and pushing the brakes with enough force to scrub off a MPH or two it kicks right in and keeps speed within a few MPH of the current speed on mine, I am extremely happy with how it works on mine, it's an improvement from my 2013 and I found that one to work decent too, but not as aggressive as the 17.

Lynnmor wrote:

womps wrote:

1jeep wrote:
ill keep my antique 2016 model, going up hills it stays in 6th gear doing 65mph using cruise.

I am curious what gear ratio your truck has, 3:31? 6th to 4th is a big drop for a diesel.

It has the 3:31 ratio. My 2016 had the 3:55 ratio. Yet both turning over at 1,500 rpm at 60 mph.

I wonder if the tire size is the same, just saying 18" wheels doesn't explain the actual circumference. If the tires are the same, the actual RPM will change.

Tires are 18" on both trucks. 2016 had Michelins and 2017 has Continentals.

womps wrote:

1jeep wrote:
ill keep my antique 2016 model, going up hills it stays in 6th gear doing 65mph using cruise.

I am curious what gear ratio your truck has, 3:31? 6th to 4th is a big drop for a diesel.

It has the 3:31 ratio. My 2016 had the 3:55 ratio. Yet both turning over at 1,500 rpm at 60 mph.

I wonder if the tire size is the same, just saying 18" wheels doesn't explain the actual circumference. If the tires are the same, the actual RPM will change.

Awesome! My friend finally ditched his 6.0 and bought a 2016 last fall. The 16 was amazing, I can only imagine how much better the 2017's are! Enjoy!!!

1jeep wrote:
ill keep my antique 2016 model, going up hills it stays in 6th gear doing 65mph using cruise.

I am curious what gear ratio your truck has, 3:31? 6th to 4th is a big drop for a diesel.

It has the 3:31 ratio. My 2016 had the 3:55 ratio. Yet both turning over at 1,500 rpm at 60 mph.