F150 ecoboost towing

[CantCampEnuf]

Just got back from our first trip with new truck/trailer combo. I am impressed. The truck was very comfortable to drive, got good gas mileage, felt comfortable towing, had little sway, and had power to spare ascending 6% grades.

Questions: I always have driven my Fords in tow/haul, then downshifted when descending grades over 5%. I have not downshifted ascending at all. ON one climb coming out of Camp Verde...We got a message on dash display saying engine was running hot and would downshift to lower gear. It did and engine temp dropped dramatically. I don't know if that was normal, or because we were climbing 6% in tow/haul, but forced to ascend slower than we wanted due to traffic. Note: truck had sat idle run after filling up with gas/getting food for kids for 20 minutes right before climb started and we are in AZ, it was 98 degrees. Thoughts?

Also, there is drive, M, 1 and 2. Along with tow haul. Let me know what you cruise at. We are pulling 9k, 32 ft.

[CantCampEnuf]

Shadow_Grey wrote:
I have been towing our current camper around the country for over 12,000 miles and am very impressed every time we go out. It does everything we ask of it and delivers impressive MPG while doing it. Gotta run with some dogs too so it has to keep up with them...

Great looking rig! Glad to hear that the 150 ECO is towing so well for you. It seems to be a consistent experience! Safe travels.

[Shadow_Grey]

I have been towing our current camper around the country for over 12,000 miles and am very impressed every time we go out. It does everything we ask of it and delivers impressive MPG while doing it. Gotta run with some dogs too so it has to keep up with them...

[Tystevens]

CantCampEnuf wrote:
great trip to CA and back. While there are no real steep mountain passes, the truck with 6th locked out operated amazing. Facing a stiff head wind on way out west, she only got 8.9 MPG. On way back, 10.0 with a solid south crosswind. No sway to even worry about, especially on way back. On way to, was a bit, think it was a weighting issue.

Very pleased with power, mpg and performance of this truck. I was skeptical... and I know the payload is borderline or high.... but wow.

Good report. I also am quite impressed and very pleased with the Ecoboost's performance. Great powertrain!

[CantCampEnuf]

great trip to CA and back. While there are no real steep mountain passes, the truck with 6th locked out operated amazing. Facing a stiff head wind on way out west, she only got 8.9 MPG. On way back, 10.0 with a solid south crosswind. No sway to even worry about, especially on way back. On way to, was a bit, think it was a weighting issue.

Very pleased with power, mpg and performance of this truck. I was skeptical... and I know the payload is borderline or high.... but wow.

[philh]

rhagfo wrote:
Best ratio of antifreeze to water is about 70%, best cooling and freeze protection.

Absolutely wrong.

Plain 100% water will cool better than any percentage of anti freeze

100% water has terrible corrosion inhibiting characteristics

100% water has serious cold weather issues

50/50 is viewed as a compromise

[rhagfo]

Samsonsworld wrote:

CantCampEnuf wrote:
Just got back from our first trip with new truck/trailer combo. I am impressed. The truck was very comfortable to drive, got good gas mileage, felt comfortable towing, had little sway, and had power to spare ascending 6% grades.

Questions: I always have driven my Fords in tow/haul, then downshifted when descending grades over 5%. I have not downshifted ascending at all. ON one climb coming out of Camp Verde...We got a message on dash display saying engine was running hot and would downshift to lower gear. It did and engine temp dropped dramatically. I don't know if that was normal, or because we were climbing 6% in tow/haul, but forced to ascend slower than we wanted due to traffic. Note: truck had sat idle run after filling up with gas/getting food for kids for 20 minutes right before climb started and we are in AZ, it was 98 degrees. Thoughts?

Also, there is drive, M, 1 and 2. Along with tow haul. Let me know what you cruise at. We are pulling 9k, 32 ft.

My trailer is 35ft, 8k dry. Towed it through New Mexico and Colorado last year with no issues. I usually lock mine into 4th or 5th depending on the terrain and run at 65-70mph. On a few climbs I've had to drop it to 3rd to maintain 55mph. Never had any overheating probalems. You might try swapping thermostats or running a higher distilled water ratio in your radiator. JM $.02

Best ratio of antifreeze to water is about 70%, best cooling and freeze protection.

[Samsonsworld]

CantCampEnuf wrote:
Just got back from our first trip with new truck/trailer combo. I am impressed. The truck was very comfortable to drive, got good gas mileage, felt comfortable towing, had little sway, and had power to spare ascending 6% grades.

Questions: I always have driven my Fords in tow/haul, then downshifted when descending grades over 5%. I have not downshifted ascending at all. ON one climb coming out of Camp Verde...We got a message on dash display saying engine was running hot and would downshift to lower gear. It did and engine temp dropped dramatically. I don't know if that was normal, or because we were climbing 6% in tow/haul, but forced to ascend slower than we wanted due to traffic. Note: truck had sat idle run after filling up with gas/getting food for kids for 20 minutes right before climb started and we are in AZ, it was 98 degrees. Thoughts?

Also, there is drive, M, 1 and 2. Along with tow haul. Let me know what you cruise at. We are pulling 9k, 32 ft.

My trailer is 35ft, 8k dry. Towed it through New Mexico and Colorado last year with no issues. I usually lock mine into 4th or 5th depending on the terrain and run at 65-70mph. On a few climbs I've had to drop it to 3rd to maintain 55mph. Never had any overheating probalems. You might try swapping thermostats or running a higher distilled water ratio in your radiator. JM $.02

[AZDesertRat]

I towed from Phoenix up past Payson to the Forest Lakes area with my new 2014 Ecoboost for the first time over Mothers Day weekend and was extremely impressed. My 25' toyhauler was somewhere between 9500 and 10,000 lbs fully loaded with a 4 place full cage metal roofed Arctic Cat Prowler, full water tanks and enough food and gear for 16 people for 4 days between the truck and trailer.
It was no comparison to the 2006 F-150, 5.4, 3.73 rear I used to tow with.
In a couple weeks I will be towing the same rig up the general Crook Trail out of Camp Verde up to Blue Ridge and can't wait to see how it does. The 06 struggled poorly up that grade even with a Edge Evolution programmer, cat back exhaust, cold air intake, premium fuel and with the transmission rebuilt specifically with towing in mind with heavy duty clutch packs, drilled valve body and shift kit.
On Mothers Day I put it in two/haul mode and let it do its thing both uphill and down hill with the engine breaking. I didn't lock any gears out including overdrive and it never broke a sweat. I think Camp Verde will be more of a work out but if it acts anything like it did before I think I will be very happy.

[itguy08]

Turtle n Peeps wrote:

I can take my 6.6 liter LBZ Dmax and turn it up to 600 HP. Or I can just buy a 15 liter C15 with 600 HP.

This is a good example of what Ford is doing with the EcoBoost. They take a small engine and turn it up. Where as the big Cat can live all day at 600 HP the Dmax will not live very long at all at the 600 HP level.

The HUGE size of the C15 along with its cooling system can suck up and reject a lot of heat; the Dmax will melt down like a stick of butter in the Az sun at the 600 HP level.

Much like the example above the Ecoboost does not have a lot of duty cycle.

Bottom line is, it's easy to make HP with a turbocharger. It's extremely hard to deal with the heat it puts out. OP, you ran into both.

Except you are forgetting that Ford designed and built the Ecoboost to handle the power levels it's putting out just like the C15. The Dmax was not designed for those levels. All will happily run within their design specs.

[tragusa3]

That's exactly how I do it. I tap the button to lock out however many gears I would like. I almost always have 6th locked out...if flat or long, generally downhill grades. I've locked out 5th on 6% or greater climbs.

On our weekend trip last week, there is a 10% climb that you have to start from a stop. I put it in M and 1st gear until there was a slight dip for a second. This dip allowed me to get a little speed and then I manually went to second for the rest of the climb. I could have put the pedal down and muscled up more aggressively, but I did what I felt was easiest for the truck.

As Tystevens said, you'll have it figured in short order.

[Tystevens]

ShinerBock wrote:
Watch this video.

Ford SelectShift

Yep, just tap the '-' button once, twice if needed. Remember to tap the '+' once you get to the top of the hill, or you'll be limited to 4th!

Good luck. Just takes a trip or 2 to get things worked out.

[CantCampEnuf]

ShinerBock wrote:
Watch this video.

Ford SelectShift

Shiner that was great. Thank you for link. Will try this on trip to CA next weekend. Only one climb, but 7 hours worth of towing.

[ShinerBock]

Watch this video.

Ford SelectShift

[CantCampEnuf]

So when ascending hill, i see RPM are too low... I decide I need to downshift, is that pressing accelerator to floor to DS? IS that the only way to do it? I am sure I dont want to shift the truck in 2 and go up hill.... correct?