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RSD559's avatar
RSD559
Explorer
Jun 10, 2016

Traded the Tahoe in on an Ecoboost

What a difference. The Tahoe was more for fuel economy than towing. All of about 12.5 mpg It had the 4.8 with 3.23 gears. And a second gear that seemed about 8000 rpm. The F-150 3.5L Ecoboost is a monster. Towed my trailer up to about 7500 feet on some pretty steep grades. No problems. Watched the temp gauges the whole way. The transmission temp gauge went up a little, but the engine temp gauge was solid. Could've gone 90mph all the way. Found out today that it has a 3.15 rear end. Wouldn't have known it from how it towed. It also has a 6 speed auto transmission that auto-downshifts in tow/haul mode. It doesn't have an external transmission cooler in it, which I don't understand. It would cost Ford about $15 a unit to install them in all their trucks. So I have one on order, and I'll get it hooked up before our 2000 mile trip this summer.
Tow Vehicles
  • IDoMyOwnStunts's avatar
    IDoMyOwnStunts
    Explorer
    Jun 15, 2016
    Arcamper wrote:
    Turtle n Peeps wrote:
    Congrats on your new truck! Turbo engines tow nicely!

    Be aware that your gauges are software smoothed. What you see is not what you get.


    This is true, they show normal right up until they peg hot. Had a manual trans temp gauge on my Ford and it could be all over the place but the dash gauge never moved.


    My F150 had a screen on the dash that showed transmission temperature as a number in addition to the gauge on the cluster. The cluster gauge is definitely software smoothed, but the number gauge did show the true temp. It was the only thing on the screen, but if you thumb through the displays, you'll find it. I used to watch it like a hawk, but the highest I ever saw was 207 pulling my toy hauler over US 26 at Mt Hood. I had the regular (non-max) tow version with 3.31 gears.
  • gmw_photos's avatar
    gmw_photos
    Explorer
    Jun 14, 2016
    Turtle n Peeps wrote:
    Congrats on your new truck! Turbo engines tow nicely!

    Be aware that your gauges are software smoothed. What you see is not what you get.


    Yep, I use a scangauge2 in my Nissan, and it displays the actual water temp.

    By comparison, the factory dash gauge for temp "stays in the middle" from 155 degrees on up to (apparently 232 ). I've never seen more than 210 or so, but of course the factory gauge needle was still right there in the middle.

    Some of the OEM's also report out trans temp on the automatics to the OBD port, so the scangauge "may" also be able to show trans temp.

    Enjoy your new truck OP.... I test drove one of those, and it's a nice truck and a strong running motor for sure.
  • Arcamper's avatar
    Arcamper
    Explorer
    Jun 14, 2016
    Turtle n Peeps wrote:
    Congrats on your new truck! Turbo engines tow nicely!

    Be aware that your gauges are software smoothed. What you see is not what you get.


    This is true, they show normal right up until they peg hot. Had a manual trans temp gauge on my Ford and it could be all over the place but the dash gauge never moved.
  • PUCampin's avatar
    PUCampin
    Explorer
    Jun 10, 2016
    Congrats on your truck! Don't worry too much about the gear ratio, the wide ratio of todays 6spd transmissions almost makes the rear end irrelevant. The 6R80 has a 1st gear of 4.17:1, so even with a 3.15 rear end, your first gear is still lower than the old 4spd was with a 4.10!! The rest of the gears in the 6R80 are spaced very nicely with 4th being a slight underdrive at 1.14:1 instead of direct 1:1, which is like being in direct with a lower rear axle. The torque of the ecoboost will make up for the 3.15, and it will help your unloaded mpg. Enjoy your truck!
  • RSD559's avatar
    RSD559
    Explorer
    Jun 10, 2016
    Lynnmor wrote:
    You bought the worst gear ratio if you want to protect the transmission.


    My bad. I thought it was 3.55 when I got it. But it didn't struggle, or hunt for gears or anything. I guess a light enough trailer and enough torque to keep it in the higher gears makes a big difference. My Tahoe would downshift on overpasses. The F-150 only downshifted on long steep grades. Huge difference.
  • RSD559's avatar
    RSD559
    Explorer
    Jun 10, 2016
    rexlion wrote:
    Why install more tranny cooling? You said yourself the temp only went up a little, despite steep grades. Seems to me they have enough cooling already.


    This summer we'll be towing through the Mojave, Nevada, and the length of Utah into Idaho and back to California. Most of that will be in 100 plus degrees. The mountain trip was much cooler. And, like someone said "you can't have too much transmission cooler". I think he was selling aftermarket parts.
  • Lynnmor's avatar
    Lynnmor
    Explorer
    Jun 10, 2016
    You bought the worst gear ratio if you want to protect the transmission.
  • rexlion's avatar
    rexlion
    Explorer
    Jun 10, 2016
    Why install more tranny cooling? You said yourself the temp only went up a little, despite steep grades. Seems to me they have enough cooling already.

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