Ford F-150 V8 vs EcoBoost Towing MPG Test for Fuel Economy

[pjmjunior]

I had a 13 F150 with the 3.55 rear end and was pulling a 2670 PassPort. Pulling it home for the first time I had the sway control on the truck kick in when two semi`s passed me on a high wall bridge on the interstate. it was something I don`t want to experience again. The hitch that was thrown in wasn`t setup right and I just didn`t like it. Upgraded the shocks, tires and went with an Equalizer 4 pt. with sway control hitch and it towed so much better. I still noticed that the when I approached anything over 63 mph the trailer started feeling a little loose. The wind resistance on the sail I was pulling I think was the cause. After I found the F250 I wanted once on the interstate I could set the cruise on 68 and just relax.

This driving experience is IDENTICAL to mine, except the F150 was borrowed from my father-in-law until I found the truck I wanted. I found a loaded F250 Lariat with low miles and jumped on it. Best decision ever.

I personally think the F150s lack in weight. My previous tow vehicle (which we still own and is my wife's daily driver) was a Cadillac Escalade. It felt much more planted when towing but was getting pretty beat up when out camping.

Another deciding factor for many is their location. We live in central Oregon so we're pretty much climbing a pass whenever we tow. So far, with the F250, I've only towed over the Santiam Pass to Portland. Got 10.mpg compared to 8.1 mpg with the F150 ecoboost.

It really all boils down to what make you feel safe and happy.

[Dale G]

We are new to a pull trailer I have a F150 3.5 ecoboost . The trailer is a 2670 Mk dry weight 6600 LBS, gross wt. just over 8000 LBS , I have the weight distribution bars and anti sway bar. It feels like the truck wants to wonder to much and I don't like the way the front end feels. The weight that my truck is registered to tow is 12000 LBS . I had the 3.55 rear end and 20 inch tires . but when I am going down the highway it feels like the trailer is too much for the truck or the truck is too light to handle it. I am now thinking I made a mistake and should have gone with a F250. Would appreciate any thoughts on this ./
Thank you
Ken C

Ken,

I have the exact same setup and trailer. When I had a smaller Jayco Whitehawk I had no problems. But when I bought the 2670MK I had a lot of sway issues and it was evident the Husky WD hitch was not up to handling the bigger camper with such a light truck. The truck has plenty of power to pull the camper, it just gets blown around which sets up trailer sway and even causes the truck's anti-sway to kick in. To tame it I installed the Timbren SES system (which replaces the bumper stops on the rear axle, works great and easy install), got rid of the "P" rated Wranglers and got Michelin "LT" Defender LTX tires, and installed the Propride P3 hitch. It took a little of work with Propride owner Sean to get the best setting but we finally got it worked out. I found out not to go by Ford's recommendations for setting up your WD hitch. You really need to throw a lot of weight forward to make the truck planted to the ground. I actually lower the front fenders by about 1/4" lower than the unloaded stance. This has made the truck a lot more solid and now I get a small nudge from the big rigs but most of the time I don't even know they are passing. When I have a strong crosswind I just slow down a little. Before I did all of this there is no way I could even think of towing at 70MPH, way to dangerous, 62MPH was about the best on a calm day. Now I tow all day at 67MPH and if I need to get up to 70MPH or more to pass someone the trailer and truck can handle it.

Another thing I just did that is supposed to help with the big rig suck is I replaced the Westlake trailer tires with Goodyear Endurance trailer tires. I haven't had a chance to tow with them yet but multiple people have reported the big rig suck is substantially less with the Goodyear tires on the trailer.

If you need additional information send me a PM and I will help you work this out. I was about to trade the F150 off for a F350 but now it is a lot better. Not cheap to do but cheaper than a new truck.

Dale

[Mainuh]

Great video from the guys at Fast Lane Truck: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bgi01ednxXM

For those of you who can't spare 10 mins to watch the video:

5.0 V8: 22mpg unloaded, 9.8mpg towing
2.7 EcoBoost: 24mpg unloaded, 8.7mpg towing

We've got the 5.4L V8 F-150 Lariat and we average about 18mpg unloaded, 8.4 towing

We also have the Equalizer hitch and I upgraded the rear shocks to Bilstein 5100's and added the Timbren SES helpers and find our 2500RL tracks fine and no issues with tractor trailer suck... you feel it, but it's not disruptive.

[sande005]

We are new to a pull trailer I have a F150 3.5 ecoboost . The trailer is a 2670 Mk dry weight 6600 LBS, gross wt. just over 8000 LBS , I have the weight distribution bars and anti sway bar. It feels like the truck wants to wonder to much and I don't like the way the front end feels. The weight that my truck is registered to tow is 12000 LBS . I had the 3.55 rear end and 20 inch tires . but when I am going down the highway it feels like the trailer is too much for the truck or the truck is too light to handle it. I am now thinking I made a mistake and should have gone with a F250. Would appreciate any thoughts on this ./
Thank you
Ken C

I've got the Heavy Duty Payload Package on my f-150, which means the bigger tires. Just completed a trip from Minneapolis to the Black Hills and back. No issues, even in winds gusting to 30 mph. I do have the ProPride hitch to counteract sway - but the above indicates that that is NOT the concern. What I did find interesting was the run afterwards to pick it up from the dealer after some service work. I too got some wander and wobble on the hour trip back home. The only difference? For the big trip, I upped the air pressure in the tires from the recommended 60/55 to 70/65 psi. And then brought them back down before the dealer trip. For a test run - air up your tires to the max on the sidewall, and see how it does. Then consider going with heavier load range "E" tires if that helped. Also double check your weight transfer - while Ford recommends measuring the front fender rise, and restoring 50% of it, I find that restoring 75%, or back to zero, gives steering a more solid feel.

For those 2670MK owners who are seeing sway - the above is not going to do much for that. Getting your tongue weight up, or in extreme cases (like mine) getting the ProPride (Hensely) hitch is the solution.....

[DaveO_VB]

I had a 2016, F150 3.5 EcoBoost and a 2150 RB that maxed out around 6000# . Getting the WD hitch set up correctly changed my towing from a white knuckle experience to one of not knowing the trailer was back there. I had to completely redo the hitch setup because the dealer was not even close when they delivered it. Get your hitch owners manual out and go through the setup from start to finish. Make sure the weight distribution bars are sufficient for your tongue weight and you will likely solve your problems. Hope this helps.