1st tow 2020 F350 Tremor 7.3

[Walaby]

I know this is a Ford thread, but at least with the Ram, the gasser 3500 oil capacity is 7 quarts. Diesel is 12 quarters. Gasser change frequency is twice for every one oil change on diesel. So, basically a wash.. certainly not substantially less.

I don't know that gassers use less fuel than diesel's when towing. Not what I've experienced and read anyways.

Now, fuel filters are obviously way different. I think though that Ford probably hit a good niche for people who want to stay with a gasser but have more of a towing beast.

Mike

[goducks14]

I know this is a Ford thread, but at least with the Ram, the gasser 3500 oil capacity is 7 quarts. Diesel is 12 quarters. Gasser change frequency is twice for every one oil change on diesel. So, basically a wash.. certainly not substantially less.

I don't know that gassers use less fuel than diesel's when towing. Not what I've experienced and read anyways.

Now, fuel filters are obviously way different. I think though that Ford probably hit a good niche for people who want to stay with a gasser but have more of a towing beast.

Mike

Ram say 6 months max or 15,000 miles or what the OIL message says for the 6.7.
For the 6.4 it's 8,000 max or 12 months. .
I don't see much difference between the two trucks.
Oil for the Ram 6.4 is $$$ and it's a wash as far as cost goes. Less oil at $$$ for the 6.4 and more oil at $ for the 6.7.
Theoretically with my 6.4 I would only have to do one oil change per year and if I had a diesel 6.7 I'd have to do two. I only put 7500 miles a year on my trucks.

[Walaby]

Ok.. you're right about time. I was looking at mileage not months. Couldn't imagine changing once a year for either truck. Especially towing.

Mike

[goducks14]

Ok.. you're right about time. I was looking at mileage not months. Couldn't imagine changing once a year for either truck. Especially towing.

Mike

Agree. I don't go past 6 months on my 6.4. My last change was at 6 months and the OIL message said 33% left. Oil's cheap compared to repairs out of warranty.

[NASCAR9]

My oil is changed every 5,000 or 6 months. I do the same with a diesel or gas.

[backtrack2015]

My oil is changed every 5,000 or 6 months. I do the same with a diesel or gas.

Since you just moved from the diesel with 6-speed, I'm curious about your impressions of the unladen truck. Does the 7.3L sound more or less labored under normal acceleration from a stop than your 6.7L? Is the engine louder/quieter than the 6.7L while accelerating? What about when cruising at 75? Any comments about the ride given that the front is now quite a bit lighter? Does the torque converter lock any quicker on the 10-speed? My 6-speed seems reluctant to lock until 3rd gear in normal driving, giving a very "slushy" experience I don't like. Thanks in advance.

[NASCAR9]

Since you just moved from the diesel with 6-speed, I'm curious about your impressions of the unladen truck. Does the 7.3L sound more or less labored under normal acceleration from a stop than your 6.7L? Is the engine louder/quieter than the 6.7L while accelerating? What about when cruising at 75? Any comments about the ride given that the front is now quite a bit lighter? Does the torque converter lock any quicker on the 10-speed? My 6-speed seems reluctant to lock until 3rd gear in normal driving, giving a very "slushy" experience I don't like. Thanks in advance.

The transmissions are very different so its not really apples to apples. The 10 speed is very quick shifting under light load to maximize mileage. When driving in ECO Mode it is a little "slushy" for lack of a better word. I now just drive in Normal and the truck feels sportier, if a F350 can feel sporty. The 7.3 has a very noticeable rumble, it reminds me of the late 60's early 70's muscle cars. It's not obnoxious in the least bit. Driving in city stop light to stop light the truck accelerates very well, no laboring at all. With my diesel I always liked rolling into the throttle and the truck would build boost an accelerate, the 7.3 gas does this and feels torquey doing it. Cruising @75 the truck is in 10th gear and if you're not listening for the exhaust note you probably won't hear it. It's hard to say anything about the ride, I upgraded from a F250 to a F350 with the Tremor off-road package. One thing I can say is the 2020 trucks have an electric power steering overlay that makes steering a breeze.

Hope this helps. If you're looking for a new truck I would test drive one, probably get a pretty good deal right now.

[backtrack2015]

The transmissions are very different so its not really apples to apples. The 10 speed is very quick shifting under light load to maximize mileage. When driving in ECO Mode it is a little "slushy" for lack of a better word. I now just drive in Normal and the truck feels sportier, if a F350 can feel sporty. The 7.3 has a very noticeable rumble, it reminds me of the late 60's early 70's muscle cars. It's not obnoxious in the least bit. Driving in city stop light to stop light the truck accelerates very well, no laboring at all. With my diesel I always liked rolling into the throttle and the truck would build boost an accelerate, the 7.3 gas does this and feels torquey doing it. Cruising @75 the truck is in 10th gear and if you're not listening for the exhaust note you probably won't hear it. It's hard to say anything about the ride, I upgraded from a F250 to a F350 with the Tremor off-road package. One thing I can say is the 2020 trucks have an electric power steering overlay that makes steering a breeze.

Hope this helps. If you're looking for a new truck I would test drive one, probably get a pretty good deal right now.

Thanks for the summary. I'm considering the 7.3L but not yet ready to hit the dealership and see for myself. I figured you'd have some very relevant experience.

[RedLeg]

I'm curious how the Tremor lift and 35s effected the clearance between the bedrail and 5th wheel also if caused it to go nose high/ if had to modify the trailer suspension. Thx

[tgoranson]

Let's get something out of the way first.
OUR 2018 6.7 DIESEL TOWED THE SAME 5TH WHEEL FASTER, LESS EFFORT, AND BETTER MILAGE.

Our truck is a F350 Tremor with 7.3, 4.30 gears, and 35” tires. Tow Haul mode was used for the complete trip. I Cat scaled our truck about a month ago, the trucks weight was 7220, truck and trailer was 18,460. I believe we were about 500 lbs. ~ heavier packed for our trip. 5th wheel is a 2020 Grand Design Reflection 303RLS.

Our tow was from Disneyland area to Las Vegas and back.

The trip includes a few climbs with up to a 6% grade. I could maintain 65+ on any grade coming or going. The gears used on our trip were 5th thru 10th. When I was in 5th RPMs were right at 4000 @ 65mph. At one point two semis were side by side going 40 up a long grade, after the semi finally over took the other semi and merged back to the right lane I floored the gas pedal and I was up to 65 in no time. I've never towed with a gas engine that pulled like the 7.3/10 speed. RPMs spread was about 350 between gears so it was like the truck was in the correct gear most of the time. When I wanted to force a downshift I just gave a little more throttle and the transmission shifted down a gear. Transmission temperature ranged from 208 - 228.

I wasn't worried about gas mileage on our trip. Gas mileage was 8.8 for our trip. Seems like we were always going up and down both ways, never really any long flat runs. I did watch the instant gas mileage display when the road was fairly level and saw 10-11 MPG at 65.

I believe the 35” tires didn’t help in any way towing, if anything it hurt performance and mileage. Standard 33” AT tires most likely would have towed better and returned better mileage.

I run 37's on a F-450 4wd, with a 2 inch front leveling kit. My clearance is two fists or about 8 inches from the bed rail to the cap. I'm about 1 inch taller on the nose than before. Using and Ultimate Anderson goose-ball hitch with the ball set on the lowest setting. The diesel averages around 11mpg running 65mph fully loaded down (toys, gear and water). I have a BANKS programmer which helps. I also added a Strictly Diesel front transmission cooler and no matter the grade, my tranny temp stays around 225 degree's consistently. Additionally, the reason I run 37's on on 22's was the ability to air down at the beach (19.5's can not be aired down like that because the side walls and non-beaded tires) when we drop them to 15lbs on each tire. I can go from one side of the dunes to the other and never get stuck pulling the trailer fully loaded.