Real world towing MPG 23 expedition TERRIBLE

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fla904

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I am currently getting SIX MPG!!! Towing a 3,000lb travel trailer averaging 68-70mph. I am astonished. My 18 f-150 with the 3.5 had a 36 gallon tank and would get 9mpg towing the same trailer with a WAY bigger range. I am hoping the motor still isn’t broke in and will get better over time. This is crazy. Full tank only gets me 126 miles. This road trips gonna take for ever. Is this correct or is something wrong?
 

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JasonH

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Did you go both directions? Trailer aero has the largest impact on towing. Your poor mpg could be caused by a combination of a grade and headwind. Also lockout the top few gears. If the engine is using boost to maintain speed, which it likely is at 70 mph with a camper, it's going to run rich. Using lower gears will reduce engine load and boost. Try different gears to see how mpg is impacted. Use the tow haul setting as well.
 

99WhiteC5Coupe

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I am currently getting SIX MPG!!! Towing a 3,000lb travel trailer averaging 68-70mph. I am astonished. My 18 f-150 with the 3.5 had a 36 gallon tank and would get 9mpg towing the same trailer with a WAY bigger range. I am hoping the motor still isn’t broke in and will get better over time. This is crazy. Full tank only gets me 126 miles. This road trips gonna take for ever. Is this correct or is something wrong?


The owner’s manual for my 2015 Ford Expedition Limited 4x4 recommends premium fuel when towing.

What type of fuel are you using?

Is your vehicle loaded (or overloaded) to the maximum with passengers and cargo?
 

Fasttimes

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I am currently getting SIX MPG!!! Towing a 3,000lb travel trailer averaging 68-70mph. I am astonished. My 18 f-150 with the 3.5 had a 36 gallon tank and would get 9mpg towing the same trailer with a WAY bigger range. I am hoping the motor still isn’t broke in and will get better over time. This is crazy. Full tank only gets me 126 miles. This road trips gonna take for ever. Is this correct or is something wrong?
Slowing down would make a huge difference. Set at 65 and leave it.

And how many miles you got? Did you fully break in the Expy before adding larger wheels much less towing a travel trailer?

The weight of the trailer isn't making much difference for the MPG, it's the flat air-dam front plowing through the air like a huge air dam.
 

ManUpOrShutUp

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That's pretty awful. Towing an 8,000-lb utility trailer w/ my '11 EL at 60-65mph 65 still gets me 8 mpg. At 3,000 lbs doing 75 I'm still getting 13mpg.
 

Silver-Bullet-Bus

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I am currently getting SIX MPG!!! Towing a 3,000lb travel trailer averaging 68-70mph. I am astonished. My 18 f-150 with the 3.5 had a 36 gallon tank and would get 9mpg towing the same trailer with a WAY bigger range. I am hoping the motor still isn’t broke in and will get better over time. This is crazy. Full tank only gets me 126 miles. This road trips gonna take for ever. Is this correct or is something wrong?
You should be getting better than that, as I can get 8-9 towing just under 8,000#
 
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fla904

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I had the same lift and tires on the f-150 with the same engine.. and the trailer had nothing but our clothes in it, the expedition had nothing but me my wife and two year old so wasn’t over any weight limits. Only thing I can think of is that I haven’t recalibrated the speedo for the tires yet, but that still wouldn’t affect the mpg as drastically as I’ve been getting. Slowed down to 65 and was seeing 7-7.5. Once we hit the mountains coming into gatlinburg it was 5-5.5 LOL. I wouldn’t care about the mpgs as much if it had a bigger tank.
 

murrdawg50

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I hauled a probably 2400lb pop up camper with my wife’s 22 expedition max XLT 4wd last weekend with the cargo area loaded down and the mpg read out read roughly 10-12 mpg. All “up hill” from the Texas gulf coast, back to the heart of Texas (lots of hills) .
 
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