Real world towing MPG 23 expedition TERRIBLE

[fla904]

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?

 

[JasonH]

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]

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?

 

[dlcorbett]

Won't the lift and larger tires also decrease mpg?

 

[Fasttimes]

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]

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]

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#

 

[fla904]

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]

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) .

 

[MrTommy]

Slowing down also helps. You don't have to do the speed limit.

 

[mightyexpy]

if you have larger diameter tires, I’d guess it’s probably staying in a lower gear?
My ‘19 with 3.73 final gear towing 24’ enclosed 7000lbs averages 9.5mpg going 70-75mph.

 

[jrbest25]

You could get better mpg. We have a '19 Expy XLT with the heavy duty towing package. We took our camper from upstate NY to TN last year and was just around 7 to 8. It was very annoying stopping every 100 miles for fuel. An upgraded tank would be substantial to this vehicle, but that is for another topic. This year we took our full loaded camper (around #9000) to NC outer banks. Since last year I have changed spark plugs and coils since there was over 50k on them. Changed the air filters and the biggest upgrade so far is the coolant thermostat. Ford installed a 190 degree thermostat in this model for some odd reason. I've read and researched and found that changing this thermostat to a 175 degree is an improvement. Monitoring the engine on this trip average engine temperature was around 190. I believe running this engine cooler has helped the mileage drastically. MPG average 11 to 12 after this 1400 mile trip, not great but definitely an improvement. Hope this helps.

 

[chuck s]

What model EPro are you towing? Just curious 'cuz my popup weighed 3600 pounds.

The fuel usage towing with a F150 vs Expedition should be negligible. As noted air resistance is exponential. At 70mph it's twice what it was at 50. Slow down if you want to save fuel. Sweet spot for me with both my '07 (5.4 V8) and '17 (3.5 EB) Expeditions (and both with the former 6-speed transmission) was 62 mph and using fuel in the no worse than 9 mph range with a 6000 pound hybrid trailer.

With your weight trailer you shouldn't even need Tow/Haul which might be running you needlessly in a lower gear and burning more fuel. Don't cost nothing to try.

-- Chuck

 

[CCDC]

Towing our 28 travel trailer loaded to aprox 8500lbs I get 70mph -5.3, 65mph- 6.5, 60mph- 7.8. towing in boost kills the eco, watch the boost gauge.

 

[LG_123]

These are some good suggestions for improving your mpg. I get 10-12 when towing our 7000# Springdale which is much taller than yours. Aerodynamics matter far more than weight for towing.

- Use premium fuel (higher octane and lower ethanol will both improve fuel economy and be cheaper while towing)
- Slow down
- Ensure tires are properly inflated and all that.

 

[Savannah Dan]

Side note: I took the same drive in my '17 Expy up to the country that I take every weekend. It's a two and a half hour drive. Had a 10-20 mph headwind most of the way. I got 2.7mpg less than I usually get.

 

[techdude99]

With my 2019 Expedition Max on 93 octane, if I drove 65 MPH or less and stayed light on the throttle, the MPG towing ~6000 LBS varied between 13-15 MPG. I noticed over the years that one or two passing maneuvers, using a lead foot, or driving over 65 MPH will drop it substantially.

 

[ediddily]

Ford made all newer expeditions (4th gens) with a V6 turbo [I think] and less towing capacity. I have a 07 XLT, with the 5.4 V8, 9000lb tow capacity, and we tow a 6000lb travel trailer in summers and we average ~12-13mpg in all gears. I only use the tow mode on hills. I'd suggest slow your roll and take 'er easy. In reality your only supposed to go 55mpg w/ a trailer but we all know no one does. I average 60-70mph before the wife starts bytching on my speed. I've seen many people with larger rigs going much faster. Kinda dangerous in my opinion. I only utilize ~30-50% of the power when on flat roads and 50-70% up hills. Just find the sweet spots for your car.

 

[chuck s]

Towing capacity actually improved from my 9000 pound capacity '07 5.4V8 to 9200 pound '17 3.6V6. But 200 pounds either way makes no difference. Not sure the source of your generalization that "your (sic) only supposed to go 55mpg w/ a trailer." It's 65mph in Nevada.

-- Chuck

 

[JasonH]

Towing capacity actually improved from my 9000 pound capacity '07 5.4V8 to 9200 pound '17 3.6V6. But 200 pounds either way makes no difference. Not sure the source of your generalization that "your (sic) only supposed to go 55mpg w/ a trailer." It's 65mph in Nevada.

-- Chuck

The 55 mph is likely California speed limit for vehicles that are towing. My father is still in NYC and is surprised when I tell him we routinely exceed 80 mph here in Texas, especially in the stretch between San Antonio and El Paso. Most trailers come with tires rated for 65 mph, but they can be upgraded to ST tires with a higher rating. The trailer tires and fuel consumption are the main reason I stay below 70 when towing.

if you have larger diameter tires, I’d guess it’s probably staying in a lower gear?
My ‘19 with 3.73 final gear towing 24’ enclosed 7000lbs averages 9.5mpg going 70-75mph.

I usually get 9 - 10 mpg traveling between 65 and 70 mph. Lower gears are not necessarily bad, as the Ecoboost will run rich when on boost, which it what is does when using the overdrive gears while towing. Locking out the top gears can actually improve mpg.