What does your MPG look like with your EX when towing

[Smiley]

Howdy everyone,

First post on this forum but long time to other forums like the old FordDiesel forums.

My questions are as follows:

1. What does your MPG look like when towing?
2. What are you towing?
3. What seems to affect your mileage most, the weight of your trailer, the height of your trailer above you EX, or that you have your foot in the gas too much?
4. What have you done to improve your MPG while towing?

Thanks so much for your responses everyone!

Smiley

 

[ManUpOrShutUp]

I typically get 15.5-17.2 mpg in day-to-day driving depending on how much city vs highway driving I do. I'm easy on the gas for the most part. I learned long ago that a heavy foot in this truck has a significant impact on gas mileage. I can drop the MPGs all the way into the 13s if I drive it like I stole it.

All of my towing involves utility trailers. < 2,500 lbs my mileage drop is negligible. Between 2,500-4,000 lbs or so I'll drop to the 14s. With a heavy load, say 8,000 lbs, I've gone all the way down to the 8s.

 

[shane_th_ee]

1. Between 10 and 11.
2. A 6000lb travel trailer
3. I tow at 70mph which really hurts the mileage. (I’m running the Goodyear Endurance tires on the trailer as they’re rated to 87mph.)
4. I use premium as it gains me about 10% better mileage.

 

[ManUpOrShutUp]

4. I use premium as it gains me about 10% better mileage.

It currently costs about 18% more than regular so purely from a budget perspective, regular would be more economical.

 

[gkretro]

I get around 19 when not towing around town, by being pretty light footed.
I tow a 3500 travel trailer, plus some gear in the Expy, probably 4000 total. Generally get around 12 mpg on the interstate doing 70 mph. I generally don't go faster than 65-70 mph.
Once on a trip where the road required lower speed, 55mph, I got above 15 mpg. So, speed makes a difference for sure.

 

[JasonH]

I usually get 8.5 - 10 mpg
My 7,000lb travel trailer (~33ft).
It's the aero. Speed, headwinds, tailwinds, and leading vehicles all impact mileage. Above 65 mileage declines precipitously.
The only thing you can really do is slow down. I've tried to follow 18 wheelers on occasion and it does help somewhat, but then I have to worry about them getting blow outs and poor visibility ahead.

 

[mlogan]

So interesting.
'15 Ecoboost - 3.73 Max Tow pkg - 6spd

16-17 around town
7500lb travel trailer 34'
5-8 towing 70mph - headwind

Thinking about upgrading to 2021 or 2022. Sounds like you all with the 10spd are getting better mileage towing - but yes the speed and headwind kills - I was getting 5mph this past weekend at 72 coming across South Dakota with a headwind. Gas every 150 miles...
I could have slowed down but it didn't seem to make much difference and just wanted to get home.

 

[Smiley]

Thanks for all the responses thus far. As a follow up, what have y'all done to improve MPG and increase your range when hauling? Our current TT is 22ft and weights about 4600 loaded but it 11ft tall and not very aerodynamic. I also drive fast which kills my MPG. I know I need to slow down but what else helps increase range? Carry more fuel? Other mods?

 

[JasonH]

Thanks for all the responses thus far. As a follow up, what have y'all done to improve MPG and increase your range when hauling? Our current TT is 22ft and weights about 4600 loaded but it 11ft tall and not very aerodynamic. I also drive fast which kills my MPG. I know I need to slow down but what else helps increase range? Carry more fuel? Other mods?

Is your Expedition the short wheelbase? The long wheelbase tank is around 30 gallons and will get you over 200 miles. I budget for stops every 250 miles in my 2017 EL and it hasn't been an issue. Only other thing you can do is grab some 5 or 10 gallon gas tanks, but you'll still need to stop to put the fuel in. It's just the physics of hauling objects with a poor aero profile. Highway towing and small tank = frequent stops.

One thing that helps reduce the inconvenience of stopping is planning your stops in advance. I plot out trucks stops no more than 250 miles apart. Then I view the layout on a satellite map and street view. I had a bad experience once where the truck stop was much smaller than expected and it was difficult to maneuver. Now I flag the ones I want on Google maps in advance.

 

[gkretro]

I second JasonH, tight fuel stations are a pain. Sometimes on secondary highways you don't have the nice big truck stops so you have to live with it. So I always try to fill up when I don't have the trailer connected but that's only a small part of the time. As for what you can do to increase range, the big thing is lower speed and I guess reduce weight. However I like regular stops since it give me a chance to stretch, walk around, check the trailer, use the restroom, all that jazz.

 

[FlyBry]

Another thing you can try, is to trade RPM's for Boost.
These little engines consume less fuel at 2500+ RPM's with little boost, compared to 2000 RPM's with more boost.
In Tow/Haul mode, lock out 10th & 9th gears.
The 5 Star tune does this automatically.

 

[Smiley]

Is your Expedition the short wheelbase? The long wheelbase tank is around 30 gallons and will get you over 200 miles. I budget for stops every 250 miles in my 2017 EL and it hasn't been an issue. Only other thing you can do is grab some 5 or 10 gallon gas tanks, but you'll still need to stop to put the fuel in. It's just the physics of hauling objects with a poor aero profile. Highway towing and small tank = frequent stops.

One thing that helps reduce the inconvenience of stopping is planning your stops in advance. I plot out trucks stops no more than 250 miles apart. Then I view the layout on a satellite map and street view. I had a bad experience once where the truck stop was much smaller than expected and it was difficult to maneuver. Now I flag the ones I want on Google maps in advance.

We have a MAX so the tank is 29.5 gallons I believe. I have done the same and plotted out stops as well as carried 5 gallon cans with me (I do that now anyways if I am carrying our generator). I recall telling my wife after the first long drive what I calculated our gas mileage to be and her response was "WHY IS IT SO LOW!?". Obviously allowed me to discuss the physics of pulling a 11 ft tall sail behind us with her...although that did cause an eye roll or two.

All in all, it seems like the weight of the trailer has less impact on gas mileage then the aerodynamics of the trailer, but I have not done any scientific testing of this concept yet. If anyone else has any other tricks, I would love to hear them! Thanks!

 

[shane_th_ee]

As I alluded to before, using premium in the EcoBoost will get you ~10% more range and better performance.

 

[Boostedbus]

recall telling my wife after the first long drive what I calculated our gas mileage to be and her response was "WHY IS IT SO LOW!?". Obviously allowed me to discuss the physics of pulling a 11 ft tall sail behind us with her...although that did cause an eye roll or two.

LMAO! You gotta love em! My neighbors wife was telling me a while back that in a few years when they retire they are gonna sell their house and buy a camper trailer and roam the country living out of it. I asked what they were going to buy to pull this new camper? Her response was “ Oh my Hyundai has a trailer hitch on it so we’ll just pull it with that!” I laughed and said I wish you all luck!

 

[Timo2824]

2017 Limited 4x4 with the max towing package.
These are according to the computer.
Mixed driving unloaded average is 15.4mpg
6x12 enclosed trailer ~3,000lbs 12mpg no wind, on a windy day in Kansas it'll get 8-9mpg, which is pretty much 90% of days in Kansas....

 

[haviland]

To increase gas mileage I believe watching the mpg screen on the dash helps a LOT. Granted, you can't do this very much towing big loads, but a lot of the time I make a game out of it by seeing if I can continually see a tenth of a mpg improvement. It REALLY can make a difference if you don't accelerate hard unless you really have to.

I'm hoping that there's a lot more people out there in all kinds of vehicles (that has this same feature on the dash) doing this. If so, we improve air quality and decrease consumption of our limited supply of fossil fuels.

 

[Noitidepxe]

I own an '04 Eddie Bauer 2WD with the towing package. I've towed my fully enclosed Worthington, all aluminum motorcycle trailer loaded with 2 heavyweight bikes with related 'stuff' on several 1000 mile trips between the northeast and the southeast.

On I-95 coming out of Florida I was seeing mileage in the low teens as the high. The low was the trip I decided to take the interstate across the north tier of West Virginia, not a good choice, where I saw 8 or 9 mpg.

On trips I keep the speed to about 62 which, for me, is a very comfortable speed.

Around where I live I usually see a little over 17 mpg with a mix of surface and interstate.

 

[CASPEROKC]

5mpg worse 100+ degrees in some pretty big hills.
8mpg best at night in the summer no wind.

I only run 91 or better octane in the truck.
(Large difference in MPG and power when running 91+)
7500lb GVW travel trailer.

I am usually in the highway running 70-75mph pulling the trailer. If I pulled slower that would help with MPG.

We did drive from Oklahoma to NJ mostly over night in August and averaged 25mpg running 80-85mph with 91+ octane without the trailer. Pretty impressive for a full sized 4x4 suv loaded down with two adults two kids third row and cargo stuffed full of luggage and other items.

We had an 11’ Crew Cab f-150 with the ecoboost before the 20’ max so I already knew the mileage would be garbage.

Since we knew ahead of time the mileage pulling a trailer, really the only thing we do is religiously maintain the truck. I run the tires at 42PSI cold. 91+ octane only preferably 100% gas and run Lucas fuel injector in the fuel every 5th tank. I also run my trailer tires at 55 psi check them before leaving the house or where we were camping.

 

[rollinstone]

10 mpg give or take. 2014 Expy with tow package towing about 3,400 lb trailer in Western mountains. Usually at 60 mph.

 

[kpieper876]

Like others here, I tow ~6000 trailer and get around 11 MPG. I use premium, but only because that is what is recommended, so I can't compare MPG to different octanes. I will say that speed and wind are huge factors for MPG. The sweet spot seems to be around 50 to 55 MPG. Naturally, tail winds are the best. I just installed a KN air filter upgrade, replacing the intake. They claim a MPG and HP boost, but I have not had it out with trailer yet.