New Mbryson tow pig...”Sweaty Betty” - 2010 F350 V10

[haulinshine]

spark plugs and exhaust will be good for it. Personally I would avoid putting 91 in the tank for that truck it doesn't help it and costs more to fill up. your mileage doesn't sound to bad to me figuring you are looking at somewhere in the 16k-17k range on that trailer plus load. My 6.4PSD might get 6.9-7.2 at that weight and you would probably cruise right past me on a hill.

 

[Hickey]

The store at Crescent Junction is a pure tourist trap. Highest gas prices in the state.

 

[mbryson]

spark plugs and exhaust will be good for it. Personally I would avoid putting 91 in the tank for that truck it doesn't help it and costs more to fill up. your mileage doesn't sound to bad to me figuring you are looking at somewhere in the 16k-17k range on that trailer plus load. My 6.4PSD might get 6.9-7.2 at that weight and you would probably cruise right past me on a hill.

I did get a few more mph climbing the hills running the 91 octane. I usually run the 85 octane. I do wonder if that contributed to the drop in mpg (1/2-3/4 mpg is somewhat significant percentage wise). On the way down I did notice I still had my hubs locked in. That probably didn't help either? I'm right at 23,500-23,600 GCVW loaded with that load. I'm SURE I can't afford a 6.4L diesel. It's interesting towing with diesels. There are times they can dust me on hills and other times where the revs of the V10 (probably similar/same in the 6.2L V8 as they have similar torque/hp and a bonus gear in the trans?) and not really having to be concerned about (or blissfully ignorant) EGT will let the gasser run with or even run past some diesels on some hills. The purpose of this truck/thread is to honestly evaluate the gasser vs the emissions era diesels.

 

[mbryson]

The store at Crescent Junction is a pure tourist trap. Highest gas prices in the state.

...and really crappy jerky

 

[Kevin B.]

It seems my stock tires/wheels aren’t really helping much in the mpg department? Truck rarely gets below 60 mph with that load though so the smaller tires do actually affect performance.

For reference, the 2V in mine is getting 9-10 mpg on the interstate, running 70 to 75, and that's with the lift and 35s. That's down from 11-12 when it was stock height on 33s.

I always run 85. I don't know about your truck, but my ECU isn't smart enough to do anything with the higher octane.

 

[Hickey]

Pulling that much load, I really don't think my 2017 Ram would get much better mileage. Probably within 1.5 mpg.

 

[Pile of parts]

I agree with @Hickey
You need to quit listening to the "my diesel gets xx mpg" guys.... My '15 Ram would be right there too. It seems to get about 2 mpg less than my previous - non emission era - 2001. However, the power, comfort and quiet cab are worth the difference. I just think you'd be really disappointed to trade your current truck in, spend the extra money on a newer diesel and find you're not that much better off. And that comment comes from a diesel truck fan.

 

[RockChucker]

My 06 Duramax probably wouldn't be far different. I have a 20' box trailer that weighs 6000 lb empty, add another 5000 lb-ish jeep and another few hundred pounds of gear and the fact that it is like pulling a billboard...it doesn't do well. Best I've done with that load is 11mpg from Sandy to Wellington, and close to that from Wellington to Moab....but the caveat there was a tailwind. The average is about 9 mpg. Truck is stock and it will pull 70 all the way over soldier if I ask it to. I don't know that I'll ever buy another light duty diesel truck. The maintenance costs more than take up the difference in fuel economy in my opinion. If I was to get serious about towing and get a dedicated rig, I dream about a toterhome built on a commercial truck chassis. I have heard rumors they get 11 mpg no matter what you are doing....but I'll likely keep this duramax until it dies because it's paid for and that is worth more to me than a newer truck.

 

[mbryson]

I agree with @Hickey
You need to quit listening to the "my diesel gets xx mpg" guys.... My '15 Ram would be right there too. It seems to get about 2 mpg less than my previous - non emission era - 2001. However, the power, comfort and quiet cab are worth the difference. I just think you'd be really disappointed to trade your current truck in, spend the extra money on a newer diesel and find you're not that much better off. And that comment comes from a diesel truck fan.

My 06 Duramax probably wouldn't be far different. I have a 20' box trailer that weighs 6000 lb empty, add another 5000 lb-ish jeep and another few hundred pounds of gear and the fact that it is like pulling a billboard...it doesn't do well. Best I've done with that load is 11mpg from Sandy to Wellington, and close to that from Wellington to Moab....but the caveat there was a tailwind. The average is about 9 mpg. Truck is stock and it will pull 70 all the way over soldier if I ask it to. I don't know that I'll ever buy another light duty diesel truck. The maintenance costs more than take up the difference in fuel economy in my opinion. If I was to get serious about towing and get a dedicated rig, I dream about a toterhome built on a commercial truck chassis. I have heard rumors they get 11 mpg no matter what you are doing....but I'll likely keep this duramax until it dies because it's paid for and that is worth more to me than a newer truck.

I agree with the above with my past diesels (Super Duty 7.3{'99, '01} and 5.9 Cummins {'98 and an '04}). I've never gotten the same mpg that the cool kids have towing uphill with 34k on the trailer even when I was only towing 15k and towing downhill.

I'm not trading this truck in unless it quits doing the job. It really does a surprisingly good job with the loads I'm asking it to haul. Never getting below 60 mph up Spanish Fork Canyon with that load is not a joke. Doing it with a gasser/no turbos/etc is rather impressive in my opinion.

• To low of miles (107k)
• Paid for
• Cost to replace is just plain stupid in my opinion

 

[N-Smooth]

I'm always having a battle in my head over the next new truck being a 6.4 Hemi or a Cummins. I appreciate the differing perspectives

 

[Hickey]

I'm always having a battle in my head over the next new truck being a 6.4 Hemi or a Cummins. I appreciate the differing perspectives

The ONLY reason I still don't have my 2015 Ford with the 6.2 gas motor is because of my 5th wheel. That trailer just pushes so much damn wind besides it's weight. I still wish I would have kept it.

 

[haulinshine]

I did get a few more mph climbing the hills running the 91 octane. I usually run the 85 octane. I do wonder if that contributed to the drop in mpg (1/2-3/4 mpg is somewhat significant percentage wise). On the way down I did notice I still had my hubs locked in. That probably didn't help either? I'm right at 23,500-23,600 GCVW loaded with that load. I'm SURE I can't afford a 6.4L diesel. It's interesting towing with diesels. There are times they can dust me on hills and other times where the revs of the V10 (probably similar/same in the 6.2L V8 as they have similar torque/hp and a bonus gear in the trans?) and not really having to be concerned about (or blissfully ignorant) EGT will let the gasser run with or even run past some diesels on some hills. The purpose of this truck/thread is to honestly evaluate the gasser vs the emissions era diesels.

the trailer in my profilepic is a 36' 4 horse with a living quarters that weighs around 11k empty so with me the wife and both dogs the 150 gal water tank and a weeks worth of supplies and neither of the horses we weigh right at 20k. Last august we took it to fish lake and got an average of 8.6 on the trip. If it didn't have the emissions stuff on it I would have been in the 10-11 range but these new diesels waste a lot of fuel when they go into regen. This causes me to loose a lot of mpgs and generate a ton of heat. I had to take a 55mph hill at 34 because of oil and coolant temps getting too high during regen (I was at 239 oil temp and 245 coolant, I didn't like the thought of being past boiling point with my coolant). I would bet that with your trailer and load my truck might see 1mpg better than you are, but my oil change costs 3x as much as yours and I have to do my fuel filters no less than once a year (to the tune of $100 if I use ford parts) and all the other crap you deal with having the newer diesels. My next truck will end up being a gasser for these and a ton of other reasons. I love my PSD but will likely never own another

 

[Vonski]

I’ll do my part to muddy the waters in regards to choices and info. 😂 I’ve already got a Chev dually with the 6.6 gasser on order, but the ETA is several months out. So, I’m on the hunt for a similarly equipped one at a dealership between CA. and the mid-west. It will be a replacement for my ‘02 Chev crew 4x4 dually with the 8.1/Allison, so I have a good idea of what to expect. The numbers say the 6.6 has +80 hp, but equal in torque to the 8.1, but I’ll see how they really compare soon enough... 🤷‍♂️

 

[glockman]

I still have to wonder what a supercharger would do on one of these. Likely drop your MPG even lower but eliminate any difference in your truck and the oil burners.

My 6.0 pulling my old toy hauler came in at 22.5k lbs on the helper scale more than once. I always got 8-9mpg depending on wind going to White Wash. Most of those trips, diesel was >10% more than gasoline so you would still be ahead in fuel cost.

 

[Vonski]

I still have to wonder what a supercharger would do on one of these.

If you’re referring to the 6.6, it has forged internals and no multi-displacement nonsense. It’s almost as if the engineers intended for me to supercharge it. 😂 However. it’s in its 2nd year and nothing available yet. 🤷‍♂️

 

[Vonski]

If you’re referring to the 6.6, it has forged internals and no multi-displacement nonsense. It’s almost as if the engineers intended for me to supercharge it. 😂 However. it’s in its 2nd year and nothing available yet. 🤷‍♂️

...or for the sticklers in the group, “cylinder deactivation” is what I was going for. 🤦‍♂️

 

[Hickey]

Gross.

 

[Vonski]

Gross.

Yes, gross... kinda like Chev frontends. 🤷‍♂️ Anyway, I’m done hijacking Marc’s thread. I return ya’ll the Ford Gasser Chat. 😉

 

[mbryson]

For reference, the 2V in mine is getting 9-10 mpg on the interstate, running 70 to 75, and that's with the lift and 35s. That's down from 11-12 when it was stock height on 33s.

I always run 85. I don't know about your truck, but my ECU isn't smart enough to do anything with the higher octane.

Since the stock tire/wheel package, I've lost about 1 mpg. I'm getting about 11-12 mpg on the freeway vs about 12-13 with the 35" tires (straight freeway commute). I usually run the 85 octane. Just wondered if it made a difference towing? I'll run 85 on the next trip and see if I can repeat the first year I had the truck with 7.1 from Bountiful to Moab and 6.8 mpg on the way back.

 

[TRD270]

I’d think the added octane would give you a tiny bit more power under the heavy load since the computer could run more timing. MPG wouldn’t imagine much of a discernible difference

But considering the altitude of most those climbs I’m not sure the higher octane would even help with the timing