Gas Mileage pretty bad pulling a trailer

[Gros Ventre]

Don't forget that there is a square footage area limit on what you're towing.

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[Mtnman1]

Taking a 2 week trip pulling a trailer with the 2021 F-150 Lariat 3.5 Ecoboost. Picked up in Minneapolis and heading to Montana and then return via SE ND. Anyway first day pulling a trailer on this trip. Slightly uphill most of the way and cross or head winds at least half of the way. Gas mileage was pretty low, avg 7.3 mpg and this is with speed avg between 58 and 63 mph. Pretty disappointed. Not sure if there is anything I could do to improve mileage. Trailer length is 23, weight is 4400. Not using a WDH. Any suggestions?

Sounds like an expectation issuse. Good MPG while towing 4700 lbs does not exist.

 

[kevdog0710]

yesterday drove from Plymouth MI, up north to Grayling MI to rescue a friend whose old Dodge broke down towing his camper back from ICEMAN in Traverse city.
Towing his rather small 18' camper trailer, weighing no more than 4,000 lbs.
I was truly shocked to see I could not get more than 7.5 MPG while towing with my 21' Lariat PB FX4.
doing some reading, and the frontal area of the trailer vs the overall frontal area of the towing vehicle is more important than just weight, as far as MPG is concerned.
a cap on the truck definitely helps, along with a more aerodynamic trailer.

That seems impossible!
I get 1.5 mpg better pulling a 31 foot camper that is 6300 pounds dry.

 

[Sirtate]

From what I have read, and observed driving my wife Mustang (2.3L EB), when in boost the engine management computer lowers the AFR quite a bit. I have seen the Mustang running as low as 13:1. I am not sure why, only that it does.

It could be to avoid pre-ignition (spark-knock).
One way to increase the effective Octane rating is to run the mixture 'Rich'...
look back at the Octane Ratings of AvGas they used to sell 80/87, 91/96, 100/130, 108/135 and 115/145. The lower number was running Stochiometric and the higher number was the effective octane running Rich (about 8:1 AFR)...

While you won't hurt anything running 87 octane gas in your EcoBoost, they get much better fuel economy when using 91 octane.

It seems to me that they enrichen the mixture at the onset of knock first, before retarding timing and then retarding boost.
Demand enrichment doesn't affect drivability much, I think,,,

 

[CaptainAmericaRob]

That seems impossible!
I get 1.5 mpg better pulling a 31 foot camper that is 6300 pounds dry.

lol...yeah, i thought so too, but believe it! I hit the reset button many times while moving along flat sections, and it repeatedly went right back down to 6.5-7 MPG.
however... this was my first time towing with THIS truck. I will continue to experiment with it.

 

[Atlee]

Taking a 2 week trip pulling a trailer with the 2021 F-150 Lariat 3.5 Ecoboost. Picked up in Minneapolis and heading to Montana and then return via SE ND. Anyway first day pulling a trailer on this trip. Slightly uphill most of the way and cross or head winds at least half of the way. Gas mileage was pretty low, avg 7.3 mpg and this is with speed avg between 58 and 63 mph. Pretty disappointed. Not sure if there is anything I could do to improve mileage. Trailer length is 23, weight is 4400. Not using a WDH. Any suggestions?

Here is the latest towing experience. I have a MY22 PB XLT, SCrew, 10 sp, 4x4, 3.73. 1/2 or more of my nearly 9K miles have been towing. On my last trip, I had one leg (188 miles) that was only towing. I got a hand calculated 10.5 mpg. Any head winds were light.

My TT is 24.5' long, and weighs 5660# loaded and a tongue weight of 860# (when I last CAT scaled it). On the interstate, I set the cruise at 63 mph and let the world pass me by over in the left lane. Most times I leave it in Normal drive mode. I also lock out 10, 9, & 8 gears, and the engine hums along at near 2500 rpm. This keeps the engine out of boost for most hills, and for those hills that boost is needed, it's not needed as long.

 

[GEN14OWNER]

These wild (but expected) fuel economy differences between towing –vs- NOT towing really make me wonder how anyone could seriously think that they’re going to be able to tow much of anything for any distance with a Lightning.

I would love to get an EV Truck. Especially these days but what’s the point in getting a Truck when you can’t haul anything with it?

…isn’t that called a “car”?

 

[UGADawg96]

These wild (but expected) fuel economy differences between towing –vs- NOT towing really make me wonder how anyone could seriously think that they’re going to be able to tow much of anything for any distance with a Lightning.

I would love to get an EV Truck. Especially these days but what’s the point in getting a Truck when you can’t haul anything with it?

…isn’t that called a “car”?

The Lightning isn't for towing a travel trailer. It is for a construction guy/gal or landscaper.

 

[Snakebitten]

The Lightning isn't for towing a travel trailer. It is for a construction guy/gal or landscaper.

And for ANYONE who uses their truck the way 90% of us do.

Towing an RV is the ONLY reason that I prefer my KingRanch Powerboost over a Lightning.
But admittedly, that's a pretty BIG reason.

Having said that, I currently have about 8000 miles on this Powerboost and the Lightning could have done about 7000 of them without a fuss of any kind.

 

[Atlee]

And for ANYONE who uses their truck the way 90% of us do.

Towing an RV is the ONLY reason that I prefer my KingRanch Powerboost over a Lightning.
But admittedly, that's a pretty BIG reason.

Having said that, I currently have about 8000 miles on this Powerboost and the Lightning could have done about 7000 of them without a fuss of any kind.

Lightning is great for getting groceries, or running around cities and the suburbs. Probably 1/2 of the roughly 9k miles on my PB are towing. I'll need an an ICE for the foreseeable future.

 

[kevdog0710]

I had to take my camper in for a warranty quick fix, 65 miles each way. Basically a windless trip there and back. On the PA Turnpike I ran between 60-65 going out, got about 8.3 mpg. Coming home I had the cruise set at 70. Got 8.6. I think keeping it out of boost with the slightly higher rpms and the fact that I was dropping in altitude on the way home is the difference.
I'll be leaving for Florida on Friday. 95 south has very gradual grades, I expect to get around 9 mpg's going around 65.
I'm gonna do hand calcs each full, I'll report my findings.

 

[GEN14OWNER]

The Lightning isn't for towing a travel trailer. It is for a construction guy/gal or landscaper.

I guess a "construction" supervisor would make sense.
But most contractor F150s I see are pretty loaded down with tools & equipment and I doubt many Landscapers could afford a Lightning.

 

[Snakebitten]

If Ford would make enough of them available, the Lightning Pro could be purchased for the same price as an XL Powerboost. ~43K

The Lightning has the high MSRP of a fully optioned ICE Platinum or Limited because that's about all Ford will build for us.

 

[780]

I'd much rather an F150 PHEV. Battery power for work / in town commuting and extra range for RV towing during holidays.

 

[Calson]

It is not the weight so much as the additional air drag from the trailer. Ford's towing guide provides information about this.

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