f150 3.5 ecoboost towing MPGs

[terryknight]

i tow 16-24' enclosed trailer fairly often, i'm thinking of adding a 150 and using it for the smaller/lighter loads and using it as a daily driver when not towing. i am curious what MPGs other people are getting towing trailers with lots of surface area/drag. it needs to make sense towing wise otherwise i'll stick with my diesel for all towing and daily my jeep.

if people could comment with what year, cab/configuration/drive they have, what they tow, the average mpgs, average towing speed, and whether the numbers are hand calculated or off the computer.

thanks

 

[Oldoak]

All I will say is that my 2017 F150 3.5 Ecoboost Extended Cab is fantastic towing our 24' TT. However, while towing it sucks, sucks gas big time! Wind drag of the TT is the primary cause of that. But it's a compromise I am willing to accept for the excellent torque and towing ability from a gas engine.

If you are as concerned about MPG while towing which you appear to be, I would say stick with what you have.

 

[newbury]

All I will say is that my 2017 F150 3.5 Ecoboost Extended Cab is fantastic towing our 24' TT. However, while towing it sucks, sucks gas big time! Wind drag of the TT is the primary cause of that. But it's a compromise I am willing to accept for the excellent torque and towing ability from a gas engine.

If you are as concerned about MPG while towing which you appear to be, I would say stick with what you have.

So what's

sucks gas big time!

6mpg? 10mpg? 15mpg?

 

[Wasmeneh]

I have a 2016 F150 3.5. I tow an Allison 21 foot Bass Boat, dual axle trailer. Overall I jave averaged 18.5 MPG overall. When towing I'm getting between 15 and 17 MPG. I live in coastal NC so it's pretty flat. I did tow it back from Tennessee at highway speeds and still had the same averages. So far I love the truck.

 

[dodge man]

No personal experience with the 3.5 but I have a 5.0. I towed a large side by side on a tandem axle trailer. About 67 mph into probably 12 mph head wind. I got 10 mpg. My truck has 3.55 gears, 4x4, supercab 6.5 foot bed and is a 2017. On the way home no wind, driving slower, about 60 mpg I got closer to 14 mpg. Just guessing the weight at about 4000 lbs. These are numbers from the computer which is probably a 0.5 mpg better than hand calculated.

From reading the Ford Forums, I would expect no better than 10 mpg towing an enclosed trailer at any speed above 60 mph.

 

[Oldoak]

So what's
6mpg? 10mpg? 15mpg?

Depends upon the direction and speed of the wind I am driving into. Anywhere from 9 to 14 MPG. It's not the weight of the trailer but the huge frontal area and sidewalls that catch the wind. Particularly when traveling through the mid-west and the Dakotas every year. The wind does does not affect a boat and trailer nearly as much when towing our travel trailer.

 

[NWOH_Grizz]

A lot depends on the trailer drag and if you're going into a headwind. I towed a 24' travel trailer of about 6000 lbs from Ohio to the Grand Canyon and back. Tried to keep at 65-68 mph most of the way, but had to slow down to around 55 mph in all of western Kansas due to the excessive side wind. I averaged 11.1 mpg overall, hand calculated. I found if I kept it in 5th gear, I got about 1 mpg better mileage, and the engine wasn't lugging. Tranny temps stayed 190-195. The only time that went higher was when climbing the Wolf Creek Pass in Colorado, and it went up to 204 max, which is nothing.

If I have my 2100 lb aluminum car hauler in tow, with nothing on it, I get 18.5+ at 70mph, down 2 mpg from my usual 70mph empty mileage. No drag, just some extra weight.

Thats on a 2011 F150 Eco 4dr.

 

[terryknight]

western KN sucks i delivered a car to park city UT and the worse fuel economy was the shortest time between fillups it was across western KN and eastern CO running into a 30mph headwind drove that way in 2014 and 2016 and western kn and eastern CO always has wind

for reference my current truck gets 22 mpg empty on the highway at 64-66 MPH

towing the 6x12 SA it gets ~16.5
towing the 6x16 TA it gets ~15.5
towing the 8.5x 24 or 28 it gets ~13

all roughly 64-66 MPH

 

[vvanders]

Might also be worth waiting till next year when Ford releases their 6-cyl diesel.

We've got an EcoDiesel and see 30mpg hwy, 18-20 towing equipment/horse trailer. Can't imagine Ford is going to release anything that does worse than that.

 

[dodge man]

They have already realeased their diesel in the F150.