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By my math, the tank will pay for itself over the life of the truck (150k) if you can save 10 cents a gallon by hunting for the cheapest diesel around and buying it 50+gal at a time when you find it.
Or all at once if you run out of diesel and have to get it towed.
IMHO a in-bed tank is the right solution for the "how do I bring 50 gallons of E85 to the track with me" problem. (that's about how much you'd need to run a high-boost turbo car for a track weekend).
So I got sick of driving a 20 year old Dodge POS and constantly worrying about how long it would be till the next transmission failure:
2018 F150 XLT RWD with the "max tow package". 3.5L ecoboost, 10spd transmission, giant gas tank, fancy trailer management features, 13,000 lb tow rating.
My days of towing a 10k+ lb 28 ft enclosed bumper pull trailer are pretty much over in the near term so I decided to try a 1/2 ton.
I averaged 25.8mpg on the ~40 mile trek home from the dealership... at least according to Ford's gauge. We'll see how it does on my 36 mile commute (round trip) tomorrow.
First towing activities will be a week from today... taking the miata on my 18ft steel open trailer down to Road Atlanta.
Last edited by Efini~FC3S; 06-07-2018 at 10:03 PM.
Reason: Added info
So I got sick of driving a 20 year old Dodge POS and constantly worrying about how long it would be till the next transmission failure:
2018 F150 XLT RWD with the "max tow package". 3.5L ecoboost, 10spd transmission, giant gas tank, fancy trailer management features, 13,000 lb tow rating.
My days of towing a 10k+ lb 28 ft enclosed bumper pull trailer are pretty much over in the near term so I decided to try a 1/2 ton.
I averaged 25.8mpg on the ~40 mile trek home from the dealership... at least according to Ford's gauge. We'll see how it does on my 36 mile commute (round trip) tomorrow.
First towing activities will be a week from today... taking the miata on my 18ft steel open trailer down to Road Atlanta.
I switched from a 2000 dodge cummins to a 2015 F150 almost max tow, 11k rating with the 3.5. It tows my steel open deck just as good. sorta. its far more comfortable, but i needed to put E load tires on the truck,. it felt way to wobbley with those crap passenger car tires they put on it from the factory. also the brakes are far smaller than the ones on my dodge, cooked a set of pads on a trip out to upstate NY and back. yes my trailer brakes were working good. going to look into some brake upgrades, as well as airbags. it squats a bit more than i care for. It tows good at over 80, but gas mileage really suffers. I average 12mpg towing, however, i drive like an ***.
I always hated towing with a 1/2 pickup (towing an 18' steel full deck trailer). Never felt good. 3/4 ton diesel I don't even notice it back there. I'll never go back.
The biggest issue the 1/2 and smaller applications see is overloading the rear GAWR. Most owners don't cross the scales, don't understand this limitation, and are often illegal when towing near the limit from my experience.
The 2018 F150 tow numbers are honestly impressive but you can't crack 3,000lbs on payload on a supercrew package that gets you those numbers from the looks of it. 3,000lbs is pretty tight with people + gear in cab + gear in bed + tongue weight on an enclosed trailer. It goes much faster than you think.
ehhh, i was closer to my gvwr in my cummins than i am in my F150. my cummins was 7250 across the scales with just me and some fuel, no gear, nothing in the bed. gvwr of 8800.
ehhh, i was closer to my gvwr in my cummins than i am in my F150. my cummins was 7250 across the scales with just me and some fuel, no gear, nothing in the bed. gvwr of 8800.
The concern I'm raising is rear GAWR not payload. You should look at your door stick and scale the truck to make sure you are legally within your rear GAWR. That is typically the weak link on 1/2 tons where you hit that limit on most configurations well before the tow limit. I've towed with a variety of vehicles at this point and have helped several friends choose trucks and trailers. This is the most common issue I see amongst my racing buddies and most don't know they were over the legal limit.
Yeah I get what you're saying. My Cummins was 6200 gawr for the rear. My f150(7000gvwr) is 3800 gawr for the rear. I'll have to scale it to see where I'm at. But my point was I was overweight on the truck long before I even had the worry about the rear axle.
The biggest issue the 1/2 and smaller applications see is overloading the rear GAWR. Most owners don't cross the scales, don't understand this limitation, and are often illegal when towing near the limit from my experience.
The 2018 F150 tow numbers are honestly impressive but you can't crack 3,000lbs on payload on a supercrew package that gets you those numbers from the looks of it. 3,000lbs is pretty tight with people + gear in cab + gear in bed + tongue weight on an enclosed trailer. It goes much faster than you think.
That's a part of it. Even for guys with scales though it's not ideal IMO though. A lot of the parts on the 1/2 ton trucks is smaller & less heavy duty so that factors into it. Stuff like the brakes was one of my large complaints w/ the smaller trucks.
That's a part of it. Even for guys with scales though it's not ideal IMO though. A lot of the parts on the 1/2 ton trucks is smaller & less heavy duty so that factors into it. Stuff like the brakes was one of my large complaints w/ the smaller trucks.
Yep, that's a pretty common point that is often valid. But it's legal as long as you stay within the ratings.
The rear GAWR issue makes the tow combination illegal and puts accident liability on the truck owner/driver. Since it's poorly understood and, I find, most offenders are unaware, I choose to point it out where relevant.
Took the new truck on a weekend jaunt...Charlotte to Columbus. First tank of gas through the truck. 5-7mph over the speed limit, mostly in Eco mode driving with fuel mileage in mind but not "hypermiling". Hand calculation was closer to 23mpg, but I'm not sure if the dealer filled it full to the brim.
Last edited by Efini~FC3S; 06-11-2018 at 11:32 AM.
Reason: Dang u phone
Hand calculation was closer to 23mpg, but I'm not sure if the dealer filled it full to the brim.
Sweet! I find fuelly is a great way to do the calculations, keep them consistent, and cut through BS people present for MPG. If you are consistent, it tends to knock out the human tendency towards cherry picking your fill points to inflate or deflate your MPG data as well.
Location: Detroit (the part with no rules or laws)
Posts: 5,677
Total Cats: 800
Heading out to NJ tomorrow morning. About an hour outside of Manhattan. Took the opportunity to get a picture of the bump stops in the rear at full load. Looks like she's touched in the past. These new shocks should help keep it to a minimum.
Get an "add a leaf" the picture makes my truck hurt. They will help curve the leaf a bit more and adds and extra leaf obviously. Its an easy and cheap solution next would be air bags to help the load.
06-06-2018, 05:33 PM
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