6.8L tow vehicle

[Fastback]

OK, I'm looking for opinions regarding my tow vehicle. I have a 2008 Ford FX4,SD with a 6.8L V10. Now we all know that these vehicles are not know for great gas mileage but they are supposed to be a great motor for towing. I'm looking to see if anyone has any experience with this set up.

My Truck is a F250, 9,400 GVWR, 410 rear and a 5 speed trans. I believe my carrying capacity is 2,300lb My camper is a Laredo 27RK. It rated weight is 7,400 empty and 11,500 loaded. I have not pulled the camper with this truck. The only trailer I have pulled with it is a 98 Coachman 25 ft light TT. Of course I had no problem.

I am sure I have an adaquate vehicle to tow my 5'er just wanted to check on what others have to say about this set up. Oh, I have had the truck for 2 years and it only has 41k on it. I only get about 9+ in the city.

Thanks

[hankpage]

Hitch it up and go campin'. ....... But 4100 lbs. cargo capacity for a RK model sounds high????? Keystone lists it at 2665 lb.

[LittleJoe]

The V10 has a decent reputation and should work very well for the weight you are towing. Your towing mileage probably won't be much different from your city mileage.

[Ken / Claudia]

I pulled several boats around for 8 years as a fish cop. One was 8,000 lbs the other 4500 lbs. The 96 F250 with a 460 was a dog and got 5 mpg on flat roads. I had other trucks also but, by far the 09 F250 V10 4x4 CC short bed was the best. I think it pulled that big boat as good as my personal truck listed below. I only got 6 to maybe 8mpgs but, cops do not drive like others (like need to get there code 3) even with a boat, rescues are code 3 to the ramp. It also had a high top speed but, I won't tell how fast it was. I turned it in with 40,000 plus miles, went thru 1 set of tires not another issuse.

[fla-gypsy]

I have an 09 6.8L/4.10 rear with the 5 sp auto and tow a 10k TT. No problem, hook it up and push the pedal. Surprised at your payload though. Mine is 2900+ and is a CC. Your in town mileage is very low. I get 12 around town in mixed driving.

[Fastback]

Thanks for the input guys.

The trailer weights I posted is what is printed on a spec sheet in one of the cabinet doors.

As for the carrying capacity, that data is what is printed on the door jam of my F250. BTW, it is a supercab with a short bed.

I have read where people get 10 to 12 in city with these trucks but mine is not one of them. Now I am going by the computer and they usually lie in the favor of more rather than less. Last year when we took out the Coachman we did both the math and the computer, they were pretty much the same.

We are taking the camper out next week for a shake down of the camper. My wife and I just spent 3 months working on this unit to make it decent. Must say am really looking forward to it.

[IdahoSRT10]

I basically have the same setup as you but have a SCT tune. I get 14 mpg hwy not towing and 9 mpg towing @ 65 mph.

[Fastback]

Please tell me more about the SCT tuning. I would love to get that kind of milage.

[IdahoSRT10]

Originally Posted by Fastback

Please tell me more about the SCT tuning. I would love to get that kind of milage.

Mike at 5 StarTuning.com made me 3 tunes....I use the his eco. 87 octane towing tune full time. The low end power is tire spinning off the line compaired to stock. You will need to remove your PCM on the firewall to retreive the serial number so he can make your tunes. Visit FTE to see his posts and or give him a call.

Expect about 1 mpg increase unloaded and 1/2 mpg towing......the big gain is driveabilty, eg shift points (instant throttle response compaired to OEM)
http://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/index.php

http://www.5startuning.com/v10/index.html

[Fastback]

Thank you, I'll look into it.

[webster62]

Mine is a 2009 F250 extended cab, 4x4 lariat, V10 with 4:30 gears. It was getting 10.8 by itself when I bought it. I installed a Flowmaster cat-back exhaust system and a Spectre ram-air, not a cold-air, intake system. Open filters that sit in the engine compartment don't really get cold/cool air. I fabricated a 4" fresh air inlet pipe that's mounted between the left headlight and the radiator and goes upward to the filter canister. The Spectre filter canister sits behind the top of the radiator on the left side above the upper radiator hose. Although the filter canister sits under the hood too, it gets fresh cool air forced through it going down the road. The colder the air the better. It now gets 15.5 mpg by itself and 10 mpg towing the 5th wheel. The 5 star tune is next...

[webster62]

I forgot to mention that I only run non-ethanol gasoline in the truck. It makes a big difference in power and torque, and gives you around 1-2 extra mpg. Earlier this year we camped outside of Nashville and traveling I-40 in the mountainous areas it only shifts down to third gear, which I'm o'k with. When I first got the truck, and running E-10 gasoline in it, it would shift as far down as second gear under the same conditions. I use a web-site called puregas.org to locate gas stations with non-ethanol gasoline. You can find them in every state just by clicking on the state. I use it when we go on long trips to plan my fuel stops...

[rnkburg]

I tried your website. No results what am I doing wrong. What are you clicking on.

Sent from my EVO using Tapatalk 2

[rnkburg]

I found it there is a dash between pure and gas www.pure-gas.org


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[dea3851]

Hi I've got a 2002 F250 short box 2 wheel drive with 3.73 read end auto trans with 69000 miles driving around town about 10 mpg on high way have seen up to 18.3 mpg on truck comp. towing my cougar 318SAB weighting around 11000 loaded between 9 & 12 mpg the truck is stock and pulls my trailer very well no troubles love the truck

[webster62]

Sorry, I forgot about the dash...