Ford Ecoboost 3.5 with MaxTow?

[tuffr2]

I see Texas has some speed limits at 85.

[ModestMonk]

Originally Posted by tuffr2

I like to tow at the speed limit to smooth out my travel. Now, I have not towed thru Texas where I think the speed limit is 80mph nor any of the western states.

So when I like towing the speed limit I mean 70 - 72 mph.

How do you guys tow thru some of those high speed western states? What speed do the semi's drive? Got to try to keep up with them.

I found that some of the states held the semi's at 10 mph slower at 65mph. I gladly filed in between them and did my best to keep pace. I also found that traveling at night was safer than playing dodgeball with speed differences of 25 mph.

[lynnmor]

Originally Posted by bfisher003

I use 87 octane in my EB towing or not towing and it does just fine.

I wonder why Ford bothers to write an owners manual.

The engine computer makes timing and mixture adjustments to protect the engine from improper fuels, not to allow the use of same.

[SmokeyWren]

Originally Posted by tuffr2

I see Texas has some speed limits at 85.

Only on a couple of toll roads in/near big cities.

Out west (beginning west of me between Odessa and Monahans) on I-10 and I-20 for nearly 200 miles thru Pecos, over the Contnental Divide, and up the Rio Grande Valley to the county line for El Paso, the speed limit is 80 MPH.

"Nobody" lives out there in the desert, and traffic is light so the lawmakers bowed down to public pressure and raised the speed limit to 80 MPH. Midland County and everywhere north, east and south of here on interstates and 4-lane freeways and on some 2-lane state highways the speed limit is 75 MPH. Farm to market (FM) and Ranch to market (RM) highways the speed limit is up to 70 MPH. Paved county highways with shoulders are usually 65 MPH.

[tuffr2]

I agree, night travel is a good time to make distance but you do not see the landscape which is the bummer of night travel.

I try to tuck in behind the semi's but sooner than later I get behind a real slow moving semi. After a few miles I realize i am only going 62 mph.

I have LT tires on my trailer and try to keep 72mph.

On the map of speeds I see semi's speed is 65mph in many states. I have traveled Rt 75 and Rt 95 here in the east. I will tell you the 70mph speed is the right lane speed. Left lane is more like 80mph.

[SmokeyWren]

Originally Posted by lynnmor

I wonder why Ford bothers to write an owners manual.

They expect owners to have enough brain power to read and understand the Guide.

My User's Guide for my EcoBoost engine says:

Originally Posted by 2012 F-150 User's Guide for 3.5L EcoBoost engine

Premium fuel will provide improved performance and is recommended for severe duty usage such as trailer tow.

Read that again. It says "Recommended". It does not say "required". Mine gets enough better MPG towing on premium to cover the increased cost of premium. So when towing I fill up with premium as soon as I get down to a quarter-tank or so. But I don't worry about towing on regular unleaded until the tank gets empty enough that I would normally fill up. Watching my gauges closely, I don't see any reason to not tow using regular except worse MPG. Over 66,000 mostly-towing miles on my F-150 so far, and it still performs like a new truck. So my towing hundreds of miles on regular gas hasn't had any ill effects on my engine - so far.

[bfisher003]

Originally Posted by SmokeyWren

They expect owners to have enough brain power to read and understand the Guide.



My User's Guide for my EcoBoost engine says:







Read that again. It says "Recommended". It does not say "required". Mine gets enough better MPG towing on premium to cover the increased cost of premium. So when towing I fill up with premium as soon as I get down to a quarter-tank or so. But I don't worry about towing on regular unleaded until the tank gets empty enough that I would normally fill up. Watching my gauges closely, I don't see any reason to not tow using regular except worse MPG. Over 66,000 mostly-towing miles on my F-150 so far, and it still performs like a new truck. So my towing hundreds of miles on regular gas hasn't had any ill effects on my engine - so far.

[emoji106][emoji106][emoji106]

[4x4van]

Originally Posted by tuffr2

I see Texas has some speed limits at 85.

Attachment 180550

That map is correct only for single vehicles; CA speed limit is 55mph for trailers (although I've run 60-65mph for years without a ticket).

[ModestMonk]

Originally Posted by SmokeyWren

They expect owners to have enough brain power to read and understand the Guide.

My User's Guide for my EcoBoost engine says:



Read that again. It says "Recommended". It does not say "required". Mine gets enough better MPG towing on premium to cover the increased cost of premium. So when towing I fill up with premium as soon as I get down to a quarter-tank or so. But I don't worry about towing on regular unleaded until the tank gets empty enough that I would normally fill up. Watching my gauges closely, I don't see any reason to not tow using regular except worse MPG. Over 66,000 mostly-towing miles on my F-150 so far, and it still performs like a new truck. So my towing hundreds of miles on regular gas hasn't had any ill effects on my engine - so far.

Higher octane precludes the preignition during compression. You normally need higher octane with 10:1 compression or higher. I won't hear valve knock during normal operation on the 383 stroker. However if I start towing I need to increase the octane. Finding 95 or better octane was a lost cause out west. The last place I found 95 octane was at a gas station just outside of the Brainerd Raceway in Minnesota. After that I was adding octane booster, one can every 10 gallons.
I'm hoping for regular gas working with the new eco boost like Smokey. Gas for the stroker was expensive even before adding a $12 bottle of booster.

[Blackstone1]

Originally Posted by ModestMonk

I picked up my new ORV 24KTS in June out in Washington and drove it home to the very northern part of New York. The TV had little trouble with the ups and downs of the Rockies or the hills back east. I don't drive it over 60 MPH back east even without towing. I couldn't believe the speeds on the interstates from North Dakota to Washington, especially in work zones. Our max here in NY is 65 mph and work zones are 25-45 MPH. So not having air conditioning ( due to keeping the high performance engine cool) and not wanting to drive a 23 year fully restored work truck at 75 or 80 mph we need to formulate a plan for the future trip out west.

I've read so many nice things about the abilities of a Ford Eco Boost and it's tow capacity that we decided to replace the DW's Honda Element with a 2017 Ford EB. The deal was great for a left over 2017 3.5 with a 10 speed tranny and with the MaxTow package. Our ORV is loaded at just under 8000#'s and the new pickup is rated somewhere near 13,000 lbs.

I'm hoping this works well with our intended western trip to include as many national parks from the Grand Canyon to Glacier National Park. Anyone have an opinion on this?

We don't want to be a moving speed bump and no Air with those high temps out there just won't make the DW happy.

Our 2001 Ford F 250 V 10 died on us and the Ford dealer asked us "How about an F 150?" I have a 10,000 280RKSB Blackstone and I said no. They told me the towing capability and I asked which engine. They said a 3.5 liter. I said no. They added that it's a twin turbo with 470 pound feet of torque. Now here's the rest of the story. Our old truck died after we had towed our trailer to the Oregon coast from Portland. Oregon also has a 3 day contract clause on large purchases. So I said I'm buying it today (Saturday), towing the trailer home tomorrow and if doesn't do the job I'm bringing it back on Monday. I still have it. My wife said I was giggling like a kid all the way home. Most stress free towing ever. It did things the V 10 never did including accelerating from 45 MPH to 65 MPH up a pretty steep hill. In addition to that, with the 10 speed transmission, every time you touch the brakes it downshifts so you don't overheat the brakes. I was the world's biggest skeptic but I am now a believer. LOVE the truck!

[vanion2]

Originally Posted by bfisher003

I use 87 octane in my EB towing or not towing and it does just fine. Now in some states out West that may be 88 or 89 octane because their regular is 85. Yes, the Tow/Haul mode is your friend, but again, it does not provide real good engine braking on long steep 10-11% descents.

When towing I normally run somewhere in the 60-64 mph range.

Hmm...ymmv but my engine downshifts once and if that doesn't provide enough engine braking downshifts again. Between that and some light braking handling steep declines was no problem for me. I guess it depends on the weight of your trailer.

I live at a higher elevation so our regular is 86 octane. It costs 20¢ more per gallon for the mid grade. Again market value and elevation ymmv. With a 36 gallon fuel tank that adds up on a monthly basis. Not saying the EBs are in anyway a bad choice but for me a solid V8 is getting the job done and I can still work under the hood for standard maintenance. Just a person preference.

[BrewdogMN]

Originally Posted by mi62887

I have a 2016 F-150. Loved everything about it since day 1. I get 20-22 MPG combined when I'm not towing, 10-12 while towing. My TT is right at 4,000 LBS dry, so not terribly heavy, but the truck's performance is great. Most of my trips are into or over the Sierra Nevadas. Best truck I've owned.

I have owned 3 EB F150's and 2 5.4L 8 cylinder F 150s prior. The 5.4L got 15 mpg highway and 10 to12 mpg towing (depending on wind) no matter what trailer was on (10' snowmobile trailer or 30' travel trailer). The EB is significantly different. Highway mileage is 20 being nice. Yes on a certain day I can squeeze 26 out of it on the perfect trip but I did the same with the 5.4L. The tow mileage is entirely different. Small snowmobile trailer 10 - 12 mpg. 30' travel trailer 7-9 mpg pulling around Minnesota and South Dakota. The EB mileage really drops on the pull. I don't usually baby it pulling because I want to get where I'm going asap. The most notable thing for me was the power and ease of towing with EB 3.5. It is much better than the 8 cyl. 5.4. I love my Ford Ecoboosts. All that being said the other posts explaining the hitch wt. , GVWR, wet vs dry etc are very correct. By the way was there a question in the original post? Lol

[tuffr2]

I test drove a 2017 2.7 Eco-Boost, my 1st thought is this truck should be illegal. It is crazy fast. I read it is actually faster to 60mph then the 3.5litre eco-boost.

Try driving the eco-boost without smiling.

[SmokeyWren]

Originally Posted by BrewdogMN

By the way was there a question in the original post? Lol

Yeah, concerning his 3.5L EcoBoost: "I'm hoping this works well with our intended western trip to include as many national parks from the Grand Canyon to Glacier National Park. Anyone have an opinion on this?."

So he gathered a few opinions.