Fuel Economy on Trial Run

silverloaf · Post by **silverloaf** » Mon Oct 21, 2019 5:18 pm

It's been over 2 years since the last trip on an Interstate with our '88 30P. It underwent major restoration for 18 months after we got it home. All of the trips since that time have been low-speed, 5-mile jaunts to the storage facility.

Saturday, I took the trailer on a longer jaunt in anticipation of hitting the road to Georgia for good on Saturday. I didn't have the WDH hardware hooked up nor the sway control; that comes this week. But I was very impressed how stable the trailer performed at speeds up to 65-70 mph.

More impressive was the 13.8 mpg I measured over relatively flat terrain. Of course, I expect to see the fuel economy nose-dive in hilly terrains. But it was a good indicator as to how well our 2018 F-150 with 3.5L-V6 Eco-Boost and max trailer tow package is handling the speed and load. The 10-speed automatic transmission worked extremely well in tow-haul mode. The pulling power seems effortless as the truck works through the gears. I got my best fuel economy on flat terrain at 65 mph in 8th gear.

I grew up in an era where there was no replacement for engine displacement. I was about to order a 3/4 ton pick-up with the V8. But commercial vehicles didn't have the rebate and finance incentives of the F150. But when the F-150 (or any 1/2-ton) is properly spec'd out for its intended purpose, it appears more than capable of doing the job.

It's 760 miles of mountainous terrain from Michigan to Georgia. The acid test is this weekend.

Post by **Razorback** » Mon Oct 21, 2019 5:37 pm

Great write-up.

I am curious what you experience on your trip to Georgia. For your 30P, I bet your truck will be just fine.

Keep us posted!

Salty · Post by **Salty** » Tue Oct 22, 2019 7:25 am

Ditto.
All the suspension work paid off

silverloaf · Post by **silverloaf** » Tue Oct 22, 2019 11:48 am

Razorback wrote: ↑Mon Oct 21, 2019 5:37 pm Great write-up.

I am curious what you experience on your trip to Georgia. For your 30P, I bet your truck will be just fine.

Keep us posted!

Yes. Although the truck has a towing capacity of 11,000+ lbs., I might think twice about pulling a 34. Frame stiffness and beefy suspension/brakes of a 3/4 ton pick-up trump 1/2 tons on longer and heavier trailers.

silverloaf · Post by **silverloaf** » Tue Oct 22, 2019 11:55 am

Salty wrote: ↑Tue Oct 22, 2019 7:25 am Ditto.
All the suspension work paid off

Yes. That was a lot of work! But I've learned the devil is in the details. I took every precaution to make things equal or better than OEM. If something is going to break, I want it to either defy the laws of physics or trump the forces of nature.

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