Okay, now we have lots of data.
Over 5,000 miles of towing in all sorts of conditions.
Some other points:
- Our trailer usually weighs between 8,000 and 8,500 points
- We tow at max speed of 55 mph (this is a California law)
- Always use “Tow/Haul” mode
- Use cruise control most of the time
- Most trips our routes include some steep hills
On our last trip (just over 3,000 miles) we drive to Norther Arizona up to elevations over 8,000 feet. We also drove across the Sierra Nevada Mountains twice. So our elevations varied from sea level to over 8K feet.
Average fuel mileage is 8.83 mpg.
With our 48 gallon gas tank, that gives us a fuel range of 423 miles. For us that is a huge improvement over the 253 mile range with our 2012 Ford Expedition, which was getting 9.06 mpg.
But the new truck is heavier and handles the towing duties much more securely. Additionally we can haul a lot of stuff in the bed of the truck while towing and still be well under the towing specifications for weight, something we could not do with the Expedition — we could not put anything in it while towing as we were maxed out in load capacity. Lastly, we now have 4WD, which has not only come in handy, a couple times it was critically necessary.
For previous posts about our F-250 Super Duty gas milage, see these posts:
2020 Ford F-250 7.3L “Godzilla” Gas Engine Towing MPG (baseline information)
2020 Ford F-250 7.3L “Godzilla” Gas Engine Towing MPG Update 8/22/2020