I need a better truck

[Tom Pullings]

Can’t have it all. Just keep it and slow down.

[densa44]

I'll probably only go to Idaho once. It is to run some dogs in the test at Treasure Valley. The trailer is 16' with 4 wheels.

I think the best advice is to keep it and go slower.

Thanks guys.

[Junglefisher]

Originally Posted by bloopbloob

FWIW, I have had a 2011 5.7 Hemi Ram Crew Sport for about 5yrs now. Can get 11L/100km highway. Absolute pig in town, average around 26L/100km in town. 36-40L/100km pulling my 7000+lb 27' travel trailer. It has always been that way, nothing changed. I think something is wrong with it, I don't think it should be that high. But no engine codes, no mechanic has found anything either.

Nah, that sounds pretty normal for a Hemi. We once got under 200km from a tank of gas pulling our trailer.

[JB_AOL]

Originally Posted by densa44

I'll probably only go to Idaho once. It is to run some dogs in the test at Treasure Valley. The trailer is 16' with 4 wheels.

I think the best advice is to keep it and go slower.

Thanks guys.

Yeah Keep it.

The problem with the Eco, is everyone puts their foot into it (boost is addictive), learn to drive smoother, and it makes a world of difference.

FYI, EB's usually have issued early on (in warranty), but the 5.0L has been having alot more issues once the mileage gets up there +100k kms.

[Taco]

That would be the best idea densa. OldFarts like us don't need unnecessary investments in depreciating assets.

Kinda funny people bellyaching about fuel economy with modern trucks. The only times I remember fuel being "cheap" is in hindsight. It was never "cheap" when the fuel nozzle was stuck in the side of your truck. We hauled a lot of horses in the 70's and 80's with one ton trucks, 4:10, 4 speeds transmissions and 454 or 460 motors and were comparatively happy when we averaged 48 L/100km (6 miles/gal) on a 2000 mile trip.

[Arrowhead]

F150 4x4 crew cab with the 5.0 V8. Pulls 6200 lbs camping trailer last summer 4500km and averaged 10.5 - 11mpg while towing. Unloaded I get 20-22 mpg on highway. I'm pretty happy with those numbers. I don't tow enough to justify a diesel.

I buy my trucks 5 years old and keep for ~10 years and have no tolerance for reliability/repair issues which is why I stayed away from F150 V6 Ecoboost with the twin hair dryers. I think the 5.0 V8 is the long term winner even though it has slightly less towing capability than the Ecoboost.

[jstubbs]

Originally Posted by densa44

I'll probably only go to Idaho once. It is to run some dogs in the test at Treasure Valley. The trailer is 16' with 4 wheels.

I think the best advice is to keep it and go slower.

Thanks guys.

Probably the best idea. Especially if it's a good working truck. Buying from an auction or used, you never know what you're going to get really, the cost of repairs very well may likely completely erase any gains from fuel economy.

Especially buying a diesel used here in Alta. I once bought a 2006 Chevrolet 2500 diesel that was the best truck I've ever owned. Sold that and bought another 06 diesel, and it's been by far the worst truck I've ever owned. Caveat emptor.

[Ranch11]

I'm running an 08 tundra. Extremely nice to drive, in the 10 yrs I've owned it, only fix was the AC compressor went on it and it was pricey to fix. No repairs at all, regular maintenance only. But it sucks on fuel, no way I can get it under 15, and pulling a trailer it'll do 28-30. It pulls strong however. Another problem I've had is the dadgum seatbelt latches don't always work! They won't latch. And sometimes when they do they latch, they won't unlatch. But I've fixed it with steam cleaning the latches every 2 months or so. Seems like a bit of dirt gets in there and they stop working,properly. I also run an older GMC 3/4 ton, 1996, and I love that truck.

[BloodHound70]

Originally Posted by Pixel Shooter

How many times do i drive to Idaho and back? your not buying new. U know what u have now, may cost u more in the end then dealing with a few trips of extra gas money. Just a thought. Diesel is meant for towing and great mileage but cost of servicing or repairs let alone $per liter doesn’t make sense for how much use it will get. If your happy with it in all other aspects drive it till it drops.

Exactly what I was going to say. I to was in a hunt for something to pull a trailer and my neighbor had a ram 3500 diesel for sale which would pull as much trailer as I would want. I didn't even consider it because lets face it, our camping season for the most part is maybe 4 good "family" months then after that your truck is just a commuter.
I ended up getting a great deal on a new F150 3.5eco and I love it. Not going to defend my pick of truck with the eco haters as it has not given me one issue and pulls my trailer way better than my Ram ever did. Yes it drinks like a sailor on shore leave when towing, but like other guys have said, if you average EVERYTHING out, you won't gain much at all getting something else if you are happy with it otherwise.
Ultimately you need to really crunch out the numbers over a long period of time rather than just stress about what it does a few times you drag your trailer around.

My 2 cents

BH

[Kim473]

Many factors for the mileage. Tire wear, tire pressure, type of tire. How many km on the truck ? Maybe it needs a minor tune up such as new plugs ? Speed at which your driving. Driving habits. Weather, such as temp and humidity. Could be just the trailer your pulling. Have you tried it on another truck and compared the two.

I love my 2013. My son had a 2014 5L V8 and traded his in for the 2018 eco and he loves it. He recently drove to Kananaskis and back to Edmonton with a trip into Banff and area, used less than 3/4 tank of gas .

I don't usually pull a trailer but when I do it does drink the gas. But without a trailer, I can drive to Utikama and back to Edmonton at 110 km/hr, putting on quite a few 4X4 miles on the lake and only using about 3/4 tank of gas, $80.00.

You gotta crunch the numbers, for me the unloaded fuel mileage is great.
I do have a cover on my box and it makes a noticeable difference.

I have noticed that my mileage is getting worse so it might be time for new plugs on mine, or maybe the air filter is just dirty. 50,000 km on mine and have heard that they are hard on plugs for some reason.

I would buy another ecoboost ! I wish they would put twin turbos on the 5L V8, that would be awesome.

[Bigwoodsman]

What about getting a smaller trailer?

BW

[Tom Pullings]

You might wanna search on YouTube for hypermiling videos. Some of those people go to extremes but you can change just a couple driving habits to gain quite a bit of fuel economy.

[Ice Fishing Maniac]

I had a 2009 Chev 2500HD CC with the 6.0L gas that had the 3.73 rear axle ratio. Great truck, very low maintenance costs. Pulled my 31' trailer with ease. If you wanted to go above 100km/h pulling the trailer, fuel mileage was a lot lower..plus this truck only had the 95L fuel tank. I would stop every 300-350km to fuel up as it was safer to do so than run on the lower end of the tank and run out of fuel.

I have a new 2017 version that I got at end of August. Has the bigger fuel tank but the 4:10 rear axle ratio (mad at GM getting rid of the 3.73 ratio in the gas-its only in the diesel). Holiday trailer was put away already to compare so it will have to wait till this summer. I see a bit of difference in RPM (200-300 more) at cruising 100-110 speeds that my old one.

If you can find a 2009-2011 GMC/Chev 2500HD with the diesel, this would be the other option to go with if you are just using it for couple times a year. Other option would be a 2500HD Suburban / Yukon XL in gas or diesel if you don't need the truck box for gear.

MAybe a Chev/GMC 1500 CC with the 6.2L gas for the power, but its nice to have the 2500HD for payload capacity when you have a truck loaded up with a family of 4, truck box with gear (bikes/bbq/etc) and a loaded holiday trailer if you have to fill water tank from the start.

[titegroup]

Originally Posted by elkdump

The sad truth,,
My biggest mistake in life, a new 2014 f150 4x4 crew cab echoboost the worst gas sucking pig POS I have owned in my 40 years of owning vehicles ,

I pitty anyone when reality kicks in and they figure out how bad they been screwed by Ford

My Condolences

A rancher friends lady bought brand new eco-junk, only 10,000 k on it now, was comin in to town a couple days ago & the whole thing shut down, every light in the book was lit on the dash. this was only 500yds. from the homestead. Her guy came & brought it back to the ranch, he said it had already overheated. Being under warranty he called dealer & had it flat-decked to town, service manager said the alternator belt blew. Rancher friend said - not so there is no alternator belt ( meaning there is only one belt--the serpentine belt) service manager says-- nope, the alternator belt blew, the service manager apparently was somewhere in his 20's says friend, & insisted it was the alternator belt. Enough said, -- I solved my domestic junk truck problems & bought a mint used 2012 Titan/ crew-- 0nly 27,000mi.- & might say --best truck I've ever owned so far, a bit hard on fuel for sure , but i'll take that over inferior build quality garbage, & fix or repair daily stuff.

[elkdump]

Originally Posted by harv3589

And what do u drive now...

An old 05 duramax 1ton CrewCab 4x4 auto Allison with 300,000 km , the duramax pulls my 5th wheel RV 25 ft and gets twice the Milage the f150 borscht did, the duramax actually gets better Milage pulling the 5th wheel RV than the echoborsht 150 got on the highway EMPTY !

What a POS ,

[bobtodrick]

Going slower is definitely the answer.
I used to make the trip from Calgary to Edmonton on a weekly basis.
Now this was 20 years ago...a Chev 1/2 ton with the 350.
Used to set the cruise at 130. Would get to Calgary with less than 1/4 tank of gas left.
One time I tried doing it at 110 and had nearly 1/2 tank left.
One of the reasons I don't often speed anymore. The savings in gas and photo radar tickets has paid for a few nice guns in the safe.

[EZM]

The advice to keep your own vehicle - is what I would also agree on ..... that is your most reasonable option and no surprises owning an unknown new to you truck from an auction.

But, if you MUST get a new truck - here's my nickel of advice ....

As far as ECOBoosts are concerned, the claims of people getting world record mileage are either attributed to lies OR people who really do drive unusually "tame" - soft on the accelerator, not pushing back up to speeds on hills, etc... These engines ARE capable of great mileage, but you have to drive them nice. There is simply no mileage advantage to an ECOBoost anywhere.

95% of the people, average drivers, will not get mileage better than a 5.0 or 5.3 - either in the city, or on the highway and certainly not towing .... period.

When I say this - I am not talking about aggressive drivers. I'm talking Joe average like me or the next guy. We don't race at each green light, but we also don't idle up to cruising speed like an old man with a 0-60 in 49 seconds. Normal drivers, the same guy you see on Whitemud or Deerfoot everyday that you don't pay attention to, the guy going with the flow - that's me.

The other thing .... regarding the ECOBoost - The percentage of people who have had catastrophic horror stories with these engines are far too numerous for me to ignore.

Towing, the ECOBoost is a HUNGRY GREEDY PIG. Worse than a 5.0 Ford or 5.3 Chev - no comparison whatsoever. Sure they pull nice, but they suck gas faster than having a half dozen bullet holes in the gas tank.

IMO if you are not towing lots - I'd be happy, and would recommend to stick with a 5.0 Ford or 5.3 GMC - owned both and both were pretty reasonable on fuel both towing, on the highway and in the city. It's a decent mix of all applications for the way MOST people use their trucks.

These also don't break, and if the do, they don't cost you a fortune like diesels or ECOBoosts will once off warranty.

I won't comment about Dodge - I am not a fan, and have been responsible (one part of my tema's job) was to manage maintenance/reporting for one of the largest private fleet of light trucks in Canada. The repair to maintenance cost (Dodge) is staggering compared to GMC/Ford and, I recently drove a 2017 5.7 hemi around town and the mileage was absolutely atrocious - I have NEVER - EVER - imagined that a my "normal" driving habits would result in my consumption of 50% more fuel than I consume in my current 2017 5.0. And 50% is not an exaggeration - I was at 22L/100km combined. Absolutely stupid.

[elkdump]

Originally Posted by EZM

The advice to keep your own vehicle - is what I would also agree on ..... that is your most reasonable option and no surprises owning an unknown new to you truck from an auction.

But, if you MUST get a new truck - here's my nickel of advice ....

As far as ECOBoosts are concerned, the claims of people getting world record mileage are either attributed to lies OR people who really do drive unusually "tame" - soft on the accelerator, not pushing back up to speeds on hills, etc... These engines ARE capable of great mileage, but you have to drive them nice. There is simply no mileage advantage to an ECOBoost anywhere.

95% of the people, average drivers, will not get mileage better than a 5.0 or 5.3 - either in the city, or on the highway and certainly not towing .... period.

When I say this - I am not talking about aggressive drivers. I'm talking Joe average like me or the next guy. We don't race at each green light, but we also don't idle up to cruising speed like an old man with a 0-60 in 49 seconds. Normal drivers, the same guy you see on Whitemud or Deerfoot everyday that you don't pay attention to, the guy going with the flow - that's me.

The other thing .... regarding the ECOBoost - The percentage of people who have had catastrophic horror stories with these engines are far too numerous for me to ignore.

Towing, the ECOBoost is a HUNGRY GREEDY PIG. Worse than a 5.0 Ford or 5.3 Chev - no comparison whatsoever. Sure they pull nice, but they suck gas faster than having a half dozen bullet holes in the gas tank.

IMO if you are not towing lots - I'd be happy, and would recommend to stick with a 5.0 Ford or 5.3 GMC - owned both and both were pretty reasonable on fuel both towing, on the highway and in the city. It's a decent mix of all applications for the way MOST people use their trucks.

These also don't break, and if the do, they don't cost you a fortune like diesels or ECOBoosts will once off warranty.

I won't comment about Dodge - I am not a fan, and have been responsible (one part of my tema's job) was to manage maintenance/reporting for one of the largest private fleet of light trucks in Canada. The repair to maintenance cost (Dodge) is staggering compared to GMC/Ford and, I recently drove a 2017 5.7 hemi around town and the mileage was absolutely atrocious - I have NEVER - EVER - imagined that a my "normal" driving habits would result in my consumption of 50% more fuel than I consume in my current 2017 5.0. And 50% is not an exaggeration - I was at 22L/100km combined. Absolutely stupid.

We'll spoken , I agree with you 100%,

Except for I ABOSOLUTLY LOVE DODGE TRUCKS, I WISH MORE PEOPLE DROVE THEM,,,, but I wouldn't own one .

But I must admit I own an independent auto repair shop

[rosh]

I think the biggest problem people have is they think they should get great fuel economy even when towing. The truth is if you get 11L/100km average, your not getting that when towing a trailer. Pros and cons to everything. But I do love towing with the 6.7L F350

[elkhunter11]

You can buy a lot of fuel for the money spent on another truck. Unless you intend to tow on a regular basis, save your money.

[raab]

Sorry to hijack your thread Densa. But kind of on the same topic, I'm looking to try and get setup with a 4x4 truck and stock trailer for under 15k. Any recommendations on what I should look for and where? TIA

[harv3589]

Originally Posted by Tom Pullings

Can’t have it all. Just keep it and slow down.

Originally Posted by elkdump

An old 05 duramax 1ton CrewCab 4x4 auto Allison with 300,000 km , the duramax pulls my 5th wheel RV 25 ft and gets twice the Milage the f150 borscht did, the duramax actually gets better Milage pulling the 5th wheel RV than the echoborsht 150 got on the highway EMPTY !

What a POS ,

My partner at work got 200,000kms out of his duramax before it crapped the bed and head gasket went. Wasn’t worth the cost to fix....

They all have issues, anyone who says a specific brand doesn’t is full of it.