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2021 PowerBoost and Towing... Terrible MPG while towing

daemonic3

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Yours looks way more level, having that weight balanced back on the trailer wheels vs the rear of the truck must make a diff....the squat may be misleading, because the more it squats, the more weight on the rear, the less is probably sags since your tensioning against the springs...it's not a linear thing I imagine

We have the same Reese hitch, you had to flip the drop hitch over, as I suspected I have to do to get it level so that confirms it. You're ball is up at the top of the license plate, mine is towards the bottom of the bumper. Can you send me close up shots of your setup. I will just set mine to yours as a starting place.
Sure thing. The only thing to keep in mind is that my tires are 1/2" diameter larger than your stock tires (assuming you didn't replace them).

Looks like my shank has daylight through the top 3 holes, and the sway bars have 1.5 holes visible. Note that if you adjust the shank height, you will need to readjust the sway bar thingies (is that the technical term?) to make the friction pads colinear again!

Ford F-150 2021 PowerBoost and Towing... Terrible MPG while towing 20210327_130230
Ford F-150 2021 PowerBoost and Towing... Terrible MPG while towing 20210327_164901
Ford F-150 2021 PowerBoost and Towing... Terrible MPG while towing 20210327_172600
Ford F-150 2021 PowerBoost and Towing... Terrible MPG while towing 20210509_162217
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uavmx

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Yours looks way more level, having that weight balanced back on the trailer wheels vs the rear of the truck must make a diff....the squat may be misleading, because the more it squats, the more weight on the rear, the less is probably sags since your tensioning against the springs...it's not a linear thing I imagine
Sure thing. The only thing to keep in mind is that my tires are 1/2" diameter larger than your stock tires (assuming you didn't replace them).

Looks like my shank has daylight through the top 3 holes, and the sway bars have 1.5 holes visible. Note that if you adjust the shank height, you will need to readjust the sway bar thingies (is that the technical term?) to make the friction pads colinear again!

20210327_130230.jpg
20210327_164901.jpg
20210327_172600.jpg
20210509_162217.jpg
thank you! That's a starting point. I do think my the trailer mounts are higher....would that mean more WD taking place? Maybe that's countered with the lower ball height
 

Sentinel1201

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Towed my 7x14 dual axle with two bikes again this weekend. Mostly flat ground between Austin and Dallas. Locked out 8-9-10 and kept it in eco before getting on the highway. Got 13.3 mpg - this is a full 3 mpg better than my 17 raptor got towing the same trailer.

Ford F-150 2021 PowerBoost and Towing... Terrible MPG while towing PXL_20210619_113425196


Ford F-150 2021 PowerBoost and Towing... Terrible MPG while towing PXL_20210620_020338562
 
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col

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To add to this thread, another Lariat Powerboost. Towed appx 4,000 lbs 1,200 miles across i-80. Traveled 65 to 80 mph. Not surprised based on this thread but a bit disappointed that I got 9 to 11mpg. High elevation climbs were on the low end and plains the high end. Used 91 octane gas and tried different modes between tow and normal. I saw a slight improvement in normal mode. I did not lock out any gears and let the automatic work on its own.
 

Smokewagun

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Jeesh! I’ve been thinking of trading my 2019 3.0L Stroke for a PowerBoost. Maybe I’ll hang on to it. I can net 15.5 to 16mpg towing my 6000# K-Z travel trailer most of the time. On windy days, 13mpg. Towing 2000# of flatbed with quads, 21mpg. All hand calculations. The PowerBoost seems disappointing in the towing mpg department. Of course my 3.0L won’t break records in a race, but it pulls and stays in 10th on the interstate all day long.
 

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Sentinel1201

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Jeesh! I’ve been thinking of trading my 2019 3.0L Stroke for a PowerBoost. Maybe I’ll hang on to it. I can net 15.5 to 16mpg towing my 6000# K-Z travel trailer most of the time. On windy days, 13mpg. Towing 2000# of flatbed with quads, 21mpg. All hand calculations. The PowerBoost seems disappointing in the towing mpg department. Of course my 3.0L won’t break records in a race, but it pulls and stays in 10th on the interstate all day long.
Diesels are better for towing all day everyday. No surprises there.

The problem with the 3.0L is it is not ’compatible’ with the pro power onboard architecture or any hybrid architecture. If having a sweet 7200W generator doesn’t add utility to you, and its all about towing, yes the diesel is a better motor for you.

Ford also made some strange choices to hobble the diesel In the F150. No 36 gallon fuel tank is a head scratcher. Too many compromises for 250 hp and 440 ft-lbs.

One additional ancillary benefit of the powerboost setup is how efficient it is as idling. Because the AC/climate control runs off the lithium battery and car only kicks on to charge it momentarily every now and then, I can idle for hours with AC running and it barely affects MPG because its efficient. For folks that travel with dogs and leave the car running for extended periods, that in itself is a very nice benefit.
 
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xtraman122

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Diesels are better for towing all day everyday. No surprises there.

The problem with the 3.0L is it is not ’compatible’ with the pro power onboard architecture or any hybrid architecture. If having a sweet 7200W generator doesn’t add utility to you, and its all about towing, yes the diesel is a better motor for you.

One small ancillary benefit of the powerboost setup is how efficient it is as idling. Because the AC/climate control runs off the lithium battery and car only kicks on to charge it momentarily every now and then, I can idle for hours with AC running and it barely affects MPG because its efficient. For folks that travel with dogs and leave the car running for extended periods, that in itself is a very nice benefit.
+1 on the idling AC/dog benefit. I had to run to grab some takeout the other day and I just left my truck running, AC on and took the keys with me so I could lock it. Truck stayed nice and cool for the dog but was still secure because it was locked and I didn’t burn a drop of fuel doing it.
 

Vspec

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Has anyone seen fuel efficiency improvements by manually forcing a lower to stay out of boost and rev higher instead?

My last towing session was done in normal mode jumping between 7-8 to stay out of boost.
 

Sentinel1201

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Has anyone seen fuel efficiency improvements by manually forcing a lower to stay out of boost and rev higher instead?

My last towing session was done in normal mode jumping between 7-8 to stay out of boost.
Yes, locking out 8-9-10 nets a noticeable mpg improvement. I imagine the answer depends heavily on what you are towing. My experience with the above improvement has been towing a 7x14 enclosed trailer weighing ~ 4000 lbs or so.
 

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Yes, locking out 8-9-10 nets a noticeable mpg improvement. I imagine the answer depends heavily on what you are towing. My experience with the above improvement has been towing a 7x14 enclosed trailer weighing ~ 4000 lbs or so.
I'm towing about the same. I don't think the weight is the issue but the coefficient of drag is ?
 

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daemonic3

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So with my new Imagine 2500RL trailer (GVWR 7495#, probably about 7k# loaded in my current setup, but haven't scaled it yet) I had about 500 miles of life at 10.2MPG so far. I have always used Tow/Haul mode. Sometimes I'm locking out 8th if I see the boost meter barely start to blip up but I allow it again on flats. My top speed is 60mph and I use adaptive cruise to ensure it.

I saw the mention above of using Normal mode so that you can get some electric miles and electric idling, especially around town. First I tried it on the way home from storage and I beat my previous record easily by at least 1MPG using surface streets I used before.

Went camping this weekend to nearly 3k feet from sea level, here is the route profile from flattestroute.com:

Ford F-150 2021 PowerBoost and Towing... Terrible MPG while towing 1626731034881


I think off the top of my head, my inaugural trip with this trailer to this campground was roughly 8MPG there and around 11MPG back. That was using Tow/Haul mode.

This time, I was comfortable experimenting with Normal as I know there isn't a miles-long steep downgrade and most of the hills are rolling. Normal does less engine braking and upshifts a little quicker on takeoffs but I felt it was worth the experiment. Results? A WHOPPING 9.3MPG on the way up, and 13.0 on the way back! I used every trick in the book, locking out upper gears on mild climbs and flats, but allowing 9-10 on mild downs and tapping brakes to kick in electric miles when possible. Very fun! Never felt unsafe on this route (though I would not try this over the CA grapevine, for example). Oh I also extensively use the adaptive cruise to maintain speed, so I can just concentrate on the lockouts vs boost meter. The adaptive was very much able to maintain my downhill at 55mph in Normal *on this route* and would enter electric quite often.

Folks can play with whatever they feel comfortable with their trailer weights and various routes but if you have a nice one like this it was a fun experiment!
 

diesel97

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So with my new Imagine 2500RL trailer (GVWR 7495#, probably about 7k# loaded in my current setup, but haven't scaled it yet) I had about 500 miles of life at 10.2MPG so far. I have always used Tow/Haul mode. Sometimes I'm locking out 8th if I see the boost meter barely start to blip up but I allow it again on flats. My top speed is 60mph and I use adaptive cruise to ensure it.

I saw the mention above of using Normal mode so that you can get some electric miles and electric idling, especially around town. First I tried it on the way home from storage and I beat my previous record easily by at least 1MPG using surface streets I used before.

Went camping this weekend to nearly 3k feet from sea level, here is the route profile from flattestroute.com:

1626731034881.png


I think off the top of my head, my inaugural trip with this trailer to this campground was roughly 8MPG there and around 11MPG back. That was using Tow/Haul mode.

This time, I was comfortable experimenting with Normal as I know there isn't a miles-long steep downgrade and most of the hills are rolling. Normal does less engine braking and upshifts a little quicker on takeoffs but I felt it was worth the experiment. Results? A WHOPPING 9.3MPG on the way up, and 13.0 on the way back! I used every trick in the book, locking out upper gears on mild climbs and flats, but allowing 9-10 on mild downs and tapping brakes to kick in electric miles when possible. Very fun! Never felt unsafe on this route (though I would not try this over the CA grapevine, for example). Oh I also extensively use the adaptive cruise to maintain speed, so I can just concentrate on the lockouts vs boost meter. The adaptive was very much able to maintain my downhill at 55mph in Normal *on this route* and would enter electric quite often.

Folks can play with whatever they feel comfortable with their trailer weights and various routes but if you have a nice one like this it was a fun experiment!
Cool graph, where did you get that from?
 

daemonic3

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Cool graph, where did you get that from?
Well I put the URL thinking that it would resolve to a link but apparently it didn't? It was flattestroute.com. This time I used "insert link" so try that.

I've used it a lot for biking routes and for RV routes, to "know before I go" type of thing.
 

Cessnadog

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I pulled a 6500 lb camper about 200 miles across Wisconsin today. First 100 miles on the interstate in normal mode at 71 MPH, no intervention on the transmission by me. 8.5 MPG calculated after pumping gas.

Second half of the trip was on two Lane highway at 61 MPH and I locked out 8, 9 and 10th gears. I did this after watching the turbo boost gauge and what my mileage was doing. 7th gear spun the motor faster but very little boost. Much better mileage at 11.5 MPG according to the computer in the truck. I will play with locking out the tp gears on the interstate on the way home.
 

dannko58

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Diesels are better for towing all day everyday. No surprises there.

The problem with the 3.0L is it is not ’compatible’ with the pro power onboard architecture or any hybrid architecture. If having a sweet 7200W generator doesn’t add utility to you, and its all about towing, yes the diesel is a better motor for you.

Ford also made some strange choices to hobble the diesel In the F150. No 36 gallon fuel tank is a head scratcher. Too many compromises for 250 hp and 440 ft-lbs.

One additional ancillary benefit of the powerboost setup is how efficient it is as idling. Because the AC/climate control runs off the lithium battery and car only kicks on to charge it momentarily every now and then, I can idle for hours with AC running and it barely affects MPG because its efficient. For folks that travel with dogs and leave the car running for extended periods, that in itself is a very nice benefit.
WAIT, hold the press, I am getting my Powerboost soon, I have an AC unit to put in the bed under a camper shell and pipe cold air into the cab for my dogs when I stop for short breaks powered by the 7.2kw system, are you saying I can let my dogs in the cab and the AC will run without the motor or just start when needed???? That would be a game changer as I don't need a camper shell then. IF so, is there a safety issue though with locking the truck to stop say at a restaurant? Can someone steal it vs powering thru the onboard plant running my bed mounted ac unit and the truck being locked? Thanks for any help because I will cancel my camper shell order which I don't really like anyway.
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