Wild Pig
Member
I gave this a try this week on a 350 mile round trip towing a 22' Grand Design trailer across Central PA. I am using the Blue Ox Sway Pro WD hitch.Hi, I'm new to the forum, but just wanted to share a tip someone gave me last week, in case it helps someone else. I'd been lurking on the form, trying to find answers to my crappy mileage while towing (2021 F-150 PowerBoost Platinum), and finally have something to add to the discussion.
Apparently, the "Trailer Sway Control" feature on the F-150 counteracts sway by selectively applying the brakes individually. For example, maybe the passenger rear for a millisecond, then the front driver's side for a millisecond to counteract detected sway of the trailer.
According to the guy who told me this, if your trailer already has a sway control bar (or a weight-distributing hitch with anti-sway design), the F-150's sway control winds up essentially fighting with the anti-sway bar, causing a ton of unnecessary (though very brief) braking.
His explanation makes perfect sense, so on our trip back from Savannah, Georgia (to central NC) I turned off the F-150's Trailer Sway Control (under the "Towing" section on the screen). I got 11.2mpg on the drive back up, whereas I had averaged 8.6 on the drive down TO Georgia.
That's a huge difference!! I didn't change anything else about driving style, etc, so I'm hoping that makes a permanent increase. I can live with 11 or so while towing, given that I *have* been getting around 24 when not towing!
Hope this helps someone else!
Thanks,
Craig
Outbound leg, I had the truck sway control off and I got 9.8 MPG. Noticed a very slight bit of sway when around the big trucks, just enough to notice.
Inbound leg with the truck sway control on, I got 10.0 MPG.
I'm very new to using a WD hitch, but I've towed about 600 miles in the last month and haven't noticed the stuck sway control fighting the WD hitch. But then, those Andersons are configured differently. I do remember reading their warning about disabling sway control when I was researching the purchaes.
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