F450 2008-2010 towing

Andrew · 03-07-2014, 01:05 AM

Those of you who have towed with this truck I would like to know if you have had any mechanical issues and what is your fuel milage that you get towing and empty and would you buy this truck again, I am considering upgrading to this model year.

atom ant · 03-07-2014, 01:59 AM

It's the worst fuel mileage engine of the Fords, but extremely quiet compared to the 6.0 or 7.3.

The 6.4 uses fuel to clean the exhaust filter, so when regen kicks on I drop another 1 mpg at least, not counting that the gear ratios seem to be deeper than the new ones. My F350 has 4.10, I think that F450 a little deeper than that.

Just a price to pay to avoid cost for a new one, but I'm getting 8 towing, 13 no tow if I keep it to 70. If regen kicks on in the summer, its down to 7 towing.

We won't talk about my rear end, as I'm hoping its not a "typical" issue with Ford.

Oriana · 03-07-2014, 04:07 AM

Brad - with the 6.7, which has a 3.5 rear end I am getting 17.5 to the Imperial Gal or 14.6 to the US. Try to keep the speed between 55 - 60 most of the time. When not towing and on the motorway I get 25 to the Imperial Gal or 21 to the US gal.

atom ant · 03-07-2014, 04:31 AM

that's fantastic Andy. I'm not sure they do those gears in the new dually, I think 3.73

Oriana · 03-07-2014, 02:29 PM

Affirmative Brad, when we upgrade to the dually I'll drop a little on the fuel economy, but gain on the pulling power.

Was chatting with a chap the other day with an older truck and he couldn't believe the mileage I am getting.

atom ant · 03-07-2014, 05:16 PM

Definitely encouraging to hear that if I end up looking for a new one. Fuel is one of our biggest vacation costs now - between the truck, and if we take the V8 boat with the V8 SUV, it gets pretty discouraging when the gas bill arrives.

johnboytoo · 03-07-2014, 05:57 PM

MPG is SSSSSSSSSSSOOOOOOOO subjective and personal --- I have basically the same truck as Oriana, except a shortbed, and my mpg is so dependent on my right foot's spasms that it can go from 7 to 14 towing

but I DO drive quicker than that usually !

BUT, I'm never one to ask or compare mpg as it is what it is... can't tow with a prius (but I wouldn't drive one either

)

Oriana · 03-07-2014, 06:01 PM

I hear you, back in the days we both worked, it was over $400 a month just for to/from work.

Towing the RW I use about 27c a mile at pump prices of about $4 per gal.

Tobys Home · 03-08-2014, 12:23 PM

Good thing you don't tow in Connecticut at over $4.40 a gallon. When we had our 40' pusher the pump costs were always over $300 for a weekend. I think the 7.5 generator sucked it all up.LOL

**Blenhardt** · 03-08-2014, 01:50 PM

Andrew, prior to my present truck I pulled our Montana with a 2008 SRW 6.4 with a 3.73 rear end. It was a good truck and I had zero problems with it. Just thought I needed a dually and wanted the additional horsepower and torque the 6.7 offered. The fuel mileage with the 6.4 was not as good as the 6.7, even though the Redwood is heavier, but it was not bad.

almcc · 03-08-2014, 03:15 PM

Andrew, you may want to look at the 2011 F-450. It has the Ford engine (not a Navistar which had some problems over the years) and the 2011 is de-rated compared previous 450's. It has the 17 inch tires compared to the 19.5's on the 2010 but has the wide track front axle that gives a tight turning circle. It also has more hauling capacity compared to the F-350. It's basically the equivalent of the F-350 "tow boss" that was offered in earlier years.

In terms of fuel economy, I lost about 1 MPG going from our 2003 F-350 SRW super cab (4.10 rear end) to the 2011 F-450 which has 4.30 rear end. The 2011 turns the same RPM at 60 MPH as the 2003 truck did because of the transmission gearing and larger tires.

I'm getting 10.8 US MPG hauling our 36RL, hand calculated fill by fill on our 5,000 mile snowbird trip so far this year (the Ford computer is a bit optimistic on fuel mileage as I always consume more fuel than the computer shows because of fulling the tank right up to the top of the filler neck which the computer doesn't consider). The number is almost the same as last winter hauling our 30/35 Titanium. I haven't done detailed fuel mileage calculations for solo driving as we do very little traveling without hauling a trailer with the Ford

Andrew · 03-09-2014, 12:11 AM

Thanks to all for your replys this should help with my decision on which truck consider for my tv

**Dave&Ginny** · 03-09-2014, 10:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Oriana

Brad - with the 6.7, which has a 3.5 rear end I am getting 17.5 to the Imperial Gal or 14.6 to the US. Try to keep the speed between 55 - 60 most of the time. When not towing and on the motorway I get 25 to the Imperial Gal or 21 to the US gal.

When my 2012 F350 dually was stock it had 370 rears and solo I'd get 16-17 mpg on the road and 14-15 mpg in town. Towing the Redwood I'd get 10-11 keeping it around 1800 rpm or at 65-67 mph.

The way I have the truck configured now....I get around 19-21 mpg solo and 11-13.5 towing under the same conditions. Keep in mind though, the truck is now broke in with 53000 miles on it. I also switched over to Michelin tires which have low rolling resistance.

**Dave&Ginny** · 03-09-2014, 10:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by almcc

Andrew, you may want to look at the 2011 F-450. It has the Ford engine (not a Navistar which had some problems over the years) and the 2011 is de-rated compared previous 450's. It has the 17 inch tires compared to the 19.5's on the 2010 but has the wide track front axle that gives a tight turning circle. It also has more hauling capacity compared to the F-350. It's basically the equivalent of the F-350 "tow boss" that was offered in earlier years.

In terms of fuel economy, I lost about 1 MPG going from our 2003 F-350 SRW super cab (4.10 rear end) to the 2011 F-450 which has 4.30 rear end. The 2011 turns the same RPM at 60 MPH as the 2003 truck did because of the transmission gearing and larger tires.

I'm getting 10.8 US MPG hauling our 36RL, hand calculated fill by fill on our 5,000 mile snowbird trip so far this year (the Ford computer is a bit optimistic on fuel mileage as I always consume more fuel than the computer shows because of fulling the tank right up to the top of the filler neck which the computer doesn't consider). The number is almost the same as last winter hauling our 30/35 Titanium. I haven't done detailed fuel mileage calculations for solo driving as we do very little traveling without hauling a trailer with the Ford

They may have fixed this on the new F450 but in 2012 when I bought mine I almost bought a F450 however I decided against it because they had a lower cargo capacity. The F450 can pull more due to the 430 rears but it also had 650 lbs less cargo capacity. The f450 was also DE-tuned for less torque. When I asked the dealer why, he said that with the 430 rears they were afraid of twisting the drive train.

My wife and I both thought the F450 had a better ride, I believe because of the larger torsion bars.

**Dave&Ginny** · 03-09-2014, 10:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by atom ant

Definitely encouraging to hear that if I end up looking for a new one. Fuel is one of our biggest vacation costs now - between the truck, and if we take the V8 boat with the V8 SUV, it gets pretty discouraging when the gas bill arrives.

Brad, Here is something for you to consider.....

a trip with my truck and trailer, as long as I'm away from home 11 days or longer, it's cheaper than staying in a hotel even when considering the fuel costs. On a few of my business trips I've considered driving one of the company cars (2014 Subaru Outback) and staying in hotels. But it's actually less expensive driving the rig and paying the extra fuel costs when you figure in the hotel and meal costs.

Now it's true you also have to figure in the cost of the equipment but I conveniently forget to do that to justify taking the rig.

atom ant · 03-09-2014, 11:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dave&Ginny

Brad, Here is something for you to consider.....

a trip with my truck and trailer, as long as I'm away from home 11 days or longer, it's cheaper than staying in a hotel even when considering the fuel costs. On a few of my business trips I've considered driving one of the company cars (2014 Subaru Outback) and staying in hotels. But it's actually less expensive driving the rig and paying the extra fuel costs when you figure in the hotel and meal costs.

Now it's true you also have to figure in the cost of the equipment but I conveniently forget to do that to justify taking the rig.

I've justified that a few times myself! I only get mileage and cost of campground with the government, so its far from paying the actual cost of fuel, but its fun to take the Redwood anyway.

Those are incredible mileage numbers on those new trucks. Don't think this one will get close. Something to look forward too. Dealer just pointed out that in a couple of months the 2015 Expeditions are coming out and they dropped the V8 in favor of the eco-boost twin turbo V6 and 6 speed auto. She now thinks HER TV is getting replaced before mine

Whats up with that!

**Dave&Ginny** · 03-10-2014, 12:33 AM

We have a 2012 Expedition that my wife drives and we're going to be upgrading to the 2015 this summer.

As for the cost of the trailer for business.......my accountant has it set up so we take a 5 star hotel cost each day we use the Redwood as a hotel for business. I'm working off memory but I believe we deduct $250-$300 per night. But in doing so we can't deduct the cost of the campground.

In 2011 I was spending $150-$200 per night in hotels and I traveled quite a bit. Even with the nice hotels, the Redwood is still nicer and I get more rest.

mhs4771 · 03-10-2014, 01:18 AM

Not to mention, with your own RW you know who slept in the bed last, or at least we hope you do.
That was worth a lot to us when we were still showing our Cats. Plus the Cats we at home in the Montana/RW vs a strange Motel with who knows what kind of smells.

atom ant · 03-10-2014, 01:57 AM

For the Feds I have to follow per-diem, which is around $100 average, and it hast to be actual costs with receipts. If I only spend $22 for a campsite, that is all I get.

Definitely something to be said for sleeping in your own bed - yeppers. Doesn't hurt to have your own Dish and frig close by either, and I like to bring a bicycle to make up for not having the workout center at the Mary-ott

Dave, a little bit of redesign on the Expedition, and it looks like the Navigator was already announced with a V6. I took out a pickup with eco-boost from the dealer the other day to try it - I think we will like it.

**Dave&Ginny** · 03-10-2014, 02:42 AM

Brad, I used to have a 2010 Toyota Sequoia Platinum that I sold to buy the First F350. It was a great car but couldn't pull a 5th wheel. My wife has been talking about wanting one of those again but they're about 8k more than the Expedition. Now with the changes I'm finding on the 2015 Expedition she's in agreement to look at those. She's kind of regrets tuning down my Sequoia when I got rid of it. But that car backed up to every gas pump it could find.

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