Just returned from a LA to Mpls run (1938 miles), picking up a 07 SCab XLT. Not the most popular combo but it fits with my needs (Personal and my business), plus I had been looking for months for the right one and this was the closest match.
07 XLT SCab LB 4x2. 5.4L auto, 8200 GVW, 4.10 posi with towing package, 20K miles. It will spend about 90% of it's time in town so it seems the best match for my needs.
Truck didn't have a full tank when I picked it up and couldn't find a gas station before the interstate so I did my mileage calculations from the first fillup through the end of the trip. I tried to run cruise as much as safely possible, kept the speed at 68 mph (2200 rpms) or speed limit whichever was lower as much as possible. I didn't run the AC the entire trip and kept 2 windows open for ventilation I did run into alot of road construction the entire way, so I didn't run cruise as much as I'd have liked. I also tried using different brands of gas to see if that made a difference. Each stop, filled it till the pump shut off, then went up to the next nickel and quit filling. Trip was LA - Vegas - Denver - Omaha - Des Moines - Minneapolis (as much interstate as possible). That's the setup on the trip and here's the results: Average mpg: 17.6, Best: 19.38, Worst: 16.02. In all fairness the worst was when I tried some high alcohol blend, truck didn't like that. Best Brand: Seems to like BP better than the others I tried.
Nothing scientific here, just recorded the fuel pumped and mileage between fills.
Truck never missed a beat but did have some heartpounding events. Less than 10 miles after buying it, got hit by a thrown truck tread on I10 in LA. Nowhere to go and it got me. tore up the license and lower bumper plastic. It did take the 113 degree desert temp (based on dash reading) without overheating though I didn't run AC. Only downshifted a couple of times while in cruise in climbing the mountains (where I could safely run cruise). Didn't lose much if any speed climbing the mountains. Overall a long but productive test.
Hope someone finds this useful.
Paul
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Last edited by HCBPH; 07-02-2009 at 01:27 PM.
Reason: Forgot to list Des Moines in the route
the 4.10s help keep you from down shifting often, but you will run slightly higher RPMs on a steady speed.
Yes it does have the 7 bolt wheels. I don't think that the higher rpm's will not be a big issue for me what with the amount of tiime it will spend under 45 mph. That's part of why I got the 4.10's, I think it will keep it closer to the best rpm range around town (about 90% of the time) than a 3.55 would.
113 degrees and you didn't run A/C? Isn't that getting just a bit too anal to try to save fuel?
By the way, Mythbusters tested A/C on, A/C off, and windows up, windows down. Over 45 mph you do not lose mileage with windows up and A/C on as opposed to A/C off and windows down.
I get the best mileage on BP also - and I get about 2 mpg difference between E10 and pure gas.
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2003 F150XL 4.2 short cab/bed 4x2 5 speed manual 3.55 LS
113 degrees and you didn't run A/C? Isn't that getting just a bit too anal to try to save fuel?
Actually it wasn't trying to be a 'man' or save gas through the desert but rather not wanting to be one of the numerous stranded vehicles along the road with their hoods up and steam coming out. Obviously it was a new-to-me vehicle and didn't want to stress it or me too much the first miles. I was really surprised how well the temp was handled and it didn't overheat though I took extra water etc along just-in-case.
There were anywhere from one or more vehicles with hoods up along almost every mile in the desert. The highway dept even puts up signs to turn the ac off or risk overheating. Happens I can take heat alot better than the cold so I was used to heat as long as I have air movement, though nothing that bad before so with good ventilation it was livable. After the desert then nothing seemed that bad and by the time I got into the mountains I'd forgotten about using the AC.
Now if I'd had my wife along, I don't know if I'd have attempted the desert. No way can she handle heat, even with AC.
glad you liked your truck on its first trip but i think you would have been safe with the a/c on as opposed to sweating it out. there is no way i would drive in 110 deg heat around here with the windows down but we do have like 80% humidity around here to so maybe its not so bad with no humidity.
If you overheat with the A/C on, no matter what the outside temp, you have cooling system issues. I highly doubt that a 2 year old vehicle with 20k will have issues. I'd be willing to bet the ones you see overheated are older vehicles..........
2 summers ago, I moved from Chicago to Joplin, and made several round trips pulling a 5x8 enclosed trailer. We were in a heat wave - 100 degrees actual with high humidity, and my gauge never budged even pulling the hills on I-44 west of STL.
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2003 F150XL 4.2 short cab/bed 4x2 5 speed manual 3.55 LS
Had a chance to use the AC today for awhile today, works pretty good. I think if I had some history with the truck, might have tried using the AC in the desert but as it was I went conservative having just picked up the truck before hitting the road. I agree that more of the stranded vehicles looked to be 5+ years old but there were several that looked to be only a year or two old (harder to tell model years unlike when I was young) that were stranded also.
Finding out more each day with this truck. So far I thought I had a single CD player, found out it's a 6 cd unit. Had a chance to try the backup radar, that's slick and fun to play with. I hadn't noticed this has the adjustable pedals, haven't had a chance to mess with that yet but I'll see what it does. I think this time I'll get a permanent topper rather than a tonneau and topper and alternate them. The box doesn't have a liner (yet) and looks virgin without a single scratch in the paint, had a chance to check out the hitch, that also looks virgin, I don't think there's ever been anything hooked up to this thing so I have no idea what the PO used it for. I found a couple of wiring harness type packages inside the cab still in the wrappers. Haven't looked too much into them yet but one looked like it might be a trailoring pigtail and relay. I'll look into them more when I have some more time.
Had a chance to use it on it's first work job Thursday and Friday, didn't miss a beat though it was a small job so that shouldn't have mattered. It impressed the customer so that's a positive sign.
Maybe you can just pop that right back in. I can't really tell, but is the actual bumper dented?
The bumper is bent - not too bad but still bent under. I think I can make it fairly unnoticable to most but have to think it through before attempting anything. The bottom of the license holder was torn off on one side, the black piece along the bottom of the bumper has a crack running down it and something is either torn off or missing from the piece that is to the right of the license in the picture where it attaches to the metal portion of the bumper. I can push the part sticking out in to the original position but so far I can't keep it attached to the actual bumper and it pops right back out. I've got to see if I can figure out what's gone from the plastic portion and what I can do to put it back or what I can use to glue it down. With luck once I've had a chance to work it over, you won't even know it's been damaged.
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