Towed the boat from Maryland to Florida today - 1054 miles total and here's the skinny........

The boat - 21' Ranger with Merc 225. Approx weight 4500 lbs.



The truck - '04 Lariat Supercab 4x4 - 3.73 rear.



Gas Mileage:

1st tank - Amoco 87 octane

11.0 mpg - stuck in bumper to bumper traffic for two hours then 75 mph over moderately hilly terrain. 35-40 degree weather.

2nd tank - Mobil 87

10.6 mpg with the cruise set at 74-77 the whole time on flat terrain.
Still 35-40 degrees.

3rd tank - Exxon 87

12.7 mpg! with criuse set at 72-75 constantly on flat Florida highway. 50-65 degrees with a wicked crosswind. Was it the warm air or the different gas that upped my mileage on this tank? Perhaps just backing off a few mph made the difference.

If I could keep it under 70, I bet it would get 14 mpg!

Other observations:

The steering in this truck is so much better than my '01 and several other previous F150's. It tracks laser straight.... I can't say enough good things about this improvement. Awesome!

The seat was a pleasant surprise. My lower back is a tragedy and the seats did me right. A little additional help from a lumbar pillow and I was fine.

This truck is an absolute pleasure to drive at high speeds while towing. Those dumbo style side view mirrors really come in handy when you can't see anything out of the rearview.

Very seldom shifted out of overdrive - Only on the steeper grades.
The motor just purred the whole way. It is not underpowered!

The Audiophile with XM was an excellent travelling companion. Rocked the whole way!

My only complaint is the armrest on the door. It too wide up at the window controls and isn't very comfortable to rest your knee against. I wish it were padded or narrower....

Now, if we could only clear the road of all the stupid people. The interstates are no place for unskilled drivers. I had a few heart stopping close calls.

Sorry for Mongo long post. I guess I'm a little wired!

 

Clem,

Thanks for the post - now get some sleep.

We already knew you had a great truck, but the boat looks nice, too. Have fun while you're in Florida.

 

Let us know how many fish you catch.

 

Clem ,
Thanks for the info I just put my 1800 Lund ProV to bed for the winter on the 18th . And I have been wonderiing about what to except in the spring when I start towing her again . It will be most likely early March before I get more tow miles on the Screw
. What miles I did tow the boat added up to a grand total of 46 miles . But like you I was really impressed with the way the Truck tracks with the boat on. And the power is really deceptive it just walks away with the rig. Where it seemed the 97 scab had to huff and puff and tug to get things moving . And was almost always wanting to down shift or so it seemed . Oh by the away On a short trip just the truck !! I put on 250 miles round trip a week ago today almost all 2 lane roads mostly 58 to 63 mph traffic was not running real fast and then add 3 days of local driving on top of that with a decent warm up all three mornings with 87 Octane shell . I got 15.2 on the calculator . I don't think the 97 Scab would have done any better . I was impressed with the truck with a stiff cross wind it didn't seem to be bothered near as much by the wind as the 97 . I like the truck more each time I get behind the wheel .Last but not least , at least to my back and back side !!The seats did a great job " Leather Captains " I think they are more comfortable then the cloth captains in the 97 . Still not as comfortable as the cloth captains in my 93 which were the most comfortable to my back side of any seat I ever rode in , IMHO sorry for the long post

 

Oh forgot , NICE RANGER !! Catch a bunch of big ones ,

 

A little over a week ago I towed a trailer full of ICF scaffolding through flat and hilly curvy roads and on the way to the Job site, got 11.3 mpg.... on the way back towing the empty trailer got 17.8 mpg... which I think is awsome, my parents both have the older body style f150's in 2wd and get about 17-18 mpg on the highway.. and now Ford has figured out how to get a more powerful 4x4 to get the same... GO FORD!!

 

Sweet boat!

 

Hey Clem,

Nice report. I'll be towing a similar rig with my new FX4. I am also a fellow federation member . Made the Mass state team and fished with some of the Maryland guys at the Eastern Divisional in 2002 on the Conn. River.

The toy;




Fish on,
-S-

 

Skooter,

Congrats on your trip to the EDT's. You guys stomped a$$ up there! Only your #12 guy caught less weight than our winner! I made the Md. team back in 2001 - a good experience, to be sure. Also, I'm am the prez of a Fed. chapter named after your boat. I guess that makes us related!

Just a couple more notes about towing........

According to the trip computer, which proved to be quite accurate, my gas mileage improved during the times that the cruise control was off. Even on perfectly flat road. Of course the system feeds the necessary fuel to keep you running at the set speed and at high speeds several things can break your momentum including: wind gusts, turbulance from big rigs, dips and bumps in the road, morons, etc. By keeping the go pedal constant with my foot, my speed might vary slightly, but the mpg would rise considerably.

As someone mentioned a while back, when the cruise control is set, the gas pedal is not pulled down. If you cancel the cruise, you must "find" the spot with your foot or risk losing momentum. This is a product of drive by wire technology and takes some getting used to.

The cruise control buttons in the Lariat are smaller and a little crowded against the airbag cover. A trade off for having the stereo + climate control buttons on the wheels, which is great.

 

nice posts guys. tahanks for the info. i have a 19.5" ski nautique ski boat with the 351 ford in it. weighs around 4500 lbs too. since it appears that i will be getting a 3v 5.4 screw fx4, its good to hear towing mileage numbers like this