Gasoline engine (probably the 8.1 liter, right?), pulling a 10,000 lbs trailer, gets 5-6 mpg...

I'm failing to see what's supposed to be wrong with this truck. It probably gets what, like 14-15 unloaded on a good day? Then he hitched it up to a big trailer, with the aerodynamics of a brick, on a highway drive (you don't mention your brother-in-law's driving habits, but it they're anything like mine or most people out on a major interstate, he's hauling the mail) and he's surprised the fuel mileage went in the toilet?

I don't get what the problem is supposed to be.

 

8.1 liter is big... no wonder it gets 5-6 mpg.

Quintin is right on.

My Dad had a 7.5l V8 460 cid in his F250, and that thing used to drink gas like water when he towed stuff... some place around that 5-6 mpg mark. Hence the need for the dual gas tanks.

Tell him to get used to it.

Besides, from what I've seen on here, the F250+ 6.4l TTD drink diesel too when loaded up.

I think he's good to go.

 

1) Its the 6.0 liter
2) Chevy has admitted something is wrong, so has the dealer
3) Chevy is contemplating what to do

 

He should've sprung for a V10 F250.

 

Yeah 'cause those don't drink fuel either

 

You're preaching to the choir. Did you not read my earlier post that my brother in law is a Chevy apologist?

I told him he needed an 06 PS Sd... But no, he wanted a gasser so he could work on it.

 

I guess he got his wish then except he isn't the one working on it.

So he bought a 6.0 gas 3/4 ton truck to pull a 10k pound trailer? Does the 10k include the race car, tools, spare parts etc? If not this could turn into a 15k load pretty easily. The 6.0 isn't up to that and it's probably over the limit for the truck too. Sounds like he needed a diesel to begin with, maybe a dually.

Ford's 6.8 is the best bet for a new gas tow rig, and I wouldn't want to tow 10-15k with one of those either.

 

Perhaps they are only admitting 'something' is wrong because they know he will have to pay them $0.58/mile to take the truck back, and he is likely to buy a new truck from them at retail price to replace it. $ChaChing$

IMO, fuel quality makes a big difference in mileage. If he picked up the trailer and filled up with low energy content fuel from an area that has 'clean' gas for air quality reasons, he could get much worse mileage than on the good fuel he is used to.

 

So it's the smaller engine, which has to be worked harder to get the same results as the larger engine (which equals more fuel consumption).

Me, I don't see what's wrong, and I think GM and the dealer may have doomed themselves to buying this truck back for no real reason.

 

Plus he had aftermarket wheels/tires, and we don't know how large they were or whether there was any effort for speedometer correction.

 

Your kidding right? The V-10 ford in a lot of cases has a higher tow rating than the diesel. My fathers 2008 F-350 V-10 pulls around there 12,000lb 5th wheel like nothing. It is rated to tow 16,000lbs. Oh.. and he got 7-8 mpg towing it from portland or. to north dakota.

 

The Ford V10 is a great tow engine, especially the newer 3v version combined with low axle gears. The gas tow ratings can be higher because the engine weighs so much less than the diesel. My point was if the sole purpose of the truck is to tow heavy, the diesel makes way more sense. This is especially true if you are towing heavy in the mountains. That extra 200 lb/ft of torque with earlier peak RPM makes a huge difference if you're towing near the limit. That being said, I would buy the V10 if I could ever justify a Super Duty.

But back to the original topic: Don't tow heavy with 6.0 Chevy.

 

must be a cool Engineer most of them would have let him take that one in the sack.