I'm new to towing. I just picked up our "camper trailer" the other day. This isn't the kind that most people here seem to have. This one weighs about 1000lb. It's a total of 13ft long. Don't know how many people know what these are but it's a modern version of a teardrop trailer. Teardrops were popular in the 40's I guess.

So anyhow, picked up the trailer from a place that is 50 or so miles from where I live. Because it was my first time towing, I took surface streets untill I got to the point that I just wanted to get home. The truck towed fine on the surface streets. No issues. When I got on the highway though....

My truck is a V6. I choose a trailer that weighed far less than Ford says I can tow. When I was going up inclines on the highway, at about 60-65mph, there was a shudder. It would let up if I lifted off the throttle. I've done a lot of searching for answers, and found that shudders aren't all that uncommon. I would guess it's the torque converter.

We've got this tow/haul mode. Am I supposed to be using this even for my light weight trailer? I guess I'll have to try, but I was hoping to get 20mpg towing this little trailer. Don't know if I'll be able to do that in tow/haul mode.

I didn't check the trans temp. It was pouring rain all the way home. Could barily see a car length in front of me. I was doing my best to make sure I got this new trailer home in one piece.

We'll be headed up to Vermont next week. It'll get about a four hour drive. I'll be able to gather more information about what it does then. Untill then, what's your opinion, tow/haul mode for a 1k trailer?

 

Its not going to hurt it to try I use mine without a trailer on all the time for slowing down on hills. It should help that's for sure. Now are you going to get 20 MPG I highly doubt it

 

Since both the truck and towing are new to you, you'll just have to play with it and see what's going to work for your situation.

I know it took me several trips with mine to figure out what my truck liked and didn't like...

Even after my second year of towing it, I was still figuring what the truck liked... I was only getting around 8-9 mpg initially while towing.. Now that I'm familiar with it's behaviors and all, I seem to get better mpg (10-11 mpg) now and it's not downshifting as much and can actually hold OD better..

Anyway, be happy if you still stay in the 'teens' MPG wise.. Even towing a pretty light trailer.. I notice a drop in MPG when I tow my little 4x8 utility trailer for any distance!

Get some pics of the new Tear Drop posted too! I really like those, but could never camp in them! Too spoiled with the the Prowler now!

Mitch

 

Yeah, I'll have to get some miles on. I really though that, even though I have this small V6 that it would tow well. Everyone says that with these teardrops, you'll forget it's there. On the highway, it reminds me that it' there with every incline.

I've been getting 21-22mpg with mixed driving since it's warmed up around here. That's why I was thinking that I might be able to get 20mpg with this trailer. Again, they say "you'll forget it's there". Well, if I take a huge hit in the mpg, I'll know it's there. I may have to revise my expectations to 18-19mpg. My first trip with it isn't going to be so great anyhow. I recently added a tuner, and have disconnected the battery a few times to figure out some trailer towing wiring issues. I'll have to disconnect it one more time before the trip. The adaptive strategy isn't going to have much to work with. I drive this thing so infrequently that it takes a long time to get things straightened out.

I'll get some pics posted when we head out on our trip. I hope that people don't laugh at my little trailer too much.:o It's much smaller than most of the TT's here. They aren't too common, at least not around here. It's just what we need. One step up from a tent.

 

I'm happy when I get 10 mpg towing! I only average 14-15 mpg on my daily commute running empty! But, I do have #5000 of travel trailer 'brick' behind me, so that's gonna cause some drag!

You'd be surprised how people react to Tear Drops.. Even the new ones.. I think they are cool as hell! Like I said however, I couldn't camp in them now a days! Maybe back in my 20's when I was doing the tent thing and loving it!

Mitch

 

Got back from our short vacation. Did a little hiking and a little biking. The F150 did a fine job of towing the teardrop trailer. I did not use the tow/haul mode. I figured that I'd try it if it felt like it needed it. I didn't feel like it was necessary. In fact, the truck feels the same with or without the trailer. I guess this ones light enough.

I did not get the 20mpg that I was hoping for. Before we left, I was feeling like I got some not so great gas because I wasn't seeing the numbers that I usually do. Filled up just before we left and in 130 miles I got 19+mpg. A little lower than what I've been seeing. Filled up before heading home. Had gone about 365mi., probably 280 or so with the trailer. Got 18.24mpg, with a lie-o-meter reading of 17.8. Got home tonight and the lie-o-meter is giving me a reading of 16.9. There aren't so much mountains around here but the hills of VT do require some downshifts.

Here's our little teardrop trailer.



Oh, I forgot to mention, that shudder only happened with certain wind turbulance. It's not a torque converter, it's the trailer getting battered by air currents.

 

Nice setup and those new Tear-Drops are pretty cool!

Mitch

 

Very cool camping setup. I haven't towed my pop-up with my new truck but I can tell you that I averaged 16mpg towing it with my '99, and that was with a 4 wheeler in the truck also.

Check out www.mikenchell.com its a very active Forum for Teardrops and other small campers.

 

Teardrops are the best!

My homemade teardrop weighs about 500lbs and I can't even feel it back there when I'm towing. Has a pretty minimal impact on mpgs.

Perfect setup for my 302.






Loaded up and ready for Burning Man