Just returned from our trip to CA from WA, 1500 miles round trip. Up and down the mountains in OR and CA. Towed very good and am happy with the results. Tow vehicle; 2001 F-150 XL, 4.6 owner installed tow pkg. heavy duty tranny cooler, superchip, helwig rear sway bar, class 4 reciever hitch, 3:73 rear end. TT; 1991, 24 ft Kit weighing about 4500lbs. Drove with OD off most of the time, ran the A/C all the time and got 10 miles per gal in 3rd gear. In WA I ran with OD on a lot and did just fine, TC would lock up and give me a gear in between 3rd and OD. The temp gauge never moved from the normal reading I get driving every day to and from work, and the outside temp was 100 degrees every day.
All in all the truck is set up great for towing, but I do wish I had a 5.4l just for the the mountains.
Jeff

 

I have the same set-up. Went from Texas to S. Dakota and averaged 10 mpg. Is this normal for most 4.6L engines? Truck pulled fine, but lacked a little going up any inclines. On level ground, I could pull at 65 mph easily. The second I hit a hill, 50 was about the max. Anyone else have better results? Would anything help with the towing? Gears are my next consideration. Do most prefer 3.73 or lower gears? Thanks for any feedback.

 

Glad the trip went well.

The temperature gauge, well that's a story.

It seems that the thing moves up from cold to normal as you'd expect an analog gauge would do -- but it never moves until the engine reaches an overheat range -- where it then shows hot.

Bummer.

I suppose you've figured out that the oil pressure gauge never moves either. Similar story -- anything over 4 (or is it 8?) PSIG and it stays planted in one place.

Bummer again.

Question: On your up-hill pulls, were you able to keep speed and still keep the torque convertor locked?

10 sounds like a reasonable MPG.

 

On anything other than a slight grade, I'd use 3rd. I didn't know that about the temp gauge, I think I'll get a tranny temp gauge before I pull anything again.

 

Sounds like you had a fun trip and everything worked the way it should and the 4.6 done a fine job for you.

 

I posted a short writeup about towing in hot weather in the "Towing Up Hills" post that would perhaps be interesting to some.

The only thing I can add to it is that mileage on the first trip down was right at 11 mpg and coming back it was at 12 mpg.

Most of the travel done on fairly flat roads, but the Ridge Route Grade - I-5 from the San Joaquin Valley into L.A. - which is the tough part of the trip usually knocks a hole in the mileage.

C9