ok we have this 5' by 10' dresson custom trailer... we put about 4 foot side walls on it... and it has a big ramp on the back... (lotta wind resistance) anyway... the 4.2L dint do to bad pulling it... but it was floored for about 7/8 of the 210 mile trip... anyway... i knew i would get bad millage with it being florred for so long... but i dont think it would be in the single digits!!!! 9.3 mpg... i about had a heart attack... i had the cheap gas in... and 10w 40 oil... would the oil make a diffrence if i had changed it to 5w 20... casue that is what i did today... i changed the oil to 5w 20 motorcraft oil... anyway... im hoping i see a millage increase... iused to get 17 with the pickup empty... now i get about 14 at the best... spark pluggs have never been changed in 101,230 miles... should i get new spark pluggs and wires? i mean would them make a diffrence in the millage... or what could i do to make a diffrencei n the millage?

might i add i was on interstate for about 120 miles... then the next 90 were on a highway...

 

floored? Looks like you need a better tow vehicle. I towed a 3800lbs travel trailer this past weekend and got 11 MPG and I for sure never floored it. I was even towing it at 80mph for a little while. Mostly at about 65-70.

 

is it a V8 prly... mine is a V6 thats y i am in the V6 forum.

 

if you think thats good.. (try this on for size) a few weeks ago i pulled a 21000 lb camper with moms powerstroke... and got 10.5mpg... cant beat that! yes it is a diesel i know.

 

we got better tow vehicles... but i had to use my pickup... so... its not like the V6 is the only tow vehicle i can use... its just the 2 powerstrokes were in use already... and i like drving MY pickup... so that part of the reason i used it to...

 

Unless the wind was 60 mph or you had the ebrake stuck on... there is no way the v6 can get 9.3 mpg towing a trailer that was empty, no matter how unaerodynamic it is.

What did you have in the trailer?

Is your truck a stick? If so, did you think by leaving it in 5th and flooring it is going to make you get anyplace quick?

And what is with all the "..."?????

 

yes it is a stick... no it was not in 5th the hole time... it was between 4th and 5th the hole time... on flat ground it would do fine in 5th... soon as i hit a little hill it needed 4th when i got down to about 67 is when i shifted it... nothing in the trailer!!! and i did forget to say the wind... it was about a 30 mph buckin straight into it.

whats with these... i dnt no... its just a habit i have... i dont even try to do it lol

 

Well, the wind was your issue.

Even with a 5.4l it would've been some ugly mpgs and some strain on the truck.

Yes, driving a diesel, then going to an already underpowered gasser is enough to "think" it is underpowered... is enough to think it really is. In fact, the truck did well for it's circumstances.

 

haha... thats prly why i said it did pretty good for a V6 lol... anyway but it did not do what i expected for millage...

 

I'd expect, under the same exact circumstances, you'd get 9.5 to 10.5 mpg in a 5.4l v8.

The 4.6l v8 would probably get worse than your v6, unless it was stick.

Wind kills your mpg. I don't care what you drive.

Heck, it even affects sports cars and economy cars. Our compass on a non-windy day will yield 32 mpg on the highway. On that same highway with a 30 mph headwind, we are lucky to see 26 mpg!

So who knows, it might've been worse with a v8.

The diesel on the other hand... probably wouldn't have gone down much more than a mpg or 2.

 

well with moms powerstoke... i get a 19 on average... with that little trailer and that amount of wind i woulda got about 17.5.shoulda took it... but mom wouldent let me... so... what can ya do right

 

u get 19 with a damn stroker?? what year is it?? what mods you got?? damn thats good

 

uh oh... here we go agian, should not have asked that!

 

when i pulled my 21ft pontune boat with my 4.2, i got 15 mpgs
but you have to stay in 2nd anything below 30, 3rd anything below 40, 4th anything below 60 but if your stop and go ride first to 20 take 2nd to 35 or 40 then take 3rd to 50-60 and 4th to whatever your going to cruise before you shift into overdrive

i know it sounds like it would burn more gas but low rs with the pedal floored burns more than higher rs and a light foot

 

y were u running a heavier weight in the winter and now a lighter one in the summer. if you actually live in a place that gets cold enough and hot enough to change weights you shoulda done the opposite. yeah the lighter weight will produce less drag but not enough to really change much.

also yes you do need to change your plugs and wires. it should help alot. also clean your maf and change your fuel filter and air filter if its dirty.keep your tires inflated enough. the biggest thing you can do to change your mpgs is to keep your foot outa it. trying to go over 65 with a trailer and a 30 mph head wind is asking for terrible economy. besides i thought you arent supposed to go over 55 with a trailer?(i know no one actually goes the speed limit but going 15 over what your supposed to?)