F-350 Gas - Montana Owners Club

bobsals · 04-26-2011, 10:26 AM

Greetings, I am sure this has been talked about before, but I have a quick question about mileage. My friend has a 2010 F-350 SC SRW with the diesel getting around 8 mpg at best towing a SOB fifth wheel. He was wondering if anyone here has the same basic vehicle with a V-8 gasoline engine. Just wanted to see what mileage was being had and your satisfaction on towing performance.
Thanks

stiles watson · 04-26-2011, 11:36 AM

The dealer where I bought my diesel said that he can't keep 2011 3/4 and 1-ton Fords in stock with the V-8 and V-10 engines. He said the decisions were based on the high cost of diesel.

racerjoe · 04-26-2011, 02:30 PM

We have an f250 SD 4wd and get between 8-9 mpg with the v-10 towing our monte

mlh · 04-26-2011, 02:53 PM

I had a 5.4 V8 Ford. I would not advise anybody pull a fifth wheel camper with this engine. As for mileage I cant remember exactly but it wasn't no where near what I got with my 7.3, and you will work it to death and get nowhere.
Lynwood

tspoon · 04-26-2011, 03:07 PM

I just got a ford F350 2011 6.2 L. With 4.30 .I will be towing in a few weeks if the weather is good. I will let you know how it goes.

CamillaMichael · 04-27-2011, 09:42 AM

We are currently in mid-Virginia, coming from Florida...so far, towing, we are seeing 10.6 mpg with our 2010 F350 diesel. The trip has included a lot of steep grades...we do keep it under 65mph...usually around 60-62. Sounds like your friend may be a little heavy-footed! Then again, he may be towing a rig beyond his tow capacity accounting for a lot more weight???? In any event, gas engines and heavy towing might not be the best combination...just an opinion.

sreigle · 04-27-2011, 12:09 PM

Back in 2003 and prior we towed a Montana 3595RK with a Ford F350 V10 gasser. On good days I'd get 8 to 8.5 mpg. Average was probably right around 8 or a little under.

Your friend's towing mileage is pretty bad for a diesel. I'm at heart a Ford guy and believe the 6.4L diesel that was used in your friend's 2010 is a strong towing engine and pretty reliable but many, many people have complained about the mpg with that engine both when towing and not towing. We currently tow a loaded 3400RL with a non-Ford and average about 11.5 mpg. It was about 10.5 until fully broken in (around 65k miles, it seems) and now is about 11.5 (78k on it now). I understand the new 6.7L Ford diesel does much better on mileage, as do the other brands.

richfaa · 04-27-2011, 01:50 PM

The Fords are quite a bit heavier than the other two. Our 08 weighed 8750 out of dealers lot and at last weigh in was 9200lbs plus ready to tow. we just pulled the same route with about the same camper as Michael and Camilla Robinson with the same MPG. I agree that he is heavy footed , over weight..or his truck is broke.

bobsals · 04-28-2011, 12:48 AM

Thanks to all for the replies, much appreciated.

skypilot · 04-28-2011, 10:11 AM

Another thing to consider is that the 2010 6.4 has the Deisel Particulate Filter that will take between 1.5 to 3 gallons of diesel for each regeneration (depending on type of driving -- heavy towing should be less as he should be getting some passive regeneration from the high exhaust temperatures). That regen will kill your fuel mileage. The newer models which use the DEF (diesel exhaust Fluid aka urea liquid) do regens less often. GMC / Chev have on their web sites where the use of DEF has allowed them to extend the regeneration frequency from approximately every 300 miles to over 700 miles. By the way, I have a 2010 Dodge 6.7L DRW 4x4 and just this past weekend took my unit to KC -- 150 miles one way and got 7.7 mpg towing with a very slight quartering tailwind. Coming back solo I got 13.2 and actually saw when my truck did its regen -- 9 mpg for almost 20 minutes going up hill or down hill, made no difference. I only have 12,600 on my truck so far so not even started to be broken in.

ExPatNW · 04-28-2011, 01:04 PM

I used to have a 2008 F350 V10 gas. Pulling our Montana Mountaineer (11.5K lbs approx) it would get between 6-7 mpg on the freeway at about 65mph. We traded it for a 2011 6.7L diesel. Most recent run towing achieved 12mpg. Even with the higher price of diesel, my calculations show that for every 100 miles I tow I save $16. Now of course I have not factored in the additional cost of the diesel engine - not insigificant. SHould repay itself in about 20 years .... :-)

richfaa · 04-28-2011, 03:21 PM

We have the 08 6.4L and we do a regen about every 600 miles or so. On our trip up from Florida 1100 miles we did one regn and I can see the regens on our external gage as the EGT will increase by 3300/400 degrees during regen. Of course that is pulling the heavy 3400 and that keeps the EGT's high.

sreigle · 04-28-2011, 03:54 PM

My Dodge has the DPF every 200 to 250 miles, best estimate. There's no way it takes 3 gallons of diesel or even close to that to do a regen cycle. If it did, that would be about 1 full mpg for 250 towing miles. I could very well be wrong but my guess is it takes a whole lot less fuel during regen that that. I do see mpg drop a little for a few minutes during the regen but after the regen the mpg climbs right back up where it was. I'd guess it costs me maybe 1/10 mpg or even 2/10 mpg overall. These are pure estimates based on driving the truck for 78k miles. I have no hard data. I just don't think it's all that much diesel.

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