True MPG of F250 6.2L gas hauling a 5th wheel?

[Lingerlonger]

Getting back to OP's original question re mpg for a 6.2L while towing.

You specified 2017 or newer, but for what it's worth ……..
My 2011 F250 with the 6.2L gives me 9.5 mpg at best towing a fiver weighing over 12K lbs.
More often, it is at 9 or slightly less.

K

[perfpix]

Here's a reference point for you:

I went from a 2015 F350 6.2L to a 2016 F350 6.7 Diesel. The trucks were almost identical down to the paint color. The only extra options on the 2016 were the sunroof and tailgate step.

I tow cargo trailers for work and my 2016 Reflection 30BH which is around 10,000 lbs empty and 12,000 lbs loaded. I never reset the trip computer "B" settings on either truck. Here are my averages:
2015 over 35,000 miles I averaged 9.9mpg ranging from approx. 8 to 14 mpg and usually getting around 8.5-9 towing
2016 so far over 45,000 miles I have averaged 14.2mpg ranging from 10 to 21 and usually getting around 11-12 towing.

Both trucks have around a 50/50 mix of towing cargo trailers and campers and non-towing driving, although I've towed my 5th wheel quite a bit more with my 2016 which included a 4000 mile trip in 2017 and a 3000 mile trip in 2018.

Towing my 12000lb 5th wheel my 6.2L truck would constantly downshift at the slightest incline, and be screaming to maintain 40mph up mountains.

Towing the same camper with my 6.7 diesel is pure bliss. Towing up the Rocky Mountains I had to keep checking my rear view mirror to make sure the Reflection was still back there. Up steep inclines I could effortlessly hold 60mph and accelerate at will to get around 18 wheelers.

John

[S3000T]

Here's a reference point for you:

I went from a 2015 F350 6.2L to a 2016 F350 6.7 Diesel. The trucks were almost identical down to the paint color. The only extra options on the 2016 were the sunroof and tailgate step.

I tow cargo trailers for work and my 2016 Reflection 30BH which is around 10,000 lbs empty and 12,000 lbs loaded. I never reset the trip computer "B" settings on either truck. Here are my averages:
2015 over 35,000 miles I averaged 9.9mpg ranging from approx. 8 to 14 mpg and usually getting around 8.5-9 towing
2016 so far over 45,000 miles I have averaged 14.2mpg ranging from 10 to 21 and usually getting around 11-12 towing.

Both trucks have around a 50/50 mix of towing cargo trailers and campers and non-towing driving, although I've towed my 5th wheel quite a bit more with my 2016 which included a 4000 mile trip in 2017 and a 3000 mile trip in 2018.

Towing my 12000lb 5th wheel my 6.2L truck would constantly downshift at the slightest incline, and be screaming to maintain 40mph up mountains.

Towing the same camper with my 6.7 diesel is pure bliss. Towing up the Rocky Mountains I had to keep checking my rear view mirror to make sure the Reflection was still back there. Up steep inclines I could effortlessly hold 60mph and accelerate at will to get around 18 wheelers.

John

Thanks John! And thanks everyone, I'm pretty sure I will just get the diesel. Now I'm just wondering if the ram gets better nontowing mpg than the ford. But they look to be real close.

[cfowler55]

Thanks John! And thanks everyone, I'm pretty sure I will just get the diesel. Now I'm just wondering if the ram gets better nontowing mpg than the ford. But they look to be real close.

I can tell you not from what I hear. Towing a 10k loaded Reflection , the best I saw was 12 , usually around 10. The Solitude at 15k GVWR I'm averaging around 9. Have seen as low as 7.5. Now a lot of my towing is in the hill country and the Rockies. And I've never been anywhere I wasn't driving into a headwind. Wind seems to be a bigger mileage killer the incline for me.

[Fishwater]

I purchased my 2015 F-350 6.7l diesel about 1.5 years ago used with 34k on it to replace my 2003 F-350 6.0l diesel with 203k miles on it. The 6.0 with a 60hp tow tune averaged 15 mpg & would normally average 18.5 mpg on long trips empty or 12.5 mpg towing my bumper pull trailer. The 2015 has NEVER gotten great mileage, using the fuelly app my average mileage over the last 1 year, 1 month & 5735 miles is 11.52 mpg with a max of 16.430 mpg & 8.010 mpg for the lowest. The lowest mpg was from towing my old 9k travel trailer in gale force winds on a trip home from Vt one weekend. The truck is stock except for the last 4K miles when I installed a leveling kit with LT295 Toyo AT tires, my mileage dropped about 1 mpg across the board with the tires that are two sizes over stock. What I have noticed is that my truck doesn’t like my local fuel, I had excellent mileage using the same additive I always use at a different station up north once so maybe my truck is unique in that regard or the computer programming is off in my truck. I keep thinking I should bring it to the dealer to have them reflash but haven’t made an appointment yet.

My point in all this besides how terrible mileage is in my particular truck is that there is no way you buy one if these for mileage. When you add the cost of fuel, additive at every fill up, oil changes at about $100 my cost (motor craft synthetic oil filter & 15 quarts of T6 synthetic oil) & general maintenance you are much better off with a gas job even with 10mpg unloaded average. In fact I often consider switching over, my next truck may in fact be a gas Super Duty, I’m just waiting to see how the new 7.3l does. While the trade return on investment is still solid with a diesel truck the actual daily cost is terrible. Then I hook my camper up & marvel at the fact that I can’t even tell that it’s back there, you’re gonna pay for all that HP & torque so what’s it worth to you

[S3000T]

I purchased my 2015 F-350 6.7l diesel about 1.5 years ago used with 34k on it to replace my 2003 F-350 6.0l diesel with 203k miles on it. The 6.0 with a 60hp tow tune averaged 15 mpg & would normally average 18.5 mpg on long trips empty or 12.5 mpg towing my bumper pull trailer. The 2015 has NEVER gotten great mileage, using the fuelly app my average mileage over the last 1 year, 1 month & 5735 miles is 11.52 mpg with a max of 16.430 mpg & 8.010 mpg for the lowest. The lowest mpg was from towing my old 9k travel trailer in gale force winds on a trip home from Vt one weekend. The truck is stock except for the last 4K miles when I installed a leveling kit with LT295 Toyo AT tires, my mileage dropped about 1 mpg across the board with the tires that are two sizes over stock. What I have noticed is that my truck doesn’t like my local fuel, I had excellent mileage using the same additive I always use at a different station up north once so maybe my truck is unique in that regard or the computer programming is off in my truck. I keep thinking I should bring it to the dealer to have them reflash but haven’t made an appointment yet.

My point in all this besides how terrible mileage is in my particular truck is that there is no way you buy one if these for mileage. When you add the cost of fuel, additive at every fill up, oil changes at about $100 my cost (motor craft synthetic oil filter & 15 quarts of T6 synthetic oil) & general maintenance you are much better off with a gas job even with 10mpg unloaded average. In fact I often consider switching over, my next truck may in fact be a gas Super Duty, I’m just waiting to see how the new 7.3l does. While the trade return on investment is still solid with a diesel truck the actual daily cost is terrible. Then I hook my camper up & marvel at the fact that I can’t even tell that it’s back there, you’re gonna pay for all that HP & torque so what’s it worth to you

I agree. The best averages ive seen still hang around only 4mpg over gas. And while there is many differing opinions and experiences about fuel economy, no one disagrees about the towing power advantage of diesel. So, since we will be on the road for at least a year straight...diesel it is!

[Brewhedd]

Thanks John! And thanks everyone, I'm pretty sure I will just get the diesel. Now I'm just wondering if the ram gets better nontowing mpg than the ford. But they look to be real close.

Probably any of the diesels will be close. I get 15 around town and 19 @ 70 mph, towing is 11 to 12 @ 65. I believe I would get about 7 maybe 8 with a gasser.

[tortise]

GMC 2500 6.0 gas towing 27 RL 10500lbs 8.3 for 14000 mile trip crossing east to west and back.

[mestubbe]

I had a 2014 F250 with the 6.2, and the best mileage (coming downhill from Denver back to Texas) was 17.6 without a trailer.

When I pulled my 7000# hunting trailer I would get on average about 9.6 mpg.

When we were looking to purchase the 5th wheel, I bit the bullet and upgraded to the F350 Diesel 6.7. I'm getting about 17mpg without the rig, about 11 mpg with the rig on flat roads, and somewhere around 9 mpg on the hills. The big difference is the power of the diesel.

It was a noticeable difference, comparing two identical trips from Springfield MO to Bull Shoals (F250 and Old trailer @ 7000#'s vs F350 and New trailer @ 13,500#'s) the F350 did a much better job all the way around.

[gengiant]

I'm a bit surprised that nobody's mentioned the effect that gearing has on mpg. I used to run a 2004 F250 V10 with 4.10 rear end. Towing a 10,000# boat & trailer combo, I'd get maybe 8 mpg on a good day. 13 mpg not towing around town. Now with my F450, I get about 10 mpg pulling our 310gk (15,000# +/-). But again, the truck has a 4.30 rear end. With the 2012 F450, I didn't have an option on the gearing. A new F350 will have greater power and GVWR that my F450 - AND you get to choose your rear end. With higher gearing, you'll loose very little off the line, but your cruising mpg will go up 2-4 mpg.