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podwerkz View Drop Down
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Posts: 966 		Direct Link To This Post Topic: 3.5 Ecoboost
    Posted: 02 Dec 2019 at 1:28pm
Electric cars work well because there is a very small load.

Electric trucks when pulling a load (like a camper) will see published range cut in half. 

And where do you charge out in the boonies? How long will you sit there watching the meter? How about when its 10 degrees and a snow storm is brewing on the horizon, your vehicle is gonna take all day to charge in the cold weather and your camper had to be disconnected so you can fit in the space?

No thanks. 
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Posts: 1214 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 02 Dec 2019 at 9:16am
I just don't get it. During the summer when we get hot spells, they beg people to conserve electricity, turn down a/c, etc.. Why do we think it's a good idea to ADD hundreds of thousands of electric cars (now trucks too) to the grid? 
I also have seen an effort to add servo motors to campers to assist in towing, making the tow vehicle need  less towing power. I'm sure this is a few years away, but it's no different than robotics technology that's in use already. 
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GlueGuy View Drop Down
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Posts: 2629 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 02 Dec 2019 at 8:44am
Originally posted by offgrid

Now, if you REALLY want a tow vehicle with minimal moving parts, plunk down your deposit for Elon Musk's Cybertruck. Telsas are claimed to have only about 17 moving parts total. And with up to a 14000 lb tow capacity it should pull an RPod around just fine. 

What we will need is for FR to introduce a new RPod Mad Max version to match the Cybertruck.  Stainless steel sheets with sharp angles instead of fiberglass curves. LOL

Joking aside, most mfrs have announced release of electric trucks within the next couple of years. They will be powerful, fast, efficient, and reliable. A big advantage for camping will be that they will have options for built in inverters so you can run equipment off their huge battery packs. The days of worrying about battery capacity in your travel trailer or lugging generators around will soon be over. If I was in the market for a new pickup in the next couple of years (I'm not) I would wait and see what the e-trucks are like before buying.
I don't know that an EV is the way to go yet. You might want to watch this little video about an EV's Achilles Heel.
bp
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offgrid View Drop Down
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Posts: 5290 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 02 Dec 2019 at 5:05am
Originally posted by GlueGuy

One of the questions is the level of complexity. In my mind a V8 is a lot more complicated than a V6, or even a V6 with a turbocharger (or even 2 turbochargers). A V8 has 33% more moving (and reciprocating) parts than a V6. A turbo is really only a couple more moving parts, and they're not reciprocating. Turbochargers have been well proven now for more than a couple of decades, and 18-wheelers almost all use turbo'd diesel engines.


Now, if you REALLY want a tow vehicle with minimal moving parts, plunk down your deposit for Elon Musk's Cybertruck. Telsas are claimed to have only about 17 moving parts total. And with up to a 14000 lb tow capacity it should pull an RPod around just fine. 

What we will need is for FR to introduce a new RPod Mad Max version to match the Cybertruck.  Stainless steel sheets with sharp angles instead of fiberglass curves. LOL

Joking aside, most mfrs have announced release of electric trucks within the next couple of years. They will be powerful, fast, efficient, and reliable. A big advantage for camping will be that they will have options for built in inverters so you can run equipment off their huge battery packs. The days of worrying about battery capacity in your travel trailer or lugging generators around will soon be over. If I was in the market for a new pickup in the next couple of years (I'm not) I would wait and see what the e-trucks are like before buying. 
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Posts: 3419 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 01 Dec 2019 at 6:44pm
I own a 2014 Silverado 5.3 with AFM, first year of that generation 5.3. It has over 60K and no problems thus far. GM made changes in the 2019 year. Many of the problems incurred with cylinder deactivation happened in the early years. Not to say a problem can't occur but that can happen with any motor. I wouldn't let it stop me from buying GM. I have noticed when towing the V4 mode is less enabled. When it is enabled I can't tell it is changing.
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GlueGuy View Drop Down
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Posts: 2629 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 01 Dec 2019 at 3:44pm
Originally posted by Andy

I a 5.3 Silverado V8 that gets similar mileage.  Towing our 179 I get anywhere from 12-15 mpg depending of wind and grade. I have the original Hood River larger tires so that probably drags it down a bit. I use a WDH and sway bar and tow smoothly.  How does that MPG compare to the Ford's?

Thanks
I don't know that there would be a big difference in mileage, at least not enough to brag about. 

One of the questions is the level of complexity. In my mind a V8 is a lot more complicated than a V6, or even a V6 with a turbocharger (or even 2 turbochargers). A V8 has 33% more moving (and reciprocating) parts than a V6. A turbo is really only a couple more moving parts, and they're not reciprocating. Turbochargers have been well proven now for more than a couple of decades, and 18-wheelers almost all use turbo'd diesel engines.

One of the things that I would be leery of with Chevy or GMC is the cylinder deactivation tech they use to conserve fuel. That's a significant level of complexity. Yes, I know that it is electronically controlled, but it's still electronically controlling parts of the valve train.
bp
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GlueGuy View Drop Down
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Posts: 2629 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 30 Nov 2019 at 8:41am
Originally posted by Andy

I a 5.3 Silverado V8 that gets similar mileage.  Towing our 179 I get anywhere from 12-15 mpg depending of wind and grade. I have the original Hood River larger tires so that probably drags it down a bit. I use a WDH and sway bar and tow smoothly.  How does that MPG compare to the Ford's?

Thanks
Also use a WDH with built-in anti-sway. We typically get an average of 14 MPG when we're towing. We almost always are doing some kind of mountains or hills.
bp
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JR View Drop Down
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Posts: 344 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 30 Nov 2019 at 7:58am
Also the % of ethanol locally in the gasoline might have had something to do with it if in fact there was less ethanol in the gas out west.  That's what I blamed when my mileage increased around Tennessee and Kentucky on a trip to Florida from Michigan this passed fall.  I experienced this both on the way down and the return trip??? 
Jay

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Posts: 5290 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 30 Nov 2019 at 7:01am
Originally posted by jato

Our '11 F-150 has the 5.0L V-8 Coyote engine and on our last 30 day trip we covered 5500 miles.  Traveling from northern Michigan to Colorado via freeway and cruising around 65 we averaged 10.8 to 11 mpg.  The funny thing is once we got to Colorado we went with the 85 octane and saw mileage increase to 13.5 to 14.5 mpg and this was mainly mountain driving in Colorado and Utah.  On the way home outside of Colorado we went back to 87 octane and had similar results in mileage that we got on the way out.

I'll throw out a theory as to what's up with this. 

85 octane gas shouldn't make an engine more efficient. It's cheaper and works Ok in some engines at higher altitudes because there is less predetonation (knock) with the thinner air. So my thought is that you were seeing better fuel economy not because of the fuel but because your rig saw less drag at the higher altitude. 

The same thing happens with airplanes. The sweet spot for cruise in a normally aspirated piston airplane is usually around 7000-10000 feet or so. That gives you the lowest fuel burn at the highest speed over the ground. Above that the engine and prop lose too much power and below that drag kills efficiency. 

So you would probably have gotten the same better fuel economy if you had been using 87 octane gas. That's my theory anyway. 
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Posts: 3221 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 30 Nov 2019 at 3:48am
Our '11 F-150 has the 5.0L V-8 Coyote engine and on our last 30 day trip we covered 5500 miles.  Traveling from northern Michigan to Colorado via freeway and cruising around 65 we averaged 10.8 to 11 mpg.  The funny thing is once we got to Colorado we went with the 85 octane and saw mileage increase to 13.5 to 14.5 mpg and this was mainly mountain driving in Colorado and Utah.  On the way home outside of Colorado we went back to 87 octane and had similar results in mileage that we got on the way out.
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