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Topic ClosedTow Vehicles, Keep what you have or Upgrade?
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Leo B View Drop Down
podders Helping podders - pHp
podders Helping podders - pHp
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Joined: 13 Jan 2012
Location: Lyndonville, VT
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Posts: 4518 		Direct Link To This Post Topic: Tow Vehicles, Keep what you have or Upgrade?
    Posted: 12 Dec 2017 at 11:30am
Back from our Cape Hatteras trip. It went excellent. We average 13.5 to 14.5 mpg down and back. It handled great, was passing vehicles going up some of the large hills on I-81 and I -64. 
Really happy with the extra room and towing ability.
Leo & Melissa Bachand
2017 Ford F150
2021 Vista Cruiser 19 csk
Previously owned
2015 Rpod 179
2010 Rpod 171
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GlueGuy View Drop Down
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Joined: 15 May 2017
Location: N. California
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Posts: 2702 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 12 Dec 2017 at 1:59pm
Originally posted by Olddawgsrule

The F-150, V6 or V8? Eco or not?

I like the V6 Eco, but that whole turbo-charger thing hits me as equal when it comes to MPG to a straight V8.
A friend has one, gets great mpg, but he doesn't tow...
The 3.5L EcoBoost will blow the doors off the V8. Don't get me wrong, the V8 is great, but the 3.5L EB has at least 100 ft-lbs more torque at 1500 RPM as the V8, and the torque curve is flat almost all the way to redline. It pulls "like" a diesel without the added expense.

I know a lot of people will express the turbos add complexity and reliability issues, but I think these feelings are overblown. Diesel engines, almost all now in production, are turbocharged, yet you never hear the same issues brought up with them. In addition, big rigs are pretty much all turbo-diesels, and they go for hundreds of thousands of miles. I would say all the early (meaning 20+ years ago) issues with turbochargers has been worked out in the time since.

BTW - The 2.7L EcoBoost is no slouch either. The only issue I have with it is very low compression braking ability (not enough cubes to help much).
bp
2017 R-Pod 179 Hood River
2015 Ford F150 SuperCrew 4WD 3.5L Ecoboost
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LvyaRain View Drop Down
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Joined: 30 May 2017
Location: Oregon
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Posts: 10 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 15 Dec 2017 at 4:30pm
Congrats on your 190...and thanks for your info on the RTL-T.  Happy trails. 
Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it. Ferris Bueller
Honda Ridgeline AWD
Future: RainPod 179 or 182G
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mcarter View Drop Down
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Joined: 07 Apr 2016
Location: Greenbrier, TN
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Posts: 3419 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 15 Dec 2017 at 5:15pm
Here's the Ford stats:

3.3L V6: 290 hp, 265 lb-ft

2.7L V6: 325 hp, 400 lb-ft

5.0L V8: 395 hp, 400 lb-ft

3.5L V6: 375 hp, 470 lb-ft
Mike Carter
2015 178
" I had the right to remain silent, I just didn't have the ability."
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Rodfac View Drop Down
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Joined: 12 May 2017
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Posts: 3 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 07 Apr 2018 at 8:20am
We've got a 2107 Jeep Grand Cherokee with the 5.7L Hemi engine...towing capacity is 7000 lbs. Our 178 tows easily behind it using an E2 Trunnion 6k WDH. We've got 6000 miles of towing it now, from here in Ky to New England, and most recently, a trip out to Nevada and back through Texas. Fuel economy averaged ~14 mpg for the entire trip when towing at 60-61 mph. When not towing, the Jeep averages 18.5 mpg around town, and ~21 on the Interstates at 70 mph.

This combination, (the Jeep with its big engine, and a trailer that weighs ~3400 lbs), is a good one for us...easily controllable, even in stiff cross winds and with plenty of umph for the western mountains. 

Rod
La Grange, KY
2017 R-178; TV: 2017 Jeep Grand Cherokee w/5.7L Hemi
Thank a vet for your freedoms, not a politician, nor "community organizer".
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