Long Term Towing Experience - Wear

[dtech]

Yes, I saw that note after I re-read the manual after my trip ... a little late, but better than never. Thanks

I also think using premium will fix your overheat issue and you may even see a small uptick in your already (envious of) good mpg.
Those airstream are really nice but $$$ . Gonna take me a good while to mentally come to grips with 11 mpg.

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[pbethel]

makes me want to get the scatter gun out and shoot some filthy stinkin geese, totally worthless bird and still protected in some areas. In some 30+ yrs of hunting shot hundreds if not thousands of those things and every time I see them I pantomime lining them up and dispatching. Former hunting site had an aerator in a 25 acre pond so when nearby lakes and ponds froze ours didn't and they like open water and we liked making them pay.

Golfer?

 

[Grandaccess]

I tow and haul a lot, these trucks are a work horse! and I drive like an A/H 90% of the time, you dont want the truck when I am done with it LOL
I now have 20k on my 21 XLT FX4 one of the best all around trucks I have ever owned

 

[bentroia]

Great info - consistent results here.

Still curious about longrr term impact of towing on our trucks. i.e. Will there be significant wear-failure compared to an F150 etc..

My Lance 1995 Trailer has a slightly tapered front 12 mpg avg in mixed driving flat-mountains. Tremor oem fox shocks and multi leaf packs ride close to level, stable, and comfy with a equalizer wd hitch.

 

[ctechbob]

I also noticed this when I re-read the manual today: Has anyone done this before?

Mine's been synthetic since the first D&F at 1000 miles. Never even a question for me as far as gear oil. When it gets changed, it gets a good quality name brand synthetic.

 

[ControlNode]

I have a 2019 Lariat crew cab. I have about 29k miles towing a 22 ft, 4500 pound Airstream and consistently get a bit over 14 mpg towing at 60-65 mph. When it was new, I did a 300 mile trip and got 17 mpg going 50 mph (speed designated in manual for first 500 miles towing). Maybe the shape of the Airstream helps mpg. Never had any tech mention anything out of the ordinary when having service done ... of course, those guys are usually pretty useless.
The only trouble I ever had towing was out west in the Rockies; had it overheat a few times. Had it checked out - no exhaust gases in cooling system, t-stat changed, sensor changed - made no difference. Never had overheating before on 14% grade (Cape Breton Island) or in long 7% in VA (I think it's VA on rte 77???). This was with 87 octane; maybe I should be running higher octane???

Remember, the higher the altitude, the less GCWR the Ranger has, I'm not sure when pass or such in the Rockies you were on, but If I were to tow from Aurora, CO to Breckenridge, CO I would be over 11,000', at that altitude my Ranger has an 8,375 lb GCWR instead of the sea-level 12,500 lb. So, with just me and my truck, all accessories removed back to showroom stock, I'm looking at about 800lb overweight with that 4,500-trailer connected at that altitude.

 

[Montana Ranger]

1st time rv owner, towed some 2800 k miles last week so unsure of wear n tear on the Ranger but it did plenty of damage to my wallet, avg ~ 11 mpg, ironically best mpg were towing it on I-70 thru the CO mtns where I took it slow going up the 2 passes . On flatland driving was going around 65 mph and that sucked gas. Trailer weighs in at 4,200 towed nicely but found myself wishing at times ( at the pump) I had gone with something lighter.

It's not the weight, but the frontal area. I tow a near 7,000 lbs travel trailer and average 11 mpg. You might consider slowing down. The mileage goes to hell after 55. Our maximum cruising speed is 60.

 

[Montana Ranger]

What is your experience associated with any resulting Ranger wear n tear from towing?

Nothing noticeable so far; it's holding up fine. We just exceeded 45,000 on our 2019. Roughly half that is towing our near 7,000 lbs travel trailer. I change oil every 5,000. The only thing worn out at this point is the original Hankook tires, which I'll be replacing before winter.

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