tobyw
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- Joined
- Jun 21, 2019
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I have now towed both of my "regular loads" a couple of times, and just thought I'd share my overall impressions versus the same loads with the truck it replaced. First up is the Jeep:
It's a 2018 JLU-R with a slight lift, 37" tires, rock sliders and a custom front bumper with a Warn Powerplant winch (winch and air compressor combo, totally awesome!!). The Jeep and trailer weigh in just a touch under 7k, and as you can see it squats the rear of the truck pretty good. According to my tape measure, it squats 2-1/2" at the receiver, just for reference. Anyhow, no shortage of power but it does drop out of 7th gear on almost any incline, and will drop all the way down to 4th at well above 4k RPM to maintain 63-65MPH on the longer/steeper hills. Interesting enough, with Tow/Haul mode engaged it will NOT up-shift into 8th gear regardless of terrain or conditions... Fuel economy hovers right around 10mpg depending on wind.
In comparison to the outgoing truck, I would call it about a draw. The power of the EcoBoost is simply impressive, and it's hard to argue with how well a boosted engine pulls under load as there is little to no gear hunting. But I do appreciate the more planted feeling of the rear suspension on the Dodge, as the F-150 suffered from some pretty aggressive axle wrap under acceleration. Trailer braking performance in my opinion is smoother on the Dodge, it just feels like a better integrated experience. I do not, however, enjoy having to turn off the rear park sensors every time I'm attempting to hook up to my trailer - the Dodge wants to slam on the brakes for me because it believes I'm about to back into the trailer
The F-150 would typically get somewhere between 8-9mpg.
My other typical loadout is my boys' RZR and my other Jeep:
This load overall is about 850lbs lighter, which is enough to feel. Again neither the Dodge nor the F-150 have any issue with the load, but I do miss the larger towing mirrors on the F-150 to help see around the transverse-loaded RZR. I could have opted for the trailer mirrors on the Dodge, but honestly this is 2019 and I didn't want to give up the power fold option for marginally better visibility under a fraction of a percentage of my use case. I really do wish Dodge would get that figured out, though... The Dodge will knock down about 11mpg with this setup, while the F-150 was typically in the high 9's to low 10's.
Sorry for the long winded post... Cliff notes on Dodge vs. F-150:
* Dodge has better rear suspension setup that eliminates spring wrap
* Dodge has better feeling trailer brake integration
* Dodge has slightly better towing fuel economy
* F-150 has better mirrors (even the Dodge tow mirrors pale in comparison, I had them on my '12 3500)
It's a 2018 JLU-R with a slight lift, 37" tires, rock sliders and a custom front bumper with a Warn Powerplant winch (winch and air compressor combo, totally awesome!!). The Jeep and trailer weigh in just a touch under 7k, and as you can see it squats the rear of the truck pretty good. According to my tape measure, it squats 2-1/2" at the receiver, just for reference. Anyhow, no shortage of power but it does drop out of 7th gear on almost any incline, and will drop all the way down to 4th at well above 4k RPM to maintain 63-65MPH on the longer/steeper hills. Interesting enough, with Tow/Haul mode engaged it will NOT up-shift into 8th gear regardless of terrain or conditions... Fuel economy hovers right around 10mpg depending on wind.
In comparison to the outgoing truck, I would call it about a draw. The power of the EcoBoost is simply impressive, and it's hard to argue with how well a boosted engine pulls under load as there is little to no gear hunting. But I do appreciate the more planted feeling of the rear suspension on the Dodge, as the F-150 suffered from some pretty aggressive axle wrap under acceleration. Trailer braking performance in my opinion is smoother on the Dodge, it just feels like a better integrated experience. I do not, however, enjoy having to turn off the rear park sensors every time I'm attempting to hook up to my trailer - the Dodge wants to slam on the brakes for me because it believes I'm about to back into the trailer
The F-150 would typically get somewhere between 8-9mpg.My other typical loadout is my boys' RZR and my other Jeep:
This load overall is about 850lbs lighter, which is enough to feel. Again neither the Dodge nor the F-150 have any issue with the load, but I do miss the larger towing mirrors on the F-150 to help see around the transverse-loaded RZR. I could have opted for the trailer mirrors on the Dodge, but honestly this is 2019 and I didn't want to give up the power fold option for marginally better visibility under a fraction of a percentage of my use case. I really do wish Dodge would get that figured out, though... The Dodge will knock down about 11mpg with this setup, while the F-150 was typically in the high 9's to low 10's.
Sorry for the long winded post... Cliff notes on Dodge vs. F-150:
* Dodge has better rear suspension setup that eliminates spring wrap
* Dodge has better feeling trailer brake integration
* Dodge has slightly better towing fuel economy
* F-150 has better mirrors (even the Dodge tow mirrors pale in comparison, I had them on my '12 3500)
