how to increase miliage when towing

[Scott Danforth]

Re: how to increase miliage when towing

I agree that a single trip is not scientific. However since I keep track of fuel economy for every vehicle, I can tell you on average my economy went up. I can also tell you that it drops in winter months, and that fuel economy is better with pure fuel than it is with e10.

with graphing the mileage for each vehicle, I also know when something causes the economy to change, such as tire loosing pressure, alignment out of adjustment, fuel from a different gas station, plugs going south, brother driving it, etc. Unfortunately it also shows me that 29.9% of the household net income is spent on fuel

 

[bruceb58]

Re: how to increase miliage when towing

I agree that a single trip is not scientific.

Seems like we agree then!

Not sure how much you make but spending 29.9% of your income on fuel sounds like an awful lot.

 

[yabuoy]

Re: how to increase miliage when towing

Depends on the type of transmission really. Manual or auto, what make?

Auto. It's a Ford 5R trans with a cooler

 

[kenmyfam]

Re: how to increase miliage when towing

I can pull my same boat over the same route every year and get that type of mileage variation and I have done nothing to it. Unless you know the exact speed you were going, the wind speed, temperature...not a very scientific comparison. Guess its just the engineer in me!

X2 on this one

 

[kenmyfam]

Re: how to increase miliage when towing

unfortunately it also shows me that 29.9% of the household net income is spent on fuel

Wow !!!!
Time for a new job or a different vehicle........or maybe both !!

 

[QC]

Re: how to increase miliage when towing

Heck, he may make $100K a month and just have a lot of fun . . .

 

[Scott Danforth]

Re: how to increase miliage when towing

or a cylinder index of 51 and a round trip to work and back of 80mile for me, and 165 for the girlfriend

 

[bruceb58]

Re: how to increase miliage when towing

or a cylinder index of 51

Lawnmowers don't count!

You guys drive 1972 Cadilac Eldorados that get 8 MPG?

165 mile roundtrip? Yikes!

 

[Scott Danforth]

Re: how to increase miliage when towing

cylinder index of 46 not counting the lawnmower, weed whacker or chainsaws.

 

[bruceb58]

Re: how to increase miliage when towing

cylinder index of 46 not counting the lawnmower, weed whacker or chainsaws.

That's still a lot!

 

[joewithaboat]

Re: how to increase miliage when towing

Auto. It's a Ford 5R trans with a cooler

Which 5r?

I have the 5R55W in a Ford SUV. I have had a little trouble with it. Shuddering going into 3rd. I switched to Mobil 1 ATF last year and it went away. Fingers crossed. Its got 160K+. I figure I'm on borrowed time and then i will become intimately familiar with it.

Don't ever let a shop flush an auto trans. I drained the converter from the plug and dropped the pan. They are a bit weird to fill, no dipstick or fill tube.

Cooler is a great idea! Especially if it has a thermostatic bypass.

I have towed in OD with it on long, flat, no traffic stretches of freeway. I switch it off otherwise. Didn't seem to bother it. Manual says not to. Might be hard on the lock up converter.

 

[yabuoy]

Re: how to increase miliage when towing

Which 5r?

I have the 5R55W in a Ford SUV. I have had a little trouble with it. Shuddering going into 3rd. I switched to Mobil 1 ATF last year and it went away. Fingers crossed. Its got 160K+. I figure I'm on borrowed time and then i will become intimately familiar with it.

Don't ever let a shop flush an auto trans. I drained the converter from the plug and dropped the pan. They are a bit weird to fill, no dipstick or fill tube.

Cooler is a great idea! Especially if it has a thermostatic bypass.

I have towed in OD with it on long, flat, no traffic stretches of freeway. I switch it off otherwise. Didn't seem to bother it. Manual says not to. Might be hard on the lock up converter.

Mine is a 5R55W as well. 2003 Explorer. I already made the mistake of having it serviced at 83K back in March '08 and I am now at 145K but it slips once in a while (since the rebuild). I too have learned how to 'feel' out the transmission when driving it, and have been able to get by fine. I may have it rebuilt before I begin towing the boat around more often since I am repairing the boat anyways. I figured that on long flat stretches it would be okay in OD but I wasn't sure. I'd rather pay a few more bucks in gas than having a trans grenade on me. I still am not too positive on whether or not I should...

 

[joewithaboat]

Re: how to increase miliage when towing

Mine is a 5R55W as well. 2003 Explorer. I already made the mistake of having it serviced at 83K back in March '08 and I am now at 145K but it slips once in a while (since the rebuild). I too have learned how to 'feel' out the transmission when driving it, and have been able to get by fine. I may have it rebuilt before I begin towing the boat around more often since I am repairing the boat anyways. I figured that on long flat stretches it would be okay in OD but I wasn't sure. I'd rather pay a few more bucks in gas than having a trans grenade on me. I still am not too positive on whether or not I should...

There are a couple ford explorer forums that have a lot of great info on our transmissions. There are some good valve body, solenoid upgrades from Ford and other aftermarket as as well.

Mine has always been an odd shifting trans. I almost never WOT shift it and always let up right before it shifts hard. I think that's why mine has gone 160k+ which is pretty much unheard of. At around 140k I switched to mobil1 full synthetic fluid, It really helped it. I also added some Lucas "Transmission Fix" at the same time. Shudder in 3rd went away as did whine when cold.

I had no metal or excessive material in the pan when i dropped it which surprised me. It had only been serviced one other time in 140k.

 

[DBreskin]

Re: how to increase miliage when towing

What the world needs is a hybrid that can tow. Prius with a 5000 pound trailer anyone?

Here's your Prius tow vehicle: http://green.autoblog.com/2012/04/25/prius-trucker-tows-harley-motorcycles-across-u-s/

 

[yabuoy]

Re: how to increase miliage when towing

There are a couple ford explorer forums that have a lot of great info on our transmissions. There are some good valve body, solenoid upgrades from Ford and other aftermarket as as well.

Mine has always been an odd shifting trans. I almost never WOT shift it and always let up right before it shifts hard. I think that's why mine has gone 160k+ which is pretty much unheard of. At around 140k I switched to mobil1 full synthetic fluid, It really helped it. I also added some Lucas "Transmission Fix" at the same time. Shudder in 3rd went away as did whine when cold.

I had no metal or excessive material in the pan when i dropped it which surprised me. It had only been serviced one other time in 140k.

Wow 160K is pretty good. I don't know if I will make it to 160K but if she tanks then I will probably rebuild it. Sounds like you found out a few good secrets to prolonging it. Most people that start having problems with the 5R55 end up rebuilding them or having them go soon after. If only Ford hadn't overestimate this transmission and just suggested owners get them serviced at 30K instead of 150K

 

[joewithaboat]

Re: how to increase miliage when towing

Wow 160K is pretty good. I don't know if I will make it to 160K but if she tanks then I will probably rebuild it. Sounds like you found out a few good secrets to prolonging it. Most people that start having problems with the 5R55 end up rebuilding them or having them go soon after. If only Ford hadn't overestimate this transmission and just suggested owners get them serviced at 30K instead of 150K

Yea Id dont work on them for a living but i have always done my own service and occasional auto & manual rebuilds.
The 5r's are apparently frequently misdiagnosed. They often have problems other than worn out internals. The gaskets between the valve bodies are known to blow the sides out. Also there have been simple valve body improvements both by Ford and the aftermarket that greatly improve shifting. They have had programming changes some better some worse. Mine is still original programing "early 02".

The first thing a lot of shops do is recommend a "flush" which if done on a machine that is not maintained can wipe out a trans. The weird fill procedure leaves many under or over filled.

Back to the O/P i think proper tire inflation is the most commonly overlooked thing for obtaining the best fuel economy from any given vehicle. Where i am most stations dont have air pumps any longer, there is only 1 full service station left in my metroplex. People dont check them unless the are getting the oil changed, vehicle inspected or have a flat.

 

[Scott Danforth]

Re: how to increase miliage when towing

Back to the O/P i think proper tire inflation is the most commonly overlooked thing for obtaining the best fuel economy from any given vehicle. Where i am most stations dont have air pumps any longer, there is only 1 full service station left in my metroplex. People dont check them unless the are getting the oil changed, vehicle inspected or have a flat.

That and a thrust angle alignment, coupled with a boat cover.

 

[ricohman]

Re: how to increase miliage when towing

None of the guys in the club I off road with use K&N filters for anything after seeing how much dust they let into an engine, But on a street truck on pavement it should be ok. I still won't use one after the debacle with my Land Cruiser and the K&N but to each his own.
Not surprising in this test that K&N flow the best. But they let a lot a particulate into the engine.


In the order of EFFICIENCY (ability to filter dirt) the results are as follows:

FILTER % EFFICIENCY

AC Delco OE 99.93%
Baldwin paper 99.72%
No name pargain paper 99.32%
AFE Pro Guard 7 panel filter 99.23%
WIX/Napa Gold 99.03%
Purolator paper 98.73%
Amsoil, new style 98.63%
UNI 97.93%
K&N 96.80%


FLOW RESTRICTION from best to worst. Remember, 27.7 inches of water = 1 psi. So, 1 inch of water = .036 psi. The worst (AC Delco) at 6.23 in. water and the best (K&N) at 4.54 in. water is a difference of 1.69 in. of water or a "whopping" .0608 psi. Virtually negligible.

In order from least restricive to most:

FILTER RESTRICTION in inches of water

K&N 4.54
Mystery bargain 4.78
AFE Pro Guard 4.99
Purolator 5.05
WIX/Napa Gold 5.06
UNI 5.40
Baldwin 5.71
Amsoil 5.88
AC Delco 6.23


DIRT HOLDING CAPACITY. From best to worst. This is the AMOUNT of test dirt it took to create an ADDITIONAL 10 inches of restriction. At that point the test is terminated. This is an indication of HOW LONG a filter is good before it must be cleaned or replaced.

FILTER Dirt Holding Capacity

AC Delco 573.898 grams
WIX/Napa Gold 447.366 g
Purolator 388.659 g
Baldwin 388.154 g
UNI 374.638 g
Mystery bargain 350.402 g
AFE Pro Guard 7 232.516 g
K&N 211.580 g
Amsoil 196.323 g


TOTAL DIRT PASSING THE FILTER DURING THE TEST. This is how much dirt your engine will take in if you use the filter for the duration that would cause the filter to become "dirty" enough to need replacement or cleaning. The "Dirt Passing The Filter" is the dirt collected by the "POST FILTER" during the SAE/ISO test.

In order from best to worst, the filters performed as follows:

FILTER DIRT IN GRAMS PASSED

AC Delco 0.4g
Baldwin 1.1g
AFE Pro Guard 7 1.8g
Mystery bargain 2.4g
Amsoil 2.7g
WIX/Napa Gold 4.4g
Purolator 5.0g
K&N 6.0g
UNI 7.9g