22 350 SRW CC LB 7.3 4.30 first trip w/camper

[IUEC135ELEVATOR]

Just sharing my thoughts and experience with the new truck, may answer questions some may have before ordering (wondering about towing and mileage real world)

 

Well brought the truck home from dealer about 2ish weeks ago and only had time to put about 30 miles on it before the wife, kids and I went on vacation. I live in Charlotte and drove to the outer banks in North Carolina. Pulled the travel trailer 28' (34' from hitch to rear bumper) weighs about 7500 loaded with all the usual stuff. Truck weighs in at 7500 I guess.

 

I put 1400 miles total on the truck this last week. Driving down Saturday I kept the truck at about 60 mph the entire way and averaged about 8.5 mpg in regular driving mode.(rain and wind were nuts the entire way! Headwind!)

 

When I got down there and unhooked we did the usual vacation stuff, drive around to see all the sights, out to eat, stores ect ect. 

 

Driving just truck (normal mode) and light and heavy foot pedal work ranging from 35/45/55 mph with traffic/lights/stop and go kinda driving I averaged 12.5 mpg, very windy.

 

Then I went on a longer drive (just truck) to go to Ocracoke Island (down to the ferry). I put it in eco mode and was extremely light on the pedal and used cruise control, constant driving with only a couple stops....extremely flat ground with light tail wind..in 50 miles I averaged 19.5mpg 35-50 mph.  I was about 1100-1500 rpm at those speeds. These were ideal conditions and when I say I was light on the throttle that is an understatement! Lol (told the wife " I will never see that mpg ever again")

 

On the trip driving on eco and doing realistic normal 45-60mph with just truck, very little stopping I was averaging about 15mpg. 

 

On the way home with camper I had the truck in (tow/haul) and kept it at 55 for maybe 1/4 of the trip and 65 the other 3/4 of the time. I was mostly light on the pedal but few times I kicked it down to merge. I got 9.5 mpg averaged.

 

The milage is about what I was expecting to get so no complaints.

 

Took the truck out to drive down the beach a few times. Even with airing down the tires it was not FUN to drive on it, but that was expected (it's a heavy truck with skinny tires) once i got from 1mph to 2 to 3 ...4....5...7...finally up to 10mph  she went though  wet packed or soft dry sand she trucked on through like it was nothing (but once I stopped in the soft dry sand it was hell trying to get her back up to speed.....HEAVY.

 

No issues with truck, pulled the camper with no issues. It's a way lighter camper than what the truck could handle. In reality a 1/2 ton would do it...but when the crosswind blew 30 35 over the bridge I am very glad I was in a 1 ton not a 1/2. Camper is 29' body and 11'6 from ground to top of AC. There were times the camper and the truck were not running parallel with each other.

 

So to conclude, very happy with truck, motor and trand feel like they could handle double that easily.

 

The 22 has more get up and go with camper then my 19 350 6.2 drw utility bed truck has empty.

[BigUnixGeek]

Are your mpg numbers based on the dash's calculations, or on the odo/pump and your own calculations?  I've learned not to trust the former on any make/model.

[pnwskibum]

solid review. I have a 7.3l F350 w/ 4.30 gears on order and will be pulling a 28ft TT. Our trailer loaded will be right at 10K. I'll also be pulling a 14K dump trailer locally I'm also curious if your MPG numbers are from the dash or own calcs

 

Thanks again for posting your experience!

[IUEC135ELEVATOR]

Dash...on the 19.5

 

Around town driving 15mpg was figured at pump next fillup.

 

12.5 was dash and calc

 

Down to beach  8.5 was dash and calc.

 

Home from beach 9.5 was dash....haven't filled back up yet. But will see.

 

Never did get close to empty tank...kept small refills to do checking. Many refills..lol

 

Dash seems to be pretty darn close.

 

Dte fluctuates drastically with avg mpg...

 

Full tank show anywhere from 260 dte to 532 dte, depends what you're doing in truck at the given time. 

Edited October 18, 2021 by IUEC135ELEVATOR

[Nmfiredawg]

What motor do you have?

[Nighthawk37]

2 hours ago, Nmfiredawg said:

What motor do you have?

He’s got the 7.3 gas engine 

[Nmfiredawg]

Thanks didn’t see it in posts but when I went back out to post heading.  I’m getting to old. Eyesight must be going.

[gerstner5]

How is the throttle response of the 7.3 in a pickup? We have two ‘20 F-550’s with 7.3’s, they are Altec Bucket trucks. Not bad to drive, just seems to have a lagging pedal. Curious if that’s just a Cab & Chassis deal, or what you noticed from your first impressions?

[IUEC135ELEVATOR]

With the 4.30 gear it gets up and goes. It pulls harder and is faster (0-60) with the camper on the back than my 19 f350 6.2 drw utility bed does empty.

 

I HAD a 2012 f150 4wd extended with the 5.0

and a f250 with 6.2 extended cab 

 

And other current truck is a 2000 k3500 cc lb 4.11 7.4...with some light performance work done...

 

The 7.3 in my opinion is the snappiest out of all of them, second would be the 12 f150 , 3rd is the 2000 454 then the pickup 6.2 then very last is the 19 utility bed 6.w drw....that thing is a dog! (But it does its job)

 

Guy riding with me today said "traffic is clear, you can go..... floor it...I said "I Am!" 6.2 work bed

?.....???

 

 

So far I am impressed with the engine, it's no super powerhouse legendary engine, but in MY OPINION it's just fine for pulling around. For me the engine choice was a perfect fit!

 

Have not hooked up the 12k equipment trailer with load yet..

Edited October 19, 2021 by IUEC135ELEVATOR

[Quigs]

Thanks for sharing your MPG experiences.  While we don't purchase these trucks for high MPG performance, it's still nice to have some numbers with how crazy gas prices are right now.  Every cent counts, which means every MPG counts.

 

In my current 2004 Chevy 2500 with 6.0 gas I get about 7-8 MPG towing my 26' race trailer.  If you were able to get 9.5 out of yours (in the right conditions) with a taller trailer, I have hopes of being in that same 9-10 range, which would be so nice compared to now.  Plus the extra get up and go that the 7.3/4.30 should provide will be just straight up luxurious.  Even 15 MPG empty sounds amazing compared to my current 12.

 

Thanks again for sharing your story.  Your truck and camper both look like a lot of fun!  I miss having a travel trailer, might need to get back into one soon.

[Kory04]

Thanks for the in-depth review.  Those are respectable mpg numbers, and I'm hoping to see the same results in my new truck with 3.55 gearing.  My 2006 f250 5.4 seemed to get around 8.5 no matter what it was doing, It will be nice to improve on that while also having surplus power to boot.  My 2006 was the most reliable truck I've had, but absolutely underpowered