My truck is an automatic and if I floor it to pass another vehicle the shift points are right around 5400 rpm. The truck is designed to run at this rpm. Do you really think Ford would set the shift points this high if it's going to damage the truck? You are putting a lot more wear and stress on the enigine by never running it over 2000 rpm. Your manual should have recommended shift points for your truck. Read the manual!

 

Ted, I laughed at the thought of two ice cream trucks screamin down the highway.

OP, if you want to take good care of your truck, do what the previous posters have told you.....

.......more skinny pedal.

 

I have read the manual and it says to shift into overdrive at 37 or 38 mph i believe id have to check

 

37mph for od? I was thinking about this thread yesterday on the way home, and I dropped it into third and hit somewhere around 80.

 

Sometime I manually shift the auto at 6k since it will shift itself at 5.5k. Mine sees 3k + daily

 

lol at the icecream drag race.

 

if you rev the engine and it breaks it needed a rebuild anyways i would rather it breaks on my daily driving then on a road trip or out of town all the cars i have ever owned i a push pretty hard to get on the freeway you have to in drive in the Los Angeles area and of my cars die around 300,000 miles weither it be chevy ford, dodge honda they all last farely long times

 

So i towed my atv up to work with me tonight because im heading to new york as soon as i get off in the morning. Yall were right though about revving it higher i was shifting between 2500-3000 and it definatly felt alot better and a bit more powerful, however in OD it doesnt like to hold a steady speed unless im goin roughly 65 or above.

 

What do you mean by it doesnt want to hold a steady speed?

 

Idk how to describe it other than it doesnt wanna hold exactly 60 or so maybe its my foot and im jus not noticing im letting up on accelerator

 

Do you have cruise control? try that and see if it holds. There are certain speeds that your 3.slow just doesn't like, where its hard to hold that speed. all of them do that

 

^probably. Nothing wrong with that.

Do you have cruise control?

 

Yes i have cruise control and its a 4.0 not a 3.0, however it felt like a 3.0 i only got 12-13 mpgs towing my atv to new york and back to virginia. Im very dissapointed with it with everthing loaded including me and my family it was about 1600-1700 lbs about half of what its rated for and it felt like i was towing a truck. I expected a decrease in mpgs but not 7-8 mpgs decrease its rediclous at how bad it didlooking back i should have just went with my gut and bought a f150.

 

I have no troubles pulling a loaded 14' trailer, weather it's 2 lawnmowers or 3 atv's. I've had 700 lbs in the bed and a good 1800 on trailer with no issues. You will have to use a lot of throttle if you're towing.

 

Yeah but damn enough to kill my mpgs by almost 50%? I get 19-21 all day long mixed driving (i work just outside washington d.c.) with the truck empty.

 

Trust me, drafting is the only way to get your mileage even reasonable while towing, For me (3.0 slightly different towing abilities), drafting off of a friend was the difference between 3rd gear(OD off on the auto) at 3500+ rpm and 5th gear at 2700 rpm. and that was with a 4.10 rear end. Its a ranger. thats how it is

 

Towing with anything is going to suck the mileage out of it. Even a new diesel truck getting 16mpg empty will only get 9mpg pulling a 4 place V front aluminum snowmobile trailer. Take a Toyota Sequioa at 17mpg normal day to day driving, pull that same aluminum V front trailer and you get 8mpg. Loosing mileage while towing is expected.

 

Rp is probly lugging his engine. Got his foot stuffed in it to keep speed up instead of downshifting. That'll suck up some extry gas.

I pull a boat-n-trailer about 1500 lbs and just make sure the rig isn't lugging. Loaded I pull it out of over and grab 4th before hitting the hills etc. Maybe even slow down to shift on a steeper adverse. Slow down/shift down for strong headwinds too. I get about 24 MT on the freeway and it drops to about 17-19 pulling the trailer.

Years ago the gas burner (big) trucks I drove had the tach marked for 'best power' and 'best economy'. I think the best economy was at a lower rpm then best power. Economy is measured in lbs-thrust per lb-fuel. Too bad they don't have that on our Rangers.

 

I agree. let that puppy rev