I recently returned from a 4074 mile trip in my 2010 F-150 Supercab 4x4 between Anacortes, WA and Milwaukee, WI where I picked up a two horse, two axle, horse trailer w/ tack room weighing 2000 lbs. for the return trip. The truck pulled it like a dream with plenty of reserve passing power even on even the steepest grades (about 8%). The six-speed transmission was awesome and appeared to "learn" headwinds etc. Weather was terrible most of the way with winter road conditions, temperatures of 9-32 degrees F blowing snow, headwinds and glare ice which formed from the 100% humidity which condensed on the road surface at 29 degrees F. I have 30 years experience driving in winter conditions in the mountains and I have only encountered ice with such limited traction one time previously. There was also a fair amount of clear, cold weather with light head/cross winds. I did not have a tailwind for most of the trip and only very light at that.





I saw three rollover accidents in the median where drivers had lost control of their cars on the very slick glare ice that had condensed on the road and numerous other cars that were stuck in the snow in the median. Flashing lights and sirens were out in force. I was the first vehicle to happen upon one couple that had just rolled their car. Fortunately, they were not injured and I was able to give them a ride about 15 miles to one of their parents' house. They were a very, very fat couple in their thirties and barely fit in the cavernous F-150 cab (I had the back seat packed with various kinds of equipment). I think their combined weight was almost 600 lbs. I have the flip-up center console and they both thought it was crazy that I suggested three could fit in the cab but they did not want to walk in such conditions and reluctantly wedged themselves in. They were so heavy the truck hunkered down and rode like a Cadillac. I already had four 50 lb. bags of sand in the bed for ballast as well as various camping gear and tools.

The Goodyear Silent Armor 255/75/17's were great the whole trip although I had three or four butt-clenching moments when the trailer started to jack-knife without apparent cause other than the very slippery ice and strong cross-winds. By immediately letting off on the accelerator, I was able to bring the combo back under control but not before some very stressful moments. The four-wheel drive was indispensable when I missed one of my turns in a rural area and went a little too far off the shoulder to initiate a U-turn with the 2000 lb. trailer in tow. I would have been helplessly stuck but I put it into 4x4 and clawed my way effortlessly back onto the road. Had I not had 4 wheel drive I would have had to disconnect the trailer and do some serious digging to get out of the slippery stuff.











The truck covered 1462.7 miles on the first two tanks of fuel averaging 21.1 MPG (manually calculated) for those two tanks that were run without the trailer (746 miles on the first tank and 717 miles on the second tank). This included numerous mountain passes and some very cold weather. The trip computer consistently reported almost exactly 1 MPG better than my manual calculations. Average fuel economy for the tanks run entirely while towing the horse trailer was only 13.6 MPG but this included plenty of headwinds, mountain grades and very cold weather. Overall fuel economy for the 4074 miles was 16.2 MPG (manual calculations) and total fuel cost was $697.28.

At one point in rural S.D. where I was fighting a particularly bad headwind I ran so low on fuel the trip meter said I had 0 miles to go and my GPS informed me I was still 9 miles from the nearest service station. I must have been running on fumes because I filled it with 36.145 gallons of fuel! I now know that my truck does indeed have 36 useable gallons of fuel capacity!

The truck had 3200 miles when I departed and I stopped at the Rapid City, SD Ford dealership to have my oil and filter serviced. The people there were very helpful in getting me an oil change spur of the moment even though they were booked solid and their prices were very good but I wish they had listened to their customer a bit better. Ivy, one of the dealership service advisors, checked me in for the oil change. I told her my truck had the 4.6L 3V motor and that the Ford Service Manual has erroneous info about the oil capacity. I asked her to mention this to the tech so my engine was not inadvertantly over-filled. She told me they did not use the Ford service manual and that the service techs knew the proper oil capacity of each engine. I looked her right in the eye and asked her to please mention this to the tech so he did not over-fill my engine with oil. She said something like "yeah, you can wait in the customer lounge and someone will notify you when your truck is ready."

I picked up the truck, hooked the horse trailer back up and checked into the room I had booked for the night. In my room I looked at the service receipt and noticed I had paid for 7 quarts of oil (the 4.6L 3V only holds 6 quarts). I immediately went out to the parking lot, pulled the dipstick, and saw that it was indeed over-filled by at least a quart! Yikes. In the morning I did not get the early start I had planned but instead took the truck back to the dealership, unhooked the horse trailer, and had them remedy the situation. They were very polite and accommodating and in about half and hour I was hooking the horse trailer back up and hitting the road.

I really think corporate Ford could do a better job about getting the word out about the typo in their Service Manual. It would also be nice if dealership employees would listen to their customers and this whole fiasco could have been avoided.

The truck seats were EXTREMELY comfortable the whole trip, my butt was very happy! I cannot imagine more comfortable seats, firm and supportive in all the right places. The huge tank and relatively good fuel mileage was very handy for travelling through remote areas while towing. This is one amazing truck, the engine is so smooth, quiet and powerful and the transmission was almost telepathic with it's ability to up or downshift with commands from my right foot.

I can't imagine a better rig for this kind of service.

 

Beautiful pics. Thanks for sharing the photos and story.

 

Good write up and great pics. I'm still laughing when I picture the two 300+ lb'rs sitting up front.

 

Nice Pics and story. Thanks for sharing.

 

Thanks for posting - I enjoyed the write-up and photos!

 

great post.....TY

 

great post and pictures very intresting

 

Very nice writeup. 0 gallons to go hurry up! lol

 

Thanks for the pictures along with the story. It is nice to see a Ford truck in action.

 

How come no pics of the 300 Lb'rs?...........

 

I thought of taking a picture but considering they had just survived a roll-over accident, I decided better of it.

Besides, my ultra-wide angle lens was buried under a bunch of other gear.

Has anyone else fit over 36 gallons in their truck?

 

wow, those are some amazing pics and I loved reading the story! Thanks!

 

Thanks! great pics, too!

Would'nt ya think that the dealership would check the dipstick after they do the oil change???

 

How did the 4.6 do pulling the horse trailer, especially on the mountain passes??

 

You would think they should/would. But I am more bothered that I could not get through to the know-it-all service advisor when I asked her politely but apparently unsuccesfully to simply mention the potential problem to the service tech (twice!).