6.4 towing performance

capt dong · May 10, 2014

Big R said:
^ Thats amazing to me. I'm getting that daily drivin towing nothing but the air following me down the highway. Calm, slower driving...

your fuel eco depends on your mods and how you drive. going with bigger tires and wheels. im expecting a 1 mpg loss.

AirFishAutomotive · May 10, 2014

I run a spartan and get the same miles. 6spd with 210. Loaded @ about 13-15k pulling wise. Thats with 488 gears in a 550.

Custom tow tune wise id say idp 100% . I was not a fan of my gh tow tunes as they seemed very irresponsive (single tuning) and the truck was a complete dog while towing. As far as the other gh tunes they seemed to be fine just not what I was looking for. Eric has the shift points awesome for towing and with tow haul on the thing downshifts like a beast.

But tuning with a single and stock set up is completely different but I still like the idp shift points better.

ONEFASTSTROKER · May 10, 2014

sootie said:
the compound charger setup. they run a relatively high amount of boost when under not much load.

So a single 366 would get better mpg than twin 59-71

Big R · May 10, 2014

capt dong said:
your fuel eco depends on your mods and how you drive. going with bigger tires and wheels. im expecting a 1 mpg loss.

Drive pretty light footed for the most part. DPF/EGR Delete, Spartan, CAI, Modified Trans Solenoid. Running 35's on 20's

TyCorr · May 10, 2014

sootie said:
the compound charger setup. they run a relatively high amount of boost when under not much load.

Why hasnt anybody addressed that? Its a veeeery common gripe.

Are the chargers gated from the factory? Its like the setup is working to hard in the cruising range. Do larger upgraded turbos run at lower boost while cruising? A smaller displacement motor with precise tunable fuel should perform better than it geriatric retarded drooling brother that was made from 94-03. Those damn things get 12 on up to 20 depending on what you're doing. They sound worse than 6l on fuel.

forcefed6.4ford · May 10, 2014

It's the nature of a Vgt setup. Fixed compounds run minimal boost while cruising but the throttle is not as crisp as you will find with a Vgt set up. Just the price to pay.

capt dong · May 10, 2014

Big R said:
Drive pretty light footed for the most part. DPF/EGR Delete, Spartan, CAI, Modified Trans Solenoid. Running 35's on 20's

some say spartan is not the best for mpgs and others would disagree. looks of your truck has at least a spacer. so if 16 mpg is the average 35s and a spacer will eat 2 mpgs. your numbers seem right.

sootie · May 10, 2014

TyCorr said:
Why hasnt anybody addressed that? Its a veeeery common gripe.

Are the chargers gated from the factory? Its like the setup is working to hard in the cruising range. Do larger upgraded turbos run at lower boost while cruising? A smaller displacement motor with precise tunable fuel should perform better than it geriatric retarded drooling brother that was made from 94-03. Those damn things get 12 on up to 20 depending on what you're doing. They sound worse than 6l on fuel.

chargers are not gated from the factory. i would assume the reason it hasnt been addressed is emission control. not having the HP turbo basically spooled all the time makes a smoky laggy mess. i guess once you have pulled with a 6.0 and then jump into a 6.4 you dont second guess yourself LOL

ckrueg · May 11, 2014

I just calculated my mpg by hand, and got 15 doing mostly city driving with about 25 percent of that towing 12000 lbs. I'm running a minimaxx race on the hot damn 50hp tune.

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Randall12v · May 11, 2014

I changed to the 250 EL tune yesterday but no idea how fuel mileage will be yet. The shifting however was perfect even when I would step on it.

ckrueg · May 11, 2014

I was running the factory shifting and would get 12-13 doing similar driving, now I'm running s1l. I think early lockup helps quite a bit

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Big R · May 11, 2014

Also running 250 EL. We'll see how it goes! Thanks everyone for the input

drunk on diesel · May 12, 2014

I think there is more mileage trapped in the 6.4 tuning, but there's only so much while it's blowing through that little high pressure turbo.

as stated above, that thing is always loaded up and on the ready, and towing with a 6.4 is lightyears ahead of towing with a 6.0!

Stroked777 · May 12, 2014

I find that my hottest tunes get the best mpgs, kem 310 or 345, hd 300 on hot and gh on hot. The lower power tunes lower my mileage. Also a big factor I find is the trans tuning too. The area I live in I lose 1-2 mpg if I have a early lock up tune or a 4th lock up tune, the terrain makes it hunt for gears a lot. I fine the 5th lock up with a normal shift points gets me the best mileage

B585Ford · May 12, 2014

Traction bars will help smooth the shifting, especially when owing.

Mileage...the crappy flowing heads don't help mileage either...that forces you to run higher boost and EBP. Addressing everything regarding air will help mileage (EGR delete, cold side piping/intake elbow, ported intake elbow, a 71 or so atmo turbo, exhaust manny and up pipes. For IFTA, I have to keep meticulous logs. Grossing 15k (unloaded) to 33k lbs (average around 28k) I get 10.25-10.75 MPG with 3.73s and 35s....of course I do have a hand shaker which helps.

Doodie · May 12, 2014

forcefed6.4ford said:
12mpg is a really good day towing.

I agree...

Randall12v · May 26, 2014

I switched to the 300EL tune, unhooked from the trailer and was able to muster out 16.5mpg with mixed DD'ing. Plenty of power, and smooth shifting, smokes a little more than I was hoping for if you lug down in OD, deffinately not excessive...just more than I've been used to with lower tunes.

Hooked back up to my trailer, 4k lbs (mostly empty), for a 150 miles or so... and was brought brought back down to 14.6mpg with more mixed DD'ing.

Trans seems to be shifting much better with the higher tune, even with trailer attached. However, I haven't tried using tow/haul. I noticed tow/haul seemed to only assist with downshifting, is there any other function?

Hopefully with an actual load while towing, the 300+ tunes aren't "too much". I've been enjoying driving around with little to no smoke compared to blacking out the street with my old 12v.

I'm gone for work now, so once I get back I'll play around with other tunes.

TLH · May 26, 2014

Not sure what I get towing heavy, but I get 19 in town empty and 26 hwy. Hard bed cover alwasy on. Spartin 250 tune. I run 68mph on hwy. I have 35" Toyo tires..

TLH · May 26, 2014

Also I run 2 stroke motor oil (16oz) and Diesel Kleen (16oz) every tank. I notice a 2 to 3 mpg drop when I don't do this. I have done this for about 90, 000 miles now.