more like diarrhea

You aren't suppose to tow in overdrive. Wow I tow a travel trailer with that setup exactly tows great went to Sam Rayburn recently did a great job. Got 9 miles a gallon loaded heavy . It may not be a diesel but it is plenty for any bass boat just don't tow in overdrive.

J D

Thanks for all your comments and opinions! I'm getting from 11-13 MPG, and hardly ever use the "towing" button, unless I'm in the city or there are a ton of hills. I'm not sure if it's a 4 or 6 speed. Will changing the axle ratio help?

Fernando, when you get in the truck, no trailer, no load, just driving to work or the grocery store, you put the Gear shifter in Drive and go. Do you do the exact same with the boat?

You should be selecting out of Overdrive, there will either be a buton on the end of the gear shifter. Your mileage sounds normal.

While I kinda agree I kinda don't. No I wouldn't pull your TT in OD with it, but I would pull a light/empty flatbed, small boat etc. all day in OD.

Yes, i just put it in drive when towing. There is a "towing" button on my stick shift which I use when towing in the city or hilly terrain. So, I guess 11-13 MPG is normal then?

thanks!

11 to 13 is normal for any v8 truck. I would assume you can take a ford out of overdrive. Towing in overdrive is the quickest way to kill a transmission. Putting a lower gear in it would help a little bit, but would kill your gas mileage.

I don't run any fords in that configuration, but from a google search I read that you cant simply take it out of overdrive, that sucks in my opinion. Only thing you can do is put it in tow haul, but that still allows it to use OD.

My 2008, you could lock out O/D, but it actually dropped you 2 gears to 4th. Either way, the computer should lock gears out as needed.

I have an 05 5.4 in the fx4 so it has 3.73 axles I think. I tow a 22' bay boat and it will do 70-75 fine on fairly flat ground, but it does struggle a little bit on hills. It's a half ton truck, it shouldn't be expected to run 75 without downshifting or struggling a bit. I like to tow around 65 with mine and that's fine for me. The 3.55 might be a little weaker so you could put a bigger gear ratio in the back and that would help but you would get worse gas mileage.

Thanks! I guess it's cheaper to keep her, since it's paid off!!

5.4 liters is only 329 cubic inches. You shoulda bought a hemi.
My 6.7 liter Ram does not even know my 20' Bass Cat is even back there.
Seriously, that was the reason I got rid of my Expedition. At least that plus 3 transmissions under 50K miles.
I am not impressed with the newer Ford Small Block V-8 Engines in trucks, or their transmissions. To my mind, the last decent V-8 Ford Truck Engine was the 351 and the last decent Ford Auto Transmission was the C-6. If they could resurrect both and still figure out a way to get some decent mileage out of them, they would have something, IMO.

Just a quick shout out to grab your waders. It's getting deep.

your comparing 10 year old technology and a truck that has 260 hp to a 6.7 liter diesel truck that has over 800 lbs of torque ?

The biggest difference is natuarly aspirated vrs. turbocharged. Not even in the same ball park. Remove that turbo from the 6.7 and watch it fall on its face.