Ford Superduty 6.2 questions?

[WilliamBos]

Number one they don’t produce 6.8 yet but if they do it’s only to reduce their costs. The 6.2 is strong and reliable and if you’re towing 12,000 pounds or less it’s the better engine choice and price point. I use my 2017 for lawn business and it is my boss bull. Beware new unproven engines let the manufacturer work out the real world bugs after few years.

The 6.8 is now the base engine, the 6.2 is gonw. The 7.3 is optional.

 

[hazzardrex]

I also consider the newer aluminum body trucks an advantage. My F150 has the aluminum body. Obviously the frame and other steel and cast components can still rust though.

I worked on the crank line for 6.2 at the Romeo Engine Plant in Romeo Michigan. That doesnt mean I know everything about it, but I do know that are engine issues with in the plant where less than 2 in 1000, and less than that in the field. If you buy one I have know doubt it will serve you fine.

 

[Jim in PA]

My 2017 6.2 is a beast. 87k miles and running strong. The 430 rear end doesn’t hurt either!

 

[dieselscout80]

My 2017 6.2 is a beast. 87k miles and running strong. The 430 rear end doesn’t hurt either!

How’s your empty and towing MPG?

 

[wareagle1]

Love my 2017 F250
16-17 mpg empty
11-12 towing depending on the load and country roads or highway.

 

[Massey convert]

I have a stock 2012 F250 extended cab 4x4 with the 6.2 and 3.73 gears. I bought it brand new in Nov of '12, it currently has just under 80K miles on it.

What would you like to know?

I've never had an engine related issue with mine. I have had 1 high pressure side power steering hose rupture back in 2016 (?) and I did replace the stock shocks and steering stabilizer at about 40K miles. That has been it.

I tow a 12K pound 5th wheel on mostly flat ground (no mountains in North Dakota). We have been to other states and I have been back and forth several times to my native state of AZ. I also tow a 9K pound flatbed car trailer with my Branson on it, when I'm out mowing fields for hire or other off home site tractor work. If I'm running empty and not towing, I average about 12-12.5 mpg over the 10 years I've had it. If I'm towing my 12K 5th wheel, I'm somewhere between 8 and 9 mpg. The flatbed with the tractor on it gets me around 10-11 mpg. Speed and wind resistance plays the biggest part here. A head wind will play havoc with the 6.2 gasser, more so than a diesel. I try to never tow above 70 mph, and mostly prefer to tow at about 65. That's with the 5th wheel, not as much of a mpg hit with the flatbed. The larger cross section of the 5th wheel acts like a sail in the wind.

The biggest tip I could give you is, if you're towing moderately heavy to heavy, always use the "Manual Mode" on the transmission. Never, ever tow it in "standard" or even "Tow/Haul" modes. The psychopath that programmed the shift points for the transmission must have been thinking he was setting shift points for a 4 cyl Datsun. If you leave it in auto (this includes tow/haul) the idiot computer will down shift the transmission if a sparrow flys by and farts on you. It's ridiculous. In "Manual Mode" you can set what gear you drive in, and you can choose when and if to down shift. I can hold a gear 1 and even 2 gears taller in Manual Mode than the computer will run the same pass with the same load. The 6.2 gas engine makes 80% of it's power at 2000 rpms. Unfortunately, the transmission shift points don't reflect that. No idea why, but there it is.

If I had it to do over, I would have purchased a crew cab dually. Either an F350, or if I could get it with a gas engine, an F450. This is mostly for stability of the rear axle when towing the big wind sail of a 5th wheel and getting hit with strong cross winds. It can get squirrelly when the gusts of wind get over 30-40 mph (which it frequently does here) and that wind is hitting you square in the sides.

I have never felt like I didn't have enough power. I know, the diesel kiddies would lose their minds at that, but putting it in "old guy" perspectives, my uncle used to pull a 30' Airstream all over the country with a Dodge dually pickup with a gas 318 and a 2 barrel carb. He never felt like he needed more, and he chastised me back then for buying a Dodge 4x4 with a 440 big block for "wasting gas".

sLO

 

[Sid Post]

I see a lot of variation of the MPG figures. I get road, altitude and, load differences being factors along with gear ratios, transmissions, and tires. Heck driving style can make a huge difference in most pickups I have owned.

My Tunda with the 5.7L would get ~7MPG if I drove it like an import sedan or, ~17MPG if I drove it like a senior citizen. Normal conservatives driving was typically ~14MG urban and 16MPG highway.

Do the new Ford Superduty pickups have so much weight and aerodynamic drag running empty that gasoline MPG is really 8~11MPG on average?

 

[Massey convert]

I have a stock 2012 F250 extended cab 4x4 with the 6.2 and 3.73 gears. I bought it brand new in Nov of '12, it currently has just under 80K miles on it.

What would you like to know?

I've never had an engine related issue with mine. I have had 1 high pressure side power steering hose rupture back in 2016 (?) and I did replace the stock shocks and steering stabilizer at about 40K miles. That has been it.

I tow a 12K pound 5th wheel on mostly flat ground (no mountains in North Dakota). We have been to other states and I have been back and forth several times to my native state of AZ. I also tow a 9K pound flatbed car trailer with my Branson on it, when I'm out mowing fields for hire or other off home site tractor work. If I'm running empty and not towing, I average about 12-12.5 mpg over the 10 years I've had it. If I'm towing my 12K 5th wheel, I'm somewhere between 8 and 9 mpg. The flatbed with the tractor on it gets me around 10-11 mpg. Speed and wind resistance plays the biggest part here. A head wind will play havoc with the 6.2 gasser, more so than a diesel. I try to never tow above 70 mph, and mostly prefer to tow at about 65. That's with the 5th wheel, not as much of a mpg hit with the flatbed. The larger cross section of the 5th wheel acts like a sail in the wind.

The biggest tip I could give you is, if you're towing moderately heavy to heavy, always use the "Manual Mode" on the transmission. Never, ever tow it in "standard" or even "Tow/Haul" modes. The psychopath that programmed the shift points for the transmission must have been thinking he was setting shift points for a 4 cyl Datsun. If you leave it in auto (this includes tow/haul) the idiot computer will down shift the transmission if a sparrow flys by and farts on you. It's ridiculous. In "Manual Mode" you can set what gear you drive in, and you can choose when and if to down shift. I can hold a gear 1 and even 2 gears taller in Manual Mode than the computer will run the same pass with the same load. The 6.2 gas engine makes 80% of it's power at 2000 rpms. Unfortunately, the transmission shift points don't reflect that. No idea why, but there it is.

If I had it to do over, I would have purchased a crew cab dually. Either an F350, or if I could get it with a gas engine, an F450. This is mostly for stability of the rear axle when towing the big wind sail of a 5th wheel and getting hit with strong cross winds. It can get squirrelly when the gusts of wind get over 30-40 mph (which it frequently does here) and that wind is hitting you square in the sides.

I have never felt like I didn't have enough power. I know, the diesel kiddies would lose their minds at that, but putting it in "old guy" perspectives, my uncle used to pull a 30' Airstream all over the country with a Dodge dually pickup with a gas 318 and a 2 barrel carb. He never felt like he needed more, and he chastised me back then for buying a Dodge 4x4 with a 440 big block for "wasting gas".

Slowpoke,
I think that the tow/haul shift points are set the way they are to protect the transmission from the high torque the engine can, (and will) produce. I use the tow/haul when I pull our camper and wince when climbing hills and the engine just screams it's way up the grade. Maybe your tranny is tougher than the manufacturer thought and I hope you continue to have trouble free operations. Me, I'm just a scardey-cat.

 

[JRH02]

... if I drove it like a senior citizen...

I resemble that remark. In the F350 I mentioned above I can get a bit over 14mpg at highway speed whether carrying weight or not. I do very little city driving. But what kills my overall average is 1) the 1st-2nd gear 4wd climb the last few miles to home and, 2) the head winds in the Columbia River Gorge. Ironically, going down hill or having the tail wind isn't much of a change from cruising on a flat in still air. :-( But I didn't buy the rig for its fuel mileage.

 

[Slowpoke Slim]

Slowpoke,
I think that the tow/haul shift points are set the way they are to protect the transmission from the high torque the engine can, (and will) produce. I use the tow/haul when I pull our camper and wince when climbing hills and the engine just screams it's way up the grade. Maybe your tranny is tougher than the manufacturer thought and I hope you continue to have trouble free operations. Me, I'm just a scardey-cat.

10 years on and still going strong.

If I'm towing on the highway, I set the cruise control at my preferred speed and manually selected gear. If I approach a hill or grade (up) and I can maintain my speed in my chosen gear, I do not downshift. If I start dropping road speed, I manually down shift a gear. If that gear will hold my speed, I don't downshift further. The "auto" or "tow/haul" modes will wait too long to do anything at all, and then it will drop at least 2 gears and sometimes 3 gears on the same grade with the same load.

And for me, in my 2012 F250, they put the exact same transmission in my little 6.2 that they put into the 6.7 diesel trucks (with twice the torque). I'm not going to hurt that transmission.

Later years, they did start putting a lighter duty trans in the gas trucks unless you went with the F350. Then I think you still got the "good one".