Tuesday, October 18, 2011
Mountain Biker gets taken out by BUCK - CRAZY Footage - Only in Africa
I'm sure some of you have seen this video, but if you haven't...check it out.
Monday, October 17, 2011
F150 EcoBoost
After 260 miles the past week-end on my F150 EB pulling the 28 foot Featherlite enclosed trailer, I ended up with about 9.2 MPG. That included around town about 45 miles and the rest driving 65 -74 MPH highway. The big factor was a head wind of about 20 -25 MPH for about 120 miles. This is a small sample of miles. I have done the same trip in my F150 EB without a trailer and the result was about 17.5 MPG.
I got back from my trip on Monday with my F150 EB, parked my truck and trailer. Jumped into an F350 with the 5.4 gas motor and did a 280 mile round trip pulling an open single car trailer with an F150 on it. 140 miles into a 20 -25 MPH headwind and 140 miles back with a tailwind, 8.8 MPG for the round trip @ 65-75 MPH. I sure missed the power of the EcoBoost, huge difference.
Observations:
The EcoBoost pulls hard from a start to 70 MPH. Did not lose any MPH on inclines even against the wind. Motor has very good torque and low end useable power, minimal downshifting. It has the power I was looking for in a gas motor.
Not much sway from wind gusts, holds it's lane. Good aftermarket tires make all the difference in the world with a trailer this big or any load. The first thing replaced on my new trucks is the tires. The longer 6.5 wheelbase helps also along with Max Tow.
Pulling a trailer into the wind with any truck will always suck the fuel.
The small 26 gallon tank is not good(I was told this is the only tank you can get with the EB unless you order a fleet of trucks, then you can order the 36 gallon)...go figure.
Can't mount a winch on the front because cooling is a factor.
The F150 is a great truck, was gonna buy an F350 with the 6.2 gas. I'm not disappointed in the F150 EB with my set-up. I'm getting 2-5 or 20-40% more MPG than any of my other pick-ups and it's got the best motor.
I got back from my trip on Monday with my F150 EB, parked my truck and trailer. Jumped into an F350 with the 5.4 gas motor and did a 280 mile round trip pulling an open single car trailer with an F150 on it. 140 miles into a 20 -25 MPH headwind and 140 miles back with a tailwind, 8.8 MPG for the round trip @ 65-75 MPH. I sure missed the power of the EcoBoost, huge difference.
Observations:
The EcoBoost pulls hard from a start to 70 MPH. Did not lose any MPH on inclines even against the wind. Motor has very good torque and low end useable power, minimal downshifting. It has the power I was looking for in a gas motor.
Not much sway from wind gusts, holds it's lane. Good aftermarket tires make all the difference in the world with a trailer this big or any load. The first thing replaced on my new trucks is the tires. The longer 6.5 wheelbase helps also along with Max Tow.
Pulling a trailer into the wind with any truck will always suck the fuel.
The small 26 gallon tank is not good(I was told this is the only tank you can get with the EB unless you order a fleet of trucks, then you can order the 36 gallon)...go figure.
Can't mount a winch on the front because cooling is a factor.
The F150 is a great truck, was gonna buy an F350 with the 6.2 gas. I'm not disappointed in the F150 EB with my set-up. I'm getting 2-5 or 20-40% more MPG than any of my other pick-ups and it's got the best motor.
Sunday, October 09, 2011
Ford F150 EcoBoost
I bought my Ford F150 EB in July. It is the Max Tow - Max Payload, with the 6.5 foot box, it has 3.73 gears. I had a set of 285/70/17 - E-Rated BFG All Terrains with aftermarket wheels installed the day I picked it up. I had a Bull Bar installed and I got creative with the license plate because you cannot block the air flow up front.
The dash MPG computer shows 14.4 since I bought the truck. My driving includes pulling my landscape trailer around town(1500 - 3500 pounds, about 10% of my driving), some fireroad driving locked into 4x4, stop and go city driving and several 300 - 400 mile trips. 2 of the 400 mile trips was pulling my landscape trailer with 3500 pound loads.
When I reset my trip MPG, I get about 14.5 - 16 MPG with everyday driving. On the trips with a mix of 60 - 80 MPH, I get 16 - 18.5 MPG.
I just turned 6000 miles on my new F150 EB. This motor rocks, it creates useable torque, and has plenty of giddy-up and go. It is also the best gas mileage I have got with a 4x4 pick-up.
A couple of my thoughts for what they are worth.
Upgrading the tires, a must if you are going to use the F150 like a truck. Get the Max Tow / Max Trailer. It is not an F350, but I wanted gas mileage and didn't want another diesel.
My previous personal trucks have included 3 different 1 Ton Super Duties, 1 - V10 and 2 - 6.0 diesels and an 06 3/4 ton Dodge with the gas Hemi. I also drive an 09 F350 4x4 gas 5.4 pulling a single car trailer for my job, about 8000 miles a month. That gets anywhere from 8 - 11.5 MPG depending on size of vehicle and wind.
This is the trailer I'm going to use the next 2 days. A 28 foot Featherlite. I will put on about 250 - 300 miles so I'll see how it does. I just drove it about 40 miles today and it was no effort for the truck. No sway and it just jumps up to 70 MPH. I'll be driving between 65 - 75 MPH.
The dash MPG computer shows 14.4 since I bought the truck. My driving includes pulling my landscape trailer around town(1500 - 3500 pounds, about 10% of my driving), some fireroad driving locked into 4x4, stop and go city driving and several 300 - 400 mile trips. 2 of the 400 mile trips was pulling my landscape trailer with 3500 pound loads.
When I reset my trip MPG, I get about 14.5 - 16 MPG with everyday driving. On the trips with a mix of 60 - 80 MPH, I get 16 - 18.5 MPG.
I just turned 6000 miles on my new F150 EB. This motor rocks, it creates useable torque, and has plenty of giddy-up and go. It is also the best gas mileage I have got with a 4x4 pick-up.
A couple of my thoughts for what they are worth.
Upgrading the tires, a must if you are going to use the F150 like a truck. Get the Max Tow / Max Trailer. It is not an F350, but I wanted gas mileage and didn't want another diesel.
My previous personal trucks have included 3 different 1 Ton Super Duties, 1 - V10 and 2 - 6.0 diesels and an 06 3/4 ton Dodge with the gas Hemi. I also drive an 09 F350 4x4 gas 5.4 pulling a single car trailer for my job, about 8000 miles a month. That gets anywhere from 8 - 11.5 MPG depending on size of vehicle and wind.
This is the trailer I'm going to use the next 2 days. A 28 foot Featherlite. I will put on about 250 - 300 miles so I'll see how it does. I just drove it about 40 miles today and it was no effort for the truck. No sway and it just jumps up to 70 MPH. I'll be driving between 65 - 75 MPH.
Tuesday, October 04, 2011
Monday, August 08, 2011
The Art of FLIGHT - The Metal Trailer
Saw this teaser on Poor Mans Heli site.
Man, winter is just around the bend! Gotta start getting ramped up...
Sunday, July 24, 2011
US - Tour de France 2011 - Best of n°1
Congrats to Cadel Evans, I met him back in 1994 when he was a mountain bike racer.
My best memory of Cadel was when he and my son Jeff finished 8th and 9th at a USA National Mountain Bike Race in Traverse City, Michigan in 1996, 3 weeks before the 96 Olympics. They worked together and moved through the pack.
Later in the summer Jeff raced at the World Championships in Australia and Jeff raced against Cadel...he is a great competitor.
Saturday, July 23, 2011
STAGE 20 - Image of the day / L'image du jour
Congrats to Cadel Evans!!
I first met Cadel Evans in 1994 at Squaw Valley near Lake Tahoe. It was in a mountain bike race that was called "The North American Championships". My son Jeff Hall and Cadel were both Junior Mountain Bike Racers and 6 weeks later they would both be racing in the World Mountain Bike Championships at Vail, Colorado. We crossed paths with Cadel several times over the years.
Cadel is a class act.
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