Just drove 380 milles 80% highway 65-75 mph and 20% on secondard roads running 30-55 mph. I had very little load and was easy driving and no racing or high speed passing.

MY THOUGHTS
1. The 6.2L has plenty of power and I love the 6 speed transmission. I had no problems shifting as others have had earkier, Here in Arizona the temp was 65-80 degrees during my trip.

2. Learned how to set us the SAT Radio as well as the steering wheel controls. My MPG at the end of the trip was 14 mpg but that is not official until I fill up the tank.

3. The only thing I didn't like was the front end was swirly. Meaning it wanted to go right and left without any movement of the steering wheel. This was very noticable at 65-75 mph on flat highway driving.
I think we had some cross winds but nothing more than maybe 15 mph.
I think the cause is the sidewalls of the tires are not stiff enough and this is were I was getting the sway right and left.

Has anyone else felt the similiar issue on the steering or am I thinking correcting that the Contiental tires as just craapp as others have said?

I have to hit the magic number of miles (1,000) before the 11th of April so I can tow my trailer.

What do you think about the swaying?

 

I take it that you'r happy with the truck?

I have the other crappy tires but not that sway (I think), compared to my 99 this one can have the big RR emblem op front.

I have about 800 Miles on mine and have been pulling already, did not hear any complanes from it so good to go.

MPG is about 14+ but rapidly improving, will post on that later.

Thanks for posting Iggs.

 

Re #3, check your front tire pressures, my guess is that the dealership didn't drop them during the pre-delivery and that they are high (the factory ships them to the dealership with over 80lbs in the tires to prevent flat spotting the tires during transport).
If the truck is unloaded, drop them to 40psi

 

WOW! I should have checked myself but you were exactly correct. All 4 were 80 psi. I adjusted them to 60 psi front and 70 psi rear as the label says in the door. I won't take them down any lower as I plan to tow my trailer soon after I hit 1,000 miles.

Thanks again and I will update you after I get it back on the road for another test run.

 

The TPMS would be going nuts. I'm running 60 in the stock Conti's and they're fine on the highway.

 

I did not receive anything on the Tire Pressure Monitoring System.
Not even sure how to check that yet.
I just drove the truck on the highway and it definitely seems much better with front tires at 60 psi. I know can let go of the wheel at 65 mph and it drives straight down the road. I will keep everyone posted on my next long trip.

Thanks

 

hmm
some good info in here.
Im heading on a 400K round trip tomorrow. Now im going to check the pressures before i go, just in case.
most of my driving so far has been on hwy usually an hour and a half to two hours round trip. about 60-65MPH no funny front end feeling yet.

edit:I think im at about 1400KM.. on it... thats about 800-900 miles.

 

These Continental tires are Load Range E but are only 5 ply on the tire tread and 2 ply sidewalls. I thought all Load Range E were 10 ply. Guess I was wrong.

 

Load Range E is a 10 Ply "Rating" that doesn't mean that there are 10 actual plies - Go Figure...... I imagine you might could do an goggle search to find out how the standards work but there must be some "rule" that specifies what a ply rating is in terms of load ability.. Clear as mud????

 

For a frame of reference, my '01 has done the highway pulling since brand-spankin-new.

It's been said that the Superduty doesn't have enough caster from the factory, but I'd hate to play around with that on a brand-new truck

 

+1

I've seen the term "shopping cart" used to describe how the front end feels at times. Also saw here on FTE that adding .5 to 1 degrees caster during an alignment helps alleviate/curb this. I have not done this so I can't confirm.

The steering wheel does seem to flop around going over bumps though...

 

Here's an example of a great tip found on FTE. Thx IB Adrian. I picked my truck up from the dealer, then left out of town the next day. It's been parked in the garage for eight days, 9 actual miles on it.

 

I forget about that dang thing on the newer trucks.
You can get the limit lowered at the dealership.
It does reduce the likelihood of "tramlining" - it can also make it quite a bit more effort at parking speeds though

 

OverviewJust got back from a 700 mile trip pulling a 5th wheel trailer and wanted to update you on the performance and mpg on my new 2011 F-250 6.2L. Truck had just went over 1,000 miles before trip.

Truck - 2011 F-250, 6.2L, LB, SC 2x4, 3.73 rear

DetailsThis trip was mostly on Interstate highways and I ranged speed from 55 mph to 70 mph.
I kept transmission in D and did not manually select or remove any gears.
The trip was from Phoenix Arizona to San Diego California and back.
Most of the trip was level except for the climb at Palm Springs westbound.
Westbound I had a headwind of 8-10 mph which hurt mileage.
In Arizona I drove 65 -70mph and in California 55-61 mph.
AC was always on for the entire trip.
My 30ft 5th wheel weighs 8,800 lbs total. 7,500 on the 2 axles and 1,300 on the hitch.
Most of the trip I stayed at 61mph and 1600 rpms which was the sweet spot for the Engine & Trans.
All of my fuel was 87 octane with 10% ethanol which I didn’t like but that what was available.
Outside air temp ranged from 65 to 90 degrees.
When filling with fuel I pumped until the automatic nozzle clicked off and I went up to the next full dollar amount. This makes all fill-ups consistently close in being the same.

My observations.Transmission took at least 5 miles to get up to 165-175 degrees.
Transmission temperature ranged between 184 – 199 degrees.
Engine had plenty of power and torque in all speed ranges.
Transmission did not miss any gears and was very smooth shifting.
The exhaust sound is good at cruising and downshifting sounds great!
Pass a few trucks pulling trailers, Dodge Cummins, Ford F-150 and even an F-250 Powerstroke.
Engine response was very quick when I needed it.
Mileage westbound with headwind was 8.7 mpg. (Hand calculated)
Mileage eastbound was 9.3 and 9.4 mpg on two fillips. (Hand calculated)
When hitting the headwind the truck liked 5th gear but quickly changed to 6th when wind decresed.

My thoughts and conclusionI converted from a F-250 6.0L Powerstroke diesel to the 6.2L gasser.
I’m very happy and have been pleasantly surprised in the performance of the engine and transmission.
I hope with time and miles my pulling mpg may raise and reach 10mpg which I think is possible.
The continental tires were good and quiet on the highways.
Hopefully this will give you a better idea of the performance of the 6.2L gas engine.
In the next month I will drive 3,000 miles pulling this trailer. I will update you after the trip.

 

Thanks, good report and info.