The ScanGaugeII has two Cat5 type jacks.
You can "chain" as many as 3 together in series.
I had to cut & Splice a Cat5 ( ethernet ) type plug onto my old, original SG.

 

I had been looking at different size trailers and figured anything over 5-6' wide would be too much. For about $250 more than a 5x8 enclosed, I can get a 6x10, so I think I am gonna go that route.

Right now I have a 5x8 open trailer, which probably weighs between 250-300lbs. I towed my bike on it this past weekend (bike weighs 550lbs), and I was seeing 31.6 mpg, on a 140 mile roundtrip. This was back country roads, mostly flat, with the cruise set at 60mph. Here is a pic of the setup:

 

Matt- Thanks for the photo. I think Ford would consider that the ideal set up.

I just towed my big white trailer, about 2800 lbs. gross over the weekend to the Colorado high country and back. 760 miles round trip.

Uphill net between 17.5 and 18.0 MPG. ( 4700 to 8300 ft elevation )
The return net me 22.5 to 23.0 MPG.

This was doing ~45 MPH on the steepest grades and ~55 MPH on the flat areas and ~63 MPH on the downhill parts.

Peak M/E coolent temperature was 100'F.
Peak CVT temperature was 223'F.
Peak Engine coolent was 205'F.
Most of the time, however, M/E was ~88 degrees and engine was ~190 degrees and CVT was ~185 degrees.

Outside air was between 50 and 70 the whole time.
RPM's were 3000 to 4000 most of the time.

 

With the white trailer, I could sustain 55 MPH on flat areas at about 2900-3000 RPM.

60 MPH ~ 3300 RPM
65 MPH ~ 4000 RPM

I dare not go faster.

 

Gentlemen,

To all of those that contributed real life towing experience and data: Thank you.

I began a trip, towing, yesterday and it has been a non-event, even the 7 mile long 7% climb on I-64 in West Virginia. Proportionally the Escape handles like my Suburban when towing. Just a non-event.

The work put into real world observations made a real difference to me and I thank you. Well done.

 

As I've trekked west fuel mileage has risen.

tank 1 21.2
tank 2 23.9
tank 3 24.9

Technique used was to set speed control at 65, turn off A/C when climbing hills and then bump down speed setpoint when engine rpm reaches 4,000, it usually took 3 or 4 bumps except on the steepest grades, then maybe 3 or 4 more.

I found that even on the steep hill in WV (7 miles @ 7%) rpm would stabilize at around 3500 with speed around 55 in a steady climb.

The mileage is far better than I had expected, I can only think that the windage of the trailers in the earlier posts by people was not so good.

 

I just completed a 2000 mile +/- round trip with my 3200 pounds and 7' x 9' frontal cross area trailer.

When a brisk ( 15-20 MPH ) wind was at my back, I was getting 22-23 MPG at 60 MPH.

When that brisk wind was head-on, I was at 4000 RPM to maintain 60 MPH on the flat, and was getting less than 15 MPG.

NOTHING EVER CAME CLOSE TO OVERHEATING ON AN 80 DEGREE DAY.

Water temp. was 188 to 195 the whole trip.
M/E coolent was 90 to 110 degrees the whole trip.
CVT was 180 to 210 degrees during the whole trip.
Generator Coil was 180 to 230 degrees during the trip.
Motor temp was so cool, it's not worth mentioning.
All in *F

In addition to having the world's longest tank ( see below ) I may now have the record for the shortest. After several tanks in a row of towing, I had my MTE drop to 230 MTE after a full fill-up. The computer for 2005-2008 uses 13.7 gallons for the MTE estimate... in this case... 16.8 MPG.

Very good handling, and very confident braking. I had about 500 pounds inside the vehicle at the time as well. Tires in the FEH between 42 and 44 psi and the trailer tires at 50 psi. ( 50 is recommended on the trailer tires )

HTH,
-John

 

Some more interesting observations:

Driving by foot, when towing, LOD or Load on the SG was always at 99.
For hours upon hours, it was at 99. Flat, or uphill = 99. For brief times of downhill, it would come off of 99.

Driving the same roads, in the same conditions, at the same speed ( generally, 60 MPH ) with the car set on Cruise Control, the LOD or load was typically 88 to 91 on the scangauge.

In general, we know from countless reports, that owners get lower MPG in this car with extensive use of Cruise Control.

In general, we know that ICE's are most efficient when fully loaded, or at, or near wide open throttle.

Other obsevations: The 2005 FEH does not turn off the A/C compressor when at WOT. I've been told, and maybe I even read this, that it did. Nope. Not in mine. And I could repeat this result as many times as I wanted, so it is was no "fluke".

99% load, OPEN loop, MAP at 14.x in Iowa, 12.x in Colorado, RPM 4500-5000, HP over 125, and the A/C compressor was still on. ( I know, I have an LED directly wired to my dash. ) That surprised me a little.

Also, I couldn't much use CC with more than a 1% grade, or the RPM would hover at red line. I also used the step down or click down method a few times, but this became more hassle to me than it was worth, so unless it was exceptionally flat, I drove by foot.

HTH,
-John

 

Bill can you post a photo of your trailer setup for others to compare yours to mine? That would add a lot of perspective to why your fuel economy is better.

 

I'll do that when I get to my destination. Good idea. The trailer is standard U-Haul 4x8 with the aerodynamics of a rounded brick (but still better than an open trailer with various loads).

Here's the "technique" I use: Set cruise control at 65 on the level. When rpm reaches 4,000 start bumping down speed setting to keep rpm below 4,000 and target 3,500. This seems to result in a steady climb on the steepest of hills of about 55± but usually around 60. When climbing manually turn off A/C at 3,000 rpm and turn it back on descending to include turning it up to a higher setting if desired.

Interestingly I seem to get better mileage on rolling terrain, I-64 in Kentucky & Indiana, I-70 in Missouri, than on nearly level terrain, I-64 in Illinois & I-70 in Kansas. I've gotten as high as 24.9 on rolling terrain but when on "the level," it seems that the mpg is around 22.5 to 23 mpg.

Maybe the "fuel cut" in the programming has a larger influence than I would have thought, given the momentum pushing when going downhill. I don't see such a difference when running with just pax & some luggage but no trailer.

More to follow.