Gas Milage w/ TT Sucks... any suggestions?

[cbrown003]

I will trade with you, I get 7.8 with a new Silverado.

[baldy]

8000 kms cost me $1050 in fuel. That included towing and not towing. Just 6 weeks of summer fun!!!

[cbrown003]

I just got back from a trip to Stone Mountain, GA......380 miles one way, took 48 gallons up and 50 back. Thankfully GA gas is .20 a gallon cheaper than FL.

[drrodder]

I run old school ‘86 Suburban with a modified GAS 383cid carbureted engine. No Overdrive (3-speed) and 3:73 gears. Empty I average 13 mpg highway and towing the TT (33 ft Toy hauler and big front wind hog and over 10,000 lbs) I get 4.5 mpg. It’s hard to pull over 65mph w/o more gears. You all should be very happy with 8 plus mpg towing, EFI, Overdrive transmissions and tow modes. If I towed more, I would upgrade to a late model diesel truck, but the cost of the newer truck isn’t worth it at my low tow miles.

[vp22er]

I'm pulling the same size and approx weight trailer with a nissan 6 cyl pathfinder. In the flat lands of central Florida I get 11mph. I don't tow over 60 mph. Pathfinder is rated to tow 6000.

[J_KHawthorne]

Originally Posted by baldy

8000 kms cost me $1050 in fuel. That included towing and not towing. Just 6 weeks of summer fun!!!

Does this work out to 4970 miles @ $0.21 per mile??? (my math goes downhill in a hurry once I run out of fingers) I think you did okay! It costs me $0.35 per mile towing @ 10.9mpg here in the midwest...

plus you get more live hockey!!!

[Bigglesdaf]

Is not time to look towards a big diesel? In Europe we have the Toyota Land Cruiser with a 5ltr V8 diesel it is 400bhp and 1100 ft lbs torque! But still returns 22mpg!!!

[J_KHawthorne]

Originally Posted by Bigglesdaf

Is not time to look towards a big diesel? In Europe we have the Toyota Land Cruiser with a 5ltr V8 diesel it is 400bhp and 1100 ft lbs torque! But still returns 22mpg!!!

That is a beautiful engine! Unfortunately, Toyota doesn't market it here in the USA!

[dajohnson975]

07 Dodge Megacab 5.9 Cummins towing a 34' 5er truck and trailer 18000 Indiana to Florida and back AVG 11.2 at 70 mph DIESEL all the way

[Barney1]

I mentioned this before in another "mileage" thread but no one seemed to take notice.

The only way to really counteract (or negate) the effects that a TT has on your mileage is to install an "inertial dampener".

I will need to wait before I can ever install one.

Look them up they seem very effective in this regard.

[TURBS]

Originally Posted by J_KHawthorne

That is a beautiful engine! Unfortunately, Toyota doesn't market it here in the USA!

You know why that is don't you?

[J_KHawthorne]

Originally Posted by Barney1

I mentioned this before in another "mileage" thread but no one seemed to take notice.

The only way to really counteract (or negate) the effects that a TT has on your mileage is to install an "inertial dampener".

I will need to wait before I can ever install one.

Look them up they seem very effective in this regard.

Beam me up, Scotty!

[jar3316]

Well reading all the posts I guess I'm the one with the biggest truck and small trailer. I a can tell you big doesn't necessarily mean better. I had a F150 v6 and towed my 26bhxl (~5000lbs) loaded with stuff and family of 4. it got about 7-8MPG and only about 15-17 freeway unloaded, but it was really hard on the truck and the clutch so we got rid of it.

And if bigger was better then even bigger is even better right? so we found a good deal on a f250 V10 6.8l supper duty (15k tow rating) you know what. I get 10mpg everywhere. Loaded (3500lbs in bed so far), unloaded, towing, not towing, in town, freeway you name it I get 10. But for some reason every now and again i will get 14 on the freeway no rhyme or reason.

But it NEVER struggles EVER. There is something to be said for being sure your vehicle can tow that trailer up down and around for a couple of thousand miles and bring you back home safe and sound with no damage to the drive train.

But as it has been stated here before, its not worth buying something else to save a little money on gas when you tow. If it gets better gas mileage towing it will get worse gas mileage empty, unless you go diesel but there are a whole lot of costs associated with diesel upfront and long term. It just needs to fit you financially is all I'm saying Drop $2000 into the fuel system on a diesel then realize you spent less rebuilding the entire engine of your gas truck.

[baldy]

Originally Posted by J_KHawthorne

Does this work out to 4970 miles @ $0.21 per mile??? (my math goes downhill in a hurry once I run out of fingers) I think you did okay! It costs me $0.35 per mile towing @ 10.9mpg here in the midwest...

plus you get more live hockey!!!

Gotta remember that is the whole trip. Only 50% towing maybe. The distance is off the odometer. I had to do an oil change the day I got back which was the 8000 km mark. Changed it just before we left.

I thought so too. I have been able to get 9 l/100km but very rare. I'm normally 13 l/100km normal driving. The majority of that trip was all open highway towing and a few longer trips without the trailer. I typically get 600-700 kms on 130l of fuel towing. That's roughly 18-20 l/100km which is about 11.8-13 mpg US. I am happy with the mileage I get.

Seems off but I'm pretty sure I kept all the receipts for the trip. I had my daughter check my math and she came up with the same numbers. I wasn't all that concerned just curious. I know it was within $100 of the actual total.

At the end of the day I put gas in and drive. When I need more I stop and get some. I budget $5000 for the summer camping excursion. Hopefully heading to Disney this year so I will be keeping better mileage records to ensure proper budgeting. I use Road Trip on my iPhone for recording now. No more keeping track of lost receipts!

[transamz9]

Originally Posted by jar3316

Well reading all the posts I guess I'm the one with the biggest truck and small trailer. I a can tell you big doesn't necessarily mean better. I had a F150 v6 and towed my 26bhxl (~5000lbs) loaded with stuff and family of 4. it got about 7-8MPG and only about 15-17 freeway unloaded, but it was really hard on the truck and the clutch so we got rid of it.

And if bigger was better then even bigger is even better right? so we found a good deal on a f250 V10 6.8l supper duty (15k tow rating) you know what. I get 10mpg everywhere. Loaded (3500lbs in bed so far), unloaded, towing, not towing, in town, freeway you name it I get 10. But for some reason every now and again i will get 14 on the freeway no rhyme or reason.

But it NEVER struggles EVER. There is something to be said for being sure your vehicle can tow that trailer up down and around for a couple of thousand miles and bring you back home safe and sound with no damage to the drive train.

But as it has been stated here before, its not worth buying something else to save a little money on gas when you tow. If it gets better gas mileage towing it will get worse gas mileage empty, unless you go diesel but there are a whole lot of costs associated with diesel upfront and long term. It just needs to fit you financially is all I'm saying Drop $2000 into the fuel system on a diesel then realize you spent less rebuilding the entire engine of your gas truck.

You haven't worked on a newer gas motor yet have you. Big bucks also.

[jamesroadking]

My 2011 F250 with a 6.7 diesel and 3.30 gears and a 6 speed auto gets 19-22 mpg.
Towing my 30 ft. tow hauler that weights in at about 12000 lbs loaded the F250 gets 11-12 mpg at 62-65 mph turning only around 1500 rpm's.

[dretired]

Originally Posted by bean

I just towed my 625D pop-up (about 3,000lbs) with my 2012 F150 ecoboost. On a trip that I noramlly get about 21MPG, I got about 15MPG. I'm pretty happy with that.

Of course a pop-up does not have much wind resistance, and I wasn't going much over 55MPH.

I thought with a max tow load of 11,300lbs that 3K would be nothing. But I definately knew it was back there. I'm worried now about getting a 10K travel trailer. I guess I'll have to try it and see.

Bean

A 10k TT with a max towing capability of 11,300 lbs ? Is that a "dryweight " ?? If so ..when you add all of your gear ..

[jar3316]

Originally Posted by transamz9

You haven't worked on a newer gas motor yet have you. Big bucks also.

About 2 years ago (my old job) I had a 2000 V10 2 valve completely rebuilt top and bottom for around $1900-2000 it had 285k miles on it and the mechanic said it looked great inside for so many miles, but it had an oil leak and the dumb driver never checked it. Starved for oil and threw a rod.

In September My father in law had his dodge 2500 diesel (newer) have some sort of fuel pump problem (didn't ask details) but the entire fuel system needed work because of one part going bad ended up costing him $2000 for it to be fixed just out of warranty.

If it was a daily driver work truck or I had a large 5th like my father in law (current is a 28' wildwood) I would get a diesel any day, they are great for those types of environments. But I don't tow that much weight and the truck sits most of the time, less than 10k a year, other than recreation, home depot, and to take my son to and from daycare sometimes (too young to ride the motorcycle) it just sits. so diesel just didn't make sense for me.

[cbenslay]

Barney - You got me! I had no idea what you were talking about, so I looked it up. Yes, we will all have to wait awhile on one of those. Of course, we could all just be teleported too...

[whj77372]

That question should have been asked prior to getting the TT. I don't think you can expect much better. Most of these posts are what you can expect. The one post about the F150 and a 3,000 lbs trailer and knowing that it is back there, is also what you can expect, I have read on this forum about "not even knowing that it is back there" and often wonder what they are pulling it with. I pull a 5er loaded to go at 9,650 lbs with an 2011 F250 CC diesel longbed 2wheel drive and I know it is back there and I would not want to pull anything that weights any more.