Which Diesel Truck to Buy- MPG and Range Critical

[BruceKessler]

Purchased a new travel trailer last Summer and need to upgrade tow vehicle. Almost ran out of gas during first long trip so MPG/Range is important. Which diesel truck has the best MPG? Test drove a 2015 Silverado High Country yesterday. On a short test drive around town, flat terrain it only got 10.6 MPG. A Ford F250 on a longer test drive averaged close to 18 MPG. Also looking at Dodge RAM which was somewhere in between. Pulling a smaller TT so towing capacity is not an issue. Just don't want to stop any more often than I have to.

[timfromma]

My Silverado 2500HD diesel gets around 17MPG when not towing but that's mostly highway. Since I only bought it a couple of months ago, I haven't towed the TT with it yet but the general consensus of people I spoke with said I can probably get 13 - 15MPG while pulling my 8000lb trailer. It has a 32 gallon tank so 400 miles between fills while towing seems doable.

[seagrace]

I have a 2012 RAM 3500 TCD 4x4 pulling a 25' Cruise-Lite. On flat land, at highway speeds, I average 9 mpg.

YMMV

[northstar1960]

Originally Posted by BruceKessler

Purchased a new travel trailer last Summer and need to upgrade tow vehicle. Almost ran out of gas during first long trip so MPG/Range is important. Which diesel truck has the best MPG? Test drove a 2015 Silverado High Country yesterday. On a short test drive around town, flat terrain it only got 10.6 MPG. A Ford F250 on a longer test drive averaged close to 18 MPG. Also looking at Dodge RAM which was somewhere in between. Pulling a smaller TT so towing capacity is not an issue. Just don't want to stop any more often than I have to.

you need to go test drive all again then buy the chevy . you can't get true fuel economy just by a simple test drive and going off the mpg rating in the cluster . most checy owners will tell you they get between 18 and 22 mpg all will go down to 13 or less when towing

[Iwannacamp]

My old 2005 Dodge 5.9L 4X4 got 13.6 in 900 mile return trip from Ohio pulling a 10K 5er. I was pleased, but not happy... 16 MPG would have made me happier.

BTW I don't drive fast either...

[goduc]

According to Fast Lane truck tests the 2017 Ram 6.7 DRW got the best MPG towing.

2017 Chevy HD vs. Ford SD vs. Ram HD: Highway Towing MPG Review with 22,800 Lbs [Video] - The Fast Lane Truck

[SeaDog]

I have had ford and Ram The F350 got good milage and very pleasant ride, the Ram gets great milage not as soft of a ride as the Ford but I sure like the cummins eng better.

[doc73]

While my chevy is getting 17 with my typical drive, up to 19 when it us mostly highway (did have one time where I got 20 but it was 100% highway) towing I get 10 to 13 depending on the traffic and terrain. I drove from where I am in PA to well into OH on one tank of diesel. Prob somewhere around d the 400 or so miles as well.

I have always heard dodge is the best, then Chevy then Ford for economy. My friend, who has a king ranch 350 only gets at best 16 when highway, that is not towing. I do not know his towing when he is pulling his car trailer.

[donanddona]

I would also look at size of gas tank. My F-250 XLT 4 door 6.7 diesel has the 6' bed and the smaller size tank. If I had bought the 8' bed type it would have had the larger tank. I now looking at the external tank for the bed.

[doc73]

Good point. Mine is 36 gallons. I can get an aftermarket stock replacement tank with 55 gallons or various bed ones (like everyone else) I am sure other company make the same for each truck. I remember one person posting here with a Ford I think, diesel, and it only had a 20 or so gallon tank...

[Lins]

Are you buying new or used? All new diesels need DEF which results in better MPG than the DPF only years. As for which gets better mileage I'm not sure, but my guess is they probably aren't all that different. Just getting diesel will result in better MPG towing than a gasser.

[donanddona]

Mine has the 24gal tank. Dealer said he would install a larger (35gal) OEM tank for the 6' bed but for $2600 I can buy a lot of gas.

[GreenImp]

+1 on tank size!

My 2004 GMC SB only has a 26 gallon tank which is fine when empty at about 21-22 MPG. When towing our trailer however, that MPG drops to about half...which means I can't go more than about three hours before needing to figure out the next stop. This gets old fast when on LONG trips, but luckily we rarely travel more than a couple hours from home.

[BandJCarm]

They're all good these days.

My 2015 Chevy 2500 got 23 mpg, verified, on freeway when not pulling. WHAT you pull varies your mpg so much, what I got, or what someone else got, is probably not too exact. But I got about the same thing using that to pull a 29 foot bumper pull trailer, that I get now with a dually GMC and a fifth wheel........maybe 12 at best.

If you got 10 on a 2500 diesel GMC driving around town, something is bad, bad wrong.

I will always buy GMC. But others are just as loyal to theirs. Used to be a big difference. Now, not so much. They're all nice.

[Iwannacamp]

Originally Posted by BandJCarm

They're all good these days.

My 2015 Chevy 2500 got 23 mpg, verified, on freeway when not pulling. WHAT you pull varies your mpg so much, what I got, or what someone else got, is probably not too exact. But I got about the same thing using that to pull a 29 foot bumper pull trailer, that I get now with a dually GMC and a fifth wheel........maybe 12 at best.

If you got 10 on a 2500 diesel GMC driving around town, something is bad, bad wrong.

I will always buy GMC. But others are just as loyal to theirs. Used to be a big difference. Now, not so much. They're all nice.

true.... some people drive like maniacs. A friend drove my truck(6 spd) I think he forgot how to shift... he was always about 1-2 gears behind my gear changes and left in a gear longer than me in stop and start traffic. I usually shift at 15-1800 rpms when not towing and prolly 2K when towing.

[donniedu]

I doubt fuel economy is really the problem. Short bed equals smaller fuel tank.
Get a long bed anything. Heck, my Ram dually only gets 10.5-11.5 towing, but with 35 gallons of fuel that is still over 350 miles between fullups.

[Greg0]

2016 F250 diesel flat travel w/o trailer 18 - 20 mpg. With 36 ft FW average 10 - 11.

[Bob Vaughn]

I added a 37 gallon in bed gravity fed tank to the 36 gallon truck tank and i just went below 1/4 tank with 650 miles on this fill up but I know i did not get a full fill up on the aux tank the last time I filled it. I only got 32 gallons to go in because of the slant of the pavement by the pumps.....

[mike.t]

Just got back from AZ.(i am around Sacramento) averaged 13.4 pulling 8k salem 27RKSS. From here to Los Angeles with no TT i get 20.8

[rmshorter]

I love my 2015 ram dually 6.7 but it does use def. I get 8 - 10 when pulling my 16k (gvwr) (42ft) 5er and 14 - 15 mpg when not. I replaced the OEM 28 gal with a 55 gal. Thinking of going to Alaska