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Old 05-10-2018, 12:12 PM   #1
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What is your break over point for not making taking your camper worth it?

I have a 2007 Surveyor, and my Chevy 1500 pickup gets 6mpg when towing it.

We wanted to go up to Canada this year, about a 2000 mile trip.

I found it was a lot cheaper to just rent a cabin up there, rather than pay the gas money to tow the camper and pay for a campsite site rental.

It ended up going about $500 in favor of renting a cabin rather than towing the camper.

I'm a little disappointed since I like having my "space" that I know and feel comfortable in. However, $500 will pay for a salmon fishing charter.
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Old 05-10-2018, 12:21 PM   #2
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Originally Posted by lugoismad View Post
I have a 2007 Surveyor, and my Chevy 1500 pickup gets 6mpg when towing it.

We wanted to go up to Canada this year, about a 2000 mile trip.

I found it was a lot cheaper to just rent a cabin up there, rather than pay the gas money to tow the camper and pay for a campsite site rental.

It ended up going about $500 in favor of renting a cabin rather than towing the camper.

I'm a little disappointed since I like having my "space" that I know and feel comfortable in. However, $500 will pay for a salmon fishing charter.

$7,285,239.75 per day.

I'm just not much on sleeping in beds that aren't mine. Neither I nor the wife sleep well on most beds- and what good does it do us to save $500 over a trip if we don't sleep and are tired and miserable? On top of that, the whole bed bug thing irks me. One of the last times I stayed in a hotel my wife found a bed bug crawling on our youngest daughter at the time. Spent probably $100 and several hours at a laundromat washing and THOROUGHLY drying every piece of clothing we had. My wife's aunt and uncle(he travels for work- white collar- NICE hotels) picked up bed bugs and spent no telling how many thousands of dollars trying to get rid of them over a several week span. I'm good with my camper!
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Old 05-10-2018, 12:27 PM   #3
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I have a 2007 Surveyor, and my Chevy 1500 pickup gets 6mpg when towing it.
Yikes!
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Old 05-10-2018, 12:41 PM   #4
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I'm thinking Hawaii, Europe or Asia might be a bit much for an RV trip.
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Old 05-10-2018, 12:49 PM   #5
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If we want to camp, we camp.
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Old 05-10-2018, 12:50 PM   #6
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$500 will pay for a salmon fishing charter.[/QUOTE]

LOL priorities We all need them
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Old 05-10-2018, 01:10 PM   #7
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Find a nice used Diesel F-250 or similar size of a different Make Diesel, what ever you like.
Average around 14-18mpg, for me pulling, 18-23 not pulling. pulling is sweet and easy. Yes, the upfront cost is a little more, but the long run is worth it.
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Old 05-10-2018, 01:17 PM   #8
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Find a nice used Diesel F-250 or similar size of a different Make Diesel, what ever you like.
Average around 14-18mpg, for me pulling, 18-23 not pulling. pulling is sweet and easy. Yes, the upfront cost is a little more, but the long run is worth it.
What speed do you tow at? If 65, you're getting significantly better mileage than ANY diesel owner I've know and trusted to tell the truth about mileage. I had a 1997 F250 7.3L PSD, 2WD, manual, 3.55 gears- about the most efficient form of that truck available- and it would get around 22 pure highway mileage at 65-70 speed limits. Towing a 6-8K TT, you were looking at mid 11's under normal conditions. Most other 7.3L owners I've known would get around 2-4 less highway mileage and similar towing mileage depending upon configuration. The 1 ton dually 4x4 with 4.10 gears my parents had would get significantly less hwy mileage and slightly lower towing mileage, however.
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Old 05-10-2018, 01:20 PM   #9
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All depends on the priority of the trip, and what one is willing to pay for and/or put up with.


$500 difference and it opens opportunity for Salmon fishing charter, I'd leave the camper behind.


Nice if you can do both, but not everyone can. Everyone's priorities are different.


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Old 05-10-2018, 01:31 PM   #10
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Im more against traffic and crowded destinations than cost comparing.

For Instance I will never EVER take my camper from NC to Orlando Fla for a Disney trip and stay in the campgrounds down there, simply because I dont like driving on I-4 and 95 in a commuter car let alone in a truck pulling 38 feet of camper behind me.

I also dont visit the popular beach campgrounds because I dont like camping in a parking lot. So destinations like the outer banks etc, that I love to go to, I typically rent a house which is WAY more expensive by much more relaxing in my book.

2K miles would not be an issue if a great destination awaits and I have a good campground to crash at.
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Old 05-10-2018, 01:34 PM   #11
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I'll also add- what year 1500 and engine? 6mpg is like 1975 454 type mileage!! I know with pretty much every TV I've had, if I slowed from 65 to 60mph, I could get an additional 2+ mpg while towing. Maybe slow down a little to conserve fuel and pay for the salmon fishing trip that way?
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Old 05-10-2018, 01:38 PM   #12
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What speed do you tow at? If 65, you're getting significantly better mileage than ANY diesel owner I've know and trusted to tell the truth about mileage. I had a 1997 F250 7.3L PSD, 2WD, manual, 3.55 gears- about the most efficient form of that truck available- and it would get around 22 pure highway mileage at 65-70 speed limits. Towing a 6-8K TT, you were looking at mid 11's under normal conditions. Most other 7.3L owners I've known would get around 2-4 less highway mileage and similar towing mileage depending upon configuration. The 1 ton dually 4x4 with 4.10 gears my parents had would get significantly less hwy mileage and slightly lower towing mileage, however.

My RAM 2500 with the Cummins did a best of 23mpg pure highway 65-70MPH and towing I have never cracked more then 13MPG pulling about 8K.

When I moved from CA to NC and towed the TT across country I got 12MPG average. I think I could have done better but it seemed I was fighting head winds and cross winds the entire time crossing thru Texas and Oklahoma on RT40.
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Old 05-10-2018, 02:02 PM   #13
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What is your break over point for not making taking your camper worth it?

Will probably get responses all ways.

Personally I’d prefer to have my own place regardless but that is just us.

Have to look at what is important for the trip. If the salmon charter is worth it to you and the funds only work out not taking the camper then that is the answer.

As far as we know we only go through life once and it can be over any time so do what you want and what is important at any given time.

Life is too short to not enjoy and do the things we want.

Not trying to be philosophical but after losing some friends that were in their 50s we started looking at things a little different. Plan for the future but enjoy the heck out of every day possible before then [emoji3]
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Old 05-10-2018, 02:17 PM   #14
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Brother Les View Post
Find a nice used Diesel F-250 or similar size of a different Make Diesel, what ever you like.
Average around 14-18mpg, for me pulling, 18-23 not pulling. pulling is sweet and easy. Yes, the upfront cost is a little more, but the long run is worth it.


Quote:
Originally Posted by dustman_stx View Post
What speed do you tow at? If 65, you're getting significantly better mileage than ANY diesel owner I've know and trusted to tell the truth about mileage. I had a 1997 F250 7.3L PSD, 2WD, manual, 3.55 gears- about the most efficient form of that truck available- and it would get around 22 pure highway mileage at 65-70 speed limits. Towing a 6-8K TT, you were looking at mid 11's under normal conditions. Most other 7.3L owners I've known would get around 2-4 less highway mileage and similar towing mileage depending upon configuration. The 1 ton dually 4x4 with 4.10 gears my parents had would get significantly less hwy mileage and slightly lower towing mileage, however.


I can back up the numbers from Brother Les with my setup. I have a 2017 Ram 2500 CTD and pull a 10k loaded TT. Without the trailer in normal use (mix town/highway) I am averaging 19 - 21 MPG, with the TT hooked up that drops to 16 -18 MPG (mostly highway). I tow at a regular 60 - 65 MPH and the diesel makes it easy.
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Old 05-10-2018, 02:22 PM   #15
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It's apples vs oranges. I don't believe there is a particular dollar amount. Like other interests I have, I'm not so sure any of them are ever cost justified...but I can do one heck of a cost rationalization!

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Old 05-10-2018, 02:48 PM   #16
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What's your Chevy setup? You must be running jet fuel and 12:1 gears
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Old 05-10-2018, 03:21 PM   #17
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For us, our trips are planned around how we plan to get where we're going as well as the actual destination. We don't pick a destination and then decide how we want to travel, we decide we want to camp and then decide on destinations.

Just like when we decide that we want to take our PWCs somewhere for a weekend, we pick the destination based on what we want out of the trip.

Time is more of a factor than anything else, if we can't take our time and enjoy the stops along the way then there's no point in taking the trailer. For example, when we go visit family for the holidays we put as many miles as possible in every day, minimal stops, check in late and hit the road again first thing in the morning.

If I only got 6mpg towing then I'd be looking at a more efficient tow vehicle no matter what, that is just horrible. Even when I towed an 31' TT with an '05 Titan 4x4 my mileage was never that bad. Close, but not quite (8mpg avg), and between that and having to stop for gas every 150 miles it just wasn't worth the hassle dealing with that truck so we switched to a diesel and were much happier.

You don't have to switch to a diesel, there are newer gas trucks that are able to do better than 6mpg, but if I were in your shoes and wanting to do long trips like that then I would seriously consider moving to a diesel.
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Old 05-10-2018, 03:49 PM   #18
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I can back up the numbers from Brother Les with my setup. I have a 2017 Ram 2500 CTD and pull a 10k loaded TT. Without the trailer in normal use (mix town/highway) I am averaging 19 - 21 MPG, with the TT hooked up that drops to 16 -18 MPG (mostly highway). I tow at a regular 60 - 65 MPH and the diesel makes it easy.
Damn... sure wish I could get anywhere CLOSE to that with my 2014 Ram 2500 CTD and pulling a 9500lb loaded TT.


No trailer around town Im getting about 15. Highway non towing I can see 20-21.


TOWING - my absolute best, hand calculated is 11.5MPG, traveling at 60MPH. That is ALL interstate, and generally flat land (Southern Georgia and Florida).


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Old 05-10-2018, 04:14 PM   #19
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For us there is no 'break even' point as far as money.

The determining factor is time and convenience. We prefer the rig, but there are times that it's easier to drive and rent someplace to stay.
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Old 05-10-2018, 06:39 PM   #20
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I'm thinking Hawaii, Europe or Asia might be a bit much for an RV trip.
Met a couple camping in DC from Germany, they had their camper shipped over ahead of time and spent a month + touring.
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