Gas mileage penalty towing an A-122?

[CharlieDog]

Hi all, first post. We don't have a camper yet, but my wife and I are looking at an A-122. We had a full-size, but short camper-3500#-a few years ago, and the gas mileage towing it with our 2005 Nissan Frontier with 4.0L V6 dropped 50-55%, from 25-26 mpg to 12-13 range, which was hard to take after we retired.

We sold the full-size camper and are now thinking of getting an a-frame camper. Smaller, lighter (just the two of us, a small dog, and a parrot), hopefully easier and more economical to tow.

Our concern is what kind of gas mileage penalty might we expect-20%, 25%, 30%, more?

TIA for any info.

Larry aka CharlieDog
Bristol, TN

[RichardEB]

We have a A124 (2000 lb) dry weight and pull it with a 4 cyl. 2.5 liter Subaru Outback. I get 30 mpg not towing and 21 towing on my last 14000 trip from Florida to Alaska and back this summer over 2 months.

[mudman2]

I tow with a 2015 Toyota Tundra. I tow a t19qbhw. I actually get better mileage towing on highway than not towing around town.


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[Dsfast]

I have a 128s and the first 2 years we towed it with a 2003 ford ranger 4 litre 355 gears . The fuel mileage didn't change towing or not it was poor 12mpg.I now tow with a 2013 Ford F-150 Eco with the same 355 gears and get much better fuel economy 22mpg and some times better.

[couzi]

I have a 128s and on my last 10 days trip I average 13 liters for 100 kilm. without the camper I get 10 liters for 100 kilm. at 98 kil. an hour.. My towing vehicule is a 3.5 2012 ford escape

[DobeFanatic]

I have a 2005 Chrysler Town n Country van V6 3.5 towing an A frame and get 19 mpg on highway, same as when I had the popup camper.

[Pooneil]

The improvement in mileage see when towing comes from driving slower. YMMV.

[MinneweeseMI]

Originally Posted by Pooneil

The improvement in mileage see when towing comes from driving slower. YMMV.

Yeah, we just saw that during 3 weeks in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. The speeds are lower up there.

We have a 2002 Envoy 6-cyl. and generally get 17mpg, 13mpg while towing. We were at 18mpg and 15mpg while towing.

[Jim n Shari]

We tow an a128s with a 6.6 Duramax. I know that it is overkill, but I love the truck. I average 23-24 not towing and 18-19 with it behind me.


Jim

[rmebrat]

We tow with a 6 cylinder 2015 Equinox and get 17 mpg with or without the camper. I typically keep my speed below 70 on the highway with the camper though.

[ben31]

The wind resistance will be much lower. Therefore, the penalty should be less. We pulled a large popup, with slide out, A/C, and plenty of stuff (4000#). We bought a TT, which was only 1200# heavier (loaded), but had the big sail on the front. The mpg went from 11-12 mpg to 5-6 mpg. We quickly decided to move to a diesel f250.

[Gramps42]

I am using a 2003 Honda Odyssey pulling my A 128S and from Milwaukee to Philadelphia got 19 MPH. Without the A frame, I get 24 MPG max