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

[whj77372]

Message for Bean, that is to much trailer for an F150, even a new one, I pull a 9,650 lb 5er with a 2011 F250 diesel CC long bed 2 wheel drive and I would not like to pull any more, never mind what the towing guide says.

[myredracer]

We're getting just under 11mpg with our V6 F150 and 20' TT. It seems to me that the single biggest factor is wind resistance. Since most of our driving in the truck is for short trips around town here and sits at home unused most of the time, we can't see upgrading to a V8 truck.

I am going to try and max out at 60 mph unless maybe going downhill. What really sux is when the posted speed limit is 60 and semi trucks are blowing by one after the other. I'm used to it being the other way round. Can't even find a semi to follow at any distance, even if I wanted to, to get a tiny bit of draft. Nothing but vast empty space ahead.

If I try to drive at 65mph or a little higher, I sure can notice how much harder the engine works and I swear I can hear the gas being sucked through the fuel lines. That can be very depressing.

I'm sure there are some skills in working the throttle to maximize efficiency. For example, it is so easy to rubberneck for a split second and cause yourself to back off on the throttle. Then you have to press the engine harder again to get back up to speed. Or pulling away from a stop or low speed slowly and steadily might help a bit? Slow and steady overall seems to be the key.

I am going to have to experiment with crusing along in overdrive or turning it off and letting the engine run at a higher rpm. I'm not sure if having to press the throttle more while in o/d to maintain speed is harder on gas than driving at a higher rpm which uses less throttle but produces a little more power?

I am curious about some of the trailers that have sleek, smooth and aerodynamic front ends if that helps mileage much? Maybe a milk carton is a milk carton is a...? (I wonder if Camco or someone makes a spoiler for RVs, lol?)

We had a cg neighbor tell us that when he switched to a new truck with an ecoboost engine his mileage went waay up. I don't know much about them but perhaps is something to think about for the future.

[Herk7769]

On one of my trips to Florida I did a mileage test.
Once things flattened out, I drove 1 hour at 55; one hour at 60; one hour at 65; and 1 hour (where it was legal) at 70 MPH.

With my Duramax diesel I got:

55 MPH - 13.75 mpg
60 MPH - 12.1 mpg
65 MPH - 10.9 mpg
70 MPH - 9.5 mpg

Your experience may differ.
I learned a lot that trip...

[dretired]

On my trip back to Michigan from Florida ..when i had winds over 15 mph i would travel at 55 mph(8-9 mpg) that seemed to help with the fuel economey..As we got into Michigan i had a s/sw "tail wind" and kept it at 60-65 and got better milage (12-13 mpg)

[ng2951]

...
With my Duramax diesel I got:

55 MPH - 13.75 mpg
60 MPH - 12.1 mpg
65 MPH - 10.9 mpg
70 MPH - 9.5 mpg

learned a lot that trip...

Very interesting. Those mileage stats pretty much mirror mine pulling a similar trailer (TT).

The pardette and I wanted to figure out if we went to larger trailer (like a 5ver version of what we have) what our fuel bite would be. Seems like your data suggests it would be very close (similar wind profile, weights actually close due to lighter materials and construction).

I really like the ScanGauge I just wonder if the diesel version is worth picking up a new one...

...We're getting just under 11mpg with our V6 F150 and 20' TT. It seems to me that the single biggest factor is wind resistance...I'm sure there are some skills in working the throttle to maximize efficiency...experiment with crusing along in overdrive or turning it off and letting the engine run at a higher rpm...We had a cg neighbor tell us that when he switched to a new truck with an ecoboost engine his mileage went waay up...

I concur with the other poster about the V8 being better in the V6/V8 gasser competition. There may be a number of factors that enhance that, like rear axle ratio.

Still in my TrailManor days, V8 F150s had much better MPG stats than my V6 Tacoma. A number of them were getting 3+ MPG better (according to forum mates) than I was. Still these are trailers that topped out at 5,000 pounds. F150s and Tacomas handle these loads rather well until you were up above 6,000 feet.

To me cruise control is your best friend. The problem is when you use these loads and go uphill cruise tends to over/undershoot since it is optimized for the truck lightly loaded.

One buddy is telling me that one company offers a cruise with a tow setting, which would certainly be nice. I spent a lot of time in the mountains compensating for the cruise control, and if the PID algorithm is good that would certainly help.

Diesels on cruise, handle this much better, and lot better than my Mark II foot can.

On some of the these lighter trucks I would be reluctant to run the truck on OD. What gets built into a 3/4 ton diesel is not what is built into 1/2 ton or less gasser. I doubt that advice applies across the board for 1/2 tons, but I am sure more than a few have a lighter tranny.

I really do recommend the ScanGauge since it will guide you to more economical operation in towing. Not only that, for some engines it also gives you a temperature reading for the transmission which is also a plus...

[21C1]

When your speed doubles, the friction loss quadruples. This is why it is so much more difficult to pull at high speeds. I went from a 5200# trailer to a 7800# trailer and really didn't notice a huge difference. Both trailers are about the same length.

[Len & Cheri]

My new TT is about 600 lbs heavier than my old Cherokee, but is so much easier to pull. I attribute it to the smaller frontal area of the TT.

[capucine]

in a very near future this is the only vehicle that mid income peoples will afford to drive and this future is very close. A SCOOTER

[cpaulsen]

My 01 F350/4x4/CC/LB/V-10 gets 9.5-10.5 pulling our 29' 5ver and get about 14-15 empty.

[acadianbob]

Finally a day without any wind to speak of. Very flat from New Orleans to Lafayette. Got 12.3 at 60 mph. F150 Ecoboost pulling 5,500 lb Surveyor. Flags hanging limply straight down. 1,700 mile average is 11.4 so far; and we've had a lot of headwinds. Very happy with the Ecoboost mileage. This mileage is a good 10% better than my 5.4 would have done.

[dretired]

Originally Posted by acadianbob

Finally a day without any wind to speak of. Very flat from New Orleans to Lafayette. Got 12.3 at 60 mph. F150 Ecoboost pulling 5,500 lb Surveyor. Flags hanging limply straight down. 1,700 mile average is 11.4 so far; and we've had a lot of headwinds. Very happy with the Ecoboost mileage. This mileage is a good 10% better than my 5.4 would have done.

Good for you !! Thanks for the report

[Mark and Linda]

My DW said something this morning that I thought was good, we didn't worry about MPG when the gas was cheap. I used to own a 1974 GMC PU, got 15 MPG if you were pulling a train, a trailer or nothing at all. Just hope the gas prices start to decline some.

[Barney1]

My 2011 Ram 1500 Big Horn CC 4x4 5.7l 3.55 ratio
gets the following with nothing behind it:

17.4 mpg (US) hwy
12.2 mpg (US) city

I did not notice any difference when towing the PUP.

I will report back the mileage with the new trailer after the weekend pickup.

If I was a wagering man I would bet that I will get about 0 mpg going through customs.

[Barney1]

Quick update:
On the trip home from the dealers yesterday our mileage was:
@ 58 mph (90 km/h) 9.5 mpg

On a side note as soon as we got off of the hwy and started city driving it jumped to 10.8 mpg

[MIKE44460]

If I drive nice I can get real close to 12, hauling the mail, +15 over the limit, is mid 10's. I-77 Canton OH to NC, up and down up and down. The engine brake is so nice.

Lead, follow, or get, you know the rest.