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Old 06-07-2020, 11:10 PM   #1
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Yes another MPG thread

I have searched the forum and saw several threads on what is your mileage. I see many are getting much better mileage than I am with my truck and wonder if I am doing something wrong or if the fish stories are getting bigger.

I have a 2015 2500 HD Chevy with the 6.0 L and 4:10 rear end. I pull our Forest River Rockwood 2618 VS (V nose) that weighs 6250 dry and about 7500 lbs loaded. I average between 7.2 and 7.5 mpg no matter where I tow. We live in MO and have some significant grades in the Ozarks but more level in western MO. We have pulled this trailer with this truck for 3 years and the mpg does not change. I get 10-12 around town not towing.
No disrespect but I'm really trying to compare apples to apples, so please don't tell me what your Cummings, Duramax, or Powerstroke get. Really interested in those with the same setup as mine.
Thanks in advance
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Old 06-08-2020, 04:08 AM   #2
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I have a 2016 F250, 6.2 L with 3.73 rears and my rig is same as yours weight wise. I am getting 12 mpg with trailer on, but only 13 with it off. My friend in the next town has the same truck you do and the same trailer weight and he is getting 10 to 12 mpg loaded. So, assuming you have a gas engine, not diesel, have you actually figured this out on a calculator, or are you taking the dash info's word for it? Could be a faulty reading in which a computer reset may solve the issue. Check your exhaust for a lot of black carbon which would indicate you are running rich and wasting a lot of fuel. It could also be a bad sensor giving your computer false information. If you haven't already, take it somewhere and have the system analyzed. That can tell you a lot (and sometimes nothing at all), but it's better than guessing.
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Old 06-08-2020, 04:43 AM   #3
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Quote:
Originally Posted by pd2436 View Post
I have searched the forum and saw several threads on what is your mileage. I see many are getting much better mileage than I am with my truck and wonder if I am doing something wrong or if the fish stories are getting bigger.

I have a 2015 2500 HD Chevy with the 6.0 L and 4:10 rear end. I pull our Forest River Rockwood 2618 VS (V nose) that weighs 6250 dry and about 7500 lbs loaded. I average between 7.2 and 7.5 mpg no matter where I tow. We live in MO and have some significant grades in the Ozarks but more level in western MO. We have pulled this trailer with this truck for 3 years and the mpg does not change. I get 10-12 around town not towing.
No disrespect but I'm really trying to compare apples to apples, so please don't tell me what your Cummings, Duramax, or Powerstroke get. Really interested in those with the same setup as mine.
Thanks in advance
well, the 6.0 gasser isn't known for decent fuel mileage. add that you've got the 4.10 rear end and 10-12mpg around town, i'm not surprised by your towing mpg.
I tow a 26' TT with my F150 3.5 Ecoboost 4x4 SCREW and my towing mpg is the same as your not towing around town mpg.
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Old 06-08-2020, 04:49 AM   #4
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I have a Ram 2500 6.4 l hemi, cold air intake and tuned exhaust from the cat back, I get a crisp 9 - 10 mpg pulling my 2511s and 14 - 16 without, Best on highway solo was 22 in perfect conditions I think I had a tailwind,
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Old 06-08-2020, 04:51 AM   #5
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Oh and it has 3.73 gears as wwll.
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Old 06-08-2020, 04:54 AM   #6
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I have a '17 2500, 6.0, 4:10, 4x4, DC, long box, stock tire size, no lift. Trailer is 9500 loaded.

Empty at a steady 55mph I have seen as high as 18. Average above 70mph, about 12ish. Around town I get about 11mpg.

With the trailer on the open road I drive about 72mph and get about 7.5 mpg if there is little elevation change -I've seen it as low as 6 point something. I did a tank full towing where I kept the speed below 60mph and if I remember correctly it was over 9mpg...nearer 10.

Most of the vehicles I've owned are slightly optimistic when using the computer to calculation mpg...I haven't manually checked this vehicle since the first year of ownership but when towing for some reason this truck is pessimistic by about .5mpg.
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Old 06-08-2020, 07:10 AM   #7
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Quote:
Originally Posted by pd2436 View Post
I have searched the forum and saw several threads on what is your mileage. I see many are getting much better mileage than I am with my truck and wonder if I am doing something wrong or if the fish stories are getting bigger.

I have a 2015 2500 HD Chevy with the 6.0 L and 4:10 rear end. I pull our Forest River Rockwood 2618 VS (V nose) that weighs 6250 dry and about 7500 lbs loaded. I average between 7.2 and 7.5 mpg no matter where I tow. We live in MO and have some significant grades in the Ozarks but more level in western MO. We have pulled this trailer with this truck for 3 years and the mpg does not change. I get 10-12 around town not towing.
No disrespect but I'm really trying to compare apples to apples, so please don't tell me what your Cummings, Duramax, or Powerstroke get. Really interested in those with the same setup as mine.
Thanks in advance
2019 Ram 2500 3.73 gears and 6.4L Hemi with 8 Speed trans. I am right about exactly where you are both empty and loaded. My old 2017 Ram 1500 3.92 gear/5.7L Hemi/8 Speed was around 15 MPG empty and 7-8 mpg towing the trailer or my Jeep.
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Old 06-08-2020, 10:09 AM   #8
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Prior to my newest truck, I had a 2012 Chevrolet 2500hd, 4WD, crew cab with an 8' bed. The engine and drive train was a 6.0l, a 6L90E transmission and 4:10 gearing in the differentials.

Without any load I would get 13-14mpg highway and 10-11mpg city. When pulling my 9k lb 5th wheel I would average 8-9mpg highway (60-65mph) and 7-8 mpg pulling city and secondary roads. These numbers were fairly consistent for me and when talking with others I found them to be comparable with what others were getting with similar tow vehicles.

The only thing that I did to improve the towing (and I would certainly recommend) was that I added a deeper transmission pan from PML. The pan added about 3qts of fluid and reduced my transmission temperature 14-20 degrees on average when towing. The installation took about 2hrs and was a bolt on direct replacement.

Hope it helps
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Old 06-08-2020, 10:17 AM   #9
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Originally Posted by tom39 View Post
...
The only thing that I did to improve the towing (and I would certainly recommend) was that I added a deeper transmission pan from PML. The pan added about 3qts of fluid and reduced my transmission temperature 14-20 degrees on average when towing. The installation took about 2hrs and was a bolt on direct replacement.

Hope it helps
Your model is different than his (and mine) but I'm curious what transmission temps were you seeing? I've never seen mine above 185.
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Old 06-08-2020, 10:21 AM   #10
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Back in the day, I had a '95 Chevy C2500 with a gas 454 and 3.73 gears.
It got 10 mpg empty and 8 mpg towing.
Great truck but not a daily driver.
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Old 06-08-2020, 11:40 AM   #11
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Your model is different than his (and mine) but I'm curious what transmission temps were you seeing? I've never seen mine above 185.
204* was the highest temp I saw, that was before adding the new pan. The outdoor temperature that day was 100*+, probably 80-85% humidity and I was in bummer-to-bumper traffic on I64 just outside of Newport News, VA. No hills or grades involved, just stop and go traffic and of course I was running the ac in the truck.

Normal transmission temperature (while in motion) on a 100* + day sat about 185-190 without the deep pan.
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Old 06-08-2020, 11:52 AM   #12
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204* was the highest temp I saw, that was before adding the new pan. The outdoor temperature that day was 100*+, probably 80-85% humidity and I was in bummer-to-bumper traffic on I64 just outside of Newport News, VA. No hills or grades involved, just stop and go traffic and of course I was running the ac in the truck.

Normal transmission temperature (while in motion) on a 100* + day sat about 185-190 without the deep pan.
Thanks for the reply.
Normal operating temps for mine towing are under 165...they made some significant changes in 2013+.
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Old 06-08-2020, 11:57 AM   #13
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Our rig is similar to yours and we have experienced similar mileage.



We have a 2017 2500HD, WT, dbl. cab, 6.0L, 6L90, 4.10 pulling a 2018 2606WS Ultra lite.


The truck loaded for a trip, not hitched to the trailer, scales at 7300, trailer at 7400. We see 7.0 - 7.5 running 60 - 62 mph in SC, NC, GA and VA and FL.


Last year we started carrying a pair of kayaks on top of an A.R.E. truck cap and mileage improved to 8.0 - 8.5 mpg running the same speeds.



The improvement has been observed for each trip we've made since we began carrying the kayaks, save for a trip in April to GA where we encountered 20ish mph headwinds on the way out. The return trip we were back to 8.5 mpg.

All are hand calculations, not computer data.
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Old 06-08-2020, 12:54 PM   #14
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Mileage was the #6 or 8 reason I switched to diesel.
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Old 06-08-2020, 12:57 PM   #15
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I have the same truck. It is 4x4. My mileage is 7.5 to 8 mpg towing a 9000# trailer at 60-65 mph on E87 gasohol. If I increase the speed to 70 mph, I lose ~0.5 mpg.

I have found that gasoline quality will greatly affect mileage. A couple of times I was fortunate enough to find pure gasoline and my mileage improved by 1.5 mpg. Other times I was stuck with E85 gasohol and lost 1 mpg.
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Old 06-08-2020, 02:25 PM   #16
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Originally Posted by pd2436 View Post
I have a 2015 2500 HD Chevy with the 6.0 L and 4:10 rear end.... We have pulled this trailer with this truck for 3 years and the mpg does not change.
You get consistent mileage averaged over time, terrain, weather and fuel quality. Nothing is "wrong" with your rig. You just need to have a few other folks say, "Yup, that's what I'm getting." I hope more folks with your drivetrain chime in.
Do you have a tachometer? Another question to ask the other owners is, "at 60 mph, what does your tach read?"
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Old 06-08-2020, 04:56 PM   #17
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Originally Posted by pd2436 View Post
I have searched the forum and saw several threads on what is your mileage. I see many are getting much better mileage than I am with my truck and wonder if I am doing something wrong or if the fish stories are getting bigger.

I have a 2015 2500 HD Chevy with the 6.0 L and 4:10 rear end. I pull our Forest River Rockwood 2618 VS (V nose) that weighs 6250 dry and about 7500 lbs loaded. I average between 7.2 and 7.5 mpg no matter where I tow. We live in MO and have some significant grades in the Ozarks but more level in western MO. We have pulled this trailer with this truck for 3 years and the mpg does not change. I get 10-12 around town not towing.
No disrespect but I'm really trying to compare apples to apples, so please don't tell me what your Cummings, Duramax, or Powerstroke get. Really interested in those with the same setup as mine.
Thanks in advance
The 4.10's are a mileage killer. I have a 2019 F150 Supercrew 3.5 v6 ecoboost, 10 speed auto, twin turbo, Max tow with the 3.56 gears, towing a Flagstaff 829FKS TT similar in weight to yours (within 80 lbs). I get around 11 towing, 18.8 to 19.5 around town and about 24 to 24.5 on the open road. Western NY is not overly hilly. A lot of individuals scoff at the V6 ecoboost but this is my second one and both have been flawless. We are probably at about 7500 or 7800lb loaded have not had any problems with hills we encountered away from home.
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Old 06-08-2020, 06:25 PM   #18
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Here's some actual numbers from our west coast walkabout towing a 9,000 lb 5er with a 5.7 Tundra with a 4:30 rear end. From NC to the Oregon coast, we averaged 8.5 to 9.5 MPG. Without the 5er, we get 16 MPG on a good day. I think you've got a problem somewhere and it might be worth getting some diagnostics run.
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Old 06-08-2020, 06:38 PM   #19
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Here's some actual numbers from our west coast walkabout towing a 9,000 lb 5er with a 5.7 Tundra with a 4:30 rear end. From NC to the Oregon coast, we averaged 8.5 to 9.5 MPG. Without the 5er, we get 16 MPG on a good day. I think you've got a problem somewhere and it might be worth getting some diagnostics run.
Dude, you can't compare a little half ton tundra to an American 2500/3500. You also can't compare a Tacoma to a Tundra... Same difference.

From my ownexperience and from everyone I've talked to with heavy duty gas trucks, he's right on target.
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Old 06-08-2020, 08:02 PM   #20
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I have a 2016 F250, 6.2 L with 3.73 rears and my rig is same as yours weight wise. I am getting 12 mpg with trailer on, but only 13 with it off. My friend in the next town has the same truck you do and the same trailer weight and he is getting 10 to 12 mpg loaded. So, assuming you have a gas engine, not diesel, have you actually figured this out on a calculator, or are you taking the dash info's word for it? Could be a faulty reading in which a computer reset may solve the issue. Check your exhaust for a lot of black carbon which would indicate you are running rich and wasting a lot of fuel. It could also be a bad sensor giving your computer false information. If you haven't already, take it somewhere and have the system analyzed. That can tell you a lot (and sometimes nothing at all), but it's better than guessing.
Don't want to sound like a know it person, If it is running rich(it is an emission issue) the O2 sensor would pick that up and activate the check engine light. If as you say it has been this way for some time it sounds like you got a typical gas truck pulling a lot of weight. Most of the diesel trucks pulling that weight are getting around 12/13(let the bashing begin ;o)
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