Gas Mileage When Towing - Is Trading Worth It?

[KyDan]

Originally Posted by JonesyTravels

Based on all of the great input here, though, sounds like I can sit tight and cruise in the monster truck. [emoji2]

Yes! Exactly.

Another example. Just bought a Nissan Titan 5.6L gas truck. First outing got a miserable 7.5 MPG.
I was so disappointed I went to a Ford Dealer just to see what it would take to trade it on an Ecoboost F150.
They hummed and hawed and finally came it with my new Titan with only 3500 miles on it and $10,000 would get me an Ecoboost that did not have as many bells and whistles as my Titan.


Figure the Ford might get 2 or even 3 MPG better than the Titan. On a good day.
So a long trip with the Titan costs $1000 for gas and the same trip with a Ford Ecoboost costs $900.
It's gonna take a LONG LONG time to make up that $10,000!!


I'm learning to like my Titan.
Plus if I draft the semi's I can get as much as 10 mpg pretty consistently.

[TitanMike]

Originally Posted by JonesyTravels

Based on all of the great input here, though, sounds like I can sit tight and cruise in the monster truck. [emoji2]

Here's another thought based on my personal circumstances.

When my wife passed away in 2016 I did an assessment of my transportation needs. 90+ percent of my non camping miles were inside a 25 mile radius. 25 miles south to my "other hobby" and 20 miles north to visit my daughter. My son lives half way to my daughters house. Rest of my daily driving is in town for the standard stuff.

I sold my wife's car and bought a plug-in hybrid that advertised a range of over 53 miles on battery only. No range anxiety as it also has a gas engine that seamlessly takes over when the battery reaches a preset level of discharge and then operates as just a hybrid (44 mpg).

My tow vehicle now sits in the garage for the rare occasion I need to pick up something that won't fit in my new car or to tow the trailer.

End result was a gas bill in non camping/travel months of ZERO. Some months my lawnmower is the only thing I have to buy gas for. Gas purchases for the car which is approaching 2 years old occur about every 6 months (8 gal. Was biggest purchase so far) with much of that gas being used by the computer managed "engine service protocol". After so many miles without the engine being used the computer starts it and it runs for a while, producing electricity for the electric motor or battery charge.

The price tag on the car was less (by half) of a new truck and I got a tax credit from both State and Federal government totalling over $10,000.

Like I said earlier, if fuel mileage is the concern and the tow vehicle is adequate to pull the weight (in reality, not just published numbers), the real savings can come from improving the mileage of one's daily driver.

We should all take note of recent news releases from car makers. Almost all have plans to only produce electric "passenger cars" starting in the next year or so. Battery ranges are now meeting and in some cases exceeding the range of the standard passenger car gas tank.

BTW, for less than a month's supply of gasoline I used to purchase for my truck I installed a Level II charging station in my garage. Cost of a "fill up" now runs me about $1.90-$2.00 and according to my car it's telling me I'm good for 65 miles of electric only. With the gas tank full my total range is just under 400 miles. Charging takes 4 hrs max but newer systems are predicted to take less than 30 min.

Just food for thought.

An added note. When sitting in stopped traffic on a hot day the only thing running in the car is the AC. No engine idling and generating heat that seeps through the firewall and floorboards. Total draw by the AC is between .5 and 1.0 kWh which doesnt impact my overall range that much. Battery holds over 17 kwh.

[Ronjon50]

I have the same model tt, and tow with a 2015 Silverado 1500. 5.3 liter... gets anywhere from 8-9 mph at 65 mph

[Tom48]

Originally Posted by mwdilday

I get under 10 MPG with my Ford 6.7 diesel pulling a 18,000 lb fifth wheel at 62 mph. Not great but it comes with the territory.

10.9 pulling a toy hauler at about 9000 behind 6.0 Ford diesel crew cab.

[elchilero53]

With a Tahoe with the HD Tow Package and the 5.3L you will get 8 to 9 mpg. I sold mine because it would get hot on long climbs even though it had the good cooling, tranny and oil coolers, etc. We were only towing a 25' tt at 5500-6000 lb loaded weight. Tow capacity was rated at 8200 lbs. Took what money I made on the sale and bought a Silverado 1500 with the 6.2L, 8-speed and a tow rating of about 9200 lbs. Now, I average 11 mpg and range between 10 and 15 towing. Driving freeway I get 20z22 mpg. It tows beautifully and never gets hot going up a long steep climb. I would stick with your 2500 for towing and save your money.

[jeffnick]

FWIW - I tow 12,000 lbs with an '05 V10 (300 HP) and get 8 to 9 going on 160,000 miles but seldom over 55mph. I see 15 - 17 on the road without a trailer - but again 55mph max.

[nanniwinn]

We have a 2006 Dodge Ram 3500 (Cummins Diesel) quad cab pick up towing a 2018 Rockwood Sig Ultra Lite 34' 5th wheel. We are getting about 14-16 MPG. We average 23 MPG when not towing the trailer. A lot of the mileage depends on the terrain. Going up and down mountain terrain takes more gas. We discovered that the tires on the truck can make a big difference on the mileage. Speak to some experts on what you can do with your current vehicle to improve the mileage. Then weigh out what it costs you to run it versus the cost of a newer vehicle.

[jeffnick]

We all like to talk about mileage...but it you did 30% better would you go farther or more often?
i

[chriscowles]

Originally Posted by JonesyTravels

Sell almost new, decked out and buy slightly older, less decked out, low mileage. Looking at all of the price info online, I could get out close to even.

So, you're trading a new fancy vehicle for an older less fancy vehicle and considering it even?

[Mr Towed]

I have a Silverado 2500 HD (6.0 gas) and with a 23FB (no slides) and a 25 LB (under 5000) I get under 10 mpg usually, towing.

[JonesyTravels]

Originally Posted by jeffnick

We all like to talk about mileage...but it you did 30% better would you go farther or more often?
i

Newly retired, so possibly.

[Mr Towed]

I'm going to say that I have to agree with the people who have said to do this trade, which sounds like a downgrade in most respects, simply for mileage reasons is probably going to wind up being penny wise and pound foolish. It appears that you have a new truck that you are pretty happy with, except for the towing milage. You are setting yourself up for disappointment if you are expecting any substantial mileage gains, especially if you don't spend more than you'd probably make up in saved fuel. It might be a different story if you had an old truck and it was time to upgrade and it was a choice between two and you wanted to prioritize fuel mileage then based on your trailer, I'd suggest a small diesel, but again, the extra cost of a diesel will often not be recouped on fuel savings because the extra expense is so significant.
I don't have the full story perhaps, but that's my opinion based on what I understand about your situation.

[JonesyTravels]

Originally Posted by Mr Towed

I'm going to say that I have to agree with the people who have said to do this trade, which sounds like a downgrade in most respects, simply for mileage reasons is probably going to wind up being penny wise and pound foolish. It appears that you have a new truck that you are pretty happy with, except for the towing milage. You are setting yourself up for disappointment if you are expecting any substantial mileage gains, especially if you don't spend more than you'd probably make up in saved fuel. It might be a different story if you had an old truck and it was time to upgrade and it was a choice between two and you wanted to prioritize fuel mileage then based on your trailer, I'd suggest a small diesel, but again, the extra cost of a diesel will often not be recouped on fuel savings because the extra expense is so significant.
I don't have the full story perhaps, but that's my opinion based on what I understand about your situation.

Like I said before, doesn’t sound good after all of the input, but it wasn’t the truck I was considering trading (we always need that with or without the TT). Switching out the other SUV for a slightly used SUV that could tow the small TT would give me a tow vehicle that is newer than the truck we are currently using. Sounds like it makes no difference on mileage though, so I’ll keep things the way they are and enjoy the scenery. Thanks for your input. Safe travels.

[sanchito6]

2014 Toyota Tundra 5.7 crewmax with 2019 24ws towed 5,250 miles from Midwest to California and back avg 9.3 mpg going 65 mph fully loaded it is what it is. I thought about trading myself but in my case it would be for a longer bed and front bench seat for another passenger and more towing stability but mpg not so much.

[AdamKam]

I'm towing 10K+ with a 2500 HD 6.0 and 4:10 rear end and get 8.4 mpg on relatively flat terrain, I've switched to Goodyear Endurance load range E since so it should do a little better.

[tom39]

I simply can't understand why threads like this will continue on and on and don't just fizzle out.

Then as I am writing this, I am questioning myself and begin thinking that maybe I am part of the problem because I wrote this.

[jake wolfpack]

6.7 life lol

[timfromma]

Originally Posted by sanchito6

2014 Toyota Tundra 5.7 crewmax with 2019 24ws towed 5,250 miles from Midwest to California and back avg 9.3 mpg going 65 mph fully loaded it is what it is. I thought about trading myself but in my case it would be for a longer bed and front bench seat for another passenger and more towing stability but mpg not so much.

I towed with a Tundra for one year then traded it.

[TitanMike]

Originally Posted by JonesyTravels

Like I said before, doesn’t sound good after all of the input, but it wasn’t the truck I was considering trading (we always need that with or without the TT). Switching out the other SUV for a slightly used SUV that could tow the small TT would give me a tow vehicle that is newer than the truck we are currently using. Sounds like it makes no difference on mileage though, so I’ll keep things the way they are and enjoy the scenery. Thanks for your input. Safe travels.

Leaving things the way they are is probably the best decision for now. In the future, when it's time to replace one vehicle or the other there will more likely than not be a whole different set of options and you now have some more information to consider when that time comes.

Sooner or later one of your vehicles will wear out. In the meanwhile just enjoy and start putting some $$ in a jar to help pay for the inevitable replacement.

I was reading lately that there is now a $100,000 pickup on the market (by the time you add all the goodies available). Makes me yearn for the time I bought a new truck with and even got it with AC, thinking I was in heaven. Cost me only $6,000 and that was with only 6 miles on it.

[DRogers]

Originally Posted by jake wolfpack

6.7 life lolAttachment 181845

Not trying to be the towing police but according to your pic your towing something doing 80 mph???