Towing Florida to Colorado

JayLeonard · Jul 3, 2022

5 weeks into our 4 month trip from Florida to Colorado and back via Connecticut. Towing a Grand Design 2600 rb TT which is approximately 7200 lbs gross. No problems with towing thru the steepest mountains so far.
The smart E brake mode is awesome. Makes the downhill hairpin turns a piece of cake.
I don’t push the truck I take it easy and stay under 60 unless I need to pass something.
So far after about 3500 miles which includes non towing excursions I am averaging 16.1 mpg hand calculated.
Very happy with that even though every towing day is around $100 worth of diesel.

dhay13 · Jul 3, 2022

My son has a 2670 MK that be towed all over the country with his 2018 2500 6.4. We weighed it at 8100lbs loaded. He has a 2021 2500 Cummins now and has towed it a few times with that too

jejb · Jul 4, 2022

16.1? That's crazy high if most of those miles are towing. I have an 18 2500 Cummins and just made a 900 mile trip hauling a bass boat, mostly interstate at 72mph. Hand calculated was 14.1, which I was pretty happy with. I've gotten as much 21.5 hand calculated with it not towing on long road trips, but never more than the above towing.

Anyway, glad you're having a good trip and the truck is running well for you.

Wanted33 · Jul 4, 2022

JayLeonard said:
5 weeks into our 4 month trip from Florida to Colorado and back via Connecticut. Towing a Grand Design 2600 rb TT which is approximately 7200 lbs gross. No problems with towing thru the steepest mountains so far.
The smart E brake mode is awesome. Makes the downhill hairpin turns a piece of cake.
I don’t push the truck I take it easy and stay under 60 unless I need to pass something.
So far after about 3500 miles which includes non towing excursions I am averaging 16.1 mpg han
calculated.
Very happy with that even though every towing day is around $100 worth of diesel.

That's gotta be a great trip Jay. If you folks are like us we have said screw the prices, we're at the age now we need to do what we want, and go where we want. There will soon come a time we will not be so ready to do those things. I ain't gonna let no politicians screw me out of my retirement years. I worked to dayum hard to not enjoy the spoils of that labor. Enjoy the rest of your trip.

Jim

John Jensen · Jul 4, 2022

Those are great mileage reports. It would help understand them better if you would show your 6.7s as SO or HO.

Wanted33, I'm with you 110%. I have the same attitude and will be taking our annual 2000 mile trip (brothers' fishing Oregon) regardless of the cost. I feel sorry for young families that just can't afford to do it. Their children will miss out on memorable adventures. My adult children still talk about our vacations when they were children.

NH RAM · Jul 4, 2022

That's crazy good mileage towing, but I can't stay under 60mph, I'm usually towing at 65. Enjoy the trip!

JayLeonard · Jul 4, 2022

John Jensen said:
Those are great mileage reports. It would help understand them better if you would show your 6.7s as SO or HO.

Wanted33, I'm with you 110%. I have the same attitude and will be taking our annual 2000 mile trip (brothers' fishing Oregon) regardless of the cost. I feel sorry for young families that just can't afford to do it. Their children will miss out on memorable adventures. My adult children still talk about our vacations when they were children.

It is a standard 6.7. Truck has close to 15 k miles. Most of the trip miles have been towing. Probably 80 % or more. Some of the non towing excursion miles were easy flat runs but many were up and down mountains such as the million dollar highway and Mesa Verde.
Regarding cost, wife says we cannot afford not to go. As you know last summer our trailer got totaled 3 days into our trip. So it’s a go this year.

John Jensen · Jul 4, 2022

JayLeonard said:
It is a standard 6.7. Truck has close to 15 k miles. Most of the trip miles have been towing. Probably 80 % or more. Some of the non towing excursion miles were easy flat runs but many were up and down mountains such as the million dollar highway and Mesa Verde.
Regarding cost, wife says we cannot afford not to go. As you know last summer our trailer got totaled 3 days into our trip. So it’s a go this year.

Thanks.
Yes, the 2019+ SOs have been doing much better on mileage than the HOs. My brother has a 2016 HO and gets mileage like you are getting. He gets 22mpg on easy 300 mile stretches. MY 2020 HO only gets 18mpg on similar 300 mile stretches. However, I only have 7,200 miles, just starting to break in, hoping it gets better. We both hand calculate.

Yep, your last year was a bummer for you. Glad this year is making up for it. Enjoy the rest of your trip. Looking forward to your next report.

jejb · Jul 5, 2022

JayLeonard said:
It is a standard 6.7. Truck has close to 15 k miles. Most of the trip miles have been towing. Probably 80 % or more. Some of the non towing excursion miles were easy flat runs but many were up and down mountains such as the million dollar highway and Mesa Verde.
Regarding cost, wife says we cannot afford not to go. As you know last summer our trailer got totaled 3 days into our trip. So it’s a go this year.

I don't mean to be a ****, but I'd sure like to see the numbers here. When I haul my Vee nosed trailer, which is smaller than yours, I get 9-10mpg. 18 2500 CTD 3.73 4x4 Megacab. That's mostly 70ish on mostly interstate. But even 2 lane 55mph roads doesn't change that number very much. To get 16.1 over a long trip of 80% towing, you'd have to be doing like 15mpg towing, which would fly in the face of my experience and pretty much everything I've read on the forums about towing mpg with the CTD.

JayLeonard · Jul 5, 2022

We’ll you are an **** lol but my calculations are 3339 miles / 207.81 gallons comes out to 16.07 rounded out to 16.1.
I use cruise control whenever possible, run at 55 to 58 on the interstates and I watch the lie o meter which shows infinite mileage when going down the long steep mountain roads.
And I get over 20 mpg on flat highway not towing. When towing the meter usually shows 12 to 13.5 on relatively flat road.
I do notice on the lie o meter that going from 55 to 62 is a big fuel penalty. I believe that although it’s not that accurate , the relative numbers are meaningful.
Normally I’d be towing at 62-64 but because of the fuel cost I am keeping it down to see how good I can do.
Wife laid out the schedule for this trip and most of our travel days are well under 200 miles so an extra 15 minutes driving is no biggie.
As I said truck is stock including the factory Firestones.

jejb · Jul 5, 2022

Thanks. Okay, lets use your numbers.
80% of 3339 divided by the higher lie-o-meter towing mpg of 13.5 is 198 gallons.
20% of 3339 divided by your non-towing number of 20 is 33 gallons.
Which comes out to 14.5mpg. And that would still be very good, but understandable at the speeds you were towing.

Sorry, sounds you did well on fuel and I'm glad you had a great trip. But I'd respectfully suggest one of your parameters is off a bit. If not, mea culpa. I meant no insult.

John Jensen · Jul 5, 2022

jejb said:
Thanks. Okay, lets use your numbers.
80% of 3339 divided by the higher lie-o-meter towing mpg of 13.5 is 198 gallons.
20% of 3339 divided by your non-towing number of 20 is 33 gallons.
Which comes out to 14.5mpg. And that would still be very good, but understandable at the speeds you were towing.

Sorry, sounds you did well on fuel and I'm glad you had a great trip. But I'd respectfully suggest one of your parameters is off a bit. If not, mea culpa. I meant no insult.

Not sure why you are spinning it that way or what you are trying to prove. Suggesting that one of his parameters is off is, to be kind, nonsensical

The man went 3339 miles using 207.81 gallons which equates to 16.1 mpg. Why can't you accept that? It's certainly in line with an SO and his described driving.

JayLeonard · Jul 5, 2022

I know without a doubt that my fuel and mileage numbers are correct. I’m an engineer and a little **** that way.
You know the old saying “figures don’t lie, but liars sure can figure”. ( not intended to be taken personally)
My % towing might be off, I took a swag at that. But we are in Co from Fl so most of the mileage by far is towing. Some days we did zero excursions as they were only overnighters.
Maybe I’m better at squeezing out mileage than most or maybe I got a good engine. I know they aren’t all the same.

06 Dodge · Jul 5, 2022

I can say in the short time I've had my 22 I'm surprised at the hand calculated fuel mileage I have gotten with mine and its not even broken in, it will never get the high mpg I could get from my old 06 5.9 but to see 19.9 mpg was nice for a short 270 mile trip...

jejb · Jul 6, 2022

John Jensen said:
Not sure why you are spinning it that way or what you are trying to prove. Suggesting that one of his parameters is off is, to be kind, nonsensical

The man went 3339 miles using 207.81 gallons which equates to 16.1 mpg. Why can't you accept that? It's certainly in line with an SO and his described driving.

I'm not spinning anything. I used his best case numbers.

But I'm not going to beat a dead horse. He's set, by far, the high benchmark numbers for towing an RV that size that I've ever read about. Congrats.

dianem1 · Jul 7, 2022

TRUCKLESS IN N.C. Let me first say we have bought only 4x4s for over 50 years, and Ram trucks for over 20. We have loved every one of them, including our current 2019 4x4 Rebel. Last week my husband was backing up our drive , heard a clunk, and came to a stop. He looked under the front passenger side, and was shocked to see the CV axle had come out of the differential. We are still under warranty, and have 22,800 miles on it, and It has never been off-road. This truck is stock, no mods. It was a holiday weekend so the truck sat from Sat. till Tues. Called our closest dealer who informed us they couldn't even look at until the end of the month! Called the dealer we purchased for 150 miles away, and after much back & forth they agreed to come & get it, but will provide no loaner or rental, and told me the repair may not be covered under warranty??. This is our only vehicle, and we have an extended warranty we purchased through the dealer as well. In 50 years of driving only 4x4 SUVs, and pickups, we have NEVER had an issue like this. Has anyone experienced such a failure, and was it covered by your warranty??

David F · Jul 7, 2022

I get similar numbers as the OP, but tow a heavier trailer, 10000 lbs behind my 2019 SO Cummins 6.7 Ram. but, i never drive over 61 or 62. The doubters might take note, as mentioned driving a 70 + on the freeways will not get that mileage. Slower speeds make the difference.

Alvin York · Jul 7, 2022

JayLeonard said:
We’ll you are an **** lol but my calculations are 3339 miles / 207.81 gallons comes out to 16.07 rounded out to 16.1.
I use cruise control whenever possible, run at 55 to 58 on the interstates and I watch the lie o meter which shows infinite mileage when going down the long steep mountain roads.
And I get over 20 mpg on flat highway not towing. When towing the meter usually shows 12 to 13.5 on relatively flat road.
I do notice on the lie o meter that going from 55 to 62 is a big fuel penalty. I believe that although it’s not that accurate , the relative numbers are meaningful.
Normally I’d be towing at 62-64 but because of the fuel cost I am keeping it down to see how good I can do.
Wife laid out the schedule for this trip and most of our travel days are well under 200 miles so an extra 15 minutes driving is no biggie.
As I said truck is stock including the factory Firestones.

Using cruise control is the worse thing you can do for mileage with a diesel. Pick up speed going downhill and use that extra speed to slowly let off the accelerator going uphill..

Socalramfan · Jul 7, 2022

JayLeonard said:
We’ll you are an **** lol but my calculations are 3339 miles / 207.81 gallons comes out to 16.07 rounded out to 16.1.
I use cruise control whenever possible, run at 55 to 58 on the interstates and I watch the lie o meter which shows infinite mileage when going down the long steep mountain roads.
And I get over 20 mpg on flat highway not towing. When towing the meter usually shows 12 to 13.5 on relatively flat road.
I do notice on the lie o meter that going from 55 to 62 is a big fuel penalty. I believe that although it’s not that accurate , the relative numbers are meaningful.
Normally I’d be towing at 62-64 but because of the fuel cost I am keeping it down to see how good I can do.
Wife laid out the schedule for this trip and most of our travel days are well under 200 miles so an extra 15 minutes driving is no biggie.
As I said truck is stock including the factory Firestones.

Thanks for sharing your adventure :waytogo:

For the *****, dude chill out. Does it really matter if the mpg is 10… or 16? No. Too many variables to compare anyone else’s numbers with another. If your looking for great economy towing a trailer……. then I’d consider setting up camp in your driveway and not even drive the Ram :waytogo:

JayLeonard · Jul 7, 2022

Alvin York said:
Using cruise control is the worse thing you can do for mileage with a diesel. Pick up speed going downhill and use that extra speed to slowly let off the accelerator going uphill..

I have to use cruise. If I don’t the truck runs away. I look down at the Speedo and I’m doing 75.. So cruise it the only way for ME. Unless I’m going up and down mountains or in town.

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