Expected Milage Question

[BennyHanna]

Hey I was just wondering what I should expect to see for fuel milage with my 2014 3500 Crew Cab 4x4 SLT CTD? I just bought a 2015 Jayco Jayflight 26RLS camper. It weighs about 6500lbs and I towed it from Idaho Falls to Butte MT and had cruise set at 75mph and only saw 9.4 for the first 100 miles, stopped and got fuel and then got 10.0 from there. I figured I would get a bit better than this.

 

[audio1der]

How many miles does your truck have? Have you followed the prescribed break-in and maintenance?

 

[smurfs_of_war]

It's the 75mph that got you on that. No matter how much torque and horsepower you have, you also are contending with trying to move an object with the drag coefficient of an apartment block at 75mph. That big cummins would have been into the turbo pretty good. Slow it down a bit, I bet you see a pretty big difference. I think if I read correctly the cummins can tow right out of the box without break in.

 

[BennyHanna]

It's the 75mph that got you on that. No matter how much torque and horsepower you have, you also are contending with trying to move an object with the drag coefficient of an apartment block at 75mph. That big cummins would have been into the turbo pretty good. Slow it down a bit, I bet you see a pretty big difference. I think if I read correctly the cummins can tow right out of the box without break in.

Yeah, according to the owners manual there is no required break in period on the CTD. Not sure if milage gets better after a few thousand miles though. I figured I could get better going a bit slower, but was just curious what others were getting towing something similar.

How many miles does your truck have? Have you followed the prescribed break-in and maintenance?

I have about 7000 miles on it. No maintenance to date... put in fuel and DEF. Oil and fuel filter still show about 55% remaining.

 

[Casper]

It's the 75mph that got you on that. No matter how much torque and horsepower you have, you also are contending with trying to move an object with the drag coefficient of an apartment block at 75mph. That big cummins would have been into the turbo pretty good. Slow it down a bit, I bet you see a pretty big difference. I think if I read correctly the cummins can tow right out of the box without break in.

^^Your driving a vehicle shaped like a brick.

 

[emjohn4]

It's the 75mph that got you on that. No matter how much torque and horsepower you have, you also are contending with trying to move an object with the drag coefficient of an apartment block at 75mph. That big cummins would have been into the turbo pretty good. Slow it down a bit, I bet you see a pretty big difference. I think if I read correctly the cummins can tow right out of the box without break in.

While my little 1500 ain't no CTD, the drag is what will get you, exactly as smurfs said.

Towing my "little" 3,000lb 6x12 enclosed trailer at 60mph, I can get 15-17 mpg. 70mph? 12-13. 75mph? 11mpg.

 

[audio1der]

I wanted to ask if you know what speed the trailer tires are rated for? Many top out at 65mph, making 75mph all the more costly and dangerous for everyone using the road. Maybe you have LT tires on the trailer and you're fine, just thought I'd throw it out there.

 

[BennyHanna]

I wanted to ask if you know what speed the trailer tires are rated for? Many top out at 65mph, making 75mph all the more costly and dangerous for everyone using the road. Maybe you have LT tires on the trailer and you're fine, just thought I'd throw it out there.

Good point, and one that I hadn't even thought of. Salesman talked about pulling at 75mph and slowing down if the winds got too high, but in my experience salesmen typically know just enough about their product to sell it and not many of the details. I'll have to check next time I make it home. Thanks.

 

[clark123456]

I tow a jeep on a flat bed trailer that weighs close to what your rv weighs, but the shape is slightly different. On the open interstate I get 13.5 mpg and through back road highways I get 12.5mpg. I only drive 65 mph unless I burst to pass someone. I have a 2500 ctd.

On my first big travel trailer I had a tire blow out on the way back from a trip...I am pretty sure it was related to driving 75mph for several hundred miles to the park and about 100 miles heading home. The tires were old at that point as I had picked the trailer up used. The damage it did to the trailer was pretty bad and took a bunch of work to repair it. Now I stick to 65mph. I have not had a chance to pull my travel trailer (27' and about 8k lbs wet), so I don't know what I'll see with it. My old gasser used to get about 9mpg pulling both trailers, so I anticipate I'll see the same with the travel trailer.