Fuel Mileage while Towing

[Fake-Account27]

Just bought a new trailer. Took the popup to the dealer first and averaged 14ish, previous tow vehicle was a minivan which got 18-20 with the popup.

Return trip was a 33 ft travel trailer and got 10 to 12.

 

[dhay13]

Be towing our 9000-9500lb boat to the river tomorrow morning but it's only about 20 miles away. I get roughly 9MPG towing it. Weighed it last year with empty tanks and with the 1325lb trailer it was 8750lbs.

Son has an identical truck to mine and will be towing his 8500lb 26' camper about 5 hours away Monday to his jobsite. He towed it 1500 miles last year then back and averaged about 9 MPG. We both have 4.10's

 

[Michiganman]

I have a 16 crew, 6.4 with 4.10s. Towing my 26 foot TT. About 7500lbs loaded I average right around 9.5-10mpg hand calculated

 

[Fbnmark]

2012 3500 dually fully deleted with 3.73 gears pulling a 16500lb 5th wheel I get between 8 -12 always run with tow/haul on and cruise set @65. Biggest variable is traffic and terrain.

 

[ZookaTx]

I regularly go from 800 feet altitude in Texas, up to Colorado, Utah, Wyoming, Idaho. In my old 2001 Cummins HO towing several different TTs, and empty; and also in my new '19 Power Wagon, I have always noticed a huge increase in MPG after Amarillo, elevation 3600 feet. Above about 4500feet my mileage is about 25 to 30% better than my mileage at 800 to 1000 feet. Thinner air equals less resistance. (just like with jet liners, they cruise up high to save fuel.)

 

[Papamugger]

That mpg sounds pretty normal, Pulling an Airstream I get 11-14 depending on winds. When I had a 1500 Hemi I got 11-13 depending on the wind etc. I bought this truck and the previous one to get the job done safely, not mpg.

 

[jwynnejr1]

Looking at these responses, I can guess who is tracking and calculating and who is going off the dash mileage reading.

I appreciate everyone’s input. Sounds like my problem isn’t actually a problem. That’s what I came here for.


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[pjs386]

I hauled a 4000 lb Uhaul for about 1300 miles all hiway and got 15 mpg @ 70ish mph. I have 5.7L with 3.21 rear 2 folks in cab plus some baggage in bed. On the return, I got about 22 mpg hand calculated w no trailer. That's 7 mpg difference.

 

[Gord]

Being a canadian I will have to use km rather than mpg and you are free to convert it. My truck has the towing pkg with 3.92 rear end. When hauling a 6,800 lb travel trailer with average speed of 100 km per hour (62 MPH) I burn 25 litres per 100 KM driven on average. Without trailer I burn 14 litres per 100 km.

 

[sandawilliams]

[ QUOTE="jwynnejr1, post: 2284855, member: 85418"]Looking at these responses, I can guess who is tracking and calculating and who is going off the dash mileage reading.

I appreciate everyone’s input. Sounds like my problem isn’t actually a problem. That’s what I came here for.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk[/QUOTE]

It's pretty easy to tell. My hand calculation reads 16.96 but if they are reporting just to tenths it is usually evic readings.

 

[gdc0581]

I often make a winter trip from my home near Seattle to California and Arizona so that I don't forget what the sun looks like. I tow a 30 foot Arctic Fox 25Y travel trailer and have my Polaris ranger in the pickup bed. The trailer is about 8500 pounds and the Polaris is about 1700 pounds. This year I did it with my Ram 3500 with the HO diesel and I got 10.14 MPG over the trip of 6491 miles. My truck was virtually new with 941 miles on it when I started so it wasn't broken in yet. About 5-10 percent of the miles were not pulling the trailer for day trips.
I made the same trip last year with my 2013 F350 with the 6.7 liter diesel and I averaged 12.11 MPG over the trip of 4965 miles. I'm not very impressed with the mileage of the Ram HO diesel. I think it is mostly transmission, but I would say that my Ford diesel had more pep pulling the same load than the Ram does.

 

[Blanked]

You don’t buy a heavy duty truck and worry about gas mileage. That’s like buying an economy car and worry about towing capacity

 

[jwynnejr1]

You don’t buy a heavy duty truck and worry about gas mileage. That’s like buying an economy car and worry about towing capacity

If my truck was a weekend grocery-getter, you might be right. Most people who tow and are fiscally-responsible want to get the most fuel efficiency. Most that I know, anyway, who tow for a living.


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[Marine Les]

There is nothing more subjective than the topic of mpg while towing. Lots of scenarios listed here and most seem reasonable with a few ?? I'll add one more just to stir the pot. I tow a lightweight RZR on an aluminum utility trailer with a total weight of 2k#. I have a cap on the truck that helps with airflow and I do mild hypermiling. I did a trip of 350 miles round trip from my house where i lost and gained about 1500' each way. 300 mi. highway and the rest on forest service roads. I-40 @ 70 mph for 75miles total, and the rest of hwy. at 60 + or - 5. Calculated I got just over 18 and and have repeated this three 3 times. with a high of 19 and a low of 17. I also have an old 5.9 Cummins for heavy loads and can state that frontal area is worse than weight at high speeds where weight hurts more climbing.

P.S. This was with my Pentastar

 

[Casey Phalen]

8.6 with my 33 ft camper. Put cold air intake and Went up to 9.5. Best ever was 10.2 62 mph and no wind. Flat stretch of hwy

 

[Casey Phalen]

I've been pulling a 24' enclosed trailer (10K rated) as we've moved from the Middle West to a more liberty-respecting State in the South. Weather and wind had a significant impact on fuel economy. On a nice day with light winds, I've averaged around 7-8 MPG loaded and maybe 9-10 empty. Bucking a headwind, that drops to 6-7 MPG, and my worst tank was about 5.9. The truck itself (no load, no trailer) normally gets around 13-15 MPG.



I have no idea what the trailer itself weighs, but I'd bet some of my loads have had me at the limit of my truck's rating. The 5.7 has power enough (for me), but the stupid transmission programming (even in tow mode) is incompetent at best. I saw a *lot* of this pulling into the wind:



es

Finally someone who tells the truth. I call BS on this 11-13 mpg towing. Unless it is down hill tail wind and a lawnmower trailer.

 

[dhay13]

Yeah. Son got about 9 according to EVIC towing his camper with his 6.4 but he doesn't pay for his fuel so he doesn't bother hand calculating (his company pays for it). He towed it today 290 miles on the highway and filled it up 1/2 way and was about empty when he got there but it wasn't empty when he filled it mid-way. He said he could probably get 250 miles on a 31 gallon tank towing his 8000-8500lb camper. When he towed it to North Dakota (1500 miles) he stopped about every 180 miles to fill up because much more was pushing it

 

[jwynnejr1]

Finally someone who tells the truth. I call BS on this 11-13 mpg towing. Unless it is down hill tail wind and a lawnmower trailer.

I agree. Pulling my Ranger on a 14 foot tandem I only get about ten or twelve.


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[jwynnejr1]

8.6 with my 33 ft camper. Put cold air intake and Went up to 9.5. Best ever was 10.2 62 mph and no wind. Flat stretch of hwy

Do you have a Cummins?


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[twin88cam]

Deleted with tow tune and stock muffler, 3.73 gears. Talon fifthwheel camper, combined scaled weight 21500, hand calculated average mpg 10.5 at 60 mph on highway