Increase gas mileage?

[mamawildbear]

<-- does this picture show? In the preview I see a blue square with a question mark? If I right click and choose open photo in new tab it shows fine. This is my first post with a photo so not sure I'm doing it right.

<-- trying again with PhotoBucket

So this is us sitting by the side of the road after my husband had to ditch us on a gas run. We missed a turn and thereby missed our gas station. We ended up getting the low gas alarm 25 miles from the next town, with estimated 2 gallons left and getting 8.5 miles per gallon. We pulled over, unhitched and off he drove to get gas.

My plan for next time is to make sure he levels the trailer somewhat because I tried to cook the kids dinner and the pan kept sliding off the stove because we were so crooked. I've also added emergency flares and reflective triangles to my shopping list because we were a little close to the road and if he didn't make it back before dark, it could have been dangerous.

My main question though is there anything we can do to improve gas mileage? I've been told it's mainly a factor of wind resistance and not weight so trying to lighten up are cargo may not do much and of course the trailer is shaped the way it is so not much we can do about wind. We are pulling with an F150. Is it possible it is not powerful enough and is just blowing through gas trying to keep up? Would a bigger truck actually get better gas mileage?

We are pulling a Springdale 260LE Shipping Weight: 5220lbs
Carrying Capacity: 2420lbs

Love the trailer but am starting to wonder if we should have gotten a super light aerodynamic model. Too late now though.

Any suggestions?

[mamawildbear]

Well photo worked with PhotoBucket right away (thanks Bob Landry for your photo suggestion on another post). I've always hated Flickr anyway. 30 seconds to sign up for PB and upload a picture and get it posted successfully here. Bye bye Flickr! I just wish there was an upload plugin in Aperture for PhotoBucket.

[notanlines]

Mamabear, the 8.5 MPG is fairly close, no matter the gas engine you have nor the trailer you pull (C'mon, within reason) If you remember a little high school physics, wind resistance is inversely proportional to the square of the velocity. Therefore, the faster you go the more gas you use because of increased wind resistance. It becomes a little more complicated than that, but not much. Keep the recommended air pressure in ALL tires, keep your towing speeds down a little, and enjoy your trailer. Imagine trading a 30K trailer for 18K and trying to make up a 12K loss with another mile per gallon.

[Ken / Claudia]

Carry a 5 gal fuel can in the bed of the truck helps. I suggest road flares over the triangles. Pro/Cons, road flares can be seen real good at day or night, can start a fire in wet wood if needed. They last only 30 -45 mins and do not use them if there is a fire danger. A trick when using road flares, stack them so that at the end of the burning one is a new one on top. That way as it burns out the new one will light itself. At major crash scenes I snaked them up 5 flares long. Triangles almost always get blow over by passing traffic or wind. When they do no one sees them. The very best I used and seen are orange plastic small cones with led lights spinning around. We started using them in places of fire danger. Unknown where to buy them or cost. As far as mpg likely about all you can do is drive slower to save fuel. My example is with diesel and if I pull my boat 4,000 lbs low profile or 7,000 TT the mpg are the same or real close that I will say it does not matter. But, speed, if I drive at 55-60 great mileage at 65-70 not so much at the end of the day.

[mamawildbear]

You've given me an idea. Maybe something battery powered with flashing lights that can attach to my bumper or to the spare tire. That way it can't get blown over and hopefully last all night as well, if needed. Plus no fire danger.

Something like this looks pretty cool: Flashing Roadside Emergency Disk

[GaryWT]

You are towing a flat wall and the more head wind you have the less gas mileage you will have. When I towed with a 150 I got around 17 everyday and 10 when towing. Now that I have a 350 I get 13 everyday and still around 10 when towing.

It is tough when you miss a turn and I hate it when there are not a ton of gas stations around. We try to camp within a tank of gas, schedule our trips to to stop for the night at a tank or travel highways with rest stops when possible.

Hopefully there will not be a next time but looking for a parking lot would be good.

[Desert185]

I considered the triangles before I checked the reflectivity of the lights on the back of the trailer. They were so effective that I've discarded the idea of triangles or trucker's refective tape. Flares are good for early warning on a curvey road, though.

Mileage? Drive 55-60 and hope for a tailwind and/or carry a 5 gal can of gas.

[Hansel]

My tips are slow down some, I usually drive around 65mph because after that the fuel mileage really goes down the toilet for me, also when I hit just above a 1/4 of a tank of fuel I start looking for truck stop's. I usually get about 10mpg towing and I have a 29 gallon tank so I know I can go about 250 miles safely without having too worry much, but as I said when I hit a 1/4 of a tank it's fuel time

[Festus2]

Originally Posted by mamawildbear

My main question though is there anything we can do to improve gas mileage? I've been told it's mainly a factor of wind resistance and not weight so trying to lighten up are cargo may not do much and of course the trailer is shaped the way it is so not much we can do about wind.

Any suggestions?

I would suggest -
a) reducing your speed
b) ensuring that your tires are properly inflated
c) in headwind/crosswind conditions - don't try to maintain normal highway driving speed. Headwinds will cause your mileage to plummet so slow down a bit.

I'm another advocate of having a 5-gallon spare in the bed of the truck. Especially when cutting it close between stations. Figure the lowest MPG you are likely to get and calculate mileage between stations for worst case, not best or average. Stop and refuel even if you're pulling better MPGs than planned.

[dm1401]

With my pickup i have found that locking out of my overdrive gear(s) actually helps with mpg. If i pull in 6th gear the motor is almost lugging (working hard at too low of a rpm) and my temps will even start climbing, but if i drop a gear or two and bring the rpm up some the engine is no longer working so hard and i am able to ease off the throttle to maintain the same speed, maybe try it and experiment a bit. Also staying out of your overdrive will help transmission temps and life. I found that 60 Mph is a good balance of speed and Mpg. My truck is a diesel but i imagine the same theory applies.

[buzzcop63]

The fuel meter in most trucks and cars is not going to tell you how many gallons of fuel is in the tank, at best its just a reference. For your own peace of mind it would be a good idea to run your vehicle down to the E or 1/4 mark, also take along that 5 gal gas can in case my idea is full of hot air for your vehicle, then fill the truck tank. This will tell you how many gallons you have left in the tank, you might be surprised how many the manufacture left there when the gauge is showing empty or 1/4 tank! Now knowing your mileage you might have been able to tow to the next station and not had to leave the trailer on the side of the road. Also as mentioned, when you hit the 1/4 tank mark and do not know where the next fuel station is back off the speed as much as traffic will allow. Speed eats fuel! Long trips on unfamiliar roads, carry the gas can.

[Desert185]

I once pulled into a remote station in west Texas without enough fuel to go any further (headwind hit me pretty hard). They were down to one operating diesel pump that just trickled the fuel into the tank. After the normal time to pump a full tank I only had pumped five gallons, which thankfully was enough.

I did have my motorcycle in the garage, so going for diesel would have been an option. I now carry an extra five gallons, though.

[mamawildbear]

Yeah, too true about not knowing exactly how much is left when the light comes on. However, we knew we could make it without the trailer and did not know if we could make it with the trailer. I would not have liked to abandon the trailer completely but I stayed with it and the kids and hubby took off for gas. He was still worried he might run out in the truck but we had bicycles in the back so his plan b was to leave the truck and set off on a bike to get gas. We would have been littering the Texas country roads with vehicles trying to get the gas. Luckily he made it just fine although he put more gas in his tank than he ever had before.

I just looked up the specs and he has a 26 gallon tank so we got the fuel warning light, he drove 25 miles, and then filled up with 24.5 gallons of gas so I think we had a little more than we thought. Maybe would have made it, maybe not. Next long trip in the middle of nowhere, I think I'd like a spare 5 gallons of gas with us. These trips are once a year though so we've got a whole year to think about it.

[jsmith948]

As for hazard warning lights, try doing a forum search. There have been several threads where members have used a turn signal flasher plugged into the trailer plug that allows the coach battery to make the tail lights of your trailer flash.

[mamawildbear]

That's very cool! I found this: http://rvbasics.com/techtips/emergen...er-lights.html

I think that's what you're talking about. I will definitely try that out!

[Larry1013]

Originally Posted by mamawildbear

That's very cool! I found this: http://rvbasics.com/techtips/emergen...er-lights.html

I think that's what you're talking about. I will definitely try that out!

Just tired it out....works great...make sure flasher is for 6 lights or more....i.e., heavy duty flasher. Would not work with standard flasher.

[theeyres]

Don't worry about MPG. Period. If you are towing there is no way you will trade in what you have and ever come out ahead when you figure trade if values, etc., etc. The alternative is simple. Thoroughly check out your route. Never get even near 1/4 tank unless you know you are on a freeway with fuel stops every few miles. I know! I got stuck just like you and had to thumb a ride to get enough fuel to get to the next fuel stop, at 4x the going rate. Never again. Since then I always know where the next fuel stop is and whether I have the fuel to get to it. Think about it: 8.5 or 10 or 12 mpg is insignificant unless you are a long hauler and going 50,000 or 100,000 miles a year--or more.

[koko]

We owed a 2800 dry weight camper before this one and actually are getting about 2 mpg better with our present camper. Weight doesn't seem to mean much, but height definitely does. We almost ran out of gas on a VERY lonely road in Arizona. After much anxiety, luckily the advertised gas station was really open. Now we carry a 5 gallon spare whenever we're going to desolate areas. We've made it a rule to fill up at half tank whenever possible. Also, as stated above, the faster you go, the worse the gas mileage. And wind...oh dear!

[Vet4jdc]

I agree with many comments above. Don't sacrifice living quality with miles per gallon. Comfort when you arrive will always outweigh the price at the pump.

Also, make sure tires are properly inflated on the trailer and the TV.

Lastly, carry a five gallon can of gas in your truck for future long travel.

Enjoy!!!!!