Towing gas milage

[rhagfo]

The only thing that will greatly improve you fuel mileage towing and empty is getting a diesel. That said the payback on fuel cost savings is now well north of 100,000 miles.

[Canonman]

I think the biggest milage killer is the frontal sail area created by the TT in addition to the TV. Our Cougar is a little under 10k loaded for travel. Our previous TT was smaller and weighed 7.5k ready to go. The old Dodge gets right at 10mpg with either unit traveling many of the same highways. I have a little fun estimating how much fuel we'll take on just by looking at the trip meter. 250 miles = 25 gallons. DW thinks I'm clairvoyant

[gearhead]

Near impossible to get above 10mpg towing with a gasser.
I went from a GMC 6.0 4x4 2500 to a Ford F350 diesel to a Ram 3500 diesel CC 4x4.
With the 3.42 rear gear it just loafs along at low RPM. Sometimes I lock out 6th gear in hills, but sometimes I even forget to turn on "tow/haul".
I'm getting 10-12 towing the 12,500GVW 5th and 17-21 empty at freeway speeds.

[C424]

Originally Posted by gearhead

Near impossible to get above 10mpg towing with a gasser.
I went from a GMC 6.0 4x4 2500 to a Ford F350 diesel to a Ram 3500 diesel CC 4x4.
With the 3.42 rear gear it just loafs along at low RPM. Sometimes I lock out 6th gear in hills, but sometimes I even forget to turn on "tow/haul".
I'm getting 10-12 towing the 12,500GVW 5th and 17-21 empty at freeway speeds.

That brings up another question. What’s the best way to tow hills? Someone mentioned turning cruise off, the truck would tach out at over 5000rpm at times pulling big hills with cruise and tow on.


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[Desert185]

Pretty close to my experience. 3.55 gears with 285/75R16 tires nets 3.42 gears. I figure 10 MPG towing and its a good wag. I just clocked 22.5 on my last fillup yesterday. Manually calculated. Not the automated liar Dodge provides.

I have a Smarty tuner with a boost elbow, cold air with an R2C Black Hex filter, Magnaflow 4” mandrel bent exhaust...and the big mileage increase winner besides the Smarty mileage mode...a FASS Titanium fuel/air separator (1 MPG increase). Also have a tonneau and no draggy mud flaps, unless towing, then Towtectors. I do have an aftermarket front bumper that adds some drag.

The truck is making more power, running better and getting better mileage.

[RLo]

Mileage on my f350 with a 6.oh, that 7.9 was bucking a strong head wind using cruise control with camper and boat. If I keep it 55 to 60 and don't use the cruise in the hills I can run right around 10 mpg all the time.


My tow tune doesn't do much for mpgs, which I pretty much run all the time. The 18mpg at the bottom was no tows on the tank with the street tune.

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[sourdough]

Originally Posted by C424

I may do that. I had cold air intakes on my older trucks but haven’t done it in recent years. It’s worth a shot.


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A caveat, to me, on the cold air intake is noise. I put one on my first hemi trying to increase power and mileage pulling my boats. Took it off after a couple of months because I couldn't stand the increased intake noise vs the imperceptible gains, if any, that it gave....I'm not 18 anymore and "noise" for the sake of noise isn't cool - it's still in the attic to this day. I had also installed a catback exhaust system and chip - I wouldn't do again; just buy an engine that does what you want it to without the add ons. As far as a bed cover, I never thought about one trying to get mileage, I love it for the secured storage vs open bed.

[Desert185]

Originally Posted by C424

That brings up another question. What’s the best way to tow hills? Someone mentioned turning cruise off, the truck would tach out at over 5000rpm at times pulling big hills with cruise and tow on.


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Personally, with my stick, I drop into 5th and watch the speedo and the EGT, with EGT being the limiting factor. Usually, no cruise control unless its a constant grade pull well below max EGT.

[JRTJH]

Way back in 1972 we had a Dodge D200 with a 360 4 bbl and a 3 speed Loadflight transmission. We towed a 20' Jayco JayRaven travel trailer and got about 8-9 MPG.

Fast forward to 2010, we had a Ford F150 with a 5.4l EFI engine with a 6 speed transmission. We towed a 26' Springdale fifth wheel and got about 8-9 MPG.

We now have a Ford F250 with a 6.7l diesel engine with a 6 speed transmission. We tow a 31' Cougar fifth wheel and get about 9-11 MPG.

I don't remember the solo mileage of that Dodge, but it wasn't great, maybe 12 ?? The F150 got about 15 and the F250 diesel gets about 18 in town and 22 or so on the highway.

The point of all this: Things haven't really changed in towing MPG in the past 40 years. Getting 8 or 9 MPG was and is about the "standard" for most gas engines through the years.

[Ken / Claudia]

Funny, my tests over the years to get better mileage with just trucks I owned and Toyota likely spend a ton of money and came up darn near the same results.

[Desert185]

I did mine for power and better running. Mileage was a byproduct.

[C424]

Originally Posted by JRTJH

Way back in 1972 we had a Dodge D200 with a 360 4 bbl and a 3 speed Loadflight transmission. We towed a 20' Jayco JayRaven travel trailer and got about 8-9 MPG.



Fast forward to 2010, we had a Ford F150 with a 5.4l EFI engine with a 6 speed transmission. We towed a 26' Springdale fifth wheel and got about 8-9 MPG.



We now have a Ford F250 with a 6.7l diesel engine with a 6 speed transmission. We tow a 31' Cougar fifth wheel and get about 9-11 MPG.



I don't remember the solo mileage of that Dodge, but it wasn't great, maybe 12 ?? The F150 got about 15 and the F250 diesel gets about 18 in town and 22 or so on the highway.



The point of all this: Things haven't really changed in towing MPG in the past 40 years. Getting 8 or 9 MPG was and is about the "standard" for most gas engines through the years.

It’s funny how things don’t really change. I wasn’t expecting good mileage but I thought it would be better than 6.5. Guess I will have to deal with it for now.


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[notanlines]

I can't believe how many members in this thread are being reasonably truthful with their mileage. Usually when diesel mileages are discussed the Cummins are towing triple axle Raptors at 15 MPG and the Ford turbos are getting 30 at 70MPH. 6 and 7 MPG are very real numbers in the gas world and 9 to 11 in the diesel.

[SummitPond]

Originally Posted by RLo

...
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Query: What is this software? Good points/bad points? Does it communicate with the computer or only keep it on the phone? Thank you.

[C424]

Originally Posted by notanlines

I can't believe how many members in this thread are being reasonably truthful with their mileage. Usually when diesel mileages are discussed the Cummins are towing triple axle Raptors at 15 MPG and the Ford turbos are getting 30 at 70MPH. 6 and 7 MPG are very real numbers in the gas world and 9 to 11 in the diesel.

I don’t feel so bad about it now.


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[ctbruce]

I had a 1500 Silverado getting 6.5 average. Moved up to a 1 ton diesel and now get 11.5. I'm thrilled to death tow wise. I also get better on city and highway milage too.

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[RLo]

Originally Posted by ShacterShack

Query: What is this software? Good points/bad points? Does it communicate with the computer or only keep it on the phone? Thank you.

It is a phone app, my car fuel tracker by alpha app or something like that. I set it up to give me reminders on oil changes and fuel filter changes. I down loaded a few different ones and used them for a couple weeks and decided I liked this one the best

The only bad part I have found is I can look back and see how much money I spend on fuel a month. [emoji17]

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[theasphaltrv'er]

Compare my apple to your orange...Our '13 F-150 HD Ecoboost pulling our 26sab 5er will average 7.9-9.9 in the hills of Southwestern Colorado and 10.5-11.5 is perty typical for most all of our other towing travels. Truck does perty good when we stay away from the 8 - 10,000 ft elevations. That tubo likes to suck the gas. LOL

[SUnderwood]

here is mine at 62 mph

[busterbrown]

My 17 Ram 2500 6.4L gasser now has 12,000 miles on it and averages between 8-9 MPG on long distant trips at cruising speeds between 65-68 mph. I did squeak out 10.1 MPG on one tank (hand calculated) when traveling to Florida over the summer. The cooler night air mixed with a tail wind got me over 10 MPG, I believe. If speeds go slightly above 70 MPH, I can usually see a point deduction with fuel efficiency.

I'm happy as a clam if I average 9 MPGs when towing a 35 ft x 8 ft x 11 ft sail. My previous 1/2 ton TV never seen above 8 MPG's on the freeways towing the same trailer. I regularly see 17-18 MPG's on the freeway when not towing as these big Hemi's have cylinder deactivation.

I looked at buying a 2017 GMC 2500 gasser with the long running 6.0L iron block Vortec. Great engine, in service now since 2007. But, the RAM's just had a better suited interior for me and I couldn't walk away from a huge price adjustment for buying the dealer's demo unit with 3,000 miles. Plus, GMC and Chevy don't have 'MEGA' in their line up. My dad, a former 35 year skilled tradesman at GM, wasn't happy that I didn't remain loyal either.
---But, at least I didn't buy a F$#d, right?