fuel milage

[KMacnicol]

I have a friend who just purchased a 2005 Quad cab 3500 and we were wondering what kind of fuel milage he should be getting. He is towing a 24' racecar trailer(about 7000lbs) and running 65-70. He gets about 9-9. 5 mpg and is kind of dissapointed. He keeps comparing his truck to mine (see below)and does'nt understand the milage diff. . I am getting about 12-12. 5 running 70-75mph and towing a 28' trailer(11,5000lbs). Just wondering what kind of milage other people were getting? Thanks

 

[HCuervo]

I get around 13 mpg dragging a flatbed with a 1949 PW doing 70-75. We have a 200. 5

(April) 3500 Lariat, stock tires/wheels, 4. 01 gears, 6 speed manual.

 

[NLamke]

I got 12. 56 mpg towing around 9 to 10K this weekend. See sig for truck description.

 

[Scrappy]

I towed my empty flatbed (16x6. 5tag) about 250 mi. on the interstate running 75-80 and got 11. 25 MPG. What is amazing is the fact that I hauled a 3K lb car on the return trip and got the same mileage. speed kills mileage, even empty it affects mileage. Ican get 20 MPG if I keep it between 45-60 mph.

 

[DPKetchum]

12 mpg towing 10k never any faster then 70 mph.

 

[DaveHess]

I had to do a series of Interstate runs here in ND a couple of months ago so I decided to test mileage out and see what happenend at different speeds. The first trip was to Dickinson, ND. About a 180 round trip. Filled up before I left and immediately upon return. No load, cruise set at 75, 16 MPG. Next trip was to Jamestown, ND. Same everything including fill-up station except this time ran 65 on the cruise control. This trip was about 180 miles and at 65, got 19 MPG. Third trip was to Minot, ND. This trip was about 200 miles. No load, cruise set at 55, same station fill-up as the two previous runs. At 55 I got 24 MPG. Actually just shy of 25 (I don't have my notes in front of me. ) Went camping over Memorial Day. Four hour drive from Bismarck to Canadian border. Had a 35 MPH headwind so I locked out the O/D and got 9 MPG at 65 MPH. The trip home had no wind and ran 65 getting 11 MPG with O/D engaged. When hauling the race car on a 20' open hauler (5000 lbs) I get about 13. Anyhow, the short of it was there was a big difference between 55 and 75 in MPG. I don't see me spending a whole lot of time running around the country side at 55 MPH. I could do 65 though and get almost 20 MPG so..... Winds are usually a problem here in NoDak Land and that plays havoc with speed and trailering. Just my 2 cents.

 

[JeepRig]

I have a 4x4 AT 2500 and I get 14. 5 mpg empty around town.

Towing a trailer with a Jeep on it, aprox. 8000lbs, I only get 10mpg going about 70mph.

I have not done an empty run on the highway yet.

I too am a little disapointed in the mileage.

 

[BHolm]

First, give it some time to break in. I just turned 20k on my '05 and the milage, especially when towing has improved. I just pulled my 32" gooseneck flatbed empty 1400 miles. It is a triple axle and it probably goes 7000lbs empty. With the cruies set at 70 I was getting a steady 13 mpg. With the cruise set at 80 across Nebraska and a fair amount of wind, I was getting 10-11 mpg. Empty between 60-70 I can get 19-20mpg. My all around average, mostly lower speed highway type stuff I get 16-17mpg.



If I were him I would also expect a little better but, he may have to wait a bit for the truck to break-in. I would expect 12-13 with that load as well.

 

[DBond]

Went camping over Memorial Day. Four hour drive from Bismarck to Canadian border. Had a 35 MPH headwind so I locked out the O/D and got 9 MPG at 65 MPH. The trip home had no wind and ran 65 getting 11 MPG with O/D engaged.

Dave



On the camping trip, were you pulling something? I didn't see anything mentioned.

 

[DaveHess]

Sorry DBond! I guess that would be an important thing to mention... duh! It has been one of those days! But to answer your question, yes, we were towing our 26' Springdale Travel Trailer. It weighs in about 4990 when loaded for camping so I am guessing she was at or a little above as I forgot that I had filled the water tank so probably closer to 5200 lbs. Still no match for the CTD but throw that 35 MPH winds in our face and it was a sustained wind. I kid you not. I let the truck shift into and out of O/D twice and decided that was enough. Even those two up shift/downshifts took place in a ten-minute period. In other words she was staying in 3rd all by herself and trying to go to O/D but could not sustain it so I locked it out and backed down the speed to 65. That was a ridiculously tough tow in those winds. The roads through central ND I would characterize as flat to rolling hills. Nothing brutal. My trans temp never exceeded 140 but then again I installed everything before joining TDR and am currently measuring Trans temp from the pan. Engine temp also never exceeded 200 most of the time laying over the 2 in 200. I guess the "ram air" was good for cooling. Hope that clears that up!!!

 

[KMacnicol]

Thanks Guys, This gives me something to tell him. I agree that it will get better after he get a few miles on it. I wonder if any performace upgrades would help?

 

[Grizzly]

Best way to increase your fuel milage is to lie about it, that's what my brother-in-law does about his Furd, which he says gets 18 mpg pulling a 28' 5er with a V-10 gasser.

 

[JeffJackson]

I get between 7. 5 and 9 mpg pulling a 10,000lb toy hauler at 65-75. The 7. 5 mpg was climbing from Phoenix to Flagstaff, which includes a 10 mile long 6% grade. There's a 6,000 ft total climb in ~120 miles. The 9mpg number was flat ground with a tailwind. Unloaded I've seen as high as 18mpg.

 

[Cattletrkr]

When mine was new I was getting around 9mpg pulling heavy. Took about 6K for it to loosen up. Mileage went up to around 11. Give it some time and it will go up. Don't baby that thing either. Ya ain't gonna break it in by shifting at 2000rpm...



Edit: 11mpg doesn't sound like much but that's as good as I'll get, maybe 12 if I'm lucky. 04. 5 gets same mileage stock as '01 did with EZ.

 

[Tony T.]

Best way to increase your fuel milage is to lie about it, that's what my brother-in-law does about his Furd, which he says gets 18 mpg pulling a 28' 5er with a V-10 gasser.

I still like the one guy I ran into a couple years ago at the convience store. I had pulled up on the side of the store in my truck where you could not see it, he right in front of the store with his truck like mine except it was a longbed pulling a 25ft gooseneck dovetail trailer. I ask him how he was liking his Dodge/Cummins and his reply was "I love it" I'm getting 25 mpg pulling that gooseneck trailer and only got 3K miles on the truck so far. Wow! want to trade trucks.



Tony

 

[FJfonda]

See sig for empty MPG. Towing 12,000 boat/trailer 65-70mpg 8 mpg. Pretty dissapointing. Currently at 23,000 miles and mpg's are about the same as new.

 

[JStraw]

In all honesty, I find all the hype about fuel mileage to be a tad silly. These aren't Honda insights. :-laf These be work trucks. Oo. And they get the job done.

 

[BHolm]

In all honesty, I find all the hype about fuel mileage to be a tad silly. These aren't Honda insights. :-laf These be work trucks. Oo. And they get the job done.

Agreed, Anyone who expects big numbers is missing the point. Try pulling the loads with a V10 or 8100 gaser some time and see what kind of milage you get. For the incredible amount of power these trucks make and kind of loads they can handle I think even 10 mpg loaded is spectacular. That is what I used to get empty with my 3/4ton 4x4 454 Suburban The fact that I can get 17-18 empty makes this near 8000 lb 4x4 truck just about my best milage maker. (no honda insight or toyota prius at my house :-laf )



I do think it is applicable to ask about economy though as a method of determining whether or not you might have a problem that needs fixing. If you are way off everybody else, either there is an issue with the truck, or your driving style.

 

[JStraw]

I do think it is applicable to ask about economy though as a method of determining whether or not you might have a problem that needs fixing. If you are way off everybody else, either there is an issue with the truck, or your driving style.

Driving style????? :-laf Shouldn't the right foot always be planted to the floor? Good Point.

 

[mberry]

... I do think it is applicable to ask about economy though as a method of determining whether or not you might have a problem that needs fixing. If you are way off everybody else, either there is an issue with the truck, or your driving style.

Also do not forget that the drivetrain in these trucks does seem to make a difference in stock form. I believe a bomed auto transmission will net you better fuel mileage than the stock auto. Then there is driving conditions, terrain, temperature, vehicle conditions, etc... and it all factors in.