Towing millage

[Sandmancw]

Just got back from a trip to Gatlinburg,TN. My millage was worse than expected. I am towing a 2,000# enclosed trailer with a 800 # Harley inside. . Steel, A nose WW trailer. 8' foot tall. Truck is as described in sig. Got from 13-14. 5 mpg, depending on the wind. I was expecting a little better, maybe 16-17. Not much of a load. Am I about average or should I have gotten better mpg.

Thanks,

Sandmancw

P. S. I have about 6,000 miles on the truck. Speed was 60-70 with OD on.

 

[Fireman Dave]

Sandman,



How many miles are on your truck? It will improve some with break-in. I assume you towed with OD on? If not, that would have an affect. I averaged 10. 5 mpg on a 5,000+ towing trip in June. I towed with OD off. My trailer is pretty big, but not too heavy (about 6k). I really believe wind resistance of the trailer and the wind conditions (cross/head winds) are big mpg factors.



Dave

 

[plntmgr]

I would think you should be getting better. I towed a 32' Sierra 5er for 3 yrs. at generally level terrain and averaged 12 to 12. 5 mpg. I keep it around 60 mph. How fast were you going?



'98. 5 2500 Auto 355.



New (untowed) Alpenlite 32' 5er.

 

[roadranger]

My rig is 11'6" tall and towing a GCW of 18,000 lbs. I get 12. 5-13 mpg at 65 mph cruise.



Take away the trailer, it's 13. 5-14. 5 mpg.



It's not the weight so much, it's the wind resistance.

 

[chuck3]

A Little Low.

It seems a little low to me, I get 12 to 16 towing my TT at about 7k. But I do tow a lot in OD roads and traffic permiting.

 

[MOWPAR]

A few weeks ago I did a tow close to the same weight and size as yours from Pensacola FL to Harve de Grace MD, about 2K round trip. On one tank I averaged 17 mpg and for the whole trip I averaged about 14. My truck only had 900 mi on it when we left and I ran 65-70 in OD most of the way.



Jim

 

[tgbol]

During the summer I took a ten day trip towing an open car trailer at 6000#. the trip was 1804 miles 1500 of which were towing. Towing speed was 70mph most of the time. Mileage was 15. 4 for the entire trip. Maybe the resistance of your box could be holding your mileage down.

 

[LSMITH]

I don't think that is all that bad. My boat is maybe 2K pounds and it gets me down around 16. 5-17 and it has nowhere near the frontal area of your trailer. Speed is the biggest factor I have found, slow down and the mileage will come up a lot.

 

[FFutch]

mileage

When I pulled my brothers 26' tagalong with the Buell in the back I dropped to 11 mpg. Of course the trailer was 10ft. high and 8ft. wide(this thing was like a sail)and we were running 75-80. My brother fell in love with my truck after pulling this trailer with a 1500 2wd. He couldn't believe how the trailer didn't budge my truck (even in windy conditions). Said this thing shoved his truck all over the road. I think his next truck will be a C. T. D. . Doug

 

[Big K]

Not The Weight

In my opinion, the truck doesn't notice the weight much until it reaches about 5k. I tow a 7x14 enclosed trailer 3-4 days/week. Gross is 3-3. 5k. Towing this trailer impacts my mileage significantly more than flat-towing my jeep, which weighs slightly more. Truck, with canopy, breaks air for the jeep, and you don't even know it's there. Trailer is nearly 2 ft. taller than canopy, and provides a lot of resistance.



Truck empty- Daily 16 mpg

Hwy 18. 5 mpg



Truck w/trailer- Daily 13. 5 mpg

Hwy 15 mpg



Truck flat-towing Jeep-Hwy 17 mpg



I think you're doing fine, and that your mileage should improve as you near 10-12k mi.

 

[barrfishe1]

Last trip I got 13. 1 with 3000 lb Lance camper towing 5000 lb of race car on open trailer at about 65 mph (the 5000 lb is the weight of the race car AND the trailer)

 

[MCummings]

Originally posted by Sandmancw

Just got back from a trip to Gatlinburg,TN. My millage was worse than expected. I am towing a 2,000# enclosed trailer with a 800 # Harley inside. . Steel, A nose WW trailer. 8' foot tall. Truck is as described in sig. Got from 13-14. 5 mpg, depending on the wind. I was expecting a little better, maybe 16-17. Not much of a load. Am I about average or should I have gotten better mpg.

Thanks,

Sandmancw

P. S. I have about 6,000 miles on the truck. Speed was 60-70 with OD on.

Just be glad you didn't buy a D-Max, I was reading on the D-Max site that a guy was peaking 24MPG(26?) empty,, trying his best for good MPG. ok, It's possible, for him.



Best MPG with our Dodge, 24. 5MPG (on half a tank)

Best MPG with our D-Max, 14MPG (~100 highway miles)



Worst MPG with our Dodge, 9MPG (Broken exhaust manifold, intercooler leaks, Lift pump @ 0PSI and VP44 almost dead)



Worst MPG with D-Max, 7. 5MPG Towing 20K around 70MPH.



Towing same trailer, a 25' gooseneck, Tandem axle dually, with dovetail. (between 19K-25K)

Dodge got between 12-17MPG

D-Max from 8-12MPG



MerrickNJr



P. S. D-Max is 5-speed auto with 3. 73 rear, Dodge is 5-speed manual, with 3. 54 rear. Both 1-ton QC 2wd equipped nearly identical. (CD,Tape, FM/AM, Power seat, Power windows, etc. etc. )

 

[Eric_77]

Well I have the better 12valve motor so mileage does differ a bit but here goes.



Trailer sits 33' long 8'6" wide and with total height at 11'9" GCVW 19190 2256 miles towing Dallas - Daytona and return 162. 6 gallons for a combined mileage of 13. 8 some sections we had head wind and MPG dropped to 12. 7 but most was flat and windless best we saw was 14. 4 for one tank I want to say from Mobile to Pensacola (Tallahasse?) I ran each tank with only one stop between fill-ups and ran consistent 68MPH on speedo actual 65 (discovered using one of those construction signs that says speed limit ## your speed XX). so figuring odometer is off by 4% then actual mileage is 13. 2MPG.



I think non stop and consistent speeds you are about right on mileage the mountain roads up around Gatlinburg probably dropped you a bit. I would assume you are only 6' wide and most likely single axle and 8' is overall height not interior. I have a similar trailer to that I pull when I am only taking 3 bikes. 6x10x6 with overall height just over 7' total GCVW ~10k. With that trailer I go about 475 miles on a tank (most tracks are less distance so that is approx) and run alittle faster ~70 fill up being about 30 gallons so about 15. 8mpg I would think with reduced weight you should get to 16mpg without problem as the engine breaks in.

 

[Sandmancw]

Towing Mileage

Thanks everyone for your responses. I think maybe I was expecting too much with such few miles on.

Hopefully the mileage will increase with time.

Sandmancw

 

[Deezul1]

I just finished a 3700 mile trip pulling a travel trailer, not a fifth wheel, and averaged 14. 3 for the whole trip. About 350 was no trailer. The difference between 67mph and 63 mph is about 2mpg. we ran at 64mph most of the time and the worst mileage was a whole day of head winds and got 10. 5 at 64mph

 

[Prostock]

Originally posted by tgbol

During the summer I took a ten day trip towing an open car trailer at 6000#. the trip was 1804 miles 1500 of which were towing. Towing speed was 70mph most of the time. Mileage was 15. 4 for the entire trip. Maybe the resistance of your box could be holding your mileage down.

Same with me and I usually get 16. 5 - 17mpg.