What does your tow rig get for gas mileage?

[HiTempguy1]

Similar to the 4x4 thread, I would be curious to hear beyonders real world experience with their towing mpg. I'm thinking a format as follows:

Truck:
Engine:
Transmission:
Rear axle ratio:
Tire size:
weight of truck (including people and stuff in the bed):
total weight of trailer:
towing speed:
modifications

Example-

Truck: 2004 GMC Crew Cab
Engine: 5.3L
Transmission: 4 speed auto
Rear Axle ratio: 4.10
Tire Size: 265/70R17
Weight of truck: 6000lb (truck curb 5500, tools and humans 500lb)
Total Weight of Trailer: 5800lbs
Towing speed: 103km/h
Modifications: intake, 87 octane tune
Mileage: 15.5usmpg/ 15L/100km

Filled up at Airdrie, drove to the north end of Edmonton and then back to the south end, all highway. Blew my mind to hit that sort of mileage towing :o

Edit-
Doh! Typed this out on my phone, apparently missed the mpg

[Darell_n]

Don't you want the mileage listed or is it for everyone to guess?

[Darell_n]

Truck: 2014 Dodge Crew Cab 4x4
Engine: 5.7L
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Rear axle ratio: 3.92
Tire size: 20" factory rubber
weight of truck (including people and stuff in the bed): 6300 lbs
total weight of trailer: 2000 lbs
towing speed:110 km/h
modifications: nada
Avg mileage: 14.0 L/100k normal towing, window sticker highway rated at 9.6

[Darell_n]

Originally posted by HiTempguy1

Filled up at Airdrie, drove to the north end of Edmonton and then back to the south end, all highway. Blew my mind to hit that sort of mileage towing :o

How about back to Calgary? I always get better mileage going to Edmonton than back, due to prevailing wind and altitude difference. Depending on wind direction, my truck will tow anywhere between 10.0 and 18.0 L/100k on the same road, same speed.

[Tik-Tok]

Truck: 1977 Ford F250 Ranger XLT 4x4 (Highboy)
Engine: 460
Transmission: 3-speed
Rear axle ratio: 4.10
Tire size: 35's
weight of truck (including people and stuff in the bed): 5700 lbs
total weight of trailer: 6600 lbs
towing speed:110 km/h
modifications: Just the 35's
Avg mileage: 23.5 L/100kms.

[01RedDX]

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[Tik-Tok]

Originally posted by 01RedDX


Sweet. Is your trailer a vintage/retro unit as well? I've always wanted a retro truck/trailer combo.

That's the plan, but right now I've only towed car-haulers/cars. (which I suppose does skew the mileage a little, since it's more aerodynamic than a recreational trailer)

We're going to pick up a post '74 Airstream at some point in the future.

Edit: A little something we saw camping in Pembina a few years ago too.

» Click image for larger version

» Click image for larger version

[01RedDX]

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[legendboy]

I avg about 20l/100k towing my 8500 or 8900lb 30' bumper pull trail cruiser.
That's with an 05 duramax

14 in the city

[C_Dave45]

Just stumbled on this thread now. Interesting.
When you guys figure out your mileage, do you just use your trucks computer? And do you reset the mileage field when you hook up your trailer?
Or do you actually fill up the tank...drive for awhile, then fill it again and check against the odometer and litres?

Anyways. My Truck gets about 10 mpg (Imperial) or 28 l/100 when I'm towing.

Normal highway driving without trailer is about 17 mpg or 17 l/100.

'06 Suburban with 6.0 engine.

[Cos]

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[SOAB]

Truck: 2014 F150
Engine: 3.5L Ecoboost
Transmission: 6 speed auto
Rear axle ratio: 3.73 LSD
Tire size:275/65/18 E-rated tires
weight of truck (including people and stuff in the bed): 6200lbs
total weight of trailer: 7200lbs
towing speed: 100kph - 120 kph
modifications: none

I get about 26L/100kms while towing and 14L/100kms in city.

[spike98]

Truck: 2015 Ram Sport
Engine: 5.7L V8
Transmission: 8 speed auto
Rear Axle ratio: 3.92
Tire Size: Factory 20's
Weight of truck: 6500lbs ish loaded for camping w/kids quad and extra water (Curb is 5508lbs)
Total Weight of Trailer: Full Camp Load about 6700lbs (Dry is 5306lbs)
Towing speed: 100km/hr-110km/hr
Modifications: Stock
Mileage: 15L/100km-19L/100km depending on speed and grade

I drove from Medicine Hat to Ione,Wa through the kootney pass and averaged 17L/100km for the trip. I was blown away on how the Ram handled the big hill.

[C_Dave45]

Originally posted by spike98
Truck: 2015 Ram Sport
Engine: 5.7L V8
Transmission: 8 speed auto
Rear Axle ratio: 3.92
Tire Size: Factory 20's
Weight of truck: 6500lbs ish loaded for camping w/kids quad and extra water (Curb is 5508lbs)
Total Weight of Trailer: Full Camp Load about 6700lbs (Dry is 5306lbs)
Towing speed: 100km/hr-110km/hr
Modifications: Stock
Mileage: 15L/100km-19L/100km depending on speed and grade

I drove from Medicine Hat to Ione,Wa through the kootney pass and averaged 17L/100km for the trip. I was blown away on how the Ram handled the big hill.

See, I find this unbelievable. I've never heard of anyone getting 17 mpg's and more, towing with a gas powered truck. I mean ANYONE...and I'm on an RV forum with nothing but serious full time rv pullers. (typical RV towing mileage)

Do you reset your trucks mileage computer when you started towing?? (So that initially it will read 99.9 l/100 and quickly drop as you drive?)
My son said he was getting this kind of mileage but he wasn't resetting the computer. So the computer was taking the average mileage all the way back to the last time it was reset, which doesn't give an accurate reading of the tow mileage.

The only time I've seen that kind of mileage is with a big diesel. Everyone I know always averages around 8-11 mpg's (IMP) when towing a fairly large rig. (over 25', or around 5000 lbs and up). Both of my trucks averaged this mileage.

The most accurate way to determine gas mileage is fill your tank to full. Set your tripometer. Drive until you've used up a good portion of your tank, at least 3/4 of a tank, and then fill up again. Divide by mileage covered. I find the trip computers always give a higher reading than what was actual. The more consecutive tanks you do this with, the more accurate it will be.

[spike98]

Originally posted by C_Dave45


See, I find this unbelievable. I've never heard of anyone getting 17 mpg's and more, towing with a gas powered truck. I mean ANYONE...and I'm on an RV forum with nothing but serious full time rv pullers. (typical RV towing mileage)

Do you reset your trucks mileage computer when you started towing?? (So that initially it will read 99.9 l/100 and quickly drop as you drive?)
My son said he was getting this kind of mileage but he wasn't resetting the computer. So the computer was taking the average mileage all the way back to the last time it was reset, which doesn't give an accurate reading of the tow mileage.

The only time I've seen that kind of mileage is with a big diesel. Everyone I know always averages around 8-11 mpg's (IMP) when towing a fairly large rig. (over 25', or around 5000 lbs and up). Both of my trucks averaged this mileage.

The most accurate way to determine gas mileage is fill your tank to full. Set your tripometer. Drive until you've used up a good portion of your tank, at least 3/4 of a tank, and then fill up again. Divide by mileage covered. I find the trip computers always give a higher reading than what was actual. The more consecutive tanks you do this with, the more accurate it will be.

This was calculated by hand and verified with a reset fuel counter. The math doesn't lie. 121L of fuel consumed. 692km one way. I did better on the flat highway and terrible through the pass. Calculated and trip computer were pretty close (computer rounds to whole number).

Also, check the very first post. Similar numbers. So obviously my Ram isn't ran on unicorns.

EDIT: Just realized you said 17MPG or more. My marth is in L/100km. Converted is 13.45MPG

[C_Dave45]

Originally posted by spike98


This was calculated by hand and verified with a reset fuel counter. The math doesn't lie. 121L of fuel consumed. 692km one way. I did better on the flat highway and terrible through the pass. Calculated and trip computer were pretty close (computer rounds to whole number).

Also, check the very first post. Similar numbers. So obviously my Ram isn't ran on unicorns.

EDIT: Just realized you said 17MPG or more. My marth is in L/100km. Converted is 13.45MPG

Well, that's amazing then. Your getting almost what your truck is supposed to get without towing anything, in the city.
I'm extremely jealous. When going up a hill, I am getting almost 40 L/100. Averages out for a trip of about 28 L/100. (Same as Cos)

I was saying 17 mpg's IMPERIAL. I never refer to mpg's in US gallons. Always imperial. Why would anyone in Canada refer to US mpg's, when we've never used the US gallon?


17 L/100 is 16.6 mpg's

http://www.checkyourmath.com/convert..._per_100km.php

Tik Tok, Cos and Soab seem to get similar to what I and most other RV towers confirm for typical towing mileage. Just you and HiTemp claim ~15 L/100. Just is unbelievable, that's all.

2015 Dodge Ram Sport w/5.7 rated at 17.7 L/100 City. That's under the best case scenario, without towing anything. and you got better than that towing a 7,000 lb trailer?

[revelations]

Im going through the same process with my V10 F250, calculating proper mileage even with the stock computer system is not recommended by owners - then add new diffs and non-stock tires and things can get really bad.

I would recommend using a GPS (on the highway) to measure mileage. Obviously in the city its not going to be as accurate.

[Kavy]

Originally posted by C_Dave45


See, I find this unbelievable. I've never heard of anyone getting 17 mpg's and more, towing with a gas powered truck. I mean ANYONE...and I'm on an RV forum with nothing but serious full time rv pullers. (typical RV towing mileage)

Do you reset your trucks mileage computer when you started towing?? (So that initially it will read 99.9 l/100 and quickly drop as you drive?)
My son said he was getting this kind of mileage but he wasn't resetting the computer. So the computer was taking the average mileage all the way back to the last time it was reset, which doesn't give an accurate reading of the tow mileage.

The only time I've seen that kind of mileage is with a big diesel. Everyone I know always averages around 8-11 mpg's (IMP) when towing a fairly large rig. (over 25', or around 5000 lbs and up). Both of my trucks averaged this mileage.

The most accurate way to determine gas mileage is fill your tank to full. Set your tripometer. Drive until you've used up a good portion of your tank, at least 3/4 of a tank, and then fill up again. Divide by mileage covered. I find the trip computers always give a higher reading than what was actual. The more consecutive tanks you do this with, the more accurate it will be.

His numbers dont seem out of wack IMO. Here are my results for the entire summer (11 trips)

Truck: 2013 Ram Bighorn
Engine: 5.7L V8 Hemi
Transmission: 8 speed auto
Rear Axle ratio: 3.92
Tire Size: 285/55/20
Weight of truck: 6200lbs loaded approx
Total Weight of Trailer: 6100lbs loaded (Dry is 4700lbs) Dual wide axle.
Towing speed:Average 110km/hr
Modifications: Stock
Mileage: 19.4L/100km over a total of 4650km's *calculated with fuely and not by my trucks computer.

When not going through the hills (like heading to Mclean and Rattlesnake) I saw 18.1L/100km on the 3 trips I made to those campgrounds this year.
As I posted in the other thread I used my Dad's 2014 ecoboost on one trip to Bluerock and used 34 more litres of fuel for the almost the same distance (Drove 47km more with the Ford). Now there is multiple possibilities for this like tire inflation, temperature and speed but thats a rather large variance.

[TurboMedic]

Truck: 2014 Jeep Grand Cherokee Overland
Engine: 3.0 Ecodiesel
Transmission: 8spd ZF auto
Rear axle ratio: 3.45
Tire size: 265/50/20
weight of truck (including people and stuff in the bed): 5400 lbs
total weight of trailer: 5800 lbs
towing speed: 110-115
Mileage: 16 L/100km (~15MPG)

[Kavy]

^ love the diesel