Towing & Hauling

gas milage for towing

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Old Aug 18, 2008 | 08:36 PM
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ademartin1's Avatar
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From: western ny
gas milage for towing

i was wondering what milage u get while towing. i made a 192 mile round trip today 96 empty and 96 towing a 4500ish pound trailer and i averaged over all8.75mpg it was mostley highway. i can understand that if i had been loaded the entire time but bot for only half
 
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Old Aug 18, 2008 | 08:37 PM
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From: western ny
o by the way i ussaly get almost 14mpg mixed, its a 5.4 with a 3.73 axle and the 7700 package
 
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Old Aug 18, 2008 | 08:46 PM
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From: watson lake, yukon, canada
did your towing part consist of a head wind or alot of inclines. probably in 3rd alot too. seems a little low, but without knowing the variables, it's hard too say. i have the heavy duty version also with the 7 lug rims and 4.10 gears. i only get 13-14 on the highway empty haven't checked my towing mileage yet, as i don't tow often.
 
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Old Aug 18, 2008 | 09:32 PM
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Seems low

Originally Posted by ademartin1
i was wondering what milage u get while towing. i made a 192 mile round trip today 96 empty and 96 towing a 4500ish pound trailer and i averaged over all8.75mpg it was mostley highway. i can understand that if i had been loaded the entire time but bot for only half
A few weeks back I did a 298 mile trip UP into the Mountains uphill all the way topping off at 8,500 feet with my travel trailer. Up and back I had a combined total of 11.5 mpg and that was really working to get up but easy comming down. On one grade that topped at 8,743 ft I had it floored in second at 48 mph it wound not go up or down just stayed at 45 mph.
I am leaving on a long trip to seattle in a few weeks and will keep a detailed log of my mileage when towing and post when I get back.
 
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Old Aug 18, 2008 | 11:32 PM
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if you were averaging over 70 mph then thats where all your fuel went.
 
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Old Aug 18, 2008 | 11:40 PM
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Just towed a ~4,500lb. travel trailer 400 miles from Buffalo to central NJ last week. Average speed maybe 60-65 mph considering all the hill climbs along I-90 E and I-81 S. Averaged 11.5 mpg with 4.6L motor with 3.55 rear, O/D off. Not too bad. Not too fast, either! :-)
 
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Old Aug 19, 2008 | 02:44 AM
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Smile Must be nice !!

Originally Posted by F150NJ
Just towed a ~4,500lb. travel trailer 400 miles from Buffalo to central NJ last week. Average speed maybe 60-65 mph considering all the hill climbs along I-90 E and I-81 S. Averaged 11.5 mpg with 4.6L motor with 3.55 rear, O/D off. Not too bad. Not too fast, either! :-)
Must not be many MOUNTAINS Back east. Nice job and at 65 mph! WoW. I wonder what I would get towing that route?
 
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Old Aug 19, 2008 | 08:17 AM
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Originally Posted by skyhikr
Must not be many MOUNTAINS Back east. Nice job and at 65 mph! WoW. I wonder what I would get towing that route?
Mountains? No, not like you have out west. My truck was working hard, though. On the steepest climbs where there was a climbing lane and all of the 18-wheelers were in it with me, I was pulling 45mph in second gear. That was it-- 45mph, no more, no less. That's where the truck seemed comfortable, where the coolant temp was stable, etc. On the flats I could do 65+, but tried to keep it in the 60-65 range.

Now that I'm towing, my next truck will be an F350, either V10 or diesel, but for now this one gets the job done if I drive it within its limits.
 
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Old Aug 19, 2008 | 09:08 AM
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Speed makes a HUGE difference. A large frontal area on a travel trailer or toy hauler is whats using the gas. Empty or full (weight) makes almost no difference. As an example. I pulled my empty ~3800lb trailer home doing 70-75 and averaged 7mpg. I then did a trip loaded to ~7500 lbs. Going 65mph I averaged 9 mpg. If I drop it to 60 mph I can immediately see a mpg increase on the scan guage, I just have a hard time going that slow though.

I really like 65 towing the big trailer. I can sit in the right lane and hardly ever have to slow down or pass around people. Also, you can usually catch a good draft from a trucker. Keeping it locked in 3rd gear the engine can maintain 60-65 on all but the steepest hills. Plus that's the trailer's recommended speed limit so it seems like a good safe speed (can't remember if that's the axles or the tires -maybe both?)
 
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Old Aug 21, 2008 | 11:39 AM
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Towing my 7200 lbs 33' travel trailer, I get an average of 7.5 MPG. That's pretty consistent whether I'm going 25 miles up a local foothill, or going 250+ miles to Las Vegas. Highway speed is usually 65 MPH.

Like robertmII said, the large frontal area of a travel trailer is killer on mileage.
 
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Old Aug 23, 2008 | 01:36 PM
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We just got back from a 2300 mile vacation towing the travel trailer to Redwoods, Yosemite, Lake Tahoe, Lassen, Shasta, Crater, etc.

Total over all miles was 11 mpg which was an improvement of 0.5 mpg over last year's 3500 mile trip to Grand Canyon, Colorado, Wyoming, etc.

Loaded, our travel trailer comes in at 6,000 lbs. measured at the axles (not including tongue weight). Any kind of headwind hitting at any angle on the front quarters (any direction from about 10 o'clock to 2 o'clock) drops the mpg down right away. I could really feel it this trip. I can only get 9 or 10 mpg with a headwind.

But I had several day with 12 mpg and even one with over 13. So we were pretty happy with the new intake and the Edge... the add ons since last year's tow.
 
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Old Aug 23, 2008 | 02:43 PM
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The best I have ever got was 9, going up hill or down.
 
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Old Aug 27, 2008 | 07:15 PM
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I get 9.6 - 9.8 towing with my Screw.
2007 KR 4x4, 5.4l, 3.73 axles, towing an 18' flatbed with Jeep TJ on it.
 
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Old Aug 31, 2008 | 02:49 PM
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Got roughly 10.0 MPG towing 7500 Lbs boat and trailer 320 miles round trip Seattle to Ilwaco I thinks thats pretty ok considering
 
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Old Aug 31, 2008 | 11:48 PM
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i towed a fully loaded 6X10 enclosed trailer from IL to PA (don't know how much the trailer and stuff weighs) and i got about 8 mpg on the highway averaging around 70-75mph
 
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