towing mileage

[coloradoguide]

I have a 2003 dmax crew cab, and I pull a travel trailer that weighs about 9000lbs. The mileage computer on the truck says that I am averaging 8.2 mpg going east on route 80 from Erie PA to NYC. It is hilly and I was running about 70MPH most of the time, but mileage seems low to me. Truck is stock except stack pipe exhaust and K&N filter. Please advise.

[Bullseye54]

Thats what I get towing my 11000lb 5th wheel at 70mph.Supposed to improve after you get some miles on it.I have over 16000 now and am still waiting.But I bought it to tow with & man does it tow!

[3-Fan]

With my 10,000# 5th wheel and all the other junk I carry, I have been getting about 13.0 mpg on 6 trips from Columbus, OH down through the West Virgina Turnpike on I-77 into Tenn. and North Carolina (pretty mountainous.) These have been in in early March, May and August. On the colder trips I get mid 12's (winter blend of fuel) and on the summer trips I get mid to upper 13's. I don't push it too hard and usually keep at or below the speed limit. Adding my secondary fuel filter for this last trip jumped me up to 2 tanks slightly over 14 mpg.

I am running Hot Juice on level 2, Amsoil Air Filter, and Banks Monster Exhaust.

Give it some time to break and and I'm sure things will increase for you.

[Maxter]

I've noticed that mileage drops really fast over 60 mph. The weight of what I tow doesn't realy matter,; I get the same mileage between 8,000# and 15,000#, the wind drag is VERY important.

Think about towing a 50# parachute over 600 miles!

Keep it around 1800-2000 rpm in 5th and do what you can to slice thru the air!

The "real" mileage numbers don't come before 10,000 miles.

[jjackson]

3-FAN, those are great MPG numbers you are getting. I tow a 13K 5th wheel w/basically the same truck as yours although I haven't upgraded the exhaust or added the juice (yet). I'm only getting around 9 mpg most of the time, w/about 11K miles on it.

Do you still have the stock tires, and are you manually computing your mileage, or going by the computer? I'm seriously contemplating doing the exhaust upgrade next, then perhaps the juice.

John

[3-Fan]

JJ-Dmax,

Those numbers are all calculated by hand, well speadsheet I should say. I am still using stock tires. I do exactly like Maxter said and try to keep it in overdrive as much as I can. It's a little easier to keep it in overdrive alot more when you have the Juice installed. Another thing I make sure is that all my tire pressures are where they need to be. Too little or too much can certainally kill your milage.

By the way, I have had 2 tanks (greater than 20 gallons used) that have averaged over 24 mpg.

[jjackson]

3-Fan, thanks for the reply, I do try to only run around 62 mph or so, and it does hold reasonably well in 5th, and yes, I carry a compressor and generator w/me, so I try to keep everything air'd up to spec. I am carrying 2-3K more weight, but hopefully the future mod's will make a difference. One other thing might be that my unit is about 12ft. 3in. high in the front, so I'm also pushing a ton of air. I borrowed a friends "wing" once, and that seemed to give me about a 1.5 average mpg improvement. I've never checked the mpg empty, as I only use the truck for towing the 5'r, so towing performance and economy is my goal.

Thanks again, John

[3-Fan]

JJ-Dmax ,

My camper is only about 11'-4" high out front.

Most people don't think those vented 5th wheel tailgates do much good, but I have to disagree. Seems like there is alot of air that goes through that gate that would otherwise be being stopped by the solid gate. It vents the air down out of the gate and right under the camper then.

I bought a wing, but never have got around to buildign a frame to mount it. Don't really wanna mount it to the roof of the truck. Sounds like a good winter project to me.

[DIESELMAX403]

I pull an 8000# trailer that is ~10.5' tall. I am getting about 9 mpg traveling between 65-70 mph. My truck currently has 10,500 miles on the odometer. Wind drag is my main factor. I can tell where the air is coming off my cab and hitting my trailer based on the dead bug line. It basically hits the trailer mid height and then is redirected almost straight up most likely with turbulent flow.

Unloaded, I get about 18.5-19.0 mpg with 50% highway/50% city driving. From this mileage, I gather that my truck is probably OK.

If I got a wing and slowed down to 60-65 mph, I bet I could probably get about 12 mpg. But for the 12 times a year that I tow, I will probably just pay for the extra gas with and not worry about it.

[ibelyea]

Running with my 11,000 5th wheel that stands 12', I get 10 mpg. That is in the mountains or the flat lands east of the Mississipi. Best I got is 13 in Michigan with a 20 mph tail wind. Worst was in Mt, ND with a 40 MPH head wind. I hold the speed to 60-65 or about 1900 rpm and hold my egt below 1200. On long mountain pulls, I get 24PSI and 1200 at level 2. It goes to 25PSI and 1400 in level 4. I stay away from this setting. Best mileage ever was 21 unloaded. I do live in mountain country and average 17 MPG unloaded around town.
For towing, I run level 2 on standard Edge with 4" exhaust and it pulls like a raped ape. No mountain pass has slowed me yet and I have traveled cross-country 5 times. I do not believe that anything will improve my mileage over 10 other than a deflector and the cost doesn't seem to justify the improvement.

[DMAXTER]

Pulling my 12K+, 11'+ high, 100" wide 5th wheel with my `02 Dmax between Chicago area and Virgina and back my mileage ranged between 11 and 13. Travel was typically at the speed limit and mostly on Interstates. Truck has 20K+ miles on it and engine is stock except addition of Cat fuel filter.

Owen

[Very Old Dog]

Well...I tow a 23ft Trail-Lite travel trailer. It weighs approximately 4600lbs loaded for weekend use. I generally get 15.5 mpg computed the old fashion way: math. The vehicle is never under stress and never downshifts going along the free way no matter the terrain. I use to get 11 to 13 mpg with my Dodge Cummins 3500 towing a 35ft fifth wheel weighing in at about 14,000lbs. This Dodge was heavily modified and a towing beast.

[jjackson]

Regarding the vented tail gates, 3-Fan may have a good point, as I have a 3/8" thick heavy mat in my bed for protection, and the first time I towed w/it installed, the air turbulence was actually raising the mat up off the floor by about a foot at the tailgait. Since then I have purchased a load retaining expansion rod and place it at the bottom of the bed at the tail gate area to keep the mat in place.

I think I'll consider trying the vented gate for my next pull.

John

[MAD-MAX]

hay Dieselmax
i bet i know why your arn,t getting great mileage.
HA HA !!!

:mad: I will probably just pay for the extra gas with and not worry about it.

[Scott Duprey]

I pull a very large Travel Supreme fiver and get 8 to 9 miles to the gallon and a good wind will bring that down. I run about 72 mph. I pull 3 times a month camping. I should mention it is a 3500 with @40,000 miles on it. No improvement with age. NONE!

I did get better with my 2500hd duramax/allison then I do now. I guess a trade off for 6 on the road and being safer.

I just muster up to the pump and smile, oh and I always lie when a dod** an f**d diesel guy asks me about milage. He, he.

Love my truck and love it pulling and oh yeah. I am a not pulling during the winter months. That is way more then my nerves can handle.

Next summer I will be on Mobil 1 AFT and systhetic engine oil. Well see if that helps any.

[andrewfessler]

When I pull a 26ft flat bed with 5-8k on it I get around 9-10 MPG in the local area. Based on the computer.

I just made a Thanksgiving trip from Ohio to NC via VA. I didn't pull anything, but I did have about 900 lbs in the truck with a tonneau cover. My trip avg on the way down was 19 Mpg. On the way back, I was playing with a F350 for prolly 100 miles. The return trip avg was about 17.

I love my truck and wouldnt go back to a 6.5 or gasser. Its got 10k miles on it.

[bluenote]

The absolute worst mileage I've seen towing my high-profile 5er (about 17K GCW) is 10 mpg. This was hammering it through several decent grades and quite a bit of time in 4th gear. This was also at about 20K on the truck. With over 50K now, it pulls a little better and holds OD well if I don't get in too much of a hurry.

[JMJORDAN]

This summer I pulled Enclosed H&H 32 foot car trailer from Rosehill, Kansas to Springboro, PA. Loaded with the contents of my uncles garage. Trailer weighted 9200lbs loaded. Trip was a little over 1100 miles. Averaged 14.5 for the trip. Worst milage was the run across Missouri 12.5mpg. My average speed was 65mph. The speed back was low because I was driving with my uncle and two of his buddies. All 3 had 95 F@rd Crewcab P@werstr@kes. There loads where between 4000lbs and 6000lbs. There average milages where 9mpg, 9.5mpg and 11mpg. :D
The worst milage I have ever got was hauling was pulling my buddies Case 1175 Farm Stock pulling tractor with 3000lbs of weigths on his GN trailer. Scaled at 27050lbs :eek: . Milage was 10mpg going about 70mph to Canfield, Ohio and back.
Every day driving for the last year and a half my milage is 17-19mpg. Highway driving at 75mph gets me about 21mpg.
My milages are calculated. My truck is all stock with only a K&N filter and Mobil Delvac 1. My truck is 6speed manaul not an Allison.
ColoradoGuide if truck has under 15000 miles on it your milage and power will get better once it gets broke in. Mine really started to come alive between 10000 and 15000 miles.

[coloradoguide]

My truck has 33,000 miles on it, and mileage has not changed much. I go by the fuel computer for mileage. Is this accurate? My towing mileage seems very poor given that the truck has a filter and a good exhaust. Maybe I just need to slow down.

[hd90rider]

270,000 miles on my 02,4dr,crew cab dually.Deliver all size RV trailers, keep it around 65 and I average 10 to 12 mph depending on the size of the trailer. 19 to 21 empty, depends how fast I want to get home.LOL :D :D

[FisHn2DMax]

I pull a 9K 5'er in Rockies and my key to better mileage is keeping the RPM's at or below 2100. I find it's really hard for me to back off, and keep the speed in the 60-65 mph range. When I do keep the R's below 2100, towing mileage is incredible 12-14MPH. If I don't keep it around 2K, my MPH drops off to 8-9. Head winds can also create a huge drop in mileage. Your truck sounds like it's normal. Next time out, try to stay below 2100 RPM's.

Good Luck ;)

[torque]

I toured the Yukon & Alaska this summer with my 9000#, 12' high 5th wheel. I started from L.A. with the "Edge" set at 2. I took it out in Whitehorse, about the half way point. I got 10.3 mpg for the first 4000 miles and 11.5 mpg for the remaining 4400 miles.
I think running with the Edge was too much temptation.

[mtomac]

Just got back from a 1600 mile trip from MI to MS for an indoor tractor pull. With one tractor and weights in the trailer weighing 13000# I got 9.5-11 mpg at 65-75mph, with only one tank below 10mpg. This is the first out of state trip I've made towing with the ATS tranny and all I can say is wow. With the cruise on the whole way and not touching the throttle at all the tranny never downshifted out of 5th gear with the only the juice box on the 60hp setting. I made this same trip last year with the same weight in the trailer with the stock tranny and the juice on the 60hp setting. I would have to spool it up at the bottom of some hills to keep it from downshifting. On a few hills it would downshift to 4th even when spooling it up. I never lost more than 2mph and the truck would often gain that back by the top. With the ATS tranny the juice doesn't have to back down the power at all and I'm getting the full 60hp to the wheels. The highest EGT's were 1150 on a 1 mile long grade in Illinois on I55 about forty miles out of Missouri. Otherwise cruising it was running about 900 degrees. Tranny temps ran about 140-160 with 25-50 degree outside temps.

[Bobcat698]

Pulling this load shown here:
http://www.bbar10.com/Duramax/trucktrailer.jpg

GCVW was 25,000lbs

We got about 11.5MPG average last year from Wisconsin to Woody Creek, Colorado. The truck had 1000 miles on it or less when we left last year.
This year we got maybe 12 to 12.5MPG. This was as reported by the trip computer AND as calculated by hand.

It held overdrive nicely most of the time, in the mountains it was 53MPH in 3rd gear at the redline.

Garrett

[gonebiken]

I feel much better after reading the posts on milage. Thought something was wrong with my truck. I have a 2003 Chev duramax ext cab short bed, LT, 11,000 miles. No modes except for K&N air filter. Just picked up a new FT2600 Weekend Warrior in Prim Nevada, about 500 miles. Empty it's around 5500 lbs. From Prim to Ogden Ut I averaged 8.6 mpg, aprox 500 miles. Not what I expected. Looks like in line with most. However I'm disappointed. Thought it would do much better.

[jjackson]

Gonebiken, I'm not familar with the FT2600, but I assume it is a 5th wheel...? but maybe not considering it only weighs 5,500 empty. I think you might want to do some checking, as I pull a 13K (loaded) 33' 5th wheel w/my stock 2003 2500HD and consistantly get between 9.5 and 10 MPG running between 62-65 MPH (this is figured manually and compensating for the 285's). I have about 13K on mine, and am hoping it will improve some as I get another 10K on it.

John

[Very Old Dog]

I have an 03 and pull a 23ft Trail-Lite travel trailer. The unit loaded weighs about 5000lbs. including some water and supplies. At 70 mph traveling to Charleston from Morristown, TN, 360 miles, I averaged 15.5 miles per gallon. I generally get that and 16 miles per gallon depending upon terrain. When driving unloaded, I get 19 in the city and 22 on the highway, and highway is usually 70 mph. Considering this is an automatic and a 3.73 rear end, I would say that this is good. When I had my 01 Dodge dually HO 6 speed with modified Cummins, I towed a 14,000lb fifth wheel and averaged 11 to 13 miles per gallon depending upon terrain. In the mountains it would be mostly 11 to 12. Unloaded, the Cummins would give about 18 to 18.5 in the city and 21 on the highway. I think that your expectations should be higher.

[PONCH]

I have a 03 D/A single wheel. I just got back from a 5783 mile trip pulling my 28ft tag that weighed in around 9000lb when I left. The first half of the trip I pulled at 70mph, the 2nd half I pulled at 64mph. For the whole trip I averaged 10.9mpg.

[smitheb]

Wind resistance, which is a big factor, increases by the cube of the speed. I get around 14mpg towing 8,000 pounds if I stay under 65mph.

[mdadgar]

Smitty31, that must be nice. I sure don't.

I get about 10.5mpg towing 8K lbs at around 63mph. This is with a V-nose trailer, no less.

Arghh. I don't seem to get the same mileage other people here do, empty or loaded, fast or slow. Grumble.

- Mark

[DieselDixon]

I don't know where some people get these numbers. I've been tracking my mileage since almost day one, both with the DIC and manually and my average mileage is 12.5mpg I now have 14k on the truck and don't see how people can get 18 - 21 mpg?

When pulling my 8k-pound trailer I get about 9-10.

About the only good thing I get out of it is diesel is about .25 cheaper then low grade right now.