MPG while towing?

[Frank in WV]

What do most of you get in MPG when towing a load, my 2002 F-250 with 5.4 V8 gets about 10MPG when hauling roughly 8-9000#. A friend has a 1995 F-250 gets about 10MPG pulling a horse trailer with 2 horses all told weighing roughly 10K#. Some has told them they can get 15 - 20 MPG by going to diesel, I can see some possible increas but that seems extreme. With the price of diesel is it money saved versus gasoline?

Thanks

 

[Anonymous-0]

My 99 F-150 with 5.4 and auto gets about 12 MPG when towing a car hauler trailer with a 9N and a brush hog. This is around 3500-4000 lbs.

It gets about 18 without a trailer

 

[Paul from MN]

Frank, I have a F350 with the 6.0 Diesel.

Towing my boat aprox 3,500 lbs I get a little less than 14 in tow haul mode at 70-75mph.

Towing a 25' gooseneck with a couple 4-5,000 tractors I get around 10.

 

[Mike N Mo]

My '95 Ford/460 gets 6 MPG when towing 17-18,000 pounds. I used to get about 8.5 MPG towing 7500 pounds when I had a lighter trailer with only 1 tractor to tow. Mike

 

[DR Darren]

i have 2001 tundra 4.7L auto. when i moved, i hauled furniture in the bed and pulled a car hauler with chevy chevette, and packed car with moving boxes, got 18 mpg @ 60 mph for a 405 mile trip.

when i bought my ford 3000, hauled it on a car hauler with a 5ft bush hog on the tractor and a box scraper in the bed of the truck and got 19 mpg.

normally i get 23-25 mpg with the truck, everyday driving.

 

[Anonymous-0]

you are a lier the tundra only gets 14 with out towing any thing.and they are junk.

 

[Anonymous-0]

our 05 chevy 2500hd with a 6.0 gets 10 mpg no matter what. wheather highway driving or pulling a gooseneck with 1000 gal of water and 500 gal of chemical on short trips with many stops and turns.

 

[jose bagge]

yep, that 460 will pull anything but it will cost you in fuel. My 460 powered motorhome pulling a 3 horse featherlight gets me 6.5 mpg at 70 65 miles per hour....take it to 75 and its about 4. Brick shape pushes a lot o' air.
Routinely pass deisel duellies with similar loads going up the mountains when aero is not a factor- the 460 has the grunt!

 

[jose bagge]

like greg, I get about 10-11 out of my 2500hd duramax pulling 9-11,000 lbs. Same load pulled by 460 ford class c motorhome gets about 6.5

 

[john_Bud]

I get 12 +/- when towing 10k and 18-22 when empty with a 03 duramax automatic 3/4 ton.

The original poster is getting about as good of milage as the 5.4 is gonna give. I would not think that going to a diesel was cost effective for a casual puller. It depends on how much you are going to tow and how often. As they say, do the math and remember that mpg claims and fish stories have a lot in common...


The guy that is claiming the astounding mpgs with a tundra.... well, let's just say that I'm from Missouri. Know what I mean?

 

[Mike Aylward]

Frank, as I mentioned in a previous post I have a 2008 Dodge 6.7 diesel with a 6 speed automatic in it. I have a 30' tandem dual trailer and with it fully loaded (actually overloaded) to around 30,000 lbs. gross I will get around 12 mpg. Empty I will get around 15. I have never lacked for power with it. Mike

 

[DR Darren]

i was wondering when someone would ask. well lets see...

1995 toyota previa 24 mpg as of last friday. only have had it a month, just bought it.

2005 prius 52 mpg when traded 2 years ago.

2006 prius currently 57.7 mpg life time over 18,000 miles.

and the wife is a patrol officer, and she gets the highest mpg on her department at 18 mpg with the crown vic police cruiser.

and a vehicle i had 4 years ago for a year, was a 2001 buick century with V6, i got 30 mpg with it.

 

[DR Darren]

we all have to remember, its not what you drive but how you drive it. i learned this especially when i got my first prius, you go to the different chat sites and everyone has different way of driving. but people also forget is where you drive at. there is really no true way to compare MPG, unless you drive the same roads as the person your compare too.

example for me i have 2 routes i can take to get to the interstate from my house. one way i get 55 mpg, the other way i get 65 mpg. just because of amount of stop lights and the terrain.

but in my prius, to get the 57.7 mpg, i always drive 5 mph under the posted speed limit.

i hate OPEC that much, i will not use more gas then i absolutely have to.

 

[eric lb]

i have a 94 dodge with the 12 valve cummins and automatic trans, empty it gets around 27 mpg, somtimes 28 in the flatlands, loaded with a 14 thousand lb trailer it gets around 15 to 17, still not bad considering the weight the main advantage with a diesel is tourque a inline 6 cylinder diesel will outpull a gas engine of similar displacement by a good bit, if you just haul a trailer once in awhile the higher initial cost will not be worth it

 

[jd b puller]

2005 Durango w/5.7L Hemi, gets 16MPG pulling Empty 2000# trailer at 75-80MPH.

Pulling 7000# trailer averaged 11MPG at 75MPH thru the mountains of WV and VA. Gets around 13 in typical Midwest rolling hills.

 

[Dan67]

Have a 95 pwr stroke w/5 speed 4x4. crossed the scales lasts week at 21,800 (goose neck trailer) lots of mountains here. Averaged 13.9 mpg on a 400 mile trip

 

[souNdguy]

I have an 04 f250 diesel with a 6lPS in it. My last trip in it was 2260 miles round trip from florida to texas and back.. i pulled a 6' tandem trailer up empty.. trailer weight was 1740.. on the way back I have a ford 951.. figure about 3000 # tractor.. plus the trailer, plus a 400# fel..

I made 14 mpg average for the trip.

soundguy

 

[JDemaris]

Pulling a 9000 lb. load on relatively flat highways - my Ford 4WD ex-cab 7.3 turbo-diesel gets around 13.5 MPG. My 92 Dodge 4WD ex-cab with the 5.9 Cummins turbo-intercooled diesel gets 16 MPG doing the same.

Personally, I don't believe anybody gets 20 MPG pulling a 9000 lb.load. I also don't believe anybody gets 28 MPG empty with a full size 3/4 oo 1 ton truck - and I don't care if it's gas, diesel, CNG, or atomic power. I've heard many such claims over the years - and not a single one yet has panned out to be even close to reality.

By the way, a bunch of new diesel trucks were tested awhile back by Motor Trend mag. New Chevy, Ford, and Dodge diesels all pulling the same 9000 lb. trailer. Here's the results in controlled testing. Chevy Duramax did the best getting 10.5 MPG. Dodge came in second with 8.7 MPG and Ford was the worst with 7.6 MPG.

New trucks - 2008 - empty and pulling a 9120 lb. trailer. All four-door, 1 ton diesel trucks.

Dodge 3500 Cummins 350 hp/650 lb.-ft. 6.7-liter diesel inline Six, 6A. Weighs 7900 lbs.
4.10 axles. 1/4 mile empty - [email protected] mph, 1/4 mile towing - [email protected] mph
Fuel mileage empty - 13 MPG, Fuel mileage towing - 8.7 MPG.

Ford 3500 - 350 hp/650 lb.-ft. 6.4-liter diesel V8, 5A, weighs 8700 lbs., 4.30 axle ratio.
1/4 mile empty - [email protected] mph 1/4 mile towing - [email protected] mph
Fuel mileage empty - 11.2 MPG, Fuel milege towing - 7.6 MPG

Chevy 3500 - Duramax 365 hp/660 lb.-ft. 6.6-liter diesel V8, 6A, weighs 7100 lbs., axle ratio
3.73. 1/4 mile empty - [email protected] mph 1/4 mile towing - [email protected] mph
Fuel mileage empty - 18.26 MPG Fuel mileage towing - 10.5 MPG

 

[JDemaris]

It's "what you drive" AND "how you drive it." No matter how well or careful you drive, you're not going to magically get good fuel mileage from a fuel hog.

 

[rustyfarmall]

jdemaris, thank you for that info along with the facts to back it up. My '01 Chevy one ton with the 8.1 gasser does every bit as good on fuel mileage as any of those diesels that are equipped with comparable rear end ratios. Plus, I paid about $5,000 less than if the truck had been equipped with Duramax.

 

[ScottyHOMeY]

The type of trailer (i.e., the wind drag factor) can often have more to do with towing mileage than weight.

I've got an '03 3500 Ram, 4WD, long cab, long bed, HO (305/555) Cummins in front of a six-speed handshaker and 3.73 single rear. Weighs right about 4-ton with a full tank and me in it, and gets about 20 just runnin' around bareback.

Now, for different scenarios. I've got an 18' car hauler that weighs just over a ton. I'll lose a half-mile per gallon pulling it around empty. Don't even know it's back there (literally, the only parts of it I can see in my mirrors are the fenders and the front corners of the deck). I put the step-daughter's little Hyundai, which I estimate at about 2300-2500#, on it and my mileage only drops off to about 17, maybe high 16s.

On the other hand, I've just got back from a trip with my 16' box trailer that scales at about 3300 by itself. Hauling it empty in still air headed west, I couldn't squeeze a whole 13 out of it. (Ouch!) I loaded it with a little over a ton of household stuff and headed back east. 14-hour trip and I had a pretty healthy tailwind (20 mph pretty steady, gusting higher) for seven or eight hours of that, and averaged 14 over the whole trip, better than I got hauling lighter in the other direction. So that's my argument for the effect of the wind drag vs. weight.

My gooseneck (20+5 deckover, tandem singles) weighs a shade over 5000. That one baffles me a little. I shouldn't think it has much more wind drag than the carhauler, but deadheadin' it gets me about 14, even though it doesn't weigh a whole 1000# more than the car-hauler/Hyundai combination. My heaviest loads on that with two tractors on it get close to its 14k rating and I'll get about 11 or a little better. But I recently hauled a buddy's mud truck, to make the load something more like 12k, and got a shade under 11, even with the lighter load. Again, I suspect the wind drag factor.

There's a lot of variables, obviously. In my case, weight doesn't seem to enter in as a big factor until somewhere in the 4k to 5k range. How that might vary with a slushbox or a lower rear-end, I'm not sure. If I had a 4.10 rear the motor would turn faster for the same speed but would be runnin' cooler and not be workin' as hard, so I'm not sure how that would balance out. As far as the automatic vs the stick, I suspect once you reach that point where either the wind drag or the weight start to kick in, the stick is gonna be more efficient, as you tend to loose a good bit of BTUs out of your fuel to heating up the fluid in your tranny. Some of that loss can be overcome by adjusting your driving habits, especially on acceleration (from any speed), but is still part of the nature of the beast. That's why you'll find tranny coolers on just about anything of any size with an automatic, and often see tranny-temp gauges (either from the factory or added on) on trucks with automatics used or meant for heavy hauling, but rarely on manual transmissions. Those extra BTUs have to come from somewhere, and your motor is the only thing providing power, so it's pretty sure that the excess heat in the tranny is coming out of the fuel you're burning in the motor, fuel that's being converted to heat rather than putting power to the ground.

That's my two cents.

 

[john_Bud]

All those sound reasonable. The Tundra mpg's are a bit too high to avoid spiking my BS-o-meter, but ....

jb

 

[Mike Aylward]

I think it is interesting that the results directly correlate with the rear end ratios on the trucks. Kind of looks like an "apples and oranges" type of thing. Mike

 

[Anonymous-0]

I went threw this truck debate last spring while truck shopping.On a 100mile trip with gas at $3.50 and diesel at $4.00 and a gas truck getting 10mpg and diesel getting 15mpg. The saving would be $8.60.

 

[Anonymous-0]

i have a o6 duramax with a utility bed i haul a miller welder plus oxygen/ace. bottle 1 each plus alot of tools it weighs about 10000 lbs with me in it.everything is stock no chip no big exhaust nothing i travel 71 miles 1 way to work 60 of it is interstate driving at 65/70 mph the best i can get is between 15/16 mpg everyday

 

[JDemaris]

In some situations, I'm not sure what difference the axle ratios make. My Ford - with the 7.3 turbo - has 4.10 axles. Yet, I have to downshift a lot on hills - even when empty. And, it works hard when pulling a heavy load. My Dodge - with the 5.9 - has 3.50 axles which ought to be awful for towing. That being said - it goes just about anywhere empty in overdrive. And when pulling a load - I rarely drop below 4th gear.

I assume the long stroke and low end torque of the 5.9 Cummins is making the difference, not the axle ratios.

 

[Mike M]

Our old 460 Ford gets 8 mpg no matter what it does. Doesn't look like the new diesels are doing very good by that test ?

 

[Anonymous-0]

One thing for sure -none of pickups are very eficient empty or loaded.Co i worked for with about 250tractors an 1000 53ft box vans an mavbe 20 drop decks running mostly from Harrisburg to east coast is averaging 6.4 on whole fleet.5.9 in winter. Seems to me pickups should do better considering weight -frontal area -an total surface they are dealing with compared big trucks.

 

[buickanddeere]

The same truck under the same conditions may get quoted a wide range of mileage by different people.
The semi wins over the pickup in tons per gallon hauled. The losses in aerodynamic drag, electrical loads, rotating friction in the drivetrain, rolling friction are less per ton.
My 2003 GMC 4X4 6.0L 1500HD Crew Cab 8600+lb pickup with cap and brushguard. Does 10 hauling a house trailer on trips, 12 knocking around home doing short trips. 15mpg on the average extended trip when doing 65-70mph. I have made 18 on extended trips driving 55-60 and coasting up to stop signs.
Diesel would be nice if tempted to burn farm fuel.I just can't justify the difference in sticker price over gas in fuel savings. Or the maintenance of the 20,000psi common rail injection system after 100,000 miles.
The good old days of a inline 6 Cummins with just a Bosch P pump,an AirResearch turbo and a 5 speed manual are long past us.

 

[chuck craig in SUNNY SOCA]

MY 1948 PACKARD CUSTOM gets 15 mpg @ 45 and 15 mpg @ 80. It is a 4700 lb car wiht a 356 CU st. 8 . I guess it consumes so much fuel per hour of rub time. THe first LIAR has'nt got a chance.
CC 30

 

[Anonymous-0]

On recent trip to Rolag Minnysota, My old 97 Dodge Cummins with about 200,000 miles on it averaged 12.5 MPG for the 1985 mile trip. The Truck and trailer with the Unstled HNH and the Gold D inside weighed 24,180 pounds. I suggest that some of the fantastick MPG ratings, better check your odometer for accuracy, also not just one tank but over several tankfuls.