28' - 31' TRAILER, --what truck do you use? Like it? MPG?

[RustyJC]

Originally Posted by caissiel

It all depends on the situation. I see Ram commercials that shows the view of the HIC at 36 MPG and they claim its the rated fuel mileage.

Really?? That must be a Canadian commercial as the only one I've seen that's even similar shows a Ram 1500 V6 cruising on the highway with its EVIC (electronic vehicle information center - that's what Ram calls 'em) displaying 25 MPG, which is its EPA-rated highway fuel mileage.

From the Car and Driver article reviewing the truck:

In a market where fuel economy is paramount—particularly for full-size pickups—the Ram’s new standard powertrain raises the stakes in both power and thrift. Chrysler’s 3.6-liter DOHC 24-valve 60-degree Pentastar V-6 replaces the previous SOHC 3.7-liter 90-degree 12-valve V-6, an upgrade that’s analogous to swapping your tired old plow horse for a derby-ready thoroughbred. Output jumps from a seriously anemic 215 horsepower and 235 pound-feet of torque to a robust 305 and 269, respectively.

The new engine mates to an even newer eight-speed TorqueFlite automatic transmission (built under license from ZF), replacing the previous four-speed. This combination, augmented by other econo-tech touches—a stop-start system shuts the engine down at traffic lights; closable shutters in the big new grille; a heat exchanger that uses engine coolant to warm transmission oil more rapidly, reducing viscosity—adds up to impressive EPA ratings: 18 mpg city, 25 highway.

Rusty

[Zogg]

I've never had a gas truck get 13 or close to it pulling a TT over 6000#. My only diesel got 12 pulling a 5th wheel. I think I would keep what I had as long as it is mechanically sound.

Lots of folks want all the bells and whistles on the newer trucks, but my HD work truck with manual crank up windows pulls what I want it to. Good luck what ever you decide.

[fishinjim]

I replaced the radio in my '99 f350 cc with one that had usb and bluetooth. $100 .
Runs like new, looks new, and paid for. That's worth alot to me and the $50k or more for a new truck pays for alot of gas, even at 9mpg towing. Its a v10 gasser that gets 16-18 highway not towing and 9 towing our 5th wheel.

[Zogg]

Wish I had kept my v10... Best truck I ever owned

[LeoinSA]

Hawk - your method presumes your TV's odometer is accurate. My current truck's is not - in fact it is 12% off!

At an indicated 60 on the speedo I am actually going about 67MPH via 3 different GPS units - all of them read within 1 mph of each other so I believe this is accurate.

Some states - Washington for sure on I5 near Olympia - have speedometer check stations. This is a accurate measured mile over a five mile distance. If your vehicle is traveling exactly 60 miles per hour you will travel this mile in exactly one minute.

If your odometer is accurate you will see exactly one mile on the odometer. Errors become apparent when averaged over the 5 mile check distance - mine was off .6 - six-tenths - of a mile - 12%.

What this means for fuel mileage is that I must add 12% to the odometer reading to get an accurate mileage figure.

For me, an easy-peasy way to record fuel mileage is to use Fuelly.com. After fueling, I pull away from the pumps and access Fuelly.com on my smartphone using the web browser, punch in the miles, gallons, cost, percentage of city driving and any notes on that previous tank and Fuelly automatically calculates and records my mileage.

And, as you rightly pointed out, keeping track religiously allows one to easily detect any abnormalities in MPG that may be because of tire under-inflation or other mechanical issues. It even let's me moan and groan when the mileage is low because I was towing my 5600 pound trailer on that tank of gas.

Fuelly says that, "137,442 Fuelly users have tracked 4,137,332 fuel-ups in 191,627 vehicles over 1,169,803,580 miles of driving." A billion 169 million miles. That's a fair chunk o miles me thinks!

You can see my F150 fuel mileage here.

Additionally, since the database is reasonably large for most popular vehicles, it is easy to see exactly what real world fuel mileage is for any one vehicle. As an example, my new (to me) F350 Super Duty diesel should achieve between 13 to 15 MPG running empty. We'll see here shortly what my real world numbers are.

Originally Posted by hawk232

diesel definitely made my trips MUCH more enjoyable. no constant down shifting and power to pass at speed to spare. but like i said I "only" (i thought it was great till reading this thread full of 13mpg gas burners) get 12.5mpg at 65 with a 6500gvwr trailer though

edit: just in case there are people who arent sure how to calculate your mileage, its simple and can be handy to verify the accuracy of the dash reading. reset your trip when you fill up (take note of how you fill up. if you stop at the first click, or after the second click or whatever, just take note so that you fill up the same way everytime). drive. at the next fill up you just fill up like normal then its miles driven (per tripometer) divided by the gallons it takes to fill up. thats it. now just reset the trip and repeat! can be a very good habit to get into as paying attention to your mpg can indicate problems/bad fuel etc...

[oldbeek]

2001 dodge 2500 3.54 ratio auto, cummins STOCK. 1994 Alpenlite 27 single slide tall and heavy,, GCW ready to travel 17,800lbs. Mileage over two 12,000 miles trip to Alaska 2002 and 2010 was 12.5 mpg. Daily driving empty is 17.5

[myredracer]

We're pulling a 30' trailer with an F250 SC that has a V10 & long box. The engine is really nice but the gas mileage isn't always that great, especially in town. Haven't had the combo long enough to know what typical mileage is like but seems to be about 10 mpg. The F250 is much nicer than our old F150. Better brakes, suspension, etc. plus the extra wheelbase of the supercab makes for a little more stability.

To the OP, you don't say what your actual total and tongue of the trailer is. I would guess that your scale weight would be around 7K+ and a tongue weight of possibly up to 1K or maybe even a little more. The listed dry weights don't help much when shopping for a TV. You're up in the range where if it were me, I'd be wanting to look closely at actual payload capacity of the TV (not the door jamb or published figures) and the actual weights of the TT. The new ecoboost F150s may have great pulling power but they're still 1/2 ton trucks which have their payload limitations.

After having an F250, I'd never go back to a 1/2 ton anything for our size of trailer. An F250 with an ecoboost engine would be pretty nice. Not sure if it's available yet?

[fishinjim]

Zogg, i bought my '99 f350 from the orig owner 2 yrs ago. He was buying a new diesel, but i honestly thought i saw tears in his eyes when i pulled away. It has been nothing but a great truck for me.

[JIMNLIN]

I like my '03 2500 Dodge/Cummins 305/555 HO with the NV5600 3.73 axle with 218k on the odometer. Cummins made the 305/555 HO engine in '03 and '04 only.
Bought the truck new and the first two years doubled as my 660 mile a week commute vehicle. Averaged 21-21.5 mpg tank after tank. Best single tank was a 23.7 mpg on a trip to Fort Campbell, KY. Had a 23.3 mpg on return trip as a back up.
I tow several different trailers ranging from a 10k car hauler/16k 36' tri axle GN stock trailer/11200 lb 5th wheel RV/14K 34' GN flatdeck trailer so millage varies towing.
With the 11200 lb 5th wheel RV the trucks averages 12-12.5 mpg on the last 3400 mile trip. All pencil figures. I seldom get over 65 mph.
My other truck is a 4x4 DRW 454 4.10 gears gaz guzzler and gets about the same MPGs sitting still or towing.

Ran 454/460 big blocks/one ton DRWs in the '70s/early '80s pulling for a living. Average for those old gas hogs pulling 25k-28k gcw was 4-6 mpg. Times have changed

[Nswaetz2105]

I have a 2012 F150 ecoboost with Max tow package and it pulls my 30', 6200lb TT nice. That's with a WDH. I usually get 8.5-10.5 mpg depending on the terrain and weather conditions.

[jrstout89]

31' fifth wheel, about 11k loaded, I get around 8.5 - 9mpg with the truck in my sig. Unloaded I get about 14 mpg roundtrip going down hill to work then up hill home.

[Jmjtx]

31' TT, usually pushing weight limit, around 9 mpg towing at 65-70 going to Colorado from Texas. Looking forward to making the trip later this summer! Safe travels!

[CD]

I tow a 27' TT dry 6K, 9K actual & 10.4K GVRW. (that shows how meaningless dry weights are). I get 13 towing TT and 13 hauling 8.5 Slide in & 13 with both. The slide in has more frontal resistance. I am towing with 01 Dodge dully w/Cummins.

[schrederman]

I tow a 29' trailer with an F-150 - 5.0 engine and average 10.3 mpg... I would rather have a new Dodge diesel with the Cummins, or an F-250 diesel. I will probably take that plunge, soon... maybe... if the Minister of Finance says so...