Community Forums

Cumminsfan · 01-12-2014, 06:49 PM

12 Ram 2500 CTD AT 3.73 towing a mid profile 5'er weighing 9000lbs. I get 10.5-11.9. I would expect to get no less than 13, and probably close to 14 towing that light of an aerodynamic TT. I get 17-18.5 on the freeway and 18-19 on the hwy running 55-60 empty

Clubhouse · 01-13-2014, 10:22 AM

I get 11.5-12.5 towing a 7000lb TT with my 2007 LMM Duramax. Wind drag is the issue more than weight, and speed kills MPG. I typically pull @ 60 MPH. Also, I see very little difference in Mt travel vs flat land travel in MPG, but a huge performance gain with my diesel. Before the Diesel I had a '04 Silverado 5.3 3:73 4-speed. Averaged 9, never better than 10...I think the 4 speed really hindered mountain performance.

PushedAround · 01-13-2014, 10:34 AM

I get about 20 mpg empty at 65 with my 2007 Dodge 2500 Mega-cab Turbo Diesel. Towing a loaded 24' enclosed car trailer @ around 8,500 lbs I would regularly get about 12 mpg at the same speeds; lower at 70~75. When I first towed that trailer home empty from it's previous owner in Jacksonville with a 2004 GMC Yukon Denali XL (6.2 liter V8) it got 8 mpg! THAT'S when I when out and bought the Dodge!

Airstreamer6 · 01-16-2014, 08:19 AM

I tow between 55 and 60 mph with a 7.3 diesel F250 and a 27 foot Jayco. I can depend on about 14 mpg on the Interstate. I bought it for the economy in 1996 when diesel was cheaper. No more.

dcarver · 01-16-2014, 08:43 AM

Thanks for all the replies! I'm still debating between setting up my 99 Tahoe to tow which I'd hope would give me more stability although it may suffer because of the 3.42 rear end and possibly looking at a 99 F350 dually 7.3 TD. I know for sure the F350 will get it done with ease and I dont have any problems parking a little farther out in a parking lot lol. It has 241k which I know isn't too many for a diesel and a lot of things should have been replaced by that time. It's just that it has a goose neck already and with it being a one ton truck I kind of have a suspicion that it has hauled some pretty heavy loads in its life.
Anyway its either sink about $5-600 in a truck I already have or $5-6000 in a truck that I dont know much about but will be a beast when towing

fvstringpicker · 01-17-2014, 12:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dcarver

So it seems what I'm reading is a diesel won't get much better MPGs than I do right now although the towing will be more effortless and my MPGs won't drop much at all with an increase in weight

Sound right?

I have a 07, 2500 GMC Duramax. Pulling my 9,000+ lb TT, I average 10 mpg at reasonable speed. Pulling my buddy's 5,000+ lb TT, I average 10 mpg. Pulling a lowboy with 13,000 lb of metal, I averaged 14 mpg on a 90 mile trip. For comparison, a buddy borrowed my TT and averaged 6+ mpg with an 08 2500 Chevy gasser. He claims he kept it under 65 and was on I-85 to Atlanta and back. (220 mile round trip). So I believe a diesel will beat a gasser on MPG every time, but you're paying a fairly big premium for the diesel. When I bought mine it was a $9,000 option.

PushedAround · 01-17-2014, 12:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dcarver

So it seems what I'm reading is a diesel won't get much better MPGs than I do right now although the towing will be more effortless and my MPGs won't drop much at all with an increase in weight

Sound right?

I think that you can see from the testimonials here that a diesel will pull anything more easily and with better fuel economy than a gas motored vehicle. As the weight and wind resistance of the trailer increases, the difference only gets larger.

onechaddude · 01-17-2014, 03:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fvstringpicker

I have a 07, 2500 GMC Duramax. Pulling my 9,000+ lb TT, I average 10 mpg at reasonable speed. Pulling my buddy's 5,000+ lb TT, I average 10 mpg. Pulling a lowboy with 13,000 lb of metal, I averaged 14 mpg on a 90 mile trip. For comparison, a buddy borrowed my TT and averaged 6+ mpg with an 08 2500 Chevy gasser. He claims he kept it under 65 and was on I-85 to Atlanta and back. (220 mile round trip). So I believe a diesel will beat a gasser on MPG every time, but you're paying a fairly big premium for the diesel. When I bought mine it was a $9,000 option.

But you also have to remember diesel averages about $.75/gallon more than gas. However with a lot of weight the diesel more than pays off.

Chad

fvstringpicker · 01-17-2014, 10:57 PM

Like Clubhouse said, wind resistance is a major factor. Most of my towing seems to be in the hills and mountains and often on back roads. I bought the diesel so I wouldn't have to slow down to a crawl with the motor screaming when I'm pulling a long grade in Tennessee, Georgia or North Carolina. If you're looking for great mileage, you don't need to be towing a larger RVs.

dcarver · 01-18-2014, 12:28 AM

Having a real hard time finding any diesels around here without a billion miles or beat to crap. Oil boom in TX has made the truck market outrageous. Real easy to sell a camper though lol. I think I'll just rig out my Tahoe and wait for the right deal to come along

rlwithrow · 01-18-2014, 11:49 AM

I bought a new 1 ton Chevy back in 2000 to haul our 9 1/2 foot slide in camper and to drive to work. Still have it with 182,000 miles on it now and with the 350 it's been a good compromise in haul capacity and fuel economy. After we got tired of the cramped space in the slide in, we traded up to a 23 foot TT. With the slide in I was getting around 9.5 MPG. With the TT that had an empty weight of 4500 pounds the truck routinely got 9 MPG. Then in 2011 we upgraded to a 5th wheel Forrest River Extra Lite 271 REX with an advertised weight of 7500 pounds and the old Chevy was getting 8 1/2 MPG. Pulling the hills found me struggling to keep 50 miles an hour and thought it felt safe and secure handling wise, I was just working too hard at watching the speedo and gauges. Thought I still have the 1 ton and still drive it to work, I bought an '03 GMC Sierra 2500 with the 8.1 Vortec to do camper and emergency truck duty. It handles the weight and pulling with ease and I'm not using any more fuel to pull the camper than the old 350 did. I looked for about a year for a camper duty truck and debated between diesels and the 8.1 and was just too worried about what had been done to the diesels by the previous owners. I wasn't about to spend the money for a new truck just for 8 to 10 camping trips a year! lots of used diesels had even advertised the mods that were made to the motors and it just turned me off, that along with friends that camp with us and seeing what they got for fuel mileage pulling their campers. To me, there isn't enough of a difference in cost in fuel to have went with a used diesel over the gas. The gasser I bought only had 50,700 miles on it and I ended up paying $15,600. for it. Lots of diesels with similar mileage and year were up to $10,000 more than what I paid for the gasser. The 8.1 loves the interstate at 75 mph but I now worry about tires on the camper holding up to that speed... Friends of our's had a blow out at speed and it caused $7000. in damage to the underside of the camper!

Another thing to think about is the fuel. Are diesels really using less fuel? A 42 gallon barrel of crude oil only produces about 10 gallons of diesel fuel as compared to about 19 gallons of gasoline. Sure diesels use less per mile but consume more barrels of crude oil.

safari1 · 01-18-2014, 12:05 PM

I agree RLWITHROW! I cant justify the extra $8k-$10k for a diesel when you are only going to get 1-4mpg's better than a gasser. Also the cost is $.40-$.75 per gallon more to fill up, just not seeing the advantage for towing trailers under 8000lb like I do.

rlwithrow · 01-18-2014, 12:49 PM

Friends of our's have a Honda Ridgeline,, I believe it is one of those small Honda 4 door trucks and pull one of those cute little 14 foot tear drop shaped campers and they complain that they only get 10 MPG... So my point in the fuel mileage debate is what's the point? It's going to cost you either way,, but you're on vacation!!! You are also going to harm the environment a little more than those that stay home

rollondown · 01-18-2014, 06:55 PM

The weight is a factor in mileage, but the aerodynamics of the trailer plays a more important role. I can load 15k pounds of steel plate on a flatbed trailer and still get 15-16 mpg. But I can hook up to a 7000lb 5th wheel and my mileage drops to 10-11. The frontal square footage that has to move thru the air, and the shape of the back of the camper make a huge difference in mileage. Take 2 sheets of plywood put them together to make an 8x8 wall, push it 60mph. That in effect is what your doing.