How fast do you tow your 5th wheel?

[oldeguy]

gas or diesel fuel? and MPG?

[rskeans]

62 mph is typically considered to be optimum for fuel mileage, etc. I like 65 as it seems to be a sweet spot while towing my heavy 5ver. I avg 10 mpg towing my 19000lb 5ver. You will feel what is comfortable to you and your setup. Wind resistance increases dramatically with speed thereby reducing fuel mileage.

[BFlinn181]

I cringe when I see questions like this. Some will reply, "75 mph" or some other outlandish claim of speed. "Never had an accident or a ticket" is often added to such claims. It only takes one accident to be life changing.

What are your tires rated for? How valuable are the lives and property you're hauling? What's your hurry? How stable is your tow vehicle when loaded? How does it handle? How's your driving? What's your blood pressure after an hour at 75 mph as compared to an hour at 62 mph? How much more fuel did your truck use to gain the 12 extra miles covered in an hour?

Those are some of the questions only YOU can answer.

[raineman]

I am the guy that you will likely pass as I set the cruise control at 63. No matter how good of a driver you think you are, you can't control the stupidity of others.

[drittal]

No 5'er, but I tow at 60-65.

Our speed limits are 80 on the interstates, 65 for trucks. 70/60 on other highways.

[drdarrin]

Since I pull my 5er primarily in CA, I tend to keep it about 55. When I escape CA, I keep it at 65 max. I average about 9 pulling, 12 empty around town and 15 highway. Pulling, I prefer to be the slow guy everyone is passing. Getting it rolling is not a problem. Getting it stopped safely is another matter.

[SmokeyWren]

Our "ticket limit" is 79 MPH here, and 84 MPH a few miles west of here. A properly-set-up 5er with an excellent driver and tow vehicle can tow at those speeds with no more danger than an idiot towing at 55 MPH.

On the 5er, I run expensive Michelin XPS truck tires, rated for trailer service at way over 84 MPH. So trailer tires are not my speed limiter. My diesel F-250 had enough tower and torque to tow my 8,000-pound 5er at any speed. But I'm a cheap-skate, and MPG falls way down at any speed over 62 MPH. So I almost always towed at 62 MPH when towing the 5er across the country.

Then I graduated to a new tow vehicle and a lot lighter TT. My EcoBoost drivetrain can tow at any speed, but again MPG falls off at higher speeds. So I usually tow at about 65 MPH, which is my trailer tire speed limit. In west Texas with 80 MPH speed limits, I rarely pass anyone, and every 18-wheeler from California blows by me at 75-to-80 MPH, sucking wind. I have the expensive ProPride hitch on my TT, so those big trucks blowing by me don't bother me any.

[halfwright]

I tow between 58 to 62. That puts the 7.3 liter diesel at 1900 to 1950 RPM. I average 12 to 14 MPG. I will run it up to 70 downhill to get a good run at the next hill. It is a dragonfly setup. drag it up hill and fly down.

[Cumminsfan]

I run around 62-64 on the interstate. On the hwy I have to go with the flow.
62 seems to be the best since in Oregon semi's are limited to 55 mph. They tend to run closer to 60 though. If I tow to fast then I'm constantly fighting up coming semis and auto traffic that's passing me. Towing 62 takes longer to catch semis so less time having to deal with cars passing me and me passing semis. Out on the wide open desert in Oregon I'd run 70 if my tires would allow it. When traffic is thin on the interstate I run right up to 65 mph. The tow speed limit in Oregon is stated as 55 mph, but I've been passed by St troopers towing at 64-65 mph and they never gave me a glance. Better things to worry about I guess.

[C130]

65-75, tow with a 2015 F450. It's not any less safe towing at 70-75 than 65 if road conditions and traffic are suitable. For me it all depends on traffic and road conditions. I have a Hensley TS3 coupled to a TrailAir Rota-Flex pin box and it's about as smooth as it can get I think. I ran Michelin XPS RIBS on my Fuzion toy hauler but haven't switched out the OEM tires on our Momentum 385TH yet. In my opinion if you have the right tow vehicle driving the speed limit isn't an issue and yes I prefer to get where I'm going as soon as I can. Two kids, wife, work, only a limited amount of time.

[rollondown]

We generally run with traffic whatever speed that is. On open highway I try to pace myself between packs of cars.
In our case since we pull with a big truck HDT, controlling the 5'er, driver fatigue and fuel mileage really isn't a problem so we roll until we want to stop.
Fuel mile is 10.5 or so doesn't matter the speed-55 or 75.

[dgwilson40]

I have a dually diesel that I tow a 39' 14,000 lb FW. I usually drive between 58 and 65 miles an hour. I get between 10.5 and 12mpg. At these speeds I seem to be left alone. People behind just pass me and the folks ahead of me get farther ahead. I also don't have to worry about those quick stops very often. I know I can go faster but why?

[Zac808]

I just pulled my rig from Dallas to Las Vegas. Averaged 68 mph. Mpgs were all over because of the elevation gains and hellacious winds. 9mpg Dallas to Albuqurque. 7mpg Albuqurque to Kingman. 13mpg Kingman to Las Vegas. Diesel.

[JBurg]

Originally Posted by C130

65-75, tow with a 2015 F450. It's not any less safe towing at 70-75 than 65 if road conditions and traffic are suitable. For me it all depends on traffic and road conditions.

This^^

As far as fuel economy, I'm towing with a 2015 Ram, specifics in signature. The trailer weighs in around 23,000 pounds, and when we keep it at 75 mph I usually get around 8.0-8.3 mpg according to the EVIC. This will obviously vary a bit with headwinds or lots of hills. I've seen as low as 7.5 and as high as 9.1 for averages per tank (resetting mpg at each fill-up), and I try not to drop below half a tank.