M P G

[corjaguar]

One of the things I would consider is get a lighter vehicle.....I towed a GC for awhile and was getting poor mileage, switched over to a Honda CRV EX and I gained in mileage and was easier to tow.

[1fanman]

I tow our Saturn ION 3 four down and have since new and the best I can get is 7.5 @ 60 MPH. I am extremely happy to be getting that much. I figured it this way, if I was worried about gas millage I probably wouldn't have bought a motor home to start with. Jmho of course.

[wonderer1]

spine fusion you didn't meention how you figured your milage. does this include running the generator. starting up and warming up. lots of stop and go driving. mountain driving. highway driving. with my dp mechanical highway i can get just under 11 (62-65 mph), running my generator for ac and town driving with warm ups she drops to 5 1/2 .

[ralphie]

5mpg seems a bit low to me so you might want to ensure your motor is tuned properly. I can tell you my '96 460 motor did not get better fuel mileage after installing the full Banks system, although I did get the power increases I wanted. My understanding is the V10 should get better fuel mileage than the 460 anyway, and does not benefit as much from the Banks kit as the 460. You should be getting about 7mph at 55-65mph, even pulling the toad.

[michelb]

Originally Posted by Spine Fusion

Thanks to everyone on the advice on how to improve MPG. It seems the best answer is to slow down. Like i said i am new at this and have always been in a hurry to get somewhere. We just got back from a trip and going slower didnt kill me. [ ha-ha ] Tomorrow ill fill up and see the results. The gsa gauge says i did better.! Towing the Jeep G.C. on a dolly. Its a 4 wheel drive and The Dealer says NUETRAL on the shift lever and NUETRAL on the transfer case and it works perfectly. Dont have to disconnect driveshaft or have hubs that unlock.Made it both ways like that with sucess as the Dealer said!! AGAIN thanks to Everyone !!!

I don't have a Jeep GC but everything I see says that you CANNOT tow the 4WD model on a dolly for more than short distances and at low speed unless you remove the rear driveshaft (reading that makes me think that the transfer case is not lubrificated enough if the engine isn't running).

I'd recommend checking with the manufacturer not the dealership.

[Poptop]

I just now re-read the owners manual for my 2004 Grand Cherokee and it said "internal damage will happen to the transfer case if a front or rear lift system is used". In other words, all four wheels on the ground or all four wheels on a trailer is the way to tow. My son's 2000 Cherokee and my '99 Wrangler have the same wording so I'm thinking all Jeeps are this way. Best bet is to check your owner's manual under "towing- recreational" and do what it says there.

[SarahW]

Originally Posted by Poptop

I just now re-read the owners manual for my 2004 Grand Cherokee and it said "internal damage will happen to the transfer case if a front or rear lift system is used". In other words, all four wheels on the ground or all four wheels on a trailer is the way to tow. My son's 2000 Cherokee and my '99 Wrangler have the same wording so I'm thinking all Jeeps are this way. Best bet is to check your owner's manual under "towing- recreational" and do what it says there.

That is not necessarily true for new(er) Jeeps. We tow a Wrangler and it tows 4-down with no problem. I would be more concerned with exceeding the motorhome GCWR with that particular setup (Jeep JC on dolly.)

[Mr_D]

Originally Posted by Spine Fusion

Thanks to everyone on the advice on how to improve MPG. It seems the best answer is to slow down. Like i said i am new at this and have always been in a hurry to get somewhere. We just got back from a trip and going slower didnt kill me. [ ha-ha ] Tomorrow ill fill up and see the results. The gsa gauge says i did better.! Towing the Jeep G.C. on a dolly. Its a 4 wheel drive and The Dealer says NUETRAL on the shift lever and NUETRAL on the transfer case and it works perfectly. Dont have to disconnect driveshaft or have hubs that unlock.Made it both ways like that with sucess as the Dealer said!! AGAIN thanks to Everyone !!!

Our Jeep GC was full time four wheel drive, the towing instructions said the auto trans in park and the transfer case in neutral, dolly towing was not allowed.
I think you better call Jeep directly and verify your towing method.

[MartinP]

Keeping your speed down will make a big difference. I ussually drive 55-60 mph but do not tow. Remember you have a large frontal area to push through the air. I read some where that 55 and 60 is equal to 0.5 gallon of fuel.

Martin

Martin

[Muddypaws]

You need to think in different terms. Gallons per pound-mile.

A Prius weighs about 2,500# and gets about 40 MPG.

Your coach weighs about 30,000# (without a toad) and get's around 6.

The math is pretty simple.

Prius - 2500 X 40 = 100,000pm

Motorhome 30,000 X 6 = 180,000pm

The motorhome is almost twice as efficient at moving pounds down the road than the Prius.

I still try not to wince too much when I drop $400 at the pump.

[Mekanic]

Originally Posted by Poptop

I just now re-read the owners manual for my 2004 Grand Cherokee and it said "internal damage will happen to the transfer case if a front or rear lift system is used". In other words, all four wheels on the ground or all four wheels on a trailer is the way to tow. My son's 2000 Cherokee and my '99 Wrangler have the same wording so I'm thinking all Jeeps are this way. Best bet is to check your owner's manual under "towing- recreational" and do what it says there.

like the others said it totally depends on which transfer case the vehicle is equipped with.
Any wrangler or later cherokee can go on a dolly no problem.

[michelb]

Originally Posted by Mekanic

like the others said it totally depends on which transfer case the vehicle is equipped with.
Any wrangler or later cherokee can go on a dolly no problem.

Not good advice.

If in doubt, check the Owner's manual (My Jeep: Jeep Owners Service Manuals - 4x4 SUVs, Sports Utility Vehicles, Off Road). For 2013, both 4WD Wranglers and 4WD Cherokees CANNOT be towed on dollys, only acceptable way is either flat-tow or on trailer (page 586 in 2013 Cherokee manual, page 532 in 2013 Wrangler manual)

2WD Cherokees can be towed on a dolly with REAR wheels off the ground.

table doesn't really paste but here's the info from Cherokee manual

RECREATIONAL TOWING (BEHIND MOTORHOME, ETC.)
Towing This Vehicle Behind Another Vehicle

Towing Condition | Wheel OFF the Ground | Two-Wheel Drive Models | Four-Wheel Drive Models

Flat Tow | NONE | NOT ALLOWED | See Instructions (• Transmission in PARK, • Transfer case in NEUTRAL (N), • Tow in forward direction)
Dolly Tow | Front | NOT ALLOWED | NOT ALLOWED
| Rear | OK | NOT ALLOWED
On Trailer | ALL | OK | OK

My attempt to paste table failed but just try to line up columns; for 4WD (last column), flat tow is ok following instructions, dolly tow w/ front wheels off ground is NOT ALLOWED, dolly tow w/ rear wheels off the ground is NOT ALLOWED, on trailer with all wheels off ground is OK.

[ga traveler]

Originally Posted by PirateCamper

First trip in our new to us coach was a 300+ mile round trip Myrtle Beach for Labor Day weekend and we got about 5 going down but got 7.6 coming back.

Went down Highway 17 to Mt. Pleasant and then back up I26 towards Columbia.

The fresh gas had kicked in by then I suppose... no towing, just the coach.

I kept the cruise dead on 55 there and back. 64,000 miles on her and that old 454 climbs the bridges in Charleston like a champ!

Once I get it all tuned and tweaked I'm hoping for 8 Mpg. I can hope anyway...

Your coach should do 8 mpg at 55 mph. The old carb. 454's were bad about the float getting gas logged and running rich. Chevy used a plastic float. After a time it would absorb gas and sink causing a rich running condition. Almost all my customers saw an improvement in mpg's after a float replacement.

[Poptop]

SarahW, if you re-read my post you should see that I said you can't tow a Jeep with either a front lift or a rear lift, meaning front or rear wheels on a tow dolly. As I said, all four wheels need to be down (on the ground) or up (on a full trailer). Good to know we agree on this issue.