Fuel Mileage When Towing a Load.

[DMAX154]

I go to alot of NASCAR races and I had ( it got totaled ) a 25' 5er that weighted about 5500 to 6000 loaded. I have seen MPG as high as 14.5 gonig about 50 mph on flat road in Michigan. I also have seen everything from 10.5 to 13 mpg going down throught the hills of West Virgina down to N.C or Bristol TN. Depending on where I was at on the trip. I now have 22000 miles on the truck. I now have a new 5er and it goes about 8400 empty I think it is going to be about 9200 loaded. Give or take a couple hundred. However I have not had a chance to go anywhere in it yet. The first trip is planned for Bristol TN at end of March or start of April. Hope to see the same kind of mpg with the new 5er.

[ramblinrodney]

10.2mpg towing 14000# 5er in MI. And I drive 70

[JMD]

When figuring your mileage while towing, I think that it is important to figure how much wind your trailer is pushing and how areodynamic or un-areodynamic the trailer is.

If you have one guy pulling a flatbed of newspapers with a total combined gross weight of 24,000 lbs and a total loaded trailer height of 4', and another guy with a 12' tall van trailer with a with a total combined gross vehicle weight of 14,000 lbs hauling fiberglass insulation, both traveling on the same route at the same speed, I am sure that the guy with the heavier load will get quite a bit better mileage than the other.

The areodynamics of the vehicle in total will play more into the mileage than the weight hauled, and the worse the areodynamics of a given vehicle, the more towing speed will effect fuel mileage.

I see lots of posts about how much weight is being hauled, but little information on aerodynamic issues that would have a huge impact upon mileage.

This makes what seem like simple comparisons on mileage atained by different folks on this form much more complex.

Most of the trailers I pull are about 12' tall overall, and 8.5' wide. I
have had most of my trailers built to be as high a cube as practical considering that I intended them to be towed behind 1 Ton trucks.

I average about 8 mpg with these trailers (at speed) and the DM. I would expect most travel trailers, toy trailers, and small car haulers to do a little better mileage wise than my combinations, due to these areodynamic considerations.

So in other words when looking at mileage claims over the internet (or in the local cafe), you are not comparing apples to apples most of the time.

[Vernh]

My 06 has about 65K miles and alot of it has been pulling different types of trailers. My mileage will avergage between 9.5 to 14 loaded and about 17 to 18 empty. The D-Max seems to care more about the wind resistance than the weight. I get my worst mileage with any bumper pull trailer. My theory is that the wind comes over the cab and bed and then right into the front of the trailer. When I pull a 5th wheel the air goes over the cab and continues over the nose of the trailer. Horse trailers are the most aerodynamic and usually have a smaller frontal area. On my last trip with a 34' I averaged 13-14 mpg. I will almost always cruise at 70 because that seems to be the best trade off between speed and economy. If you want to push it above 70 it will cost you at the fuel pump.
I have noticed that the type of fuel you use and sometimes the brand makes a difference. As your truck breaks in the mileage should improve some but you won't see the numbers that a Cummins will get. (But you have to drive a Dodge for that). IMHO GM has the best cab on the road and the D-Max has to be the quietest diesel I have ever been around. Noise and comfort are extremely important when you are on the road everyday.
Actual mileage may vary depending on conditions and driving styles. All mileage listed were derived using the DIC under semi-consistant condition.

[agtech]

http://www.wallsrodcustom.com/news.php
This is a comparison my buddy did. The trailer behind the Dodge is a bumper pull and the duramax pulled a fifth wheel so considering the Dodge did better on fuel is even more amazing. Cummins is definetly a pulling motor but chevy is better in most other aspects. Also notice unloaded economy is the same.

[LBZ Farm Truck]

Originally Posted by agtech

http://www.wallsrodcustom.com/news.php
This is a comparison my buddy did. The trailer behind the Dodge is a bumper pull and the duramax pulled a fifth wheel so considering the Dodge did better on fuel is even more amazing. Cummins is definetly a pulling motor but chevy is better in most other aspects. Also notice unloaded economy is the same.

I totally agree with that, my buddy and i took two loads of hay to NW Illinois about 3.5hr straight drive. He had a LB7 and i had a 2000 Dodge. We both had the same trailer 20+5 flatbed gooseneck with 17,000lbs. of just hay weight.(a little overloaded) my cummins ran 11.3 and his ran 8.7 my 06 avg. tank last week (hauled a lot of hay that week) was 9 for the whole tank. that's terrible.But she'll get up and run with hay on it.

[Vernh]

Do you think that the performance mods on your Max cost you in the mileage department or would the results be the same for a stocker?

[LBZ Farm Truck]

i think the mods would help he had a TST box and i had b1 300hp injectors ats tranny fass and afe stage2 intake with 5in. exhaust my dodge dynoed 500hp. and 1050tq. he didnt have that much. I dont know but i think it would have helped if he had more than that box.

[jpn72]

I have a '06 Crew Cab and pull a 10k lb. 5th wheel here in colorado. Unloaded highway mileage on the flats is about 20 to 21 MPG at 60 MPH., bump that up to 70 to 75 MPH and it drops down to 16.5 MPG this was trying to save fuel so I was in light traffic and keeping a steady speed. Pulling the trailer drops it down to 10.5 MPG at 60MPH and 9.5 at 65 MPG. Driving up passes is another story. Now, I never complain about fuel mileage because I had a 02 GMC 2500HD with the 6 liter gas engine and it only got 5 to 6 MPG pulling this same trailer at 60MPH

[PC HOTROD]

Topped-off on 1/26/07 after a full week of sitting in traffic during my commute, hand calculated 16.6 mpg. Filled up yesterday after our 280 mile round trip to a motocross track, hand calculated 11.0 mpg. That's not too bad considering we were towing a 22 foot V-Nose enclosed MX trailer weighing 5700 lb. and never slowed below 75 mph while running on the interstate.

One other thing that impressed me about the truck is its ability to easily tow in 6th gear. I wanted to see how well the truck handled an incline at 75 mph in high-gear so I set the Allison to manual mode and selected 6th. gear when approaching what is referred to has the I-10 New Orleans East High Rise Bridge. Amazingly, she held the speed but did require a bit more go-pedal as we approached the peak.

Not bad at all considering we were hauling our MX trailer loading with 4 bikes and gear, with 2 bikes in the bed and 5 peeps in the truck. See photo below.

Now for the most recent mileage with the truck and trailer loaded to the gills.... topped off on 2/2/07 and pulled about 300 miles round-trip with 22 foot enclosed V-Nose MX trailer (see photo below) weighing 6000 lb. maintaining between 60-75 mph while running on the interstate and being a bit too aggressive when accelerating. Hand calculated 12.4 mpg. Still not bad in my book considering that I've got 6 tires on the ground at all times.