Tow vehicle mileage, real world #s

T

texasair

Member
On our recent trip from Iowa to Lake Powell I checked the mileage on 3 vehicles traveling together pulling nearly identical 22 cruisers over the same route at the same speeds (65-70 mph) The results were very close.

My Chevy Extended cab, 1/2 ton, 4 wheel drive, V8 5.3 engine 11.4mpg
Ford Explorer, 4 wheel drive, V6 trailer tow package 10.9mpg
Ford 3/4 ton, Extended cab 2 wheel drive, V8 6.0 engine 10.3mpg

Don't know what mileage the other 2 get without the boat but
my Chevy 5.3 4x4 usually gets around 18 highway mpg without the boat and less than 10mpg pulling my bigger offshore fishing boat.

The V6 Ford Explorer was able to keep up with the V8's at highway speeds even in the mountains.
 
14 mpg @ 60 mph with 4.0L, 4wd Ford Ranger pulling a fully loaded C-D 22C.
Our last trip using only Shell gasoline yielded slightly less mpg. I suspect it was due to a higher percentage of ethanol rather than the brand.
We used ethanol free gas in the boat and used less fuel than usual. Hmmm...


FWIW the pick up has 30,000 miles, maintenance is up to date, all tire pressures good, trailer hub and brake temperatures OK.
 
15MPG ($3.70/Gallon) pulling a loaded TC255 (11,200#) with a 7.3L Northstar Diesel Ford Excursion 2WD (168K miles) at 65 MPH. Open Highway Mileage 22MPG not towing. 47 Gallon Tank.:shock:

7MPG ($3.29/Gallon) pulling the same boat with a 8.0L Gas V-10 Dodge Ram 2500 4WD(129K miles)) at 65MPH. Open Highway Mileage 11MPG not towing. 34 Gallon Tank. :roll:

Gas was 10% Ethanol, Diesel Ultra Low Sulfur. Non Ethanol pump gas is available here which will give me about 10% more mileage with the V-10 but it's 10-15 cents more than the other kind. Need to do the math on that difference but also need to use the Excursion to tow either of these beasts!

Charlie
 
I tow a loaded 22 ft Cruiser with a Toyota Tundra, 5.7 L, 4WD.
The computer says I get 11-11.5 mpg at 65-75 mph.
I rarely drive it with out the boat on the hiway. It should get around 15. Some claim 17.
It's a great truck, a very comfortable ride.

Bruce Cassal
"Carpy"
 
Interesting that Charlie got 15 mpg with the Tom Cat (we never calculated it with the Tom Cat), but got about the same mileage (15mpg) we got towing the C Dory 25 (which we probably towed 10,000 miles with the Excursion. So the wind resistance is about the same between the two boats--and although the weight is less (about 2500 lbs less) with the C Dory 25, the mileage remains the same.
 
86 Dodge Ramcharger 4x4 w/360 & auto.

9 mpg while towing...

HOWEVER, 9 mpg while I'm not towing...

ON THE OTHER HAND, 9 mpg city...

BUT, 9 mpg hwy.

IMG_0001.jpg
 
Our toyota sequoia (07) with a 5 speed tranny 4.7 v-8 will get 10-12 mpg towing a 5100 lb 23venture with alum trailer.We will get about 14-17 around town and 17-20 non towing highway depending whether winter or summer. Summer 7months down here in florida the mileage goes down winter about 40-70 degrees we get a little more no A/C .tow rating for Sequoia is 6800 with rear chairs(3rd row) pulled out or 6500 with .
 
While towing a loaded 22' cruiser from Seattle to Sekiu / Neah Bay my onboard gauge shows 15-15.5 mpg with a 03 Dodge diesel long bed crew cab 4x4. The trip is not over flat ground. I can't complain other than the cost for the fuel, but that is another topic.
 
My computer, and I expect most computers on board these trucks over predict mileage. Mine over predicts about 1.5 to 2 mpg. My real numbers, using pumped fuel and miles over the road are:

16 MPG pulling the CD up and down mountains between here and Lake Powell.
21 MPG with baggage only and my wife at shotgun. I do have a bed cover and I only run a max of 65, but most often at 60. Mileage between 65 and 70 top 75 drops like a rock.

Of course, head winds dramatically influence MPG. They always blow against me when going from northern Ut to Denver Co. And they always blow against me going from Denver CO. to northern Utah. Go figure!!
 
I've towed my 22 Cruiser to Florida four years consecutive now from Wisconsin, and I get mileage consistent with what you describe, and I have no trouble on steep inclines. I'm amazed that V6 does so well, and I'm sold on Fords. My next auto when this one wears out will be another Explorer.
 
I have a 2003 Ford Expedition, 4x4, 5.4L V8, 50K miles. I get 10 mpg average towing my CD25 fully loaded, and with 4-8 passengers, maybe a little less with 8. Non-towing I get 17-20, avg about 18, running 65-70 mph.

A little anemic up inclines, any, drop down to 2nd gear and even 1st if we're talking the steep part of the I-5 Grapevine going South just after Bakersfield. But the handling is terrific and pulling the boat out of the water most all ramps, basically effortless with the 4WD. Can't complain, very comfortable to drive while towing.
 
We have a 2007 Ford F-150 2 wheel drive with the 4.6 V8. Towing our 22 cruiser on dual axle Pacific trailer on the freeway we get about 12-13 mpg. I tend to set cruise control for about 62 mph (yes, I know 55 is limit but would get run over by big rigs) on the flats. Mileage will get worse on small highways and up/ down mountains. Our first tow with our cdory was when we purchased it in LA this last June. We had about 1200 plus lbs of camper (FourWheel Camper), us and stuff our mileage heading into a consistant headwind and over the Grapevine resulted in about 9-10 mpg for the trip home :shock: . Bigger engine would be nice but the fuel economy when not towing is decent - average 15 and can get 20. The best mileage I ever got was hauling our camper stuffed for a 3 week camping trip in Baja. We were getting better than 22mpg average :D and we were moving right along down Mex 1. The gas is real gas in Mexico, no crappy CA additives. no problemo

BTW I installed riderite air springs, best thing I did for the truck, handles great even with near limit load.
 
My results are pretty much in line with Spike. Similar pickup/engine/4x4. But if I can stay on the freeway and hold it at 55 I can get about 17. I can get slightly better carrying just my camper, a 10' weighing around 3000 pounds. Seems like a trailer should do better than a camper but not so in my case.
 
The downside to my (overpowered) Toyota Tundra is the fuel mileage. Without towing I get maybe 16 on highway and 13 in the city. Towing the TomCat, I get around 9. I'm glad my co-owner just bought a 2500HD diesel as we'll get a lot better mileage in his truck (of course I can buy a lot of fuel for the $18,000 difference in price between his truck and mine).
 
I have 2500 miles on this trip so far and lots of hills from the coast up through Reno and on to lake Powell. The trip computer is showing a 12.9 mpg average. My fuel logs agree really closely. Truck is a 2007 F150 Lariat with the 5.4 v 8. I am really pleased it has done so well and no running issues. (touch wood) I purge the boat of uneeded stuff regularly but it's a full time home so can only get rid of so much. I run on cruise most of the time at 55 to 60. Tires and bearings give a LOT less trouble at these speeds I've been advise. Big rigs coming up behind haven't been an issue except a couple places in Utah with a speed limit of 75 posted. I don't want to tow at that speed, ever.
 
We've towed our heavily loaded 22 thousands of miles with both a 2004 Chevy Trailblazer (in-line six) and a 1992 Ford F250 (460 V eight). We were surprised to find that towing MPG was about the same 10-11 MPG. Not towing the Chevy gets about 17 MPG, the F250 about 11 MPG. Our boat on an EZ Loader Aluminum trailer, weighs in, loaded for a long trip, at just under 5,000 lbs. We were much more comfortable using the F250. We were just too close to the Trailblazer's limit.
 
I bought my loaded, used three quarter ton 2007 diesel with 60 thousand miles on it 3 years ago for 25 grand. I think that is close to what a new loaded Tundra sells for. Buying a new diesel is a very bad economic plan as the trucks are good for several hundred thousand miles, and the engines often run 400 thousand miles and more. So That 18,000 dollar price hit drops to about a 5 grand difference between the gas trucks and the diesel after just two or three years.

The mileage is about a wash as diesel for some stupid reason is more expensive than gas. But, the power difference is stupendous. Going up and over hills at 60 to 65 mph in overdrive pulling a CD is an amazing feeling.
 
Toyota is thinking about a diesel...may already have it in the works. The Europeans are moving to diesel very quickly even in their cars. Toyota wants to overcome the general perception that they only build "gentleman" trucks.
 
The power in a diesel is not significantly different than a good gasoline engine. For example, I get 381HP from my turbo 5.7L gas engine. I have no problem towing a 10,000 load up a hill at 65MPH. For comparison, the Duramax 6.6L Turbo-Diesel V8 puts out 397HP. The torque is significantly different. The above mentioned diesel puts out 765 lb-ft of torque whereas the 5.7L Tundra engine is closer to 400 lb-ft. However, the mileage of the diesel is much better and lifespan of the diesel is likely considerably higher than the Tundra.

Your point about buying used vs. new is true for both the diesel and the gas engine but given the significantly longer lifespan of the typical diesel, it makes even more sense for diesel - especially for those who put a lot of miles on per year. I put about 8-10k miles on my truck per year over the past couple of years but much of that was driving to and from work.

However, some of us will always buy new so that we know that all the correct maintenance was done along the way and we know how the vehicle was treated throughout. I've been pretty good about buying new and driving the heck out of my vehicles so I don't worry too much about that early, rapid depreciation. Once I get the kid through college (summer 2012 - knock wood), I'll buy another small car and then the truck will be used almost exclusively for towing. At that point, my miles per year on the truck will drop to <2K/year and it's likely that other components on the truck will rot prior to me wearing out the engine. So for me the Tundra made some sense (especially given the large current outlay for the kid's college).
 
Back
Top