Hey guys, looking at 30ft TT weights 8000-8500lbs. Anyone towing about this as I was wondering what kind of mileage you where getting. I know I have plenty of truck( 04 lb7 cc dur/ally). Figured just because one can tow 12000+lbs doesn't mean you have too. Will be towing all over the US. Thanks for any info.

12 mpg on mountainous terrain. 15 mpg on the straights

My trailer is a bit heavier, close to 10,000lbs loaded for typical use. I get anywhere from 9.5mpg in the mountains to 12.5mpg on the flats. Usually in the 10s and 11s. Not all that impressive. The truck, however, is very impressive.

TCEdited by: Tsckey

I usually get 10.5 to 11.5 towing at 70mph through Ky. and Tn. Our 5er is around 9000lb typically loaded for a trip.

I have a 2004 3500 dually with a 3000 lb camper in the bed and a 30' Pace Shadow Car hauler it gross 14500. Add the truck wieght to all that and I am about 25000. Alittle over wieght, but i could never tell. I get about 9-11. Never got worse than 8 and never better that 12. I do most of my pullin in the Utah, Idaho, Colorado. I might be abit heavier but apparently that does not make a difference. Damn nice truck though, i run her stock with the exception of a Stage 2 Cold Air intake and filter.

I tow a roughly 10,000 lb 5er. I get about 11. Great to see everyone here is honest - look at the Rv boards, and no one is getting less than 17 mpg towing anyhitng less than 18,000 lbs! http://www.dieselplace.com/forum/smileys/HiHi.gif

12.01 MPG average for a little over 11K miles towing 10K lb. Wildcat here in the Rockies. Later! Frank http://www.dieselplace.com/forum/smileys/Approve.gif

My fifth wheel weighs 10200 on the road. The truck likes to pull it fast, say 75 is the sweet spot, but it sucks the fuel. I haven't logged that many miles with this diesel but it seems to get around 13 towing 65mph and 9.5 to 10 going upwards of 75mph. I try to go slower, You don't have a chance of controling your rig if it gets out of control going 75+ mph. I think that when the tach is running about 2100 rpm I get good mileage. Lots of people claim 22 mpg empty at speeds of 80. I have never got more that 17.5. It may be just me. I always got less mileage than everyone else on my gasser too, come to think of it.


Kirk

With my 03 I tow a 26FT TT weighing 6500 and get 11.5-12 running 65-70. My buddy in his 04 LLY towing a 30FT TT weighing about the same gets 10.5-11. He has since changed to a Hogg exhaust (no cat) and is getting roughly the same towing MPG as me.


The only way I have seen over 12MPG towing the TT is to keep it under 60MPH. Too much wind resistance. Amazingly, I get about the same MPG towing here in MI as I did earlier this summer on a 5200 mile trip to AZ and back including southern CO mountains. The high altitude and hills didn't seem to affect the overall MPG all that much.


Towing the same trailer with my '98 5.7 I got 7-7.5. I'm a happy camper!

Wind resistance seems to be the big mileage killer for sure. This Summer towing our trailer from Grand Junction to Dillon CO., we averaged just a twitch OVER 14mpg at 65 mph on I-70. That stretch is decidedly not flat, but we had a ferocious tail wind virtually the whole way.

TC

Stopping and starting at lights and intersections takes a bigger toll than hills, headwinds and load. 12.8 avg with a 4 Horse trailer (that I still havn't weighed yet, but is probably around 8,9 Klbs) with 0 to 4 horses aboard. Staying over 55 MPH is good for economy, going over 65 isn't, 40/45 on rural roads is surprisingly poor )-:
I'm more and more a Tow/Haul mode guy as the miles add up, but that's another topic.

I get 11 mpg towing our Arctic Fox that weights 12,000 lbs. I have checked it several times and it comes up close to this every time. I have been in the mountians and flat land and am amazed with the power and milage. I get 18-19 mpg not towing, just every day driving.

will programmer's help improve mileage any? When i'm pullin a 8500 lb boat i get about 9-11mpg doin about 68mph...

Thanks guys, I have a light foot but will run 65-70. 13-15 sounds like where I will be. Sure is better than 8-9 I have been getting.

I don't think you'll see 15 MPG unless you go 55 MPH, but my rig is about like yours and I see 13-14 MPG at 68 MPH (2000 RPM), which is fast enough for me with the the 5th wheel hooked up. I'm jealous of that in-bed tank. My numbers give about 5 gallons/hour so I'm looking for a station every 4 hours (getting into the last 5 gallons while pulling the 5th wheel is too adventurous for me, but I pumped 25.35 gallons into a 26 gallon tank in Idaho Falls because I didn't find any Diesel in the 60 miles north of there on I-15http://www.dieselplace.com/forum/smileys/Shocked.gif). . .you won't need more than one fuel stop a day.http://www.dieselplace.com/forum/smileys/Cool.gif


Happy Camping!http://www.dieselplace.com/forum/smileys/Big Smile.gif

I don't think I ever had a four hour bladder. Sure don't now. Later! Frank http://www.dieselplace.com/forum/smileys/Cry.gif

About 11.5 towing 11K @ 65-70


About 8.5 towing 18K @ 60

I tow a 7000# trailer with a 2000 lb slide in camper on mine very often. With all the junk and the people Gross is 17,300 and I get 12.4 with the camper. Without the camper it's 14.5. (Wind shear kills me with the camper on, don't notice any loss of power at all, just a 2 mpg drop in mileage).

I don't think I ever had a four hour bladder. Sure don't now. Later! Frank http://www.dieselplace.com/forum/smileys/Cry.gif


One of the advantages of towing a 5th wheel is that the potty is less than 50 feet away all the time.http://www.dieselplace.com/forum/smileys/Wink.gif Not every potty stop needs to be a fuel stop.

Colorado Kid: I got that tank because there has been a couple of times that with my old van gas got a lot lower than I care to have. Figure I can run a long way between stations. Of course when you fuel up you must take out a morgagehttp://www.dieselplace.com/forum/smileys/Cry.gif

Just got back from Spokane Washington towing approx.8500 lbs.Got between 9.5 to 11 coming back to Portland Oregon.Came back thru Yakima which has some pretty good pulls.As one other stated not impressive mileage but the truck performs beautifully.Would give you a mileage for flat road but there isnt any thru the gorge and on to spokane washingtonhttp://www.dieselplace.com/forum/smileys/Cry.gif

For what it's worth, I live in South Ga. and we don't have hills. Ours are probably bumps by some standards. I pull a 6x12 cargo trailer on a daily basis.


The best I have seen is 13.5 mpg. Normally its 11.5 mpg. That is running anywhere between 55 to 80 mph on highways and interstates. So it seems that we all get pretty much the same no matter what we are towing or where.


Don't know if that's good or bad, but just wanted to put my 2 cents in.

My results fall in line with everyone else's - 10,000 fiver - I get 9.5-11 running between 70-80mph. I know I am going to get slammed for pulling that fast but if I can roll into a hill around 75 I have a lot better luck than say 65-55, a lot less downshifting occurs it seems to me.

Same question as Pro400exc: Will a chip/box improve mpg while towing?

Same question as Pro400exc: Will a chip/box improve mpg while towing?

If you have the DIC (driver information center) a chip/box will probably "appear to" improve your MPG. The DIC displays what the ECM is telling the injection system to use, the chip/program_box messes with that signal (turns it up, increases the pulse width, whatever). For a given performance level, say towing 12K up a 2% grade at 55 MPH, you will see lower fuel consumption DISPLAYED, but if you count the gallons in against the miles driven you will see that there is no measureable improvement.

When set at a reasonable 'tow' level, I would get more Hp/T and I would get about the same actual mpg?http://www.dieselplace.com/forum/smileys/Big Smile.gif That would be greathttp://www.dieselplace.com/forum/smileys/Geek.gif


I tow a 29ft TT with slide (~8000 lbs) and get 9-12 mpg @ 70 mph depending on wind (mostly). DIC runs on the lower side of actual right now. Might be more accurate after box!

When set at a reasonable 'tow' level, I would get more Hp/T and I would get about the same actual mpg?http://www.dieselplace.com/forum/smileys/Big Smile.gif That would be greathttp://www.dieselplace.com/forum/smileys/Geek.gif


I tow a 29ft TT with slide (~8000 lbs) and get 9-12 mpg @ 70 mph depending on wind (mostly). DIC runs on the lower side of actual right now. Might be more accurate after box!




No, you would use the SAME torque and HP to haul the same load up the same grade at the same speed - thereby burning the same amount of fuel. It would be at a more moderate pedal position and the DIC would indicate less fuel being used, since the "BOX" is cheating by adding it's effect after the ECM has done its thing and passed it's info on to the the DIC and the injection system.
It adds up to using fuel at a rate that is a function of the work that is being done, no shortcuts. The boxes just move the curves around and extend them. If you don't want/need the extra power at the top end you already have all the power you need, just step on it a bit harder to get the 3xx HP and 5XX ft lbs. There really is NO FREE LUNCH (-:
If your DIC is reading low now it will read even lower with a chip - for the reasons already explained.

You might get better mileage running a tuner.


If your truck uses 4th gear alot on hills or a headwind, the box will often allow it to remain in 5th, and should save a little fuel.

90 HP Juice on level 2, 9,000lb fiver, anywhere between 9 and 12 MPG. usually 10-11MPG anything more or less is unusual. I run 75MPH most of the time.Edited by: BigdaddyG

Hey guys, looking at 30ft TT weights 8000-8500lbs. Anyone towing about this as I was wondering what kind of mileage you where getting. I know I have plenty of truck( 04 lb7 cc dur/ally). Figured just because one can tow 12000+lbs doesn't mean you have too. Will be towing all over the US. Thanks for any info.


We just completed a 10,095 mile tow that took us from the right coast to the left and border to border. We to a a heavy 10,000+ lb 33' travel trailer and had the bed of our 3500 loaded as well. We averaged 11.5 mpg for the entire trip. Best tank was 13+ (had a good tail wind in flat country) and our worst was 8.9 in the Rockies.


JimEdited by: JEBar

I picked up a little mileage towing with the Juice on level 2 but the best part is it drives so much better. I can pull a lot more long steep hills in 5th gear. I never worry about getting a run to maintain speed. I let the cruise and Allison do the work. Later! Frank