I have an 8,000lb travel trailer. A toy hauler model.

I just took it on a 1,000 mile trip. My mileage was about 9 MPG for the trip. I was really expecting 10 or 11 MPG.

The same trailer behind a 7.3 Powerstroke got 10.5 MPG last year on the same trip. The 7.3 got 9.5 MPG taking I-80 through the mountains.

What can I do to get the mileage up a bit? How can anyone afford to tow a 13,000lb fiver? I now have 4,000 miles on the truck and this was the first tow.

Brian Elfert

 

Get some more mileage on the truck, then report back.

15-20,000 miles for breakin, and mileage will get better during that time.


phox

 

First you don't give enough info about your truck. What type of milage is on it now
Even with out that yo don't say what type of speeds you were running and exactly how heavy the trailer really is You say it's 8k but is that how heavy it realy was as attached How tall is it also
I made the West Coast to East Coast and back trip pulling a 6klb TT that was 12.5' tall and still avearaged 11.5 mpg on a new 03 with the 47re while running @65-68mph on the way East and @70-72mph on the way West.
The key is to keep the engine in it's power band usaully about 1800rpm's.
Maybe this will help you.
I now get 11.5 pulling my 11klbs 5VR

 

I'm getting 13mpg average towing 15,000# gooseneck on relatively flat stretches of Interstate at 70-75 mph. That was before the Edge EZ. Now mileage is up about 1 mpg. Good chance it's from being broke in a bit more. Truck has 14,000 miles on it. This is with #2 diesel.
Mileage is figured out by hand, as Edge box screws up trip computer figures.(17+mpg according to computer when towing).

 

that still kills me, 20,000 miles to break the engine in.

 

"that still kills me, 20,000 miles to break the engine in."

Better get driving then!

 

i just got back from a camping trip. me, and 2 other fellow`s, 5,000 lb TT. lotsa gear, full tank of fresh H20. drove from Long Island to Afton NY. Drove through the Catskill mountains. Its about a 600 mile round trip. averaged about 70 MPH. PLUS.....that dreaded drive through the BRONX!! Acourding to the overhead, allmost 12 MPG. I have 25,000 miles on the rig. The truck pulls like a dream.


BTW, we were TURKEY hunting, and the only turkey`s in the woods were US!!

 

You still have low miles on your truck, it'll improve with age.

Your mileage is a direct relationship of SPEED and WIND RESISTANCE- weight is a distant 3rd as a factor.
A tall toy hauler trailer has lots of wind resistance to start with.
Hauling that trailer at 75 mph vs. 65 mph will cost you 2-3 mpg.


I tote around a 11ft. 6in. tall truck camper, with a 18,500 gvw.
I get 14 mpg at 65 mph with no wind.
Fighting headwinds, it drops to 12 mpg.
Running 75 mph in no wind it drops to 11 mpg.
Running 75 mph against the wind it drops to 9 mpg.
When I tow my 7000lb cargo trailer, which is tucked in behind the camper silouette, the fuel mileage drops maybe 1/2 of a mpg, if that much.

 

With my previous truck, we dropped the speed 5MPH for an entire tank to see if the mileage changed. It didn't change a bit, so we bumped the speed back up.

Of course, one tank of fuel is not a scientific test.

Brian Elfert