A buddy has a motor home with the Ford V-10 in it. Gets about 8 mpg when not towing anything. He is taking it from Texas to North Carolina this summer for a long weekend and was telling me he is going to tow their Nissan mini-van behind it. They will only need the minivan for about 2-3 days once they are there. I told him his mileage would drop and that by the time he figures dolly rental and extra fuel due to decrease in mileage he might as well just rent a car in NC, as it would probably be less of a hassle (What is the dollar value assigned to "pucker factor" when towing a vehicle behind a large RV in the mountains?).

Does anybody have an idea of what kind of mpg he could expect if he did tow the mini-van?
I'm trying to come up with some dollar figures for him.

Thanks,
~Rob

 

I would say you could expect a 2-3 mpg drop towing the mini van. As far as pucker factor, I would say that may depend greatly on the driver and the class of motorhome.....the bigger and heavier the motor home is, the less affected it will be by towing the mini van......

If it were up to me and a car rental was close to the camp ground, I would rent...but I hate car dollies and I always seem to be somewhere where I have to back up and that is all but impossible with most dollies - I would much prefer a proper car hauler over the dolly.

Now, if I had a diesel pusher with an ISB 8.3 in it, that would be a different story!.......I'd take that car hauler anywhere!

 

I would guess 2-3 in the hills (real mountains are in the west) and 1-2 on the flats. The faster you go and harder you push it, the more they drink. Those gassers are thirsty buggers.

 

I wouldn't expect too much of a drop - heck a 50% drop translates to 4 mpg.

For only a long weekend, I'd rent a minivan and avoid the headaches of towing a car&dolly with the whale.

Then again, driving from TX to NC for a long weekend; I'd fly in and rent a Lincoln.

 

it wont cost that much, the ford will only make it half way anyways

 

I tow a jeep grand with my ford motorhome with a 7.3 diesel and get 12 mpg without and 10 with it doing about 70 most of the time. The jeep is a heavy car to tow but the 4x4 means I can tow on the ground instead of useing a dolly which is a lot nicer. It did push me in the mt. and was real hard on motorhome brakes, I would rather be towing a CJ which I think will be my next tow car. The 7.3 has the Banks kit on it which has help fuel economy a lot not to mention performance, it was a thirty diesel dog before the kit.

 

I have a V10 in a ford Super Duty. Great Engine and Truck. The reason I have a dodge now is MILEAAGAE WHEN TOWING. I got 8 MPG empty, uphill, downhill etc and 3MPG with my cabover on and towing a jeep. Just no range man, even my wife would make comments that it seemed we'd have to stop often for gas and she is generally oblivious to everything

 

Thanks for the inputs ya'll. I'm going to try to talk him into renting something there.

~Rob

 

3 mpg??????????




Oh My!!!!

Worst I ever got was with a '95 F350 crewcab dually, 460 gasser with E4OD towing a gooseneck cattle trailer (extra high!!!) loaded heavy with a heavy foot, 6.4 MPG about the same as I got with KW grossing 80,000 #

 

If he slows down he's likely not to drop much MPG at all. If he likes to do 70+..then all bets are off.

 

A friend of mine has a motorhome with the V10. He gets 2.5 mpg less when he pulls his suzuki suv behind his. When he hits the hills, drops from 6mpg to 3-4 mpg depending on the grade.

They offered him a diesel pusher for $25,000 more...

 

Thats the price you pay for driving a ferd i have a good old bus a 72 25ft swinger on a dodge chassis with a 413 a mildly built 727 auto and 456 gear lots of power i tow a dodge grand caravan behind it on a dolly makes very little difference 7mpg with it 7.5 without running 60-65mph. I just bought a 26ft 5er last fall pulled it behind my 94 4x4 auto 410 gears same speed got 15.5 mpg pass up more fuel stops now -so if you know of anybody that wants a good old bus i will be selling it soon the swinger only has 59k on it runs and drives great nothing fancy but i would drive it anyware great starter,hunter,race track unit.