NC F150

I'm just trying to get a reasonable idea of the fuel economy I can expect when towing a travel trailer. 17-21 footer. 3000 to 3800 lbs.

smokeywren

Aerodynamic drag is the mpg killer. Expect 8 to 12 MPG with any TT your pickup can tow without exceeding the GVWR of the F-150. 12 MPG would be with a stiff tailwind and losing altitude burning premium gas on relatively level roads with no hills or cities in the way, and cruising at 55 to 60 MPH. 8 MPG would be the same rig but gaining altitude against a stiff headwind with hills and passes while burning unleaded winterized gasohol and cruising at higher than 62 MPH - especially if you bought the gas in California.


A TT that light is rare. My Nomad Joey body is 19.5' long (21'10" tip to tail) and weighs 3,775 dry, but 4,870 when wet and loaded for the road. GVWR is 5,600 pounds.
http://www.skylinerv.com/?q=node/109&ID=4318&page=1


I average around 9 to 10 MPG cruising at 62 MPH in west Texas and northeast to Detroit or east to Knoxville. 8 to 9 MPG when going to or coming from Austin thru the Hill Country.


Mine includes everything a normal 3-seasons TT would have - AC, gas furnace, propane cooktop and oven, refrigerator, microwave oven, shower with hot and cold running water, queen-size bed with upgraded Serta Eurotop mattress, awning. I don't know how they could make it much lighter without omitting some of the amenities. So good luck in your shopping.

NC F150

Thanks for the thorough reply.

I have been struggling with getting a travel trailer or HD truck and truck camper. Don't want anything too big since a lot if our camping will be in state parks, etc.

But what ever I get, I want to be able to leave it at the campground and go exploring for a day or two without hauling the camper (or driving) it around.

Was even considering a tent trailer for ease of towing.

Just not sure. Never owned anything g but a tent. Plan is to travel the US next summer.

smokeywren

When I graduated from grad school back in 1968, I traded my family-size-tent for tent trailer - a Wheel Camper camping trailer. It had an 8' long floor, two queen-size beds on the fold-out ends, a twin-size bed when the dinette was converted to a bed, and one long skinny bunk bed over the storage cabinet. It also had an ice box. Right, not a reefer but an ice box. Put a 10# block of ice in it and it would keep a jug of milk plus some sausage and eggs, ham and cheeze for sandwiches cold for a weekend camping trip. We added a Coleman 3-burner gasoline stove, Coleman gasoline lantern, Coleman gasoline catalytic heater, a couple of 5-gallon jugs for fresh water, and a big plastic dishpan for washing dishes. All that "white gas" stuff was hauled in the bunk bed base. We enjoyed the heck out of that camping trailer for over 10 years while the kids were growing up.


We didn't have AC, so we always camped at high altitude in the summertime - usually in Colorado.


Darling Wife and I learned to pop up the roof, fold out the ends, install the door, and be out of the weather in about 60 seconds. One time we arrived at our campground in Sequoia National Park during a downpour. We needed our fast setup but got soaking wet anyhow. But with a little practice you can be in a tent trailer and out of the weather in a very short time - probably as fast as you can set up, level, and set the stabilizer jacks on a TT.


Awwwww, fond memories.


But that was then. Now I'm spoiled to a TT with a EuroTop mattress that has a layer of memory foam in the top layer, AC, microwave, shower with hot water, propane cooktop, electric coffee pot, etc. With AC, we don't have to shy away from hot, humid areas such as Austin or Houston in August, or really hot, dry areas such as Phoenix in July.

brulaz

Oh yeah, and especially the propane frig with freezer. No ice water soaking all the food, and ICE CREAM!!! A lot of the bigger tent trailers have them these days, but we didn't.

We sold our tent trailer after the kids grew up, but were still reluctant to go the TT route. So tented for a few years. Certainly was cheap, but one very cold and very wet weekend in the mountains of Colorado, very far from home, everything got soaked. That was it. Decided we were too old for it.

Also we were spending more and more time camping, so there was a greater chance of running into bad weather or bad bugs.

A7B2FX4

Frontal area of the trailer has a significant impact on towing. In my experience towing a 19' and a 24' trailer mileage was roughly the same. The 24' was newer and about the same weight as the older 19'. Agree 8-12mpg is a good range for MPG with a properly equipped truck for towing a TT.
Memories too!
Fall of 1972 in Sequoia Nat' Forest. Brand new 72 F250. Shell had the jealousy windows which could be left open in the rain.

smokeywren

The Wheel Camper was an upscale camper, so the built-in ice box had a drain tube from the upper ice compartment through the floor and onto the ground under the trailer. So we didn't have any ice water soaking anything in the icebox. But yeah, it was no comparison to the automatic gas/electric refrigerator/freezer in our 5ers from '96 thru 2011 or our current 2012 TT we bought in 2011.

Current pop-up campers can have all the amenities a TT can have, and with a lot more interior room than our 8-footer with floor length of 10', 12' or even 14', and some even have slide-out rooms. But to keep the gross weight down to less than 4,000 pounds with 600 pounds tongue weight requires a smaller unit with fewer aminities.

Here's one with almost everything:
http://www.forestriverinc.com/PopUpC...=85&RVType=TNT

GVWR less than 4,000 pounds, 12' floor length, standard water heater/shower/cassette toilet in this BR23SC, and other options include:
•3 Way Refer 1.9 cu ft
•Air Conditioner Wiring Kit (so the AC does not come with it, but you can buy the AC from Camping World or etrailer.com)
•20k BTU Forced Air Furnace w/ Electric Ignition
•Electric Brakes (Opt. LTD Models, Std. on MAC Models)

tiller83

I recently pulled my 83 bronco on a 2k lb car hauler and averaged @10 mpg. That was including 5 butts and their stuff, tools, coolers full of beer and spare parts through mixed city, hwy and interstate, some off hwy. Never over 60 mph and with 142k mi. Averaged 250 per tank. I probably exceeded the capacity, especially on the return trip with an extra butt and her stuff.

atwowheelguy

Trailer: 5,025# empty wt. on the yellow sticker
...........6,740# loaded with two motorcycles

GCVW: 12,920# with two people

MPG: 12.3 @ 55-60 mph