Mechanik

Can you share your towing mileage experiences? Another thread in the 2009 section suggests my mileage is normal, but thought I'd double check and maybe collect some input.

I recently took my 2007 on its first long haul with my Jayco Featherweight. Over about 500 miles of towing, I averaged 8 MPG on the way out and 9 on the way back for a clean 8.5 average. There were head- and cross-winds in the steady 30 MPH range, both directions. Yes, the wind shifted on me, upwind both ways. On an earlier drive that covered about 1/3 of the same route, I recorded a little less than 14 MPG without the trailer.

Overall, a 5-6 MPG drop doesn't seem that unusual to me. The camper is an 8-foot wall of wind resistance behind an empty truck bed and the high winds made it worse. I thought the semi-driver in front of me was drunk until I realized the wind was pushing his trailer, and only the trailer, onto the shoulder with every gust.

Anyway, probably just looking for your experiences to find out if this is reasonably normal. I've seen people with big spoiler wings on their beds and no longer think they are frustrated rednecks!

ecobeest

Sounds about normal to me. I would get anywhere from 8 to 10 with my previous 2008 XLT and travel trailer combo. With my 2012 and fifth wheel I can get up to 10.

brulaz

I'm getting 13mpgUS, but the trailer's only 7.5' wide and weighs 4000# loaded. I do have kayaks and other stuff in/on the truck totalling ~1000#. Rarely exceed 60mph.

EDIT: That's about a 7mpgUS drop from my normal 20mpgUS (35% drop versus your 39% drop in mileage)

SkiSmuggs

Speed, shape and type of trailer all affect fuel mileage. My 9K fifth wheel gets better mileage than my 5.5K TT did by a couple of mpg because it "bump drafts" the truck.

Buck50HD

With our 26' 7500 lb TT last year, I got 8.5-9.5 with a GM 5.3, then 9-10 with the eco. Now, we have the 5th in my sig and it is consistently over 10 and normally 10.5-11. Nice to have better mileage with a heavier rig. Can't beat a mid-profile unit with rounded front tucked right behind the cab. Note that this is all at 60-62MPH.

Mechanik

I hadn't thought much about wind resistance but it makes sense. The mileage drop (percentage-wise) when towing was better with my old Suburban, but that was a full-length vehicle and probably allowed the trailer to draft a bit.

Maybe hard to see from the photo, but when you fold in the bed, the front of the camper is very flat.

Thanks for the comments. Keep 'em coming!

ranken

Wind resistance is the big thing. I have a 2009 with 5.4 sc lb 3:55 gears. I get 13 pulling a 6x6x12 v nose box trailer loaded weight about 4,000# . My boss;es grand prix quit him and I towed it back on a u-haul car hauler. Car was 3850 lbs. Not sure what the weight of the car hauler was but maybe 1200 to 1500 # maybe more. Mileage towing was 15.9 mpg. Pontiac was much more areodynamic than the box trailer. Speed on both 55 mph.

mflinehan

I rarely if ever tow a trailer with my truck, but I do haul 200, 300 gallons of water in the bed of my truck daily. Ive been getting 15.8 with my 2013, regular cab, long box, 5.0 max tow, max payload. Shocked how well its doing.

acadianbob

We just got back from a 4,000 mile towing trip; the whole month of April. Pulled a 5,500 pound RV trailer, a Surveyor, at 60 mph. My towing average for the whole trip was 11.5 mpg. 12 mpg overall with some incidental miles.

smokeywren

2012 F-150 SuperCrew EcoBoost 4x2 with 3.15 e-locker axle towing a TT that grosses less than 5,000 pounds. Last year on a 4,200 mile trip across the flatlands from Texas to Tennessee to Michigan to Ontario, back to Michigan, then home, towing at 62 to 65 MPH, I averaged over 9.5 MPG. But on three 600-mile trips through the Texas Hill Country from Midland to Austin and back, I averaged less than 9 MPG at 62 MPH, and one leg at 70 MPH was about 8 MPG. Hills and wind and speed makes a difference.