Trailer Weight Vs. Fuel Economy

I'll agree with the others that how you drive and wind resistance are both much more important than weight. I had occasion to drag a car on a dolly 200 miles and back a couple years ago. Weighed almost as much as my TT. I got 18 mpg towing the car/dolly, and I get 14 towing the full height/width TT. Beyond that, I towed that TT into a 50 mph head wind on two separate occasions, and got 9 mpg once and 10 mpg the other time.

If you are wanting to improve mileage badly enough to replace your TT, I'd suggest you look into something like a Trail Manor that has a lower profile while towing before you consider a lighter rig.

romore wrote:
You likely won't see a big improvement, certainly not enough to down size the trailer. I find my right foot has more to do with mileage than anything, 55-60 seems to be a good speed. Any more than that I pay.

What he said, been there done that and had the small tank with the short bed. Upgraded to diesel when it was time to trade trucks. Never catch up money wise but sure is nice not having to fill up in every town.

I would recommend a wind deflector, particularly if you have a shell and can mount it back close to the front of the trailer except that I don't have the inclination or energy to argue about how well they can work. For the record we consistently got an additional 1.5 to 2.0 additional mpg towing a 5000# TT with my F-150 SCab. PM me if you would like details.

What will work without much argument is to simply add a Scan Gauge and then pay attention to what it is trying to teach you about fuel economy. Most folks find an additional 8 to 10% improvement but this will involve backing off that right foot which some folks are loathe to do. Bottom line it is always going to be an 8000# brick and the wind is not your friend. :S

Gdetrailer wrote:
You are not going to gain much if any by downsizing.

I have said before, if you are worried about mileage, sell the RV, buy a Prius and visit Hotels and Motels...

Right on the money..
and you will never make up the difference by taking the depreciation hit selling your current rig.
Also you will likely be giving up some comfort...loose, loose.

Forget about mileage. Once you do, you will enjoy camping a lot more

You are not going to gain much if any by downsizing.

Case in point is my 26ft TT, empty is 5K, loaded with all of our gear in the truck bed plus trailer we are about 7K. A couple of years ago, we were towing with a 2006 F250 with 3V 5.4, typically we averaged about 9 MPG.

We also did nearly the same trip with our 18ft 10K flatbed, empty it weighs 2400 lbs. We got 10 MPG with the flat bed empty, on the way home with 3,500 lb load (5900 lbs)on the flatbed we averaged 9.8 MPG.

I really don't understand why the fuss about mileage, really at the end of the day you spend a few dollars more but it shouldn't be the driving force in the end.

I have said before, if you are worried about mileage, sell the RV, buy a Prius and visit Hotels and Motels...

My experience is that wind resistane is a larger fator for fuel usage than is weight. I used to have a 9500 lb 33' tt and got between 7&8 mpg. Moved to an 12,400 lb fiver and milage is no different. I have noticed that wind has a significant factor in mileage. Strong head winds can reduce hwy mileage to 5 or 6 mpg.

Your main MPG factor is how you drive and how fast you drive. Your second most important factor is the aerodynamics of the vehicle. Most any TT will be about 8' wide and 9' tall. Any time you're basically pushing a "wall" that size thru the air it will use a lot of fuel.
Once you're cruising along weight doesn't have much to do with it. I don't think any change in trailers would make any significant difference in MPG, certainly not enough to justify getting rid of a trailer I presume you like.
An Airstream trailer might get you some improvement but they are rather expensive so the trade still wouldn't be worth it financially.
Really, 7 MPG is pretty good for that size of a rig. I think your best bet is a bigger fuel tank from Titan. Or, as you already know, a diesel would probably get nearly double the fuel mileage.

You likely won't see a big improvement, certainly not enough to down size the trailer. I find my right foot has more to do with mileage than anything, 55-60 seems to be a good speed. Any more than that I pay.