Best towing vehicles for best MPGs

Supereri73 wrote:
I hoped for better, but the truck is brand new. Maybe once it gets broken in it will improve slightly.

That is a relic from the past. Modern engines are built to closer tolerances now, partly because of emission controls. Maybe slightly more friction for a hundred miles till the rings seat. Don't expect any measurable improvement after that.

Supereri73 wrote:
I just got back from a little over 900 miles round trip. Lot's of up and down with about 100 miles of non-towing mixed in.

I got 9.5 towing the truck and trailer in my sig. The trailer was loaded with a 4 seat RZR, 160 gallons of water, full fuel station (40 gallon), 4 people in the tow vehicle, and full off food/clothes/electronics/firewood for 8 days of camping. We were right at 15k in the trailer plus around 9k for the truck. So ~24k total.

I set the cruise control on 65 and just sat back. It was very windy on the way out as well. I hoped for better, but the truck is brand new. Maybe once it gets broken in it will improve slightly.

This setup ^^ over $100k in recreational camping. A budget for BLM, desert, and national parks out west.


I spent $25k for state park camping in PA NJ and New England. No razers or the like aloud for that demographic

Keep the rav 4, and buy a dedicated TV and trailer. You could spend $12k on a ten year old 3/4 ton pickup, and $15k on trailer.

That's cheaper to do than fuss with one vehicle to do all which I'm sure you learned: a pre emissions 3/4 ton diesel.

I just got back from a little over 900 miles round trip. Lot's of up and down with about 100 miles of non-towing mixed in.

I got 9.5 towing the truck and trailer in my sig. The trailer was loaded with a 4 seat RZR, 160 gallons of water, full fuel station (40 gallon), 4 people in the tow vehicle, and full off food/clothes/electronics/firewood for 8 days of camping. We were right at 15k in the trailer plus around 9k for the truck. So ~24k total.

I set the cruise control on 65 and just sat back. It was very windy on the way out as well. I hoped for better, but the truck is brand new. Maybe once it gets broken in it will improve slightly.

2013 F-150 crewcab with 5.0 V-8. Loaded with 3500 lb highwall pop-up camper, 4 people, camper & bed of the trucked loaded to the hilt, I got a little above 15 mpg this past summer going to Florida +/- 65 mph.

Summer before, same senario, got about 14 mpg but was going to Colorado @ 60 mph.

A trip from NY to California is roughly 3,000 miles.
Lets say your TV averages 8 mpg.
When gas was say $2.75 per gallon, the trip would have consumed 375 gallons. That's $1,031.
At our local current rate of $1.90, the same trip would cost approx $712.
Without adding anything ie engine or body mods, trading vehicles, etc there is a $300 savings and you don't have to spend a dime.

The OP has posted in another thread his tow vehicle choice is a Toyota Rav4.

I do not think there is much argument that a for towing, bigger is generally better. However, bigger is often considerably more expensive.

I would love to have some gonzo TV but my E-boost F-150 works quite well. Besides, the DW already thinks it is to big and bumpy unless we're towing.

I certainly understand the advantages of a bigger TV, it is just not in the budget.

We had a 20' Wilderness 20J, towed it with a;
1997 ford f 150 5.4 got right at 7 to 8mpg, empty we got 19
same trailer 1999 f250 psd 7.3 14mpg, empty we got right at 20

now have a larger trailer 26FBS Wildcat the f250 gets just less than 12 mpg just can't get to 12mpg

I actually tend to agree with most everything stated here. Nothing wrong with wanting to get the best mileage possible with your rig of choice. Has a lot to do with the tow vehicle and the height of your coach. If you get real good mileage towing, you're likely not driving much of a vehicle or towing much of a trailer....not a problem if that's what you like. My wife and I don't tow to save money traveling and we never tried to figure out if it's the most economical way to travel............likely it's not since we just spent $80k on our set up and I could have flown a lot of places and stayed in some nice resorts for that kind of cash. We just like road tripping with our trailer, stopping to make sandwiches for lunch when we want etc. If you buy a gasser, it will likely get the same mileage as a diesel when they are unloaded cruising down the highway. Put a load on it and you seem to get 2-3 mpg less. What I like about my diesel is going up hills at 70 mph and the engine is only turning 1600 rpms. Yup the cash out-lay is substantially more and I will likely not see a dime of that out-lay returned to me due to better mileage or less maintenance..............and I don't care. It goes up and down the hills super easy pulling my 6000 pound-ish trailer and that's what I like. I get anywhere from 11 to 13 mpg pulling on the hiway with average hills. Throw a headwind into the mix and I drop to 9 mpg, but the truck doesn't slow down a bit, just uses more fuel. A gasser will have higher rpms at the same speed up hills of any size. It's just a matter of what you can afford and/or what your personal style or personality will allow