How much does weight matter

I'll add rear end gear makes a difference also. Too low a gear and you will be screaming high RPMS up the hill. High RPM's kill the mileage. Get the right gear and you can maintain without it downshifting and you will be happier and have less of a headache from listening to 5000 rpms up every hill.

It all down to aero imho. If you tow one of those low profile heavy trailers like in the "towing comparos" you cant help but get better mpg then towing a 10' high sail at 60 mph.

I have a V10 excursion , my old trailer was 24 ft and weighed 5000 lbs loaded .Mileage was 11 mpg avg . Barely knew it was there even on the hills. New trailer 8800 lbs loaded , mileage 11 mpg avg , I know its there , I am a bit slower on the start , once its rolling I cant tell the difference until I hit a steep grade , but it still pulls hills great .

Here is a little real world experience for you from me. Now, this is with my F350 Dually V10 crew cab.

I have a 95 Layton 31 ft box trailer. I weigh 7000 ish lbs ready to camp

My Father in law has a 24 ft Skyline Weekender that weighs in about 4300 ish lbs ready to camp.

They have nearly identical frontal profiles and shapes.

Pulling out from a stop sign from 0-10 mph is about the only time I can feel a difference in the weight. After that aerodynamics takes over. My Acceleration with my V10 dually is about the same with both trailers. So in my opinion a lighter weight full profile trailer does NOTHING to benefit ease of pulling.

I suspect that if I attach a 10,000 lb fifth wheel to my truck... I would experience similar acceleration after I reach 10 mph.. maybe a little slower, but not a drastic difference.

Aerodynamics play a much greater impact than a lot of folks give it credit for.

Thanks!

Jeremiah

As said, once you are rolling on the flats, weight doesn't make much difference, wind resistance does which is a direct result of speed, (also mentioned). I am often amused by all the people who claim they travel with the water tanks empty to get better mileage. However, a couple of thousand pounds will make a difference, especially if you live in Colorado.

I think the difference will be very noticeable, myself. If you spend most of your time in the flats the difference will certainly be less noticeable than if you do any mountain driving. Then you will really see the difference.

I pull a 3000# loaded TT with an F150 5.4 and I spend a lot of time in mountains. It’s a piece of cake to pull, I can maintain a good speed and I don’t high rev up the grades. I have no doubts at all that if I were pulling 5000 or 6000# it would be a whole different ballgame and I’m quite sure I wouldn’t like it.

I don’t know if fuel mileage would differ that much, as said, wind resistance is the culprit at speed. I get the same mpg towing as I do solo in town, but you don’t drive 65 or 70 on mountain roads so slower speed is likely helping there.

I don’t have much success with cruise. I use it when I’m on really flat ground, but when I get into any grades it kicks out. And the transmission hunting for gears is hard on it so I usually don’t even bother to use it.

The Caterpillar Company had an excellent document on Coach / RV performance. For TT owners who wonder about their rig’s fuel consumption, this publication had the explanations.

Factors affecting performance / fuel mileage:

Driver
Route selection
Vehicle speed
Weight
Frontal area and coefficient of drag
Grade
Climate / ambient conditions
Fuel
GVW or GCW
Idle time
Tires

For example, they say the difference between the best and worst drivers can be as much as 20%.
Vehicle speed above 55mph becomes a huge factor. The horsepower needed to overcome Air Resistance increases as a cubic function of vehicle speed.

I have towed many different trailers over the last few decades, and the weight difference, for my diesel, doesn't make a huge difference in the handling or towing of the trailer. In my experience, the shape does make a difference. When towing an Avion or Airstream, I can tell the difference from a rectangular box type trailer that is more affected by the cross winds and semi trucks passing. The weight doesn't affect it much except of acceleration and on the steeper hills.

I get the exact same mileage with my 8500# TT as I do with my 3000# snowmobile trailer. The snowmobile trailer is as tall as the TT. Difference being is the snowmobile trailer has a V-nose. IMO, aero and weight has nothing to do with mpg's. If you stand in front of 2 trailers and they take up the same space(frontal area), it doesn't matter if one is rounded, angled, curly or whatever. If it punches a hole X by X, they'll get the same mileage. It's been like this with 4 different trucks and 4 different trailers. Maybe if we were going 200mph but we're not.

I tow a car hauler, so it's around 4300 empty and 8000 full. Other than a slight difference in acceleration and maybe an earlier downshift on a hill I can't tell the difference. Fuel mileage barely changes.

Brian