Toyota Tundra Gas Mileage--what do you get???

Ron3rd wrote:
BTW, when the DIC gets to ZERO miles left in the tank, you can still go 10 miles towing your trailer. Don't ask me how I know this. :)

Actually more than that. The light comes on right around the time you get to 6 gallons left. Toyota knew you would get about 10 towing, so they wanted to leave a 60+/- mile buffer. Last trip I carried a 5 gallon container of gas in the bed and tried to find empty... I was too chicken and didn't want to be on the side of I95 filling up with gas. Most I ever pumped in was 23 gallons, so I had 3 gallons (roughly 30 miles) left.

The Tundra doesn't have a big tank, but 20 gallons? I believe it is a huge 26 gallons!

It's 20gal when the empty light goes on. Panicked me the first time it happened. I was in the middle of nowhere towing the trailer and the GPS said nearest station was 30 miles away. Actually made it and could only get 20gals into the tank so still had 5 gals left. I'm good for 60 miles on empty :)

A related question for Tundra owners... would you buy your truck today to tow your camper, or skip to a HD (3/4 ton)? Forget GVWR worries for this question. I say that, because I know those calculations well enough, and also know that Toyota, GM, Ford, and Dodge don't rate these things the same way. You also already have what you have, and know how it performs. I'm just looking for honest feedback for how your current truck is handling *your* camper, and if you find yourself trying to beef it up for stability (tires, springs, or whatever). If you didn't already have your truck, would you be shopping 3/4 tons instead?

Just drove my 2013 company Tundra Limited from Pensacola to Oklahoma & back. Had about 1500# in bed going to OK, drove 5mph over speed limit and got 16.2 mpg. Empty bed on return trip, same speeds and got 18mpg. Used cruise control as much as possible.Towing loaded flatbed trailer (12k #) at posted speed limit, it does about 9mpg, but load is not much higher than top of tailgate. Wish it had a 32 gallon gas tank to increase range.

music69 wrote:
A related question for Tundra owners... would you buy your truck today to tow your camper, or skip to a HD (3/4 ton)? Forget GVWR worries for this question. I say that, because I know those calculations well enough, and also know that Toyota, GM, Ford, and Dodge don't rate these things the same way. You also already have what you have, and know how it performs. I'm just looking for honest feedback for how your current truck is handling *your* camper, and if you find yourself trying to beef it up for stability (tires, springs, or whatever). If you didn't already have your truck, would you be shopping 3/4 tons instead?

I would not be looking at a 3/4 ton truck. The Tundra does just fine with my trailer so no sense going bigger. Did put LT tires on when I changed but kind of regret that right now. Don't really think it was worth the extra money.

CaLBaR wrote:
I would not be looking at a 3/4 ton truck. The Tundra does just fine with my trailer so no sense going bigger. Did put LT tires on when I changed but kind of regret that right now. Don't really think it was worth the extra money.

I'd like to hear more about the tire experience too. Is towing w/ the LT tires any better?

Stephen W wrote:
Just drove my 2013 company Tundra Limited from Pensacola to Oklahoma & back. Had about 1500# in bed going to OK, drove 5mph over speed limit and got 16.2 mpg. Empty bed on return trip, same speeds and got 18mpg. Used cruise control as much as possible.Towing loaded flatbed trailer (12k #) at posted speed limit, it does about 9mpg, but load is not much higher than top of tailgate. Wish it had a 32 gallon gas tank to increase range.

Your results are pretty typical.

I'd like to hear more about the tire experience too. Is towing w/ the LT tires any better?

Towing with LT tires is usually better as they will have higher load ratings, higher pressures and stiffer sidewalls leading to a more stable platform. The downside is that your ride may suffer due to the stiffer tire.

If you go to an LT tire you will have a choice of ratings. If you stick to a "C" rated tire you will improve towing ability over the stock P rated tires with minor affect on ride quality. Going to a D or E rating can severely decrease ride quality and is kind of pointless as the ratings for those tires would be way above what the rest of the truck is capable of anyways.

camp-n-family wrote:
If you go to an LT tire you will have a choice of ratings. If you stick to a "C" rated tire you will improve towing ability over the stock P rated tires with minor affect on ride quality. Going to a D or E rating can severely decrease ride quality and is kind of pointless as the ratings for those tires would be way above what the rest of the truck is capable of anyways.

The problem I've found is that the tires I'm interested in only come in p-metric and LT/E (specifically, Michelin MS/2 and AT/2). The weight of the p-metric in my size is 42 lbs ea, where the LT/E is 48 lbs. Not much different. From their load tables, the E tires can be run at the same pressures as a C, but you're right that I'd never run full pressure in LT/E tire on a 1500 truck. Likely 60 psi max. The cost on these particular tires isn't a lot different either.

How do LT tires affect your gas mileage???