TT Gas Milage

Fuel economy while towing travel trailers is much more about frontal area wind resistance than weight.

what EcoBullet said

Popups are reLly easy to tow,low drag, better mpg,ours opened up28ft long, now it's all happy-camping

EcoBullet wrote:
Fuel economy while towing travel trailers is much more about frontal area wind resistance than weight.

That's the fact!

If you want to get better gas mileage, consider something such as the Trail Manor units. Otherwise, you can't beat a pop-up tent camper.

Although we downsized to a trailer that weighs less than 6,500 lbs. loaded, gas mileage is only 9 to 9.5 mpg on the average.

Bzeitham wrote:
My question is do the light weight, not pop-up or fold down, travel trailers get much better milage than a full size TT

No.

On average, they all get about 10 mpg with a pickup truck. An underpowered TV will get less. Wind resistance is the biggest factor, and these so-called aerodynamic-front trailers are a marketing gimmick.

I figure on 9-11 MPG depending on wind and terrain in my gasser 1/2-ton.
If you're thinking about a smaller tow vehicle to save gas, don't. Gas mileage will be the same and you may be in for a white-knuckle ride.

I am right in there! Heavy 1/2 gas crew cab pickup with a 32ft trailer. Just finished a 2100 mile trip at 9mpg. Mileage is about the same with all of them, so get the trailer you want, dont make a decision based solely on mpg.

Not much difference for several reasons. Frontal area wind resistance is close to the same for them as a big trailer, usually they're towed with a smaller truck that has to work pretty hard to tow them are a couple of those reasons. If you need better fuel mileage look to one of the folding trailer models like Trail Manor, Hi Low etc. Those have some real savings possibility.

What they all said.

Once rolling, weight has little to do with MPG. As others said, the frontal area plays a big part. You're essentially dragging a large sheet of plywood through the wind. You won't see much of a mpg rise with trailers that have an aerodynamic cap or v-nose either. There's still a huge square back that's creating significant drag. This is why you're starting to see boat tail additions on the back of semi trailers. The most efficient full size trailer design would be an Airstream or similar shape.