Tundra 5.7 Owners

I'm towing a 31' @ 7800lbs and average 9mpg at 60-65mph. I can increase that to almost 11mpg by dropping to 55mph (with no wind).

As mentioned you won't see a huge difference with weight. The big changes occur with speed, frontal area size and winds.

You shouldn't have a problem achieving 12-13mpg with the trailer you mention, as long as you keep the speeds down and you don't have a heavy foot.

We pull a 19' Scamp and once you put it in tow out goes the reasonable.

Pulled a 5,000 lb. loaded trailer (7ft wide, approx. 9-10 ft high; flat, slightly slanted frontal area) with a 2011 Tundra 5.7 cross-country. At 55 mph, cruise off, flat terrain, no wind, and 50 ft elevation, got 13.0 mpg (12.0 mpg at 60 mph). Dropped to 11 - 11.5 mpg (at 55 mph) in the desert SW with more hills and wind. From my experience, 55 mph is the optimum tow speed if MPG's are a priority.

esjay wrote:
I will only be pulling about 3,000 pounds at 60-65 mph, usually on fairly level roads. What can I expect?

You should easily get your wished for 12-13, if not better. I towed my 6x12 enclosed trailer to California a couple of years ago with my gaz-guzzling 2500HD. The trailer was lightly loaded (maybe 2200 pounds) but has the aerodynamics of a brick. Running about 60 mph I averaged 12.5 for the trip, up and down the Siskiyous and the Grapevine. With a tailwind I averaged almost 15 on 1 fillup. A 5.7 Tundra should do better, the challenge will be keeping your speed down with that light little trailer! :)

ewarnerusa wrote:
I'm subscribing to hear real world 5.7 Tundra numbers. I'm a Toyota truck guy, I'm on my 3rd one which is an '04 Tundra Limited 4x4, 4.7L engine, 4.10 gears. While I don't think anyone buys a truck to get good gas mileage, I feel like Toyota is really behind the curve on mileage. Mine sucks, 8-9 towing (which I know is typical across the range of gas engines) and 13-15 mixed city/highway. 17+ if all highway. If that's all the better I'm getting, what's the point of the small V8 and sub-1500 size? Newer domestic trucks seem to float around 20's for mpg on the highway and upper teens with mixed, but the 5.7 Tundra is known for being a fuel hog. My current truck is marginal for our towing needs so I'm going to be getting a new TV in the future and would like to stick with Toyota, but the 1500 diesels and/or Ecoboosts just seem like such a better deal for fuel mileage. To be honest I think I might be going with a full-size SUV for the next TV based on passenger hauling, I'm interested to see what the future holds in that category.

I pulled the trailer in my sig with my old 2000 4.7 Tundra and my 2007 5.7 Tundra and the mpg was about the same towing. Yes, mpg sucks but 381 HP and 401 Ft lbs of torque costs mpg. I agree that Toyota is way behind the mpg curve in technology compared to the big 3. For mpg, I like the new Silverado 5.3. Eco boost is great too.

Can I reasonably expect 12-13mpg towing a slippery, 68" wide, single axle fiberglass 3,000 pound trailer?

I would think that would be easily doable. That trailer is only 5'-8" wide. Pretty close to the same width as the truck. 3000lbs is really nothing. If that trailer is fairly low then I see no reason you shouldn't get 12-13mpg or better.
If you have a canopy on I would think 14 would be doable as the trailer would be in the slipstream.

I'm subscribing to hear real world 5.7 Tundra numbers. I'm a Toyota truck guy, I'm on my 3rd one which is an '04 Tundra Limited 4x4, 4.7L engine, 4.10 gears. While I don't think anyone buys a truck to get good gas mileage, I feel like Toyota is really behind the curve on mileage. Mine sucks, 8-9 towing (which I know is typical across the range of gas engines) and 13-15 mixed city/highway. 17+ if all highway. If that's all the better I'm getting, what's the point of the small V8 and sub-1500 size? Newer domestic trucks seem to float around 20's for mpg on the highway and upper teens with mixed, but the 5.7 Tundra is known for being a fuel hog. My current truck is marginal for our towing needs so I'm going to be getting a new TV in the future and would like to stick with Toyota, but the 1500 diesels and/or Ecoboosts just seem like such a better deal for fuel mileage. To be honest I think I might be going with a full-size SUV for the next TV based on passenger hauling, I'm interested to see what the future holds in that category.

esjay wrote:
I'd like to know real world mpg figures. Can I reasonably expect 12-13mpg towing a slippery, 68" wide, single axle fiberglass 3,000 pound trailer?

Honestly no. Its not so much the weight of the trailer, its the wind resistance from the front of the trailer. I have a 2010 with 5.7 and heavy E rated tires. I pull a 6500 lbs trailer and if I keep it under 65 I can get 10.5 or so driving up and down the level east coast. When the speeds go up, the mileage goes down quickly. When I pulled in the Appalachian mountain range, mileage when down to about 8 or 9 at those same speeds.

If you have a rounded front wall, you might get better mileage. If you keep your speed at or below 55 or 60, you might get better mileage. If you have a camper shell on your bed that reduces wind drag between truck and camper, you MIGHT get better mileage.

All that being said, 12 or 13 towing seems unlikely, but it could be possible if all the variables are in your favor. Unfortunately your low fuel light will come on after only 20 gallons, so even at 13 mpg you'll be getting that fuel light at 260 miles.

Honestly though, the 5.7 is a BEAST of an engine and will pull that trailer with ease.

On edit I failed to do the math. 68" is 5.5 feet wide, not an 8 foot wide travel trailer. You will have less wind resistance and its probably not as tall as a travel trailer either. With a small profile you should be able to get better mileage than if you were pulling a similar weight full size travel trailer. 13 might be very possible with the smaller profile of the trailer. Good luck.

If you drive 60 , in drive, tow/haul on, on the flat, no wind then yes you can expect 12 to 13 mpg with that trailer.

It's Me wrote:
I tow a 36 foot KZ Durango at around 8,300lbs. I get between 8 - 9 towing and 17 empty. I am doubtful you can achieve double digits as the aerodynamics affect mpg more than anything else.

I've got a similar setup but it's the V-Hull Windjammer that helps a lot with aerodynamics. I'm at about 8,000+ lbs and get 9+ mpg and can get 10.9 mpg on long stretches on the flats. I count on getting around 9 most of time. Not towing I get around 13.5 combined day in, day out over the long haul with lots of stop and go city driving. You can easily get 17-18 mpg on long trips on the highway on level ground. Much of your mpg with the 5.7 Tundra depends on how hard you put your foot in it.

If mpg is your big concern, take a look at the new Silverado with the 5.3. Very good truck, though not the tow beast the Tundra is.