Truck camper mileage

2016 Ram 2500HD - 6.4L Hemi gasser - Adventurer 80RB (loaded about 2480 lbs)
Georgia to western Canada and back, roughly 8,600 miles
Hand calculated (meticulously) for entire distance - 13.8 mpg

This is driving sedately at 60 to 65 mph. On one 170 mile stretch across Montana I got 15 mpg.



Fundamentally, my mileage is "blown in the wind".

Cobra21 wrote:
With a suburban, 1993 I got 9-10 pulling the camper. Without camper it was about 16-17.

This is the truck camper section, not the travel trailer section.

With the truck and camper in my signature,I got 13.9 mpg on a recent trip from Salem, OR to the Snake River in eastern Oregon, a little over 1,000 miles round trip. Quite a few mountains. I was a bit surprised as I only had 3,000 miles on the truck. Not even broke in yet.

BTW, is tailgating a semi truck now an approved way to increase fuel mileage?:E

ryoung

2012 F350 4x4 160” wb flatbed 6.2 gasohol V8 / Cirrus 820. Camper to back of cab gap not closed with a storage box yet. 8.3 mpUSgal on 87 E10 bucking a quartering 20-30mph wind, rainwater on road cruising 62mph.

Next trip calm winds 12.5 mpUSgal same speed same fuel same route.

13.5-18 range TC and small cargo trailer. Cummins 5.9 diesel 24v. 64mph.
13 is into a 35 mph headwind.
18 is with a healthy tailwind.
Usually I see 15.5-16.5 range. Wind is usually present crossing the country in the form of crosswinds, which are worse than straight on winds since trailer gets the full brunt of it too.
Without wind I never see below 16.
Without trailer I should go up ½ or 1 mpg due to obvious lost weight and lost air resistance.

Pointing out the obvious variations is stupid here, but the big one no dummy points out is the size, shape and weight of the TC. Tall square ones are the worst, and folding ones don't really even count, but rounded and smooth shapes will yield the least wind resistance. Mine is rounded and smooth, so will always punch through the air smoother than the stick built square shapes most TC look like. I think I would lose several mpg with square corners.

Also, do you have junk strapped to the roof or not, to the back on a tray or not?

What matters to me is the total cost of operating the truck over time. Most of the time (~99%) the camper is on the truck, so I may see MPG’s as high as 12.5 (downhill, tailwind, ideal driving conditions, etc) and as low as 6 (chugging up a steep grade, during regen, speeds above 65, etc).

I used to keep track of fuel mileage in my older trucks with handwritten logs. Even after vehicle’s started displaying MPG on the dash, they didn’t seem to be that accurate all the time. On both my 2010 and 2016 F450’s though, I hand calculated the fuel mileage for the first few months I had them and eventually concluded that what the truck was displaying was pretty accurate, so I quit doing it manually.

This display showing the average MPG I’ve never reset. I’m not sure how many miles it’s averaging, but it has to be several hundred at least. Or maybe it’s every mile I’ve put on the truck. All I know is I have to drive several hours at an MPG higher/lower than it’s displaying before it will tick up/down .1 of an mpg. As far as I’m concerned, that’s what my average MPG is for this truck. Keep in mind that most F450 pickups have a 4.30 axle ratio. I think they could be ordered with a 4.80 as well, but those are pretty rare.



I use the trip odometers to get a more focused idea of what my MPG is. The “A” trip odo is where I keep track of how long it’s been since the last regen. When the regen starts, I’ll reset it and keep an eye on the mpg. It will be significantly lower than normal during the regen process, and will start going up noticeably when the regen stops. Between this, and the DPF soot load screen, I can keep pretty close track of what’s happening. The “B” trip odo is the one I reset a lot.



:):)

No, 50 ft isn’t far enough, but don’t take my word for it. This graphic is for 55. If it isn’t obvious, at 75 or so, the distance would be even farther.

The trick for easy going in draft is to set CC and only click +- 1 mph when needed.
This way no gas pedal fanning and my foot is always ready to hit the brakes.
I follow with about 50' distance, what gives me plenty of room even for emergency braking.
Physics say that the front vehicle takes as much of front draft as rear vehicle takes the rear draft. So my tailgating saves the semi some fuel as well, but doubt in the amount he can notice, when for me tailgating at 70 mph gives 20-25% fuel saving.
Again, I don't do that often as my main purpose is to see the country, but when you drive 1500 miles in Texas having the same landscaping, that is where technique becomes handy.

Kayteg1 wrote:
When I usually set CC at 60 mph, when I am bored on flatland, I "catch" big semitrailer and drive in its tailwind. That sometimes is reaching 80 mph, but usually I go 70-75 mph and the drag covers for speed mpg penalty.
Meaning I can follow the semi at 75 mph and still burn the same fuel I do, while driving 60 mph alone.
Turbulence is a bit uncomfortable, but that keeps me from sleeping on boring drive.

Some drivers stress about drafters. Enough to do without someone rear ending them etc etc.
Small vehicles tailgating me in a truck never bother me - I figure the ass end of my trailer(s) are more rugged than the plastic front end of a car or pickup and hitting me from behind is on the tailgater.

Current 60mph to 0mph is what, 265ft for a 80k 5 axle truck? This is exponentially longer as speed increases. I guess if you see his brake lights right away you won’t hit him that hard when he stands on the binders in a situation....

Yeah, if you’re tailgating semis, wrecking on your own due to speed is the least of your worries. I bet that semi was happy to contribute to your MPG, right? :D

70 in a 80 is much better than 60. The difference in speed is what makes the slow speed more dangerous than going a little faster. Of course, you can always just hit one of the backroads to go 60.