Realilistic mileage with a fifthwheel.
Just curious what kind of fuel mileage I can expect with a fifth-wheel. 1ton 4x4 duramax srw 36 Ft. 13Klbs fifth-wheel. I realize weather, road conditions whether it is flat or hills or mountains ...
Forum Discussion
1996 GMC K3500 (1 ton Dually crew) With Vortec 454 and 4.10 rear end. Magnaflow exhaust and Aero flow wing. No other mods.
2017 32 ft Crusader Lite Weight (9k lbs) 5th wheel.
Approx GVW 14 k lbs +/- a few.
Just completed a round trip from LA to St Petersburg Florida, total 5250 miles.
Drove I 10 going I 20 return.
Speed 55 - 60 mph, Average MPG 10.1.
Average fuel cost per gal $2-03,(hand calculations)
Previously we had a 36 ft diesel MH with a Cummins 5.9 and averaged 9.7 mpg so out of interest I noted average Diesel costs were running around $2-40.per gal
It was also noted that we were passed multiple times by the same vehicles ? Which raised the question of were they stopping more frequently for fuel or taking a lot of breaks due to stress ? And even though the GMC has a 33 gal tank we stopped every 250 miles for a break and fuel.
So taking into account Maintance costs in comparison to a Diesel, and a gas engine requires more frequent servicing schedules, for me ecconomy is on the side of the 454.
And judging by all the other posts Gas verses Diesel is not far off being equal in MPG results !! Although I admit more torque helps going up hill.
But I am surprized this topic has gone so far? Because when MPG has been brought up previously the standard answers are. I have better things to do than plod a long and if you have to worry about trivial things like fuel costs and mpg then you can't afford to RV. Ah well I guess a Leopard can change its spots !!
2017 32 ft Crusader Lite Weight (9k lbs) 5th wheel.
Approx GVW 14 k lbs +/- a few.
Just completed a round trip from LA to St Petersburg Florida, total 5250 miles.
Drove I 10 going I 20 return.
Speed 55 - 60 mph, Average MPG 10.1.
Average fuel cost per gal $2-03,(hand calculations)
Previously we had a 36 ft diesel MH with a Cummins 5.9 and averaged 9.7 mpg so out of interest I noted average Diesel costs were running around $2-40.per gal
It was also noted that we were passed multiple times by the same vehicles ? Which raised the question of were they stopping more frequently for fuel or taking a lot of breaks due to stress ? And even though the GMC has a 33 gal tank we stopped every 250 miles for a break and fuel.
So taking into account Maintance costs in comparison to a Diesel, and a gas engine requires more frequent servicing schedules, for me ecconomy is on the side of the 454.
And judging by all the other posts Gas verses Diesel is not far off being equal in MPG results !! Although I admit more torque helps going up hill.
But I am surprized this topic has gone so far? Because when MPG has been brought up previously the standard answers are. I have better things to do than plod a long and if you have to worry about trivial things like fuel costs and mpg then you can't afford to RV. Ah well I guess a Leopard can change its spots !!
