Chevy Duramax Fuel mileage

[rrbowman]

I am looking for an honest answer from actual campers. I am considering buying a used 2005-2008 Chevy 2500 w/Duramax with a Alison Tranny to tow a 10,000 - 11,000 Fifth Wheel. Those of you that have a combo similar, what kind of mileage do you get when towing and not towing? I know that is subjective because of driving styles but I consider myself a driver trying to get the best mileage. I have been told 22mpg around town and 16-18 when towing, is that possible?

[AZ_T_T]

My truck is a little newer, but my FW is the right weight. Towing on flat interstate I can get 12 to 13 mpg babying it. If I drive in a hurry drop that to 10 mpg. I usually tow ion state highways with mountain grades and I will get 7 mpg. I will be the first to admit I am usually in a hurry and keep it at the speed limit going up those mountain grades.

I just did 500 miles of non -towing miles last weekend. It was a combination of state highway, dirt roads and a little city driving. I got 16 mpg.

[pressure_welder]

I have a 2012 denali dually dmax/allison. Love it to death, before i did the full H&S delete w/ 4" dual exhaust i would average 15-17MPG max due to the regens, and about 9-10MPG towing. Did the full delete and no word of a lie got a hand calculated 24.6MPG highway on a night drive with zero wind with the cruise set at 100km/h so that was a picture perfect "ideal situation" but in a real world day to day i get about 18-20, and best ive seen towing is 13mpg towing about 15,500LBS with the boat/camper hooked up. But more often than not iam around 10-12MPG if you include hills etc and thats always set at 90-95 km/h. I personally will never own anything other than a duramax simply because i think its the most heavy duty combination with the duramax/allison, i dont mind paying for reliability. Also i believe the H&S full delete kit will extend the life of the truck substantially, we have it set on the 50HP tune as we have really no need for any extra HP over stock.

[wingsfan20]

My 2007 LMM duramax gets about 10-12 MPG towing. Average 60-65 MPH. Recently took 200 mile trip where I maintained 55 MPH as a test and actually got 21 MPG. Normal unloaded mpg city/Hwy is about 15-17. This is based on my little notebook which is updated every time I buy fuel. I note in the book whether I was pulling or not, so is a good indicator.

[fishingbob61]

I also get 10/11 towing and 17 solo.

[Poppy_s_5th_Whe]

10.5 to 11.5. I count on 10.5. Anything more is a gift. Don't use the truck for anything else so don't know city or highway non-towing fuel consumption. I had hoped for better when I bought because I foolishly believed some of the forum (not necessarily here) folks who claimed wild and crazy numbers. Truck is bone stock and I also don't buy into the hype about great improvements with mods but that's just me.

[ddschuman]

Last year we had a 2011 Chev 2500 Duramax x-cab long bed and pulled a TT weighing around 8000 GVW. We got between 11-13 mpg on a trip to Colorado. The mpg were figured by pencil & paper each fill up. This year we have different truck (crew cab) & fifth wheel both listed in my signature...we got 8-10 mpg on same trip figured the same way. We just came back from a trip to the coast (Port Aransas, TX) and got 10 mpg.

[jrs1871]

We have a 2010 2500 Duramas with the Allison transmission towing a fifth wheel that weighs 11,280 loaded and ready to go. We get 10.5 to 11.5 towing at 62 to 63 MPH. I would guess that MPG not towing would be in the 17-18 MPG range but we only use it for towing so am not sure.
We just returned from a 4,500 mile trip through TN, GA, SC, NC, KY, OH and IN and for the trip averaged 11.2 MPG. That includes towing and what ever local miles we drove. The worst actual towing days was 9.8 into a very strong head wind and the best was 12.1 under almost ideal conditions in IN.

[FlatBroke]

If your want the millage taken from my DIC(drivers information center)on my last trip I got 24 mpg doing 1/2 the trip at 75 mph empty. By the pencil, and my wallet I got 17.7.

[Cajun_Bill]

2007 D/A 2500 4 wheel drive, empty----17-19 hwy, 15-16 city, towing 15k fiver---9-10 at 62mph. (except for once when I got one tank of higher octane/more expensive diesel on a trip while in Utah when I got 13 towing the fiver) For some reason, that type of diesel is not available in La. I'm guessing the peeps need that type for driving a bunch at high altitude.

Hope this helps.

[glazier]

Empty 15-16 MPG around town, 17MPG Highway at 65 MPH or less
Towing the trailer in my Signature = 10 MPG average

[hoopers]

This according to my DIC computer.

2009 duramax, extended cab SRW 4x4. Not-towing: 18-20 mpg on the hwy, going about 75. Towing: about 12 -14 mpg going 65 mph. I towed a 11000 lb fifth wheel.

2011 duramax, crew cab DRW 4x4: not-towing: 16-17 mpg on the hwy, going about 75. Towing: 11.9 mpg, towing about 64 mph. I tow a 14000 lb fifth wheel.

[lee_worsdell]

04 3500 duramax efi live towing tune.Get 650-700 km empty and 450 towing out of a tank. Not sure what that is in miles

[Norskeman]

Non-towing - driving 60 - 20 mpg, driving 70 - 18 mpg
Towing - driving 55-60 - 11.5 to 12.0 mpg, driving 65-67 - 10.0 to 11.0 mpg.

Mileage towing will be impacted by head winds and hills/mountains.

My 2011 D/A gets about 1/2 mpg better than the 2005 D/A I had - 5 speed Vs 6 speed allison.

Previous DAs:
2005 Chevy Silverado 3500 LT CCLB LLY SRW 4X4
2004 GMC Sierra 2500HD SE ECLB LB7 4X4

The Duramax/Allison will tow that size of trailer without any problems but you'll probably be exceeding the GVWR of 2500HD truck (One of the reasons I traded my 2004 for a 2005 and the 2005 for a 2011)

If you can get a newer (2011 and newer) 3500HD SRW. GVWR is 11,600 lbs. The newer 2500HD has a GVWR of 10,000 lbs.

The "older 2500HD has a GVWR of 9200 lbs and the 3500HD has a GVWR of 9900 lbs.

[Tango__AE7UI]

My '06 D/A 3500, with the heavier service body, and with 124,500, is getting 19+ running empty and 12.5 towing our fifth wheel.
I tow at 60-62 mph.
I have tracked the fuel mileage since we bought it new.
Average mileage is 15.8.

[Luke_Porter]

I've had four 3500's pulling a 20K trailer. Always get around 10 mpg. I get 11-12 when pulling a 3000# trailer. Maybe 16-18 not towing.