Fuel Mileage 2017 Ram 3500

[Chase_WV]

Just upgraded from chevy 6.0 to a 2017 Ram 3500 SRW CTD. Already impressed with the 20 mpg on the highway. What should I expect towing a 9-10k pound 36 ft travel trailer in terms of mpg?

[transamz9]

Slowmover wrote:

rjxj wrote:
Slowmover
I searched SS sterling and found interior pics of yours I believe on air forums. That is a real beauty! With a low profile and low weight and rounded body style I can see how you'd get good mileage numbers. I dont remember all the generations right off. Is yours a 5.9 and did they get better mileage in general?

The pics of mine are of an earlier 3411 model. Thanks!

The later "Sterling" (almost a different TT) can be seen at the www.tompatterson.com site.

The current 35' has a 9k gross. I wouldn't quite call it light.

The 305HP/555TQ motor in my 2WD (IFS + rack & pinion steering) is acknowledged as an excellent balance of power versus fuel economy. My truck is dead stock except some suspension tuning. 220k miles or so. NV-5600, crew cab and 8' bed with cab height topper. 7,940-lbs and within forty pounds at all four corners.

My overall annual average town & country is 21-mpg for more than the past 50k miles.

I was willing to make changes to get the most. And the point isn't bragging rights, it's budgeting.

No, next to none of you get "there" faster. For reasons I hinted at above. I go to length because I believe most of you would be surprised and gratified at the result of intelligent changes.

I work as a professional truck driver. And move a 2/3-full smoothbore tanker around Texas and the surrounding states.

Always something new to learn at the wheel.

.

I'm not getting there the same time as you because of the reasons you say. I'm getting there the same time as you because of people like you that are clogging up the interstates. Wanting to run "their" speed which happens to be 1/2 mph faster trying to pass that convoy of steering wheel holders in the right lane. I can run for 10hrs on a tank without stopping so bathroom breaks is all I need in a days run. I have already proven time and time again to my FIL (that drives the same as you) that on a 100 mile run we leave my house at the same time I can be in my site set up, boat in the water and a fish in the live well before he gets in his site.

Not everyone towing RV's are retired and have all the time in the world. Some of us try to get all the family time in as possible and sometimes for me that's leaving out on a Friday after work (around 7pm) and have to be back home Sunday morning.

I budget just like you do the only difference is I don't do it at someone else expense.I could run a $100,000 Ranger 521L but instead I run a $60,000 boat. I can buy a lot of fuel and camp a lot of nights on 40K.

As far as your truck goes, it looks like you could put it on a diet and get another MPG or two. I have a 3rd gen that is 4X4 and it only weighs 6,800# with Reese 5th wheel hitch installed full fuel, wife and two overweight Pugs.

FWIW, I do believe your numbers because I can very easily achieve them with my 3rd gen.

[Slowmover]

Chase_WV wrote:
Just upgraded from chevy 6.0 to a 2017 Ram 3500 SRW CTD. Already impressed with the 20 mpg on the highway. What should I expect towing a 9-10k pound 36 ft travel trailer in terms of mpg?

The rule of thumb is 60% of solo (where climate, terrain, speed and driver skill are same).

Square box trailers, with tall floor heights (from ground; due to slides) I wouldn't guess much more than 50%.

FWIW, these trucks when solo hit a wall at 60-mph due to aero.

In my first post I noted things to be checked. No need to give up mpg due to items that could be adjusted or repaired.

.

[Slowmover]

rjxj wrote:
Slowmover
I searched SS sterling and found interior pics of yours I believe on air forums. That is a real beauty! With a low profile and low weight and rounded body style I can see how you'd get good mileage numbers. I dont remember all the generations right off. Is yours a 5.9 and did they get better mileage in general?

The pics of mine are of an earlier 3411 model. Thanks!

The later "Sterling" (almost a different TT) can be seen at the www.tompatterson.com site.

The current 35' has a 9k gross. I wouldn't quite call it light.

The 305HP/555TQ motor in my 2WD (IFS + rack & pinion steering) is acknowledged as an excellent balance of power versus fuel economy. My truck is dead stock except some suspension tuning. 220k miles or so. NV-5600, crew cab and 8' bed with cab height topper. 7,940-lbs and within forty pounds at all four corners.

My overall annual average town & country is 21-mpg for more than the past 50k miles.

I was willing to make changes to get the most. And the point isn't bragging rights, it's budgeting.

No, next to none of you get "there" faster. For reasons I hinted at above. I go to length because I believe most of you would be surprised and gratified at the result of intelligent changes.

I work as a professional truck driver. And move a 2/3-full smoothbore tanker around Texas and the surrounding states.

Always something new to learn at the wheel.

.

[ib516]

transamz9 wrote:
9-12

^^ I agree

[azrving]

Slowmover
I searched SS sterling and found interior pics of yours I believe on air forums. That is a real beauty! With a low profile and low weight and rounded body style I can see how you'd get good mileage numbers. I dont remember all the generations right off. Is yours a 5.9 and did they get better mileage in general?

[Slowmover]

Who said it was a fiver? I've posted this before. A number of times.

My FE numbers are consistent with more than a dozen other second and mainly third gen CTD owners pulling 7-10k lb, 28-34', all-aluminum aero travel trailers. Who also live and travel in the South Central US. 55-62/mph, most of them.

It's also at 60% of solo hwy mpg. Fits the model. 1967 or 2017: towing mpg ((all else the same) is mainly an aero problem.

Any of you all taken the TV out for a stroll at same scale weight less hitch pounds down same roads st same speed? It's instructive.

I started from scratch for spec as longest life and lowest operating cost were important. Then worked the details of achieving and maintaining low fuel burn as part of that. FE is just a marker, like brake or tire life (which is over 100k with this truck). It's part of cost prediction. Budgeting.

It ain't rocket science.

I've also posted -- more than once -- how due to a challenge I upped my town mpg from an already above average number by 20%. No loss of convenience, or stunt driving. At the then current price of $4/-gl for diesel, and extrapolated out over a year, this would underwrite 5000-miles of free vacation fuel.

Think anybody ever took me up on it? Ha! Today's Americans seem to have no interest in disciplining themselves when it comes to vehicle fuel use. Even if it paid nearly half the travel expenses of an RV vacation.

Keep records. See where it isn't painful to change. Establish new habits. Etc.

Here's a clue: Average MPH. One man tows at 61 and another tows at 68 with all else the same. Which gets to the destination faster? How much?

Believe me that I'll knock holes in assumptions right and left. Time versus fuel, etc.

"Average mph", with number of (as well as time control) of stops on a 300-mile day will rapidly close the time gap. The average is NOT the travel speed. It's far lower.

Lane-changes, use of brakes, and lack of cruise control use rapidly increases fuel burn.

The gap between those two drivers as to time is smaller than it appears. Far smaller. Fuel burn, however, is significantly weighted against the "faster" driver in typical east of the Mississippi driving.

The case is easily made that on a typical RVer travel day, a few extra minutes with the TV channel changer doesn't warrant the higher speed. Not when reduced fuel burn over the average annual 5000-miles can then cover other expenses.

That it's a speed above safe pickup truck operation is another consideration.

Etc.

The info is out there for those interested.

FWIW, I bought both truck and trailer for a little under $30k combined. A long lived pickup and a trailer with an indefinite lifespan can be had more cheaply than supposed.

Again, etc.

If both camping and cost control are important, devote some time to it. Internet makes that easy.

[brulaz]

At first I thought Slowmover was maybe a Canadian who moved to the Texas oil fields and still thinks in Imperial Gallons. But those are outstanding mileages even if they were in mpg Imperial.

[Turtle_n_Peeps]

Man some of you have really cool trucks! 16 MPG average towing a big 5er? Right on!

Let me know if you ever want to sell your trucks because I would like to buy it from you. Man, if you get 16 towing a huge 5er, hell, I would get 20 or 22 towing my little 28 foot TT!

I have to get in on this deal! :B

(hey, wait a second, do some of you fish?) :R

[IdaD]

I got as high as 23 under ideal circumstances on one roughly 300 mile trip. And I mean once. Typically my highway runs are in the 20 mpg range, which drops to maybe 16-17 on freeway runs averaging 82 mph. But I got as low as 13 freeway on a -10 degree New Years holiday run two winters ago. My city/suburb cycle nets me 16-17 on average.

Towing is consistently 10-12 with a 10k(+) fifth wheel depending on speed, terrain and conditions.

Lifetime EVIC shows 14.2 last time I checked. Overall I can't complain about my fuel economy given how much the truck weighs, how much towing I've done and how capable the thing is. A heavy duty gas truck would be substantially lower with my usage.

[Chase_WV]

Thanks for the info. Anything will be better than the 6-7.8 I was getting with the Chevy 6.0. Plus I don't have to listen to roar as I drive up the hills.

[goducks10]

Slowmover wrote:
At the same speed and in the same climate & terrain I average 24-27-mpg solo, I also average 14-16 pulling my 35'.

Trailer aero and quality of WDH lash-up mean most, once past TV spec. Get it on the scale for the three pass analysis.

And, don't assume trailer axle alignment, brake drag and bearing pre-set are correct even on a brand new TT. Take it to a shop that specializes in big truck trailers. Or ask dealer where they send out mohos.

Like they say, "Everythings bigger in TX. Even the MPG's are HUGE.

[spoon059]

double post

[spoon059]

I've got a 2500 with 3.42 rear end and tow a 9500 lbs bumper pull. On flat land I can get around 12 (depending upon wind) towing at about 67-68 mph on the highway. Hilly terrain and I am closer to 10, same speeds.

[1stgenfarmboy]

We need to buy fuel where Slowmover gets it, he gets 5 mpg better than the rest of us.

[Slowmover]

At the same speed and in the same climate & terrain I average 24-27-mpg solo, I also average 14-16 pulling my 35'.

Trailer aero and quality of WDH lash-up mean most, once past TV spec. Get it on the scale for the three pass analysis.

And, don't assume trailer axle alignment, brake drag and bearing pre-set are correct even on a brand new TT. Take it to a shop that specializes in big truck trailers. Or ask dealer where they send out mohos.