Gas mileage with a Truck Camper
Right now, I tow a small 5th wheel with my GMC. Without trailer, I average 15-16 mpg usually.....down to 9.5-10 with the trailer. Truck campers kind of fascinate me, so I was thinking I might pick ...
Forum Discussion
Oh boy, MR. Minimalist (Less Stuff, formerly Lots of Stuff) is on the loose.8<)
The O.P. inquired about gas mileage with a truck camper. You notice mostly diesel folks have responded which is in a whole'other category compared to gas. Why would that be? Me thinks they want to tout their fine mpg while hauling a camper. That's fine, that's why many of us bought oil burners in the first place. Of the few gas people who responded some had the 1 series truck. I think the larger question for anyone contemplating a TC is how many miles do you believe you will drive said rig. My personal crossover point (the number of miles you would have to drive to rationalize the diesel penalty and the 20-25% better mpg with the less costly big block gas engine pulling the same load) is 275K miles. If you plan on putting that many miles on a TC, then diesel will finally pay for itself.
Truck empty: 18-19 mpg But it's rarely empty.
Truck and Lance camper, with or without small jeep trailer: 12-14.8 mpg depending
Truck and Lance camper, with Jeep on car trailer (16,400 pounds): 11.5-13 mpg
Worst ever mpg: 10.5 mpg with everything against me.
It does't seem to matter how I drive or what the load, only the wind resistance of the Lance makes a difference.
My neighbor, Ken, just bought a 1995 gas, V-10 Dodge Ram 4X4, single cab, long bed, appliance white, Dana 70 rr diff, pickup with a cool insulated and carpeted over sized shell with 60K miles on the odo. What is that? 3K miles a year for 20 years? He paid $3500 for it as it needed a new CAT but runs and looks great like it's in a time warp. It has 450 # ft. of gasseous torque. Now the '95 was the first year for the V-10 and there were a few bugs to be ironed out and apparently were, but the cost vs. miles vs.condition is hard to beat. On the 150 mile drive home he got 13 mpg. How long would it take to recoup the better diesel mpg on a $40K truck, never mind the cost of the camper, compare to the $3.5K Dodge V-10?
jefe
The O.P. inquired about gas mileage with a truck camper. You notice mostly diesel folks have responded which is in a whole'other category compared to gas. Why would that be? Me thinks they want to tout their fine mpg while hauling a camper. That's fine, that's why many of us bought oil burners in the first place. Of the few gas people who responded some had the 1 series truck. I think the larger question for anyone contemplating a TC is how many miles do you believe you will drive said rig. My personal crossover point (the number of miles you would have to drive to rationalize the diesel penalty and the 20-25% better mpg with the less costly big block gas engine pulling the same load) is 275K miles. If you plan on putting that many miles on a TC, then diesel will finally pay for itself.
Truck empty: 18-19 mpg But it's rarely empty.
Truck and Lance camper, with or without small jeep trailer: 12-14.8 mpg depending
Truck and Lance camper, with Jeep on car trailer (16,400 pounds): 11.5-13 mpg
Worst ever mpg: 10.5 mpg with everything against me.
It does't seem to matter how I drive or what the load, only the wind resistance of the Lance makes a difference.
My neighbor, Ken, just bought a 1995 gas, V-10 Dodge Ram 4X4, single cab, long bed, appliance white, Dana 70 rr diff, pickup with a cool insulated and carpeted over sized shell with 60K miles on the odo. What is that? 3K miles a year for 20 years? He paid $3500 for it as it needed a new CAT but runs and looks great like it's in a time warp. It has 450 # ft. of gasseous torque. Now the '95 was the first year for the V-10 and there were a few bugs to be ironed out and apparently were, but the cost vs. miles vs.condition is hard to beat. On the 150 mile drive home he got 13 mpg. How long would it take to recoup the better diesel mpg on a $40K truck, never mind the cost of the camper, compare to the $3.5K Dodge V-10?
jefe
