Gas mileage with a Truck Camper

[poncho62]

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 up a used one, not too heavy just for travelling. Am wondering, how your mileage with your truck camper affects your truck? I know there still is a larger frontal drag, so was thinking about a pop up TC

I have seen mileage threads for trailers on here, but cant remember seeing a truck camper one.

What are your mileage experiences with and without the camper?

[mlts22]

This is a good discussion. Moving from a half-ton to a one ton might mean at most a 1 MPG drop, assuming a gasser. A diesel, I'd gain MPG.

As for me, I get about 15 MPG overall.

[Johnny_G1]

98 GMC with a 6.5 diesel, 8.2 Bigfoot camper that has been on the truck 2 yrs now, low mileage last yr was 17.2 mpg and this yr. a trip to Vancouver gave us a high of 19.2 mpg and a short 300 mile trip last week was 18.3 mpg and that is driving the speed limit 100k at 1900-2000 rpm, I have keeping track of fuel mileage for yrs and my mh is at a 12.5 mpg for the past 10 yrs.

[Eric_Lisa]

Empty I get 15-16 mpg.
Camper gets 8-10 mpg.

The interesting thing... I pulled out the stock 350 and put in a GM HT383E crate motor. Nothing wrong with the old motor, I just wanted the more power the bigger motor provides. No change in mileage compared to the old motor! The new motor makes more power and spins less. It climb hills at 2800rpm in (D)rive at 55mph, the old motor spun a 4000rpm in 2nd gear at 45mph.

[run100]

EMPTY (70-75mph): 20-mpg
LOADED (62-65mph): 11.5-15-mpg

Although we don't notice the wind (even when loaded), the truck responds to the wind with lower fuel mileage.

[jefe_4x4]

Ticki wrote: "That same year truck with a diesel would probably yield 18 mpg and cost 3-4k more , not 40k more"
I cannot fault your logic.
Around these parts, a 1995 Ram Cummins, 12v would be well over $10K with that same mileage, if you could find one that the owner didn't think was gold plated. The 12V Cummins is kind a cult vehicle around here. It's touted to be one of the only rigs still moving after the Sun's micro burst of energy. No electronic anything. My idea was to show kind of a cost comparo between an oil burner and a gasser. When I bought the '01 CTD, the diesel penalty was only $4900. I was sure I could drive it long enough to pay for the penalty/mileage differential. @ 168K miles, I'm afraid I've failed miserably. Ken's cost per mile in driving his V-10 will be a lot higher than my CTD with the same load. But, his total outlay in devoted truck funds will be MUCH less.
jefe

[rwiegand]

I think wind resistance is more of a factor than weight.

Truck by itself-- 17-18 MPG,
Truck with tall boxy trailer-- 7 MPG
Truck with camper and tall boxy trailer-- 8.5 MPG
Truck with camper only -- 12-13 MPG

Pulling the trailer our mileage actually improves by adding ~2500 lbs of camper.

[poncho62]

Thanks for all the input folks....but now I have another question. I would be looking at a lighter truck camper (under 1500 lbs preferably)....also at popups.....Question is, does a pop up get better mileage due to being lower?.....that is if the pop up and hard side campers weigh the same

[ticki2]

jefe 4x4 wrote:


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

Jefe , with all do respect , that is not quite comparing apples to apples . That same year truck with a diesel would probably yield 18 mpg and cost 3-4k more , not 40k more . Not trying to disparage his deal , sounds like a good one .

[skipbee]

On our trip to Alaska we kept pretty good track of mileage by calculating the the fuel used on the pumps. We averaged 11.5 mpg for the entire trip.

Someone suggested (Fred at Outdoor Express RV) that keeping the RPM's at and below 2000 would increase mileage considerably. It really has, for us! We take off slowly, do not use cruise control, let it build up momentum downhill and ease off accelerating uphill. 1750 RPM seems to be best which translates to around 62 to 65 MPH. On recent long trips we were able to get a steady 13/14 MPG.

We have noticed that we find ourselves in convoy with other trucks and vehicles employing the same stuff. It does add up to a savings on longer trips but is harder to do driving locally.

We have a SRW rig, which we had to adapt because duallys were kaput on Asssateague Island. They now permit duallys and if I were refitting I would choose duallys and prolly would not get the mileage we now get but should have improved stability and an improved margin of safety.

[arto_wa]

Bedlam wrote:
Less Stuff has a Ram 1500 with a canopy and carpet kit.

Could it be a magic carpet?

[jefe_4x4]

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

[Less_Stuff]

poncho62 wrote:

Less Stuff wrote:
20MPG combined city highway.
Have had trips at 28 MPG.
No trips under 22 MPG.
As shown on the trucks display.
Regular gasoline.

What truck and camper is this with?......Seems almost too good to be true

Yes but true!
My truck and Topper

Plus the ride of our new RAM 1500 is great, better and quieter than our car.
Wife likes to ride in the truck better than in the car!

[av8rds]

I get about 16 unloaded.

I was getting 11.5 with my Lance 992 and I'm getting about 10.7 with my EC1160(taller/heavier)

[Far_Roamer]

I have made the exact same trip several times this year with the truck and camper in my signature. It consists of 55 miles city, 75 miles freeway at 75mph, and 75 miles of secondary highway at 62mph, all with lots of hills and at about 4000 feet of elevation. I get almost exactly 12 mpg, what is amazing is that when I fill up at the end of the trip the cost is always within a $5 range, even though sometimes I experience head/tail winds. Truck has 4:10 gears.