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?

[jimh406]

sleepy wrote:
It's really not that hard to know exactly what your mpg has been since day one.

Did you ever stop to think that many people don't really care to know exactly what mileage they get?

[sleepy]

I see a few.... "I get about....."

Keep track of all of the fuel you purchase and read the total miles off your speedometer (assuming that your speadometer is acurately calibrated with the tires that are on your vehicle.)

I choose to use the total amount of fuel consumed and the total miles driven since day one.

Reason... from home to the gulf coast is downhill... for example... I might get 2/10 of a MPG better in that direction... returning home is uphill... and I will lose anything on overall average that I gained on the way down,

Your trucks computer should be very accurate,,,, check it with your own calculations... if they are different ask yourself... did I have my odometer recalabrated after I put the 19" wheels on the truck"...

Something not many people think about.... New tires go further in one complete revolution that badly worn tires... new tires are bigger in diameter... not much maybe but over 40,000 miles it would add up.

Even the type of fuel from station to station would add up to gains or losses over time.

My truck and truck camper have been set up close to the same weight wise since 2003... GMC one ton Sierra SLT Duramax/Allison still set up like it came off the factory floor.

Running 80 PSI tires (important), and the majority of the time at 58 mph (almost never above 63 mph) with the TC loaded more than 99% of the trucks life time:

... hand calculated from day one we had 15.1 mpg until March of 2015... this years exstended trip in the mountains of New Mexico and the slightly higher MPH heading home on I-40 dropped us overall to almost a flat 15 mpg. Confirmed by the trucks computer.
What ever MPG you get.... make them count... go somewhere fun.

Summer is half over...

Chet

[jimh406]

2010 Ford 450 in my signature with 6.4 PSD, 12-14 unloaded, generally 9.5-10 depending on how many mountains I go over and how fast I drive.

[mike_mck]

99 F550 7.3 PSD15 mpg highway empty. City 12 to 14 and with 6500 lb camper 10 MPG

[Mote]

towpro wrote:
2015 Ram, dually, 4:10's. Getting around 10-11 mpg with camper on, but still playing with that 865ft lbs torque :).
(only 1000 miles on it)

My poor 1996 dodge has around 400 ft/lbs less than you. Amazing how much power the new trucks have.

[deserteagle56]

Just completed a 632 mile trip, hand-calculated mpg came out to 15.5 mpg. Running about 65 mph most of the time. But I was loaded lightly this trip - the weight of the Bigfoot in the back didn't even set the truck down on the overloads. 2004 Ram/Cummins dually/6 speed manual with 3.73 gears. Empty the truck gets 18-19 mpg at the same speed.

[The_Mad_Norsky]

towpro wrote:
2015 Ram, dually, 4:10's. Getting around 10-11 mpg with camper on, but still playing with that 865ft lbs torque :).
(only 1000 miles on it)

2014 Ram, dually, 3:73's. Aisin version. Just over 10,000 miles on it now.

BUT the same fuel mileage as quoted above. 10-11 with the camper on board.

Gotta agree with others who said the wind resistance really cuts down the fuel mileage.

As with some others, I am 12 foot and slightly higher to the top of the camper while on the vehicle. A big sail for sure.

[cdbinns]

Our F350 dually gets about 16 mpg without the camper and around 12 mpg with our Arctic Fox (roughly 5000 lbs and 12' tall when loaded).

[punomatic]

The truck in my signature gets about 15 unloaded on the highway and about 10-11 with the camper. I travel about 62 mph on the interstate, 55-58 on secondaries.

[Mike_Hohnstein]

95 PSD DRW manual trans 4.10 10.5 Lance 20' Aluminum enclosed cargo trailer, about 24,000 @ 60 10.5 mpg. Only mod is a round down pipe, no chip or marginal aftermarket air filter.

[Big_Rig1]

We just returned from a 3 week trip thru the flatlands & the mountains and according to the computer we averaged 12.7 mpg. A manual calculation usually comes out a few tenths more. We have a 2004 Dodge 3500 dually diesel with a heavy Arctic Fox 990 riding on it.

Big Rig (John)

[towpro]

2015 Ram, dually, 4:10's. Getting around 10-11 mpg with camper on, but still playing with that 865ft lbs torque :).
(only 1000 miles on it)

[nuckfan]

2010 f150 with 5.4l without camper I'm getting 15-16mpg. With 8ft travel lite camper I'm getting 11-12mpg.

[nycsteve]

2011 Ford F350 CC 4x4 Lance 981 ,camper weighs 4k. Between 11-12 hwy flat no wind.

[Deb_and_Ed_M]

2014 Ram 1500 Hemi
20 mpg empty at 75 mph
14 mpg with our Bronco pop-up TC