Just checked my fuel mileage

[lancekeys]

Well, I just filled up my tank after picking up the trailer and one camping trip. I drove a total of 122 miles and got 6.5 miles per gallon. When I pulled the trailer home, I was really impressed with how well my truck pulled it and how I had all the power I needed. Well no wonder I was making a lot of power!

Looks like I am going to have to get out of the left lane and slow down a bit. I was really testing the truck to see what it would do, and how well it would pull, so I was driving quite hard. Truck kept up with traffic at 70-75mph no problem. I hope by slowing down I can get my numbers up to 9 or 10 mpg. Either way, I can't think of a cheaper solution other than not going. I could upgrade to a diesel or a newer truck, but my truck is paid for and I trust it. It would take a long time to re-coup the cost of a newer truck, just to save a little fuel.

Edit: Thought my signature would appear, but it did not. I am towing a 28' Forest River Wildcat fifth wheel with a 1999 dodge 2500 with the 360 V-8 and a 5 speed transmission (not sure about differential gearing).

[Atlee]

And I bet if they are running ST tires, they will be complaining about the poor quality of the tires when the first one blows.

tragusa3 wrote:
I just got back from a 600 mile trip. If I saw 50 trailers on my journey, 40 of them were huge 5th wheels doing better than 75mph. I keep it at 62mph and passed one trailer while being passed by all the rest. People is crazy. 🙂

[64thunderbolt]

ib516 wrote:
I had a 2001 Dodge 2500, 360 gas, 4.10 rear, 4x4, quad cab, short bed (whew!) a few tow vehicles ago. It was tough as nails, never let me down, pulled everything I hitched to it, but it drank unleaded at the rate of 4 - 7 mpg when pulling the RV. I replaced it with a 2002 Dodge 2500, 4x4, 5.9L Cummins, 3.55 axle, quad cab, long bed, and that truck got 11-13 mpg pulling the same RV, and it pulled it much more effortlessly.

I get the prize for the most commas used in one paragraph 🙂

The very reason I swapped to diesel a long time ago. And the life span of the eng.

[ib516]

I had a 2001 Dodge 2500, 360 gas, 4.10 rear, 4x4, quad cab, short bed (whew!) a few tow vehicles ago. It was tough as nails, never let me down, pulled everything I hitched to it, but it drank unleaded at the rate of 4 - 7 mpg when pulling the RV. I replaced it with a 2002 Dodge 2500, 4x4, 5.9L Cummins, 3.55 axle, quad cab, long bed, and that truck got 11-13 mpg pulling the same RV, and it pulled it much more effortlessly.

I get the prize for the most commas used in one paragraph 🙂

[64thunderbolt]

I would have put them on my current trailer but, new wheels and the 614's was not in the budget at the time. I got 8 yrs out of them till the 1st failure. That's amazing here in this climate. It gets warm here. Forecast for the weekend is Fri-117, Sat-118, 112 on Sun.

[NC_Hauler]

....Hadn't thought about that Larry:) yeah, you got me:B

[larry_barnhart]

NC Hauler wrote:

larry barnhart wrote:

NC Hauler wrote:

64thunderbolt wrote:
That was a tongue in cheek comment

I took mine out to a deserted rd in the desert after some mods on the truck to see how it pulled @ higher speeds. I was alone with G614's on the trailer (13K) and shut off due to shaking knees @ 92 mph. Don't think I'll ever do that again. But the truck was still pullin and accelerating. It was solid as a rock. But like I said it was just me and nobody else was in any danger. I just wanted to know.

While traveling in traffic I keep it @ around 65, the truck & fuel guage likes it there. I just did a 3600 mile round trip from Phx to S Indiana. After I got out of NM I don't see how you could ever run any faster with all the traffic. Lots more back in the midwest.

🙂
Yep when you figure the tires lose strength as they age and you have around 3500 extra lbs it seems like you could make a change and less stress but with 850 ft lbs of torque ya might just spin some rubber off the trailer tires.
chevman
Gotcha:B

G614's on a 13,000# 5er.... definitely a tire more than enough to handle 13,000#. That's the tire that came on my 5er with a GVW of 16,950#...

Jim the tires are rated for 15000 lbs and the reason I feel the same for us after the load on the truck it gives us a big margin. Total fifth weight for us is 14380.
chevman

Larry, I don't see anything wrong with it...I like it...Next time I get tires, I may move up to a higher load range myself. I think it's a good idea....

[NC_Hauler]

larry barnhart wrote:

NC Hauler wrote:

64thunderbolt wrote:
That was a tongue in cheek comment

I took mine out to a deserted rd in the desert after some mods on the truck to see how it pulled @ higher speeds. I was alone with G614's on the trailer (13K) and shut off due to shaking knees @ 92 mph. Don't think I'll ever do that again. But the truck was still pullin and accelerating. It was solid as a rock. But like I said it was just me and nobody else was in any danger. I just wanted to know.

While traveling in traffic I keep it @ around 65, the truck & fuel guage likes it there. I just did a 3600 mile round trip from Phx to S Indiana. After I got out of NM I don't see how you could ever run any faster with all the traffic. Lots more back in the midwest.

Gotcha:B

G614's on a 13,000# 5er.... definitely a tire more than enough to handle 13,000#. That's the tire that came on my 5er with a GVW of 16,950#...

Jim the tires are rated for 15000 lbs and the reason I feel the same for us after the load on the truck it gives us a big margin. Total fifth weight for us is 14380.
chevman

Larry, I don't see anything wrong with it...I like it...Next time I get tires, I may move up to a higher load range myself. I think it's a good idea....

[larry_barnhart]

NC Hauler wrote:

64thunderbolt wrote:
That was a tongue in cheek comment

I took mine out to a deserted rd in the desert after some mods on the truck to see how it pulled @ higher speeds. I was alone with G614's on the trailer (13K) and shut off due to shaking knees @ 92 mph. Don't think I'll ever do that again. But the truck was still pullin and accelerating. It was solid as a rock. But like I said it was just me and nobody else was in any danger. I just wanted to know.

While traveling in traffic I keep it @ around 65, the truck & fuel guage likes it there. I just did a 3600 mile round trip from Phx to S Indiana. After I got out of NM I don't see how you could ever run any faster with all the traffic. Lots more back in the midwest.

Gotcha:B

G614's on a 13,000# 5er.... definitely a tire more than enough to handle 13,000#. That's the tire that came on my 5er with a GVW of 16,950#...

Jim the tires are rated for 15000 lbs and the reason I feel the same for us after the load on the truck it gives us a big margin. Total fifth weight for us is 14380.
chevman

[NC_Hauler]

64thunderbolt wrote:
That was a tongue in cheek comment

I took mine out to a deserted rd in the desert after some mods on the truck to see how it pulled @ higher speeds. I was alone with G614's on the trailer (13K) and shut off due to shaking knees @ 92 mph. Don't think I'll ever do that again. But the truck was still pullin and accelerating. It was solid as a rock. But like I said it was just me and nobody else was in any danger. I just wanted to know.

While traveling in traffic I keep it @ around 65, the truck & fuel guage likes it there. I just did a 3600 mile round trip from Phx to S Indiana. After I got out of NM I don't see how you could ever run any faster with all the traffic. Lots more back in the midwest.

Gotcha:B

G614's on a 13,000# 5er.... definitely a tire more than enough to handle 13,000#. That's the tire that came on my 5er with a GVW of 16,950#...

[64thunderbolt]

That was a tongue in cheek comment

I took mine out to a deserted rd in the desert after some mods on the truck to see how it pulled @ higher speeds. I was alone with G614's on the trailer (13K) and shut off due to shaking knees @ 92 mph. Don't think I'll ever do that again. But the truck was still pullin and accelerating. It was solid as a rock. But like I said it was just me and nobody else was in any danger. I just wanted to know.

While traveling in traffic I keep it @ around 65, the truck & fuel guage likes it there. I just did a 3600 mile round trip from Phx to S Indiana. After I got out of NM I don't see how you could ever run any faster with all the traffic. Lots more back in the midwest.

[Huntindog]

I had a 96 Dodge 5.9, 5 speed manual, 4.10 gears.. It was only rated to tow around 8K. I was probably over that with my 28"'TT.
You are probably over by more than I was.

At 59K performance dropped off a lot while pulling a grade. Ran a cylinder leakdown test and ALL exhaust valves were leaking/burnt.

Bought my first diesel.

[NC_Hauler]

64thunderbolt wrote:

NC Hauler wrote:

Grit dog wrote:

midnightsadie wrote:
not throwing a stone but nobody should be towing at 70 plus mph , your puting every one in danger . and yes you,ll get much better mpg at 65 even better at 60.slow down cheat a oil guru out of some money.

Really?
Wieght police and now speed police!
To the OP, it will suck gas, period.
Had several Gen 2 Rams with the 360 V8. Good bullet proof motor, but they will work just as hard as any gasser. You won't see an appreciable mpg gain with any gas powered rig.

WELL>>>>in reality, there really ARE "speed police", ie, State Troopers, City Police, County Police, where as , "Weight Police", would be less intimidating and probably far less aggressive than "speed police"..just a hunch on my part.

I would say towing OVER 70 mph is probably less safe than towing under 70 mph..again, just a "hunch" on my part....I would think towing at 90, as one said they did, would make even you grimace, wouldn't it? Don't think I want to be around someone towing a 5er @ 90 mph and a tire blows on the 5er or the truck, but guess that's just "Me".....

towing @ 30 is safer than @ 40. Try that.

Clever, but not common sensical to say the least...We had some come on here stating they had towed 90 mph and some stating they've towed well over 70 mph...hey, I don't give a flying flip...their truck, their trailer, their family...they can do what they want...but if they're running ST tires on what they're towing at "well over 70 mph" and "90 mph", it's definitely not going to give you mpg... and will be less safe IF one has to make an emergency maneuver or try to come to a sudden stop...again, common sense.

towing at 20 would be safer than 30, towing at 10, would be safer than 20, NOT towing at all would definitely be safer...so what's your point other than being a bit silly??

oh...no, unless traffic causes me to tow at 30, I'll be towing at posted speed limits on secondary roads which is usually, in and around the states I tow in, 55-60 or less, highest interstate speed limit I tow on is 70, so I run around 62 mph...edge up to 65 on occasion, but slow it back down to 62...best mpg, and still have quite a bit of control over my truck and my 5er should I have to take "safety measures"......

your point:h

[64thunderbolt]

NC Hauler wrote:

Grit dog wrote:

midnightsadie wrote:
not throwing a stone but nobody should be towing at 70 plus mph , your puting every one in danger . and yes you,ll get much better mpg at 65 even better at 60.slow down cheat a oil guru out of some money.

Really?
Wieght police and now speed police!
To the OP, it will suck gas, period.
Had several Gen 2 Rams with the 360 V8. Good bullet proof motor, but they will work just as hard as any gasser. You won't see an appreciable mpg gain with any gas powered rig.

WELL>>>>in reality, there really ARE "speed police", ie, State Troopers, City Police, County Police, where as , "Weight Police", would be less intimidating and probably far less aggressive than "speed police"..just a hunch on my part.

I would say towing OVER 70 mph is probably less safe than towing under 70 mph..again, just a "hunch" on my part....I would think towing at 90, as one said they did, would make even you grimace, wouldn't it? Don't think I want to be around someone towing a 5er @ 90 mph and a tire blows on the 5er or the truck, but guess that's just "Me".....

towing @ 30 is safer than @ 40. Try that.

[larry_barnhart]

It is easy to tell about fuel mileage for our towing when asked. 10.50 to 11.50 mpg. This seems to be the true numbers for most with a diesel engine. some get 15 and some get under 10. Speed, wind and mountains.
chevman PS Have a fun summer