Towing speed?

[totaldla]

I'm wondering what speed most folks shoot for when towing a travel trailer? Highway towing on the flats that is.

[westend]

Isn't the speed limit in CA 55 or 60 for towing trailers?

[Vintage465]

Well, I guess I am slightly embarrassed. I generally travel the speed limit. If it says 70, I go 70. I do think I am exceeding the rating on my Goodyear Trailer Tires. My trailer is only 24' long and the set up is super solid. Never a hint of sway or bounce. Certainly slow down when weather is bad.

[Huntindog]

The same as when not towing. I move along with the flow of traffic, or if solo about 5 over. Which can be 80. I had it up to over 90 once when moving with the traffic. Did not even realize it till I looked down. No issues.

[hawkeye-08]

58-63mph seems to be real easy going.. sometimes 65, it depends on situation. 60mph is speed limit for towing travel trailers in Washington I am told (need to find that RCW one of these days for fun)..

What are your tires rated for?
Is your setup well maintained?
Do you do safety checks?
How does your rig handle?
Do you care about mpg at all?
What speed is traffic moving?
How many lanes, are you holding up traffic?
.. and so on... really depends on your risk level.

[Ron3rd]

63

[rbpru]

63 is my sweet spot. On that secondary roads 55 works nice.

There is a noticeable drop in gas mileage between the two.

Never had to drive faster than 70 when not towing, so speed has not an issue for me.

[valhalla360]

55-60mph unless I'm getting a lineup behind me and then I will pick up the pace so I'm not causing a problem (usually not an issue as we avoid peak hour driving)

In hilly areas, I creep up near the bottom of a hill (mid to upper 60's) and let it bleed off a few mph on the next uphill. Helps avoid a lot of downshifting.

The new truck likes it up closer to 60mph as the rpm at 55 is a little low to put out good torque and it feels like it's lugging the engine a bit unless I downshift. The old truck felt like it was at a nice point for torque by the time you got up to 55mph.

[spoon059]

If I am on an interstate, we aim for 68mph. We don't see too big of a dropoff in fuel mileage, aren't going substantially slower than traffic and are able to keep the rig in control.

If I am on local roads, never more than 9 over the speed limit. Not worth the risk of getting pulled over and cited.

[coolbreeze01]

Whatever the speed limit is.

[bobndot]

totaldla wrote:

bobndot wrote:
So, now that you know how fast or slow everyone is driving, what's your plan ?

55-60mph. I'm kind of surprised at the speeds - I'd guess the average here is 65mph. Thats a lot of fuel being used to push the air.

Yes, it is a lot of fuel and 55-60 mph is a good place to be towing, nothing wrong with that.
We don't think about the fuel end of it. We just drive to where we need to go because we don't fly, we drive everywhere. But yes, the truck , towing a TT uses more fuel than when we toured 2-up on a MC with backpacking gear. 🙂

ON RV's , people have used Air-Tab. I don't what the results were but some rv net people have tried different things regarding mpg.
The truck camper air-foil section has some ideas regarding air deflection. Its just interesting reading .

[Landroamer1]

65-68 or the speed limit if it's lower than that

[Wills6_4_Hemi]

60-65

[Halmfamily]

Nitrocherokee wrote:
I think this is my first post, so Hi.

I was amazed going through this thread with "most" saying they run in the 60-65 range. I have a 2013 Puma that is 33' long and tow it with a Chevy 2500 6.0 gasser I have found for my travels up and down I75 here in Michigan my sweet spot is 69-71. What I found amazing is all summer long running my 69-71 I get passed quite a bit by other RV'ers and rarely do I pass other Rv'ers. I do wonder about the guy that passes me like I am standing still with his 40' 5er and diesel truck billowing black smoke...... where the heck you going in such a hurry

Welcome to the forum.

[azdryheat]

My mileage goes in the toilet if I go over 70 so the speed stays below that.

[Hannibal]

60-65mph. Let's almost everyone else pass and we're not having to pass others.