Tundra MPG Expectations

[srennier]

I have a '13 Tundra with the 5.7 engine. It gets about 9-11 MPG towing a 34-ft/7000-lb trailer. I'm considering downsizing the trailer (to 25-ft, 4500-pounds), and am wondering what improvement in gas mileage I might see. The two trailers have comparable aerodynamics. Any educated guesses? Better yet, does anyone else have a similar set-up (5.7 Tundra with 4500-pound white-box trailer) who could share some actual mileage results? Thanks.

[APT]

Will the lighter trailer still have two sheets of plywood in the front? If yes, same fuel consumed.

7-10mpg all gas engines pulling all high walled RVs at 60-65mph. 4000 pounds loaded or 10000 pounds loaded doesn't matter.

[Campfire_Time]

N-Trouble wrote:
Most of the time people exaggerate their mileage, go by inaccurate MPG gauges or are simply bad at math. You just have to read between the lines and not believe every claim out there. 15MPH towing with a gasser is pretty optimistic...

He tows an Airstream. Big difference in aerodynamics. While I suspect that at 65mph he won't get 15, I also think in the right conditions its possible he can get it at 55. I emphasize, the right conditions. No wind, or a tail wind, flat terrain, moderate temperature.

[W_E_BGood]

DaveF-250SD wrote:

hookie wrote:
How is it that some people get such great MPG? No matter what combo I've had over all the years the best I could get was 9.5 mpg. In fact I barely got 15 mpg with a Windstar pulling a PU! And I know what some will say, slow down, etc. I know that so don't bother saying it here again. Then again math was never my favorite subject,it must be that new math you guys are using that I never caught onto.

Toyota digital odometers are programmed off by three percent in Toyotas favor. Shortly after Honda was exposed for a five percent error, in their favor as well, Toyota admitted to theirs being off. Both Companies stated that it was not done in malice, it was done to make their customers think they are getting better mileage than they are actually achieving. This was a few years ago, but it had been going on since the inception of digital odometers combined with vehicle speed sensors (in lieu of speedometer cables).

You wouldn't have a link to a factually-substantiated source for that (cough, cough) "story" would you?:R

[scbwr]

9-9.5 mpg towing Winnie @ 6300 lbs or so and @ 60-65 mph. Towing our old Sunline TT @ 8000 lbs. or so and gas mileage was still around 9, but only towed the Sunline a couple of timesbefore getting the Winnie. So...don't expect much difference. Towing 6k with a 5.7 Tundra has been a really good match for us.

[ScottG]

It's been my experience that you'd be lucky to see a 1 mpg difference.

[azrving]

srennier wrote:
Thanks for all of the feedback. Frankly, I expected minimal improvement in MPG, but I do wonder if a shorter trailer with a lighter tongue weight would handle better. I hear people talk about their towing experience with a "you don't even know it's back there" but I've yet to share that experience!

I dont know about Tundras but it's basically a half ton truck? Right? My last truck was a 2013 Chevy Silverado 1500 5.3 pulling a 24 TT loaded to 5000 total. The truck had a fiberglass cap and was loaded to 100 over the 1650 payload with tongue weight and all.

It did about 9.5 to 10.5 mpg and was very easy to drive. It would get up and go without flat pedaling it and didn't down shift real bad. This truck had a towing capacity of 9,600 lb. I have little experience compared to most of these pros but yes, I would guess that you would have a better towing experience if you shed 2,000 to 2,500 lb. I wouldn't do it just for the fuel savings.

The thing I didn't like about our TT was no slide. It didn't matter when we first bought it but as we realized we would use it more there is no way we could do it without a slide.

[srennier]

Thanks for all of the feedback. Frankly, I expected minimal improvement in MPG, but I do wonder if a shorter trailer with a lighter tongue weight would handle better. I hear people talk about their towing experience with a "you don't even know it's back there" but I've yet to share that experience!

[azrving]

I had a ceiling in my last house that had some drywall damage. It had a fancy inset area and I did pretty good at repairing it but it wasn't perfect.

I mentioned it to a buddy and he said "DONT LOOK UP". It worked really well for me. Keep enjoying your TT, it wont be much better with the smaller one.

[camp-n-family]

I wouldn't expect you will get much better mpg going to the lighter trailer. It is all about aerodynamics, especially if you're towing on relatively flat ground.

X2. It's more about aerodynamics than weight unless you are towing uphill all the time. You'll save a little in gas getting the lighter trailer moving but once the weight is moving the difference in rolling resistance is minimal.

If you're looking at selling what you have to buy a new smaller TT just to save a gallon of gas, it's not worth it. The loss you'll take in sale or trade will never be recovered in fuel savings.

[DaveF-250SD]

hookie wrote:
How is it that some people get such great MPG? No matter what combo I've had over all the years the best I could get was 9.5 mpg. In fact I barely got 15 mpg with a Windstar pulling a PU! And I know what some will say, slow down, etc. I know that so don't bother saying it here again. Then again math was never my favorite subject,it must be that new math you guys are using that I never caught onto.

Toyota digital odometers are programmed off by three percent in Toyotas favor. Shortly after Honda was exposed for a five percent error, in their favor as well, Toyota admitted to theirs being off. Both Companies stated that it was not done in malice, it was done to make their customers think they are getting better mileage than they are actually achieving. This was a few years ago, but it had been going on since the inception of digital odometers combined with vehicle speed sensors (in lieu of speedometer cables).

[W_E_BGood]

Just returned from a 3 week, 4,700 mile trek from eastern Iowa to northern California and back towing our Keystone Outback 250RS with the '08 5.7L 4X4 double cab. Trip mileage was 9.43 mpg driving 62-65 on mostly interstates, but at least several hundred miles on very twisty/winding two-lanes...and of course, all the mountains :E . IT may have helped aerodynamics that the Outback has a one-piece, rounded frontend cap.

[Tystevens]

N-Trouble wrote:
15MPH towing with a gasser is pretty optimistic...

Hell, 15 mpg not towing is in the ballpark for a lot of these trucks! 15 towing??? Umm ... :?

Anyway, I wouldn't expect you will get much better mpg going to the lighter trailer. It is all about aerodynamics, especially if you're towing on relatively flat ground.

[N-Trouble]

Most of the time people exaggerate their mileage, go by inaccurate MPG gauges or are simply bad at math. You just have to read between the lines and not believe every claim out there. 15MPH towing with a gasser is pretty optimistic...

[hookie]

How is it that some people get such great MPG? No matter what combo I've had over all the years the best I could get was 9.5 mpg. In fact I barely got 15 mpg with a Windstar pulling a PU! And I know what some will say, slow down, etc. I know that so don't bother saying it here again. Then again math was never my favorite subject,it must be that new math you guys are using that I never caught onto.

[Ron3rd]

I get the same as you with my trailer. Downsizing might help slightly, but probably not much. I get the same with my heavier, more aerodynamic 35 ft Windjammer as I got with my old 25 ft trailer that was about 6500 lbs loaded.