What’s your mileage while towing?

I’m getting a new 17’ camping trailer that weighs about 4,000 loaded. What kind of mileage can I expect?

 

I dont have any personal experience, but i have read of others getting 9 to 12 mpg depending on weight towed and speed. If you tow up the side of a mountain at WOT, you can go as low as 4 mpg.

https://youtu.be/DCkBmiZV09w

 

If that’s the case I’ll just use the F150. I don’t have the camper yet so I’m just researching and planning now.

 

I just did 3600 miles with a 4200lb uhaul trailer. I averaged 12.9 the for the entire trip.

 

Not the same towing a boat but I get about 15mpg at 65 MPH towing my 18ft center console. We figure the boat is about 3200 - 3400 lbs with gear, fuel, trailer and motor.

 

I tow a 4500# wet camper often. Thru the flint hills of KS with a 20mph head wind I got 5 mpg trying to maintain 60-65 mph. On the return trip with the wind to my back I got between 7-8 mpg. My last trip averaging 55-60 mph over some back roads to a lake 1.5hrs away I averaged 8 mpg. Hills and wind kill this truck when towing. When there is no wind or hills my sweet spot is 3k rpm at 70 mph and I can get 10 mpg, that happens as often as a 50+ yr old man having wet dreams.

 

You will end up getting worse mpg pulling a 4000lbs camper with a F150. The EcoBoost is know for good mileage empty and lousy mileage towing.

 

My cousin gets 10.8 MPG towing my boat with his 2015? F150 FX4 the same route that I get 15mpg towing it.

 

I pull a Ranger Bay RB190 with Yami 115. Interstate and local hwy at 65 mph get 17 mpg and around 19 mpg driving under 55 mph. You will get a bit more wind drag pulling the camper.

 

This. Simple function of Physics. There is not much difference in mpg when towing, excepting diesel. All those tricks like Atkinson cycle or ecoboost or start stop or cylinder deactivation mean nothing when towing. You are gonna get about half mpg if you double your weight and drag.

 

Tacoma's got a lift and tires? I get 12-13mpg pulling a 3800lbs brick shaped TT .

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=lAkUKbUqqZM

 

My F150 is Lariat 4X4 with a 5.4. I can generally get 16-17 highway so I’m hoping it will get 10ish while towing.

I can barely deal with my Tacoma’s transmission while empty so I’m not sure what to expect while towing.

I’ll do a good, detailed comparison when I get the trailer but my gut feeling is I’ll like the F150 better.

 

I get 9mpg towing a trailer with a golf cart in it on my trd OR. I was going 65+mph though instead of the 55mph when towing speed limit. I imagine the mpg will be slightly higher if I go slow.

 

It's not so much the weight but the height and speed.

I was getting 12 on a 3500 pound trailer until replacing the drop axle with a straight axle and larger wheels. Now I'm down to 10.

Weight would matter more if you were towing in stop and go traffic. On highways you get momentum in the trailer and the weight is less resistance, but the aero resistance is always there and increases with speed.

 

Your right that the F150 would be a better tow vehicle. It would be a more comfortable tow vehicle because of its mass. Every TT and tow vehicle combination I've had will get approx half of the mpg while towing. Expect around 8mpg for the F150 .

 

Sub 12mpg if:

There’s any wind
You go over 65
You don’t have stock size tires
You use cruise control

I get 14.5 unloaded and with our 4 seater Gator on a car hauler I get 12 unless conditions above are present. With my Jeep Xj on the same trailer I got 7.5-8mpg.

 

Towed a 02 Wrangler 400 miles last weekend.

Only mods are 4.88 gears and 265/70/17 tires.

In the hills it needed 4th and I averaged 11mpg.

On the flats it would hold 5th at 2500 rpm unless I hit a head wind.

Total weight was 5500# and obviously shaped like a brick.

No discernible difference in mpg in 4th or 5th.

All with cruise control set at 65mph. I hate driving long distance without cc.

 

Pic.

 

Moved with a 6x12 uhaul trailer this weekend, used 1/4 tank to go 80 miles, 20 of those the trailer was completely filled with stuff along with the bed. Worth noting my truck is a 4cyl 5spd 4x4. Comes out to about 15mpg, I'll see how much it dropped my tank average when I fill up.

 

I tow my 5700 lb boat/trailer no problem, S4 and S5 with ECT on. Did a 197km (123 mile) tow to put the boat in storage . Averaged 21.1 L/100km (11.1 MPG) according to the computer. Not great but I'm fine with it. Had a 2010 F350 diesel before and it would get about the same towing but only 18L/100km (13.1 MPG) in everyday driving (compared to 11.7L/100km (20.1 MPG) with the Tacoma)