Towing MPG

I have a 2008 Tacoma 4x4 TRD Off Road with the 6-speed stick and tow package. it also has real bilsteins (the factory toyota bilsteins were a joke by comparision) and airbags.

So, towing my last camper trailer, a Casita 16' Spirit Deluxe, I was getting aroudn 13 mpg average on long runs. I keep it out of 6th, and downshift to 4th on grades where 5th can't pull it at 65MPH. 3rd and 55 if its really steep/long.

My new trailer is an Escape 21', dry weight ~3200 lbs, full tank of water + propane == 3800 lbs, gross weight 4600 lbs. I pulled it home from Dallas the last couple days and my MPG ranged from 9.6 to 12 ... mostly ~11 mpg. Estimated actual trailer weight for this run is about 4000 lbs (half load of propane, full tank of water, very minimal food and gear in camper) now, this new trailer is taller (8'7") and wider (7'4") than the Casita 16 (7' tall, 6'7" wide) so I'm sure that doesn't help. the lower MPG's were with nasty headwinds and freeways with 75 MPH speed limits (I mostly kept it at 70-75)

so .... what all sorts of MPG you guys get towing? and what are you towing...

 

Here is a good thread with a lot of towing mpg.
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/your-towing-mpg.70524/

 

10mpg was typical for me with the 4.0 with a similar trailer. I didn't like the 6spd manual trying to parking maneuver the trailer, burned the clutch too much.

For comparison, the 4.7l V8 isn't much better for mpg's, but holds one higher gear all the time compared to the 4.0. I liked the '05 Tundra's 26.5 gallon gas tank. The 4Runner's 23 gallon tank gets me a little more range.

Comparison again, the beauty of the Tacoma 4.0 is you get a Class IV hitch, 130A alternator, auxilliary trans cooler. The 4Runner 4.0 never had and still doesn't have a Class IV hitch, 130A alternator, and auxilliary trans cooler. Only the 4Runner 4.7l had that package.

 

It's mostly the drag created by the wider and longer trailer. The weight will only affect acceleration and hills which are a small part of most long distance drives. Slow down and your mpg will rise

 

I get about 10mpg pulling our Jayco X213 (4,500lb dry weight). Most of my towing is above 4,000 ft in elevation FWIW.

 

10.4 MPG pulling a 20’ car hauler loaded with 6k lbs from NC to Key West to N. California. CGVW is around 14k lbs.

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/2nd-gen-coast-to-coast-to-coast-tow-test.524857/

 

Towing a small Casita, dry 2500# & it was mostly empty on way back home, I averaged 11-12 mpg mostly generally doing 63-65 in 4th.

I have 2015 4x4 4.0l, with slight bigger tires 265/75/16 & regeared to 4.56. Without towing I generally average 16 mpg at around 70'ish it 5th.

 

70+mph pulling a trailer you can expect lousy gas mileage. In fact towing anything over a couple thousand pounds you are going to get low gas mileage. When I tow my boat (3500 lbs) I don’t bother checking gas mileage any more. I know it’s bad and it is what it is. That’s the price I pay for the pleasure of owning my boat. That’s the price you pay to play.
To your question, I live in California and the speed limit towing a trailer is 55 mph. I generally drive between 60 to 65 mph while towing and my mileage has averaged between 10 mpg to 12 mpg. Not towing and averaging 70mph on the highway I get 19mph.

 

You know it's not just taco owners who are getting low mileage when towing. My boss has a 41ft 5th wheel with 5 slides. He pulls it with a Ford F350 4 door dually. His biggest complaint is the 8 to 10 MPG towing the thing and diesel is more per gallon. My brother has a RAM 2500 and pulls a 36 foot 5th wheel and he starts looking to fuel up at 250 miles. I think the ram has a 36 or 37 gallon tank.