Gas Mileage in your truck (towing)

[Lakenut]

Silverado 1500 5.3L W/o the boat I get around 16 in town and 20 on the highway. With the SLXi, I get about 12 on the highway. Don't know around town but it SUCKS!!! Most of the highway travel is on a turnpike with a 75 mph speed limit. More than saving gas, I really prefer to drop back to around 70. A blow out at high speed scares the crap out of me.

For what its worth, My dad's company has several 2500 Chevys with the 6.0L (2wd, reg cab, HD). They get close to the same milage as the 1500 w/ 5.3 but they pull a heck of a lot stronger! The oldest is a 2000 with over 100K on it. 75% of the time it is pulling 5,000-9,000lbs. Other than lossing an instrument panel and having the tailgate latch break, it hasn't been in the shop once. His latest truck is an 08 3500 with the duramax and allison. For any boat except the 247, it would probably be overkill, but whoever says, "man I sure wish I had less power"

Edited June 23, 2008 by Lakenut

[UWSkier]

Unloaded I've seen as high as 18 MPG on my Titan 4x4 with tonneau and lower speeds. Unfortunately all that torque makes me grin so my normal mixed city/highway is 14-16 MPG. Towing, I can get 12-14 if I'm not in a hurry. It drops pretty fast once I get on the interstate and dial it up to 74 MPH or so. Then it's down around 10 or 11.

[LS-One]

I probably got about 12 MPG with my "rig".

If that's a real pic your warranty is or was history. My S2000 manual explicitly states the vehicle is not designed for any towing whatsoever.

[WakeGirl]

I thought that my eyes were going to start bleeding when looking at that picture, so I had to look away.

[Bobby Light]

I probably got about 12 MPG with my "rig".

This is brilliant really

[Gernby]

I probably got about 12 MPG with my "rig".

If that's a real pic your warranty is or was history. My S2000 manual explicitly states the vehicle is not designed for any towing whatsoever.

It's a real picture, but my warranty was impacted long before. The hardest thing was getting the boat out of the water.

is a video of me pulling my older / heavier Bayliner out of the water at night. I wish I had a video of it during the day, but it just never happened.

[bigD]

2001 GMC 1/2 ton 5.3 4x4 lifted 33" tires 3:73 rear, JBA headers, 3" single in and out 50 series flowmaster, K&N intake, Hyper tech programmer and thermostat. 13 mpg in the city consistently for the last 7 years, 10-11mpg towing the boat in the twisties up to the lake with the hammer down pretty good @60 to 70mph. Last time I drove on the freeway for any distance I had 2 dirt bikes and a bunch of gear it was around 18-19 mpg @ 80+mph on I-5 in cruise most of the time.

My brother inlaw has an 07 duramax, he can easily leave me in the dust but his millage is about the same

I forgot to add that my 08 GMC 3/4 ton 4x4 work truck w/4:10 rear and a 6.0L only get around 13-14mpg unloaded on the highway, @75mph or so.

Edited June 24, 2008 by bigD

[dalt1]

05 Nissan Titan with big tow package and 4x4. Get 9 to 11 depending on speed. Just weighed rig with truck and boat full of gas. 2 passengers.Truck 6020 lbs, 06 VLX 5580 lbs.

[UWSkier]

I probably got about 12 MPG with my "rig".

If that's a real pic your warranty is or was history. My S2000 manual explicitly states the vehicle is not designed for any towing whatsoever.

It's a real picture, but my warranty was impacted long before. The hardest thing was getting the boat out of the water.

is a video of me pulling my older / heavier Bayliner out of the water at night. I wish I had a video of it during the day, but it just never happened.

You have a death wish if you take that rig out on the open road...

[2THEL8K]

Just curious of what kind of gas mileage some of you are getting in your gas engine trucks when towing? I have a chevy Silverado 1500 extended cab with 5.3 engine, K&N intake, Dual Exhaust, power programmer and wanted to compare. My MPG seem very low when towing my VLX on the highway, compared to driving on the highway not towing. This morning I drove to work 22 miles and averaged 23 mpg driving 67 mph all the way there. However, when I tow on the highway, it seems like I average about 11 mpg or maybe even a bit lower than that. Ughhh. I'm sure I would get better MPG in a diesal, but the price for diesal is exactly 1 dollar more per gallon that 87 octane gas.

05 Ford Excursion with a 6.0 Diesel (w/ small lift and 35" tires). MPG changes very little towing or not...average 11-12mpg depending on terrain of course (hills vs open road) and speed. The diesel was always worth it up until the recent fuel price increases. When diesel topped $5 p/gallon (in Ca), it was about $220 to fill the 44 gallon tank. Granted, I can go a little longer in between fill ups vs the same vehicle w/ a gas engine. Although I'm not happy about the cost to operate, diesels really do make excellent tow vehicles. I hardly know the VLX is back there and have even had to help other vehicles from the dirt ramps you find on some of the lakes now (Shasta namely).

[SFD]

2006 Explorer V8 getting 15.3 towing the boat, two kids & wife, 17 / 18 without.

The six speed tranny really helps out.

[BrianM]

'07 Avalanche 5.3l w/3.73 rear 2wd. Get 11-12mpg towing my Prostar 70-75 mph on the highway. Prior truck was a '03 GMC Sierra Ex Cab 5.3l 2wd w 3.52 rear got 12mpg towing the Prostar

[Tahoe07]

I get 12-13 pulling my 06 RLXI with my 2007 4x4 Chev. Tahoe with 3.73 gears. Non-towing is 16-17 city and 20-22 Hwy. The cylinder shutdown really helps out a lot on mpg's. I do pull my boat sometimes with out the tow mode and the cylinder shutdown will engage on the hwy.

[MalibuNation]

in my opinion even though diesel is high it is worth the money to own one.iI sometime travel 100 miles or better and in my 04 dodge cummins i can get 22 miles per gallon.And the best part is i cant tell the boat is back there.

My 2003 F-350 get 16.3 whether I'm towing or not. Same mileage if I'm in 4wd in the winter. 6.0 diesel.

That's per the onboard computer.

[Guest J-Ro]

2005 Jeep Grand Cherokee 5.7l. I get 20 on the highway and 14 city. Towing my old Sunsetter I got 12+ mpg. Towing the LSV I get anywhere from 10-12 depending on where I go. Having the giant bimini sail while towing doesn't help but oh well.

The cylinder de-activation works while in tow mode but it takes a good distance of low load for the puter to kick down to O/D where it turns off. I only use the tow mode around town.

[Sunset_Bob]

06 Ford F150 Supercrew, 5.4 triton, 15-16 hwy empty, 12-13 pulling the boat. I'd buy another one just like it......best truck I've owned.

[ilovetrains]

Withe the LSV I woted with an 02 Tahoe Z71 (5.3). The truck typically got 16 on the highway. From KC to Springfield it would get around 9 towing the boat, but from Springfield to Ridgedale, south of Branson, it would get 4, so combined round trip was about 7.5.

I went to an 05 Dodge Cummins. It got pretty steady 20 highway empty. With the boat to Springfield it would get around 15. From Springfield to Branson it would get, 14. Amazing what a difference the diesel was in the mountains, it just never had to work nearly as hard.

Now using a Durango with the HEMI. Will know in August what it gets going to Branson.

[jetskipro550]

Going down to Shasta we averaged about 9MPG in an 01 Tahoe with the 5.3. We had 5 people in the tahoe and the boat was loaded down with our camping gear...I think we were doing 50 on some of the passes

Going slow isn't super fun, but if you go to fast while towing you could end up like this guy who we passed on the top of the pass coming back into Oregon He was towing another vehicle (on a trailer) and it was up againt the median.

[SCOTTDOMINE]

i have an 05 f150 4 door with 5.4, k&n, exhaust and Troyer programmer and get 11mpg towing and about 13mpg highway at best......first and last Ford i'll ever own

Sorry, I shouldn't laugh but as a die hard fan, I have too. My 5.3L w/ 4.10 gear gets around 14 everyday driving (I live 1.5 miles from work, so that don't help), but I can get up to 19 on the highway and a little longer trip. I have a K&N and a programmer as well. Now, the mileage towing in the AZ mountains, that's nothing to brag about But I can't complain, I load the little truck up w/ all our camping gear, the Bu and 6 people and she seems to handle it just fine Would love a diesel as well, but fuel prices and the fact that mine's paid for keep me away from that

[H2Idah0]

I decided to slow down to 65 and save the fuel.

We just towed from Idaho to Bullfrog Basin at Lake Powell.

08 Duramax pulling 38' toyhauler = 10 mpg (empty it gets around 19 mpg)

03 Suburban with 8.1 pulling 23lsv = 9.5 mpg (empty it runs 14 mpg but its fun to drive!)

512 miles each way = 2048 miles / 9.5 mpg = 215 gallons of fuel

Not to mention 40 gallons per day at $5 per gallon times 6 days to feed the 'bu

Still the best time I've had in 20 years and I'm ready to go again next week!

Edited June 25, 2008 by H2Idah0

[jjackkrash]

05 Sequoia pulling a 206 gets about 11-12 on average. It gets 15-17 otherwise.

[JBuck]

2006 Ford F-150 Supercrew w/ 6-1/2 ft. bed. K&N Filter, Edge Programmer and Exhaust. With the programmer set to Economy on the interstate I get 17.5-19 depending on how fast I am going. Around town about 16.

Towing the VLX with 4 people in the truck and the programmer on the Towing setting, I get between 13.5-14.5 depending on how fast I go (65-70). Less when I go to the lake house (in the mountains)

[Group Therapy]

2001 Ford F-250 triton v-10 gets 6 pulling vlx gets 4.3 pulling 27' 5th wheel we leave July 6th for lake San Antonio pulling both of them(doubles) we well see what she gets

[Bobby Light]

I hit the road yesterday for a 30 mile trip in my 06 megacab cummins worktruck, I was getting 32.3 (this was on flat terrain, not downhill etc..) according to the onboard computer. I was going 50 mph the whole way, I couldn't believe it. I noticed if I sped up to 60 mph it would go down quite a bit. I can't get my other 06 cummins over 17 anywhere.

[Bill_AirJunky]

Yea, I've been able to draft off a big rig, at like 100' away, at 55 mph & average over 30 mpg for over 10 miles in my Avalanche. I read about people doing that really close & wanted to see just how close/far away you had to be. It worked great, even at that distance.

Question is, can you handle driving only 55 mph??