Increasing Towing fuel Mileage.

Fireman450

Fireman450

Daring to be diffrent!!
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Nov 24, 2007
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Guys
Done a little towning the other day.. had about a 200 mile round trip. was pulling a 20ft gn with dual 7k axles with a Jeep one way and a reg cab dodge 2500 home. Ran mostly interstate 65-75 mph.
Rig is a 04.5 Dodge 3500 6spd 4x4. Have a Diablo Predetor (Set on Tow) Fass150 and streightpipe with a k&n on the intake. running 265/70 17 3.73 gears.
I avereaged 8mpg round trip.... Worst my old early 04 would get was 12 if i drove it hard...
Do the 04.5 just get worse mileage or do i have another issue?? Truck does have 260k on the clock.

My regular trailer and load will be my 2wd puller with a quad on a 28ft drop deck w/ 7klb axles. Id hate to get that bad of mileage going to pulls... What do yall do to get some gains??
 
Fireman450 said:
What do yall do to get some gains??
Click to expand...

I drive 55-60. Not only does it save fuel, but the drive is a lot more relaxed. Before you say that will take too much time, do the math. 200 miles averaging 50 mph (which is what you will see at 55-60 because of rest stops, traffic, etc) is only about 20 minutes longer than what 65-75 will get you.
 
My old Duramax hated a straight exhaust when towing. The turbo would not spool thus causing crappy mileage with the trailer on. Put a muffler in and had instant boost and a lot better mileage. And going slow was key. Make it run at the peak torque rpm and it will be the most efficient.
 
yep..theres a reason them old folks are poking along in them fancy rigs...cuz mileage blows monkey balls above 60
 
8mpg is still crazy low for a 20Ft gooseneck....I'd start by checking all your IC boots Lucky. :poke:
 
20ft gooseneck isn't the issue. It's the vehicles on it with the areodynamics of a barn door that do it.....

My 40ft gn with nothing on it weighs 10k lbs. I got 15mpg hauling it 61 mph down the interstate. Running empty at 75 on that same interstate I got 17. Running 64, 19.2mpg.

Speed kills mpg....
 
I know I picked up some towing mileage when I put the twins on, but I never have hit 8 MPG towing, even through the mountains out here. Going home for Christmas I set the cruise at 68 grossing 23k and I averaged about 11 MPG, closer to 12. If I went up to 73 my mileage dropped to 10-11. This was with my smarty set on 5, 90 DDP injectors, and the normal supporting mods. Have not had a chance to test the EFI Live with a load yet, but coming home empty my mileage was up to 16, normally 14 towing the empty trailer.
 
I got 9.2 average hauling roundbales last week. Empty I was at 16,900, loaded at around 30k. Trip was 44 miles one way. Had to go through 5 towns (slow down, speed up) and climb a couple of hills right after sharp turns (slow down, accelerate uphill). Was also kinda breezy that day.. Never put the hammer down.... drove nice and easy. Acceleration sucks fuel..... That's why Interstates are such a beautiful thing. :D
 
I have to stay under 60 while towing. Unloaded I can do any speed <80 and keep within 1 of 17mpg.
 
Towing I get 13.6-14.3 up hill down hill flat etc..etc..empty I get 18.6-20.3 depending on my speed and terrain.

My rig-2011 6.7 L G56 3.42 gears
I run 64 miles an hour .
 
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8mpg?!? my 6.5td avg that towing 17k something aint right.
i run 68 and avg 11.5-12 still working out the efi live on this LMM
 
lets see if I remember correctly, pullin 26,000lbs through some mountain and some flat land, I got 11mpg and thats the lowest Ive ever seen. most of the time Ill see somewhere between 13-15mpg all of this going 60mph I dont like to go faster because then my mpg's really start dropping LOL
 
A 5k pound object with a high nose and a large frontal area, in a 20mph headwind, just as well be a 30k pound object, factoring in wind loading.

The very worst mileage I ever got with a Cummins was in a mutt 1996 with a VE engine.
I got 9.5 grossing 27k, with a 4 car trailer and a 1970 Dart ass-up on the front flippers, in a 40mph headwind.
I couldn't pull 5th, even if I'd wanted to.

Mark.
 
Something is definitely wrong, 04.5 should be a 305hp early 04's had 250hp and smaller injectors. But you should still be in the 12-14 range, I don't even get that bad going over Donner pass loaded and my setup is heavy..

Baseline it and start looking something is weird..
 
I run 60 to 65 and get 17MPG on I5 south. Sometimes I will cheat and draft at about a car and a half length. My truck is always at full GCVWR when I'm towing. When I'm towing through the mountains, I'm down to 15MPG.
 
Well the truck has gotten the best mileage here in the last few months its ever got.. it hasnt moved out of its tracks... :rockwoot:
Any how.. here in the near future im going to got throught it and figure out whats going on.. im pretty sure i have an injector going down wich isnt helping matters any. that and a good tune up will help (hopefully).
 
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