Fuel Mileage
 

One good thing happened on my trip to the track Friday, I averaged 9.5 mpg.
Ford F550, 7.3 diesel automatic. 48' 5th wheel living quarters trailer.
All I had to do is stay a steady 52 mph (on the interstate)
People were passing me like I was standing still. But it beats the heck out of 7mpg

Re: Fuel Mileage
 

When are you going to come pay a visit to D-1?

Re: Fuel Mileage
 

Let me see, at 52mph it would take about 3 weeks to get up to Div one. Jim

Re: Fuel Mileage
 

06 Chevy Duramax Dually 4wd
This weekend 48 ft enclosed trailer with 2 cars and a golf cart. Going to Clay City thru the mountains. I ran the posted speed Limit. 9.7 mpg

Last year same trip 50 ft LQ 1 car 75-80 mph avg 8.9mpg

Chip

Re: Fuel Mileage
 

The 4.88 gears really keep my speed down. The sweet spot seems to be under 2000 rpm and unfortunatly under 55 mph.

Re: Fuel Mileage
 

Now that I'm retired time is one thing I have plenty of.

Re: Fuel Mileage
 

Art, would it be worth the $600 - $1000 to regear that beast of a truck (F550)?
or would it just take away too much torque and take too long to recoupe the
investment?

My F350 diesel (6.0) has 4:10 and 285/75R16 tires and seems to do about
9 to 12 mpg depending on how many hills we climb with a 7.5K load.
I suppose if I went back to the stock 265/75R16 tires that might help a bit.

But it's not capable of getting the kind of milage the Dodge diesles seem to
get at all.

Re: Fuel Mileage
 

We towed our open trailer with the firebird and the box we built on the front 2 hours to MIR for the IHRA Double this spring with Mom's Dodge 2500 Diesel truck and got 17.5 mpg round trip.

Then we used it to tow a friends 28foot Gold Rush packed front to back, top to bottom with my stuff moving home from Radford and got a tick over 16mpg. Same trip with my Dad's 2001 Chevy 2500 Duramax got 15.9 mpg with the open trailer loaded down behind it.

The Dodges really seem like the way to go for towing to me. Diesel may be up, but the mileage really helps out a lot for us. Makes it hard to think we should get a motorhome.

Also, Mom's Dodge has a 3.55 gear from the factory, and will still go up the mountains as fast as you want with the 28 footer packed full.

Re: Fuel Mileage
 

Maybe Art needs to fiddle around with the boost or something, LOL.

Re: Fuel Mileage
 

Originally I looked at getting a lower (numeric) rear end ratio. But the rear I have dana 135S full floater.
Very very expensive $900 for the gears alone. Plus I'm afraid of hurting the tranny. I've heard a lot about tranny woes ($5000 for a good one)with these fords, and it seems like its all about lugging them down. With the setup I have now I can go up most bridges in overdrive.

Re: Fuel Mileage
 

Art, a friend of mine has a newer 550 with the automatic and 4.88's and he has complained that he gets 7mpg towing a camper on the interstate. He just got back from the beach and drove the "old" two lane slow road this time and doubled his milage. I know a few guys with the 6.4's and they all really complain about them being gas hogs. At least with the 7.3 you have a MUCH more reliable engine than the later model Ford engines.Don Jackson

Re: Fuel Mileage
 

Any word on Nose cone usage to reduce drag on Motor homes?

Re: Fuel Mileage
 

A lot of guys with the '07 & '08 Duramax and Powerstrokes are crying. The particle filters, mostly their filter cleaning mode, kills mileage. They tell me they are getting gasoline-type mileage. 2006 appears to be the last good gas mileage Duramax. One friend traded a 200,000 mile 2000 Ford for a new Chevy and almost cut his mileage in half. He ain't happy. They make "off-road" pipes that replace all that, but that is illegal and your warantee goes out the window. Don't want to tune or "chip" one either. The '07 & '08 Duramax ECM stores a record of the last ten calibrations it has seen. Warantee work could include the dealer downloading that info for GM Powertrain to look at. Good by warantee. The only way to get around tuning one is to buy a new extra ECM for the tuning, and keep the orignal unmolested box to be reinstalled before it goes in for warantee work.

My '04 GM 8.1L gas motorhome will get about 9 or 9.5 if there is no wind (not many trips so far this year with no wind) and 65 mph. Buy some E10 gasoline and it gets about 7 to 7.5. Wind blows and E10, 5.8 to 6.2. At 75 mph, about 8 with straight gasoline and no wind. Tail wind? Ain't seen one yet this year. Running 75 mph, E10 in the tank and wind blowing, I don't even want to look. Got to thinking I should have bitten the bullet and bought a diesel pusher, until I talked to some guys that have them, and thier mileage is no better than mine. Their fuel also cost more.

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yeah but they don't have to listen to the motor screaming the whole trip - my 7.4L GM has an exhaust leak at the manifold (rare occurrence on them!!) so it's even more annoying.

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I pull my trailer which is a Pace American with a Diesel Pusher, powered by a 350 hp Cummins and i get 9 mpg if i don't drive like an idiot, at 63mph. At 70 i get 7.5mpg! By the way my trailer weighs 12.000#. It's a Big Foot,28ft. Anybody ever been told about the Pace racers help program? At Joliet points race i tore the right fender off in the land of Lincoln's new toll booth's, 3" in clearence each side! At the track the guy's from Pace had there trailer there and checking Pace owners if they needed anything! To which my friend Wally Kreuger tells them about my problem. They looked at my fender,took off the old, and put a new fender on at no charge,Thank You Pace!!!!!!!!!!!!! John Lang, sorry i got long winded.

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2008 V8 4runner 10mpg pulling a 7000+ pound 24" Vintage enclosed from Massachusetts to MIR and back with whatever 87 octane gas I could get...tried to keep it at 60-65.....not look at the MPG setting...

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At 65 mph my engine is turning 2200. Can't hear it inside. Usually tow 70 to 75, however. My trailer is only a 24' ATC aluminium tag. Nothing heavy, thank goodness.

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I have a 04 C4500 Kodiak with the Duramax. The truck alone weighs 11,000 lbs. Gets 13 empty. Got 9 towing my 38' trailer with one car, added about 11,000 lbs to it. Get 8 towing 2 cars in a 48', added about 17,000 lbs to it. That's at 65 mph.