Towing/economy

I’m hoping to find some information on increasing my tow economy if possible

 

Slow down. Tow in overdrive gears. Tow in a tailwind. Tow downhill. Tow a smaller/lighter trailer. Don't tow at all.

 

Welcome!

Do you have more information you could share? What are you towing? What is your vehicle and build specs? What is your terrain?

 

Unfortunately the words "Towing" and "Economy" are mutually exclusive terms.

Towing takes power, and power takes fuel.

About the only thing that will help with fuel economy is to slow down.

It drops a bit going from 55 to 62-65, then it just goes off a cliff.

I've found 62 mph is kinda' my sweet spot for MPG's, getting there in a reasonable time, and not losing my mind from going so slow.

Much like Sammy Hagar...

 

Air up the tires, don’t use cruise control, anticipate hills, use S-mode to select the best gear and prevent gear hunting, wax your rig, don’t lift or level the truck, don’t buy big knobbly tires, make sure your maintenance is up to date, use high quality synthetic oils and top-tier fuels, and above all…

… slow down (like @Tbrandt said)z

 

I realize that Towing vs economi are mutually exclusive and that being said I didn’t know if there was a gearing change that could help or not.

 

Here's my latest trip report towing 4k camper 11K GCVW. I've seen a slight increase after I installed Borla dual exhaust.
I also tow in S4 sometimes S5 as long as torque converter is locked up. 45psi all around BFG 275/75/18 KO2's Speed is always 65-70 MPH.

 

As for more info, I have a 20’ micro light trailer and discovered 8.9 mpg towing from CO to NM or back. I thought that was pretty poor…..

 

What was your average-ish speed? And how is truck setup (suspension, tires, accessories, motor)?

Enclosed trailers are giant parachutes no matter how heavy they are. You take a fuel penalty immediately. The only way to lessen that penalty is reduce drag - whether drag from the parachute that you are pulling (by moderating your speed) or drivetrain drag (maintenance, oil, tires).

Unfortunately, re-gearing isn’t going to make enough of a difference to offset the cost of installation. Fuel in = power out so it takes roughly the same due to one the truck and trailer no matter. Gearing helps when the truck struggles to pull a load comfortably. Big tires, for example, disrupt the towing dynamic originally developed for the vehicle and gearing can offset that change.

I’m still running stock tires but I tow often, and occasionally tow heavy. I talked to a drivetrain specialist buddy about regearing from 4.30 stock to 4.88’s for pulling. He asked if the truck struggled to pull and I said no. He said don’t waste your money even though I basically had my wallet out ready to pay him to swap gears.

Going the other direction - putting 3.90’s or 4.10’s in place of your 4.30’s for example - may actually pull you out of the power and and require you to run in a different transmission gear with more rpm and worse fuel economy for the same load.

 

Do you have bigger than stock tires? Like 35's of larger? If so then yes, re-gearing might be helpful.

What are you towing? Flatbed, travel trailer? How heavy?

What speed do you tow?

Last weekend we went camping in our local mountains.
In 60-ish miles from home we went from basically sea level, maybe 300-400' to 6,000' and averaged 8 MPG.
Not great, but considering we were climbing nearly the whole time, not bad.

That's a 5,500 lb. brick shaped parachute at 60-62 mph, slowing a bit on some of the grades to try and maintain torque converter lockup.

I forgot to check average MPG when we got home, but it's pretty much coasting most of the way. 1/2 a tank going up, next to nothing coming down.

If I'm towing it means I'm on vacation, so I don't worry too much about mileage... It's worth every penny to hang out with my wife and our pack in the great outdoors and eat tiny ice cream.

 

Mountains, speeds, and headwinds all play a part and are well discussed so far. Airing up is also no joke.

8.9mpg isn't horrible, though I do see 7.5-8.3mpg with my 28' Grand Design and heavy 33s (15k lbs combined weight).

The profile matters a lot, especially the nose. I've seen 14.7 mpg towing a 3200lbs pop-up (minimal wind resistance). Additionally, I've seen 9-9.3mpg if I keep it under 55.

The capabilities and dependability of the 5.7 comes with a trade-off in efficiency. More gears would be nice, but then again, in S4 anywhere below 65mph, they pull strong.

 

Aerodynamics is a mileage killer more than weight, I think.

Frontal surface area grabs wind, and once you get above 50 or so it begins an exponential drop-off of MPG's.

Think of cupping your hand and hold it out the window. At 20 MPH it's nothing, at 40 you feel the resistance, at 60 it really wants to pull your hand back, at 80 your arm's gonna' get tired pretty quick.
Now think of how many hands it would take to cover the front of your trailer.

It'd be fun to do a test: Tow 10K lbs. on a nice low flat bed and record MPG's, then do the same route at the same speed with a 5K lb. travel trailer and see which gets better mileage.

My money's on the 10K lowboy

 

Get a diesel if you want significantly better mileage while towing. But unless you tow a lot, the increased purchase price and maintenance costs probably won't equate to a net savings

 

Another thing that may help a “little” with MPG (I have no long term data) is a bed cover to help with aero.

Only reason I purchased a cheap soft rollup bed cover is because we normally transport our E-bikes like dirt bikes with canyon dancers standing up in the bed. However, weather forecast was afternoon thunderstorms in Utah so I took off front wheels and laid them down in bed with a cover.

Every little bit helps, mechanical friction and what others noted above, but when we first started towing I was getting 8-9 MPG always S4 and under 70 MPH

 

I gained 2mpg going from 4.30’s to 5.29’s.

Max the pressure out in your tires on truck and trailer and stay under 70.

I get ~9mpg towing a sxs on a 16’ trailer.

 

What were you getting before gear ratio change?

 

On a good day, between 8-9.5 mpg.

On this run home through all the hills and wind, closer to 7 mpg.

 

7.5 and forced to tow in 4th. Now I tow in 5th and get 9.5.

 

You my friend, have excellent taste in campers, and trucks of course. My gas mileages is between 8 and 10 mpg depending on terrain.

 

12 from Md to keys going 60-65mph on 95. I am notoruiusly light footed.

completely stock 2020 DC

 

Saw this turned into a Surveyor party.

 

There's something goooofy looking about that truck... not sure what it is... Goofy unicorn trucks...

 

Topper. Definitely the topper.

 

Ahh. That's GOTTA be it.

Else, that thing is sweet! Looks just like a unicorn should look! You could even use it as the guest suite if the camper fills up.

 

Bah hahaha. Fold down dinette, pull out couch, or the limo.

 

Nice!

 

Maryland to the Keys sees about as much elevation change the entire trip as a 15 minute stretch driving in Colorado.

I get between 8.5-9.5 towing in mountains. It'll go to 10.5-12 on flatter terrain.