which TOW vehicle gets best fuel mileage towing and empty?

2003 GMC 2500HD 4x4 CCSB LB7 Duramax

What is your mileage?
Towing / how much does your rig weigh?
10.3 mpg / 15,500lbs (my numbers ) Towing
Best so far 19.7 mpg Empty
Do you use a tuner /which one?
I use Diablo intune 35 HP tow tune
Do you have any mods that help with mileage?
I was hoping the Diablo tuner, but I am not convinced it is helping.

2014 GMC Sierra 1500 All Terrain 4WD 5.3 3.42 rear

What is your empty mileage?
Best 27 mpg over a 109 mile trip

Towing / how much does your rig weigh?
12 mpg / 6200lbs

Do you use a tuner /which one?
No

Do you have any mods that help with mileage?
No

Considering what you are towing,,, I bet your 1Ton is getting 10mpg.

DocFather said:

None!

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Miltp920 said:

Considering what you are towing,,, I bet your 1Ton is getting 10mpg.

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I wish. Around 8 at 65 mph. I got about the same with my 07 Chevy pulling the same rig.

Miltp920 said:

Considering what you are towing,,, I bet your 1Ton is getting 10mpg.

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Downhill with a tailwind drafting an 18-wheeler.

Fuel mileage is a relative question to HP, torque, rearend ratio's, weight being pulled, hills, flat land and GCVW. My fuel mileage went up about 1 mpg (average 11.3 towing) with my 2013 GMC 1tn, C/C, L/B, 4WD, DRW from my '07. Reason....more HP and torque. Same trailer but a truck that is 800#'s heavier. If I want to go camping with a heavy trailer and big truck...I have to pay the price.

DocFather, you have a GREAT sense of humor. I'd like to party with you.

DocFather said:

Downhill with a tailwind drafting an 18-wheeler.

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Hi Miltp920,

+1 for Bob & Patty. There are many factors involved that contribute to gas mileage. I've got a 2005 Dodge Ram 2500 Cummins (6 spd manual) short bed towing a 2014 Gateway 3650BH. I haven't officially weighed her yet, but Heartland says GVWR is 15,500. I've only had my rig for about 6 months and I know that I'm over my weight limits for the 2500. It just wasn't convenient financially to spend $50k to get a 1 ton dually right now.

What is my mileage?
I get about 21-22 average around town thanks to the 6 speed and mostly freeway driving commuting to/from work.

Towing / how much does your rig weigh?
11.5 - 13.5 driving between 60-65. After reading an article from Mark Polk at RV101 on ST tires, I rarely go above 65. GVWR is 15,500

Do I use a tuner?
No

Do I have any mods that help with mileage?
No

I'm just now starting to look at 1-ton duallies, as I'm way over weight and want the added stability of the dual rear tires, exhaust brake, etc. The DW isn't too happy about having to get a daully, so I told her she shouldn't have gotten such a big trailer!! lol I'm going to follow this thread closely to see what others are getting with their 1 ton duallies as I will be in the market very soon. Right now I'm leaning towards the Dodge 3500 DRW or Chevy 3500 DRW.....too many horror stories from Ford 350 DRW owners on their mpg's.

I too have done hours and hours of research online to get better fuel mileage while towing. Let me save you some time......most if not all are gimmicks. The best fuel saver is called your right foot.....slow down and lift! lol

Best of luck to you and happy camping!

I agree, all things are relative, that is why my OE post included questions, that tell us some of those details....so the reader does not have to look up how much each camper weighs, etc. So how much does your 5er weigh? I may be upgrading to a heavier toyhauler, or moving to a 1 ton TV. Hoping to get some heavy haulers 13,000 plus to help me eliminate some of the competition....all things relative, I'd like to get the best mileage. I am not there in my current situation, or maybe I am topped out with a 2500 pulling 15,500 lbs? Relative meaning IF ALL your towing is flat, or mountains, say so. Most of us tow in some hills, some flats. My goal would be to be able to find from CALCULATED MPG, not computers in dash which can be off 2 mpg;
2003 2500 GMC Duramax 10.3 - (12.5)
2013 3500 GMC Duramax 11.3
3500 CHEVY Duramx xx.x - xy.z
250 Ford
350 Ford SRW or DRW
Dodge 2500/3500

I am guessing some years are better than other years and with make and model too. HP and torque would be similar among make and model in same year?

IF someone is doing MUCH better than the rest of us, maybe we can learn what they are doing different (driving 50 mph).....tuner on 85 HP....fuel additive...cold air intake....LIGHT RV with a 1500....

I will tally up responses, and share averages, and who is the best in mpg, so we can LEARN.

See there, a new post - 6 speed is a winner, I have a 5 speed.

PLEASE share...let us newbies learn from the already wise.

Bob&Patty said:

Fuel mileage is a relative question to HP, torque, rearend ratio's, weight being pulled, hills, flat land and GCVW. My fuel mileage went up about 1 mpg (average 11.3 towing) with my 2013 GMC 1tn, C/C, L/B, 4WD, DRW from my '07. Reason....more HP and torque. Same trailer but a truck that is 800#'s heavier. If I want to go camping with a heavy trailer and big truck...I have to pay the price.

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I tow my Sundance that weighs about 12k with a 2012 Ram 2500 6.7 CCSB and get anywhere between 10.5 and 12.5 depending on the terrain. All stock!!


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Trtlepwr....
I am at 23400lbs myself. I need a 1 ton too. With my airlift5000 and upgraded rear TV tires, I believe I could stay with my 2500, but IKNOW that does not change that GMC says 22,000.

This is completely off topic here but I'm curious, what do you run in your airbags? I'm still trying to find the right pressure. Went all the way up to 60 psi, but the trailer was nose up, resulting in a lot of trailer sway. Back down to 40 psi, but I'm still about 1.5" nose up.

Miltp920 said:

Trtlepwr....
I am at 23400lbs myself. I need a 1 ton too. With my airlift5000 and upgraded rear TV tires, I believe I could stay with my 2500, but IKNOW that does not change that GMC says 22,000.

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There are so many variables in this question that it is a "nice to know" but really worthless when it comes to buying a truck. The biggest variable is the person driving the vehicle. I can tell you what my DIC says my average is for a trip, but how accurate is that? I could hand calculate and get it a little more accurate but, then again, weather, and other factors change those numbers with every trip.

This is a topic that pops up on Diesel Place often and with different engines for the Duramax. It does not mean much. You are best to figure that you are going to get 9-10 average towing over a long trip and plan for that.

My only adder... Stay with diesel.

Our '95 F250 gasser was running 6-7 mpg pulling our Elkridge. It got a whopping 10.5 mpg empty, and 10.0 with a NorthernLite 10.2 camper top on it.

The '08 F350 diesel runs somewhere in the 13-14 mpg range empty, 50/50 city and short freeway drives, ~10mpg towing, overall average mix on terrain. When we bought the F350 used (2yrs, 45k miles), it showed 16mpg on the dash.. I'm guessing from a lot of low-cargo, flat desert freeway driving in E. Washington.

-Tina

2005 gmc 3500 dually 3.7 rear empty in city about 15. Empty freeway and really babying it 18. Pulling a big country 3070 that weighs about 12k I'm getting 10 to 11. I just got the trailer though and were talking maybe 500 miles all in ohio


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OK, specifics. I drive my F350 DRW about 40K / year. about 34K empty and 6K towing. I have a log book with every gallon that has gone into my last two trucks. last 6 in different books. I averaged 12.9 mpg empty over 3500 mi, which is 5 fill-ups. The larger the sample, the more accurate. I live in the Hill Country and drive about 25% city, 50% suburban highway, and 25% off road construction sites. Towing 18K+ varies from 6.5 up hill to 10.5 (as Doc Father put it) down hill with a tailwind. Average over 2500 mi to AZ and back on I-10 was 8 mpg. everything is manually calculated. No DIC.

The best fuel saver is called your right foot.....slow down and lift! lol

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In boat racing, they call it the "LOUD pedal".

weight is a factor, but speed and and air resistance are a larger factor. So one must include speed and if possible wind resistance as well a total weight; and then there is a matter of ctane rating of the diesel fuel. I travel an average of 62 mph from coast to coast in all kinds of spring/summer weather (headwind/tailwind) an my fuel towing mpg is 11.8 (19 not towing)with a ctane of 40 (Flying J and Pilot) and 12.3 towing (21 not towing) with ctane at approx 45 with ctane boost Stanadyne additive. Remember friction goes up by the square of the speed.

I never weighed my Sundance but considering the factory weight and our stuff I would guess between 10500 and 11000 lbs. My driving speeds are 60 -62 mph , I slowed it down from a few yrs. ago.
I ave. between 12 and 13 mpg depending on wind and terrain. I set my Tuner on level 2 which adds about 60 hp and 130 ft. lbs. tq., so says the manufacturer.
I also run with the EGR valve unplugged which reduces the intake air temp 40- 50 degrees. I do however have to put up with the check engine light. Not all trucks can run like that.
I would agree that the tuner doesn't seem to add much mileage but unplugging the EGR does, worked for me anyhow. I've checked my numbers numerous times over the last 4 yrs. and these are accurate.

WOW on the gasser. My dash said 24mpg ave. when I drove it away from the dealer. I was amazed. Well, I have never seen anything close to that with me driving. I also had to replace my dash cluster-started wigging out within a few months of purchase. I see 17 average on dash empty. But I have short commute 3 miles. Previous owner must have found perfect highway speed, and stayed on interstate.

Crumgater said:

My only adder... Stay with diesel.

Our '95 F250 gasser was running 6-7 mpg pulling our Elkridge. It got a whopping 10.5 mpg empty, and 10.0 with a NorthernLite 10.2 camper top on it.

The '08 F350 diesel runs somewhere in the 13-14 mpg range empty, 50/50 city and short freeway drives, ~10mpg towing, overall average mix on terrain. When we bought the F350 used (2yrs, 45k miles), it showed 16mpg on the dash.. I'm guessing from a lot of low-cargo, flat desert freeway driving in E. Washington.

-Tina

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