Fuel mileage and weight - loads - carrying water etc

porthole · Nov 4, 2014

So, this past weekend we attended the RCMP Campout up in the Poconos.

Since it was going to be a "short trip for us, only two nights, I decided to leave the motorcycle and golf cart home.
We normally travel with a HD Electric Glide and EZGO electric golf cart, probably 800+ pounds each. and anywhere form 1/3 to full fresh water load, 35 - 110+ gallons of water.
Simple math will give me a load for these 3 items of around 2500 pounds - with an otherwise completely empty trailer.

My fuel economy average for the last 2 years has been right around 9.5 mpg.

Round trip up to the Poconos was 230 miles.

No bike, no cart and my fresh and grey water tanks were drained. My economy, sans 2500 pounds of my normal cargo ????

9.5 mpg

And that my friends is one of the reasons why I typically carry fresh water in our trailer.

And why any trailer we buy in the future will be able to carry a full load of water and still have room/capacity for all the other junk we all carry (and yes I am referring to the Newport's numbers).

No doubt that big shoebox of trailer trying to punch through the air has more to do with economy then weight (within reason)

Bohemian · Nov 4, 2014

porthole said:
So, this past weekend we attended the RCMP Campout up in the Poconos.

Since it was going to be a "short trip for us, only two nights, I decided to leave the motorcycle and golf cart home.
We normally travel with a HD Electric Glide and EZGO electric golf cart, probably 800+ pounds each. and anywhere form 1/3 to full fresh water load, 35 - 110+ gallons of water.
Simple math will give me a load for these 3 items of around 2500 pounds - with an otherwise completely empty trailer.

My fuel economy average for the last 2 years has been right around 9.5 mpg.

Round trip up to the Poconos was 230 miles.

No bike, no cart and my fresh and grey water tanks were drained. My economy, sans 2500 pounds of my normal cargo ????

9.5 mpg

And that my friends is one of the reasons why I typically carry fresh water in our trailer.

And why any trailer we buy in the future will be able to carry a full load of water and still have room/capacity for all the other junk we all carry (and yes I am referring to the Newport's numbers).

No doubt that big shoebox of trailer trying to punch through the air has more to do with economy then weight (within reason)

Weight has much more to do with turning, stopping and accelerating.

Weight should have very little to do with constant speed cruising, especially at higher air resistance dominated speeds.

JohnD · Nov 4, 2014

When I'm driving around down here in the flat lands, with or without the trailer, my mileage is roughly the same.

When pulling up in the mountains, my mileage goes down.

Now, with my old truck, a full tank of water made a big difference in how the truck handled as I could feel it sloshing around, plus the extra 500 pounds maxed out the truck.

It didn't affect the gas mileage, however.

Haven't tried it with the new truck with a full tank of water, but I'm sure this is no longer an issue anymore!

I generally only put enough water in the fresh water tank so that we can use the 'facilities' on the road if needed, anywayz.

pegmikef · Nov 4, 2014

I find that the only thing that affects my MPG is the wind . . . a head wind usually costs me about 2 MPG and a tail wind increases my MPG 2 to 3 MPG. My overall average runs 11.5 to 12. I just did 2500 miles attending rallies in Missouri, Iowa and Texas and my overall average was 11.5. The weight in my holding tanks doesn't affect my MPG.

Garypowell · Nov 4, 2014

I pulled up next to a semi hauling steel one time while refueling. I asked him what that heavy load did to his mileage. He replied that it only made a 1 MPG difference between loaded or unloaded. He said other than that...it was all wind resistance.

porthole · Nov 5, 2014

My original post was really meant for those that could read between the lines, with regards to carrying water.

Boostable · Nov 5, 2014

porthole said:
My original post was really meant for those that could read between the lines, with regards to carrying water.

I got it...

I carry full, zero affect on mileage.

Bohemian · Nov 5, 2014

Boostable said:
I got it... I carry full, zero affect on mileage.

Well, yes, but ...

A really big set of buts/limitations/exceptions.

hoefler · Nov 6, 2014

In the beginning of the season we start out with a full load of fresh water, then drain it when it is time to winterize. I consistently get 9.2-9.4 mpg all year.

dave10a · Nov 6, 2014

It is all about the laws of physics

No matter what we humans think the laws of the universe/physics do not really care how we think.

JohnD · Nov 6, 2014

porthole said:
My original post was really meant for those that could read between the lines, with regards to carrying water.

So, just in case some of us aren't reading between the lines . . . what is it you are trying to tell us?

Bohemian · Nov 6, 2014

dave10a said:
It is all about the laws of physics No matter what we humans think the laws of the universe/physics do not really care how we think.

w

The difference between the laws of nature/science and the laws of man/politics. Science must adapt to the real world observations that nature allows us to objectively make. Nature ruthlessly corrects science's mistakes. The laws of man are based on how people in power think people not in power should act and only changes as the people in power change.

scottyb · Nov 6, 2014

I can't see any appreciable difference in mileage between loaded with a full tank of water and not. I think the trailer tows better loaded, probably because I have about 2K lbs in the garage and behind the axles.

dave10a · Nov 7, 2014

Bohemian said:
w

The difference between the laws of nature/science and the laws of man/politics. Science must adapt to the real world observations that nature allows us to objectively make. Nature ruthlessly corrects science's mistakes. The laws of man are based on how people in power think people not in power should act and only changes as the people in power change.

????

Fuel mileage and weight - loads - carrying water etc

porthole

Retired

Bohemian

Well-known member

JohnD

Moved on to the next thing...

pegmikef

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Garypowell

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porthole

Retired

Boostable

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Bohemian

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hoefler

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dave10a

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JohnD

Moved on to the next thing...

Bohemian

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scottyb

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dave10a

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