Who uses a V-6 to tow? I use a 4.0L to tow an M22

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MEDEL514

Member
I have a Nissan Frontier 4.0L V-6 and tow my Edge M22 with it. The truck is rated to tow 6400 lbs, and the M22 has a dry weight is 3690. It tows great, even up the hills in the mountains in Vest Virginia. I figured it would do good since other Frontier owners have towed similar loads. And the guy I bought the trailer from towed it with a Honda Pilot.

The only issue I have is crappy fuel mileage, I average about 10 mpg, up to 12 if I am on flat grades, but in the 9's going through the rolling hills of Georgia dn Alabama, going aboit 60-70 mph. I also use a SuperChips programmer in "Light Tow" mode. I thought it was bad, but my brother said he gets the same mileage with his 1500 Chevy Express 5.7L V-8 towing a smaller trailer.

Who else uses a V-6 to tow their travel trailer?
 
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K

kf5qby

Active Member
I have a North-trail 21FBS. Very similar in size and weight to your M22. Towing with a 2015 Grand Cherokee 3.6L V-6 I had similar mileage numbers to what you posted. The last trip I was coming back from Amarillo with a 20+ MPH headwind and I was in the single digits for fuel economy.
 
JohnD

JohnD

Moved on to the next thing...
Don't expect good gas mileage with any vehicle once you hook an RV to it, unless it is a small pop-up camper.

However, in your case, if you had a V8 instead of the V6 you'd probably get better fuel economy while towing.
 
K

kf5qby

Active Member
JohnD said:
Don't expect good gas mileage with any vehicle once you hook an RV to it, unless it is a small pop-up camper.

However, in your case, if you had a V8 instead of the V6 you'd probably get better fuel economy while towing.
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This last weekend I traded my Grand in on a 2016 RAM 2500 because of the lack of power. Mine struggled to maintain 60-65 MPH during my last trip. Will have to see how the 6.4L Hemi does.
 
JohnD

JohnD

Moved on to the next thing...
kf5qby said:
This last weekend I traded my Grand in on a 2016 RAM 2500 because of the lack of power. Mine struggled to maintain 60-65 MPH during my last trip. Will have to see how the 6.4L Hemi does.
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You'll be amazed at the difference a real tow vehicle will be!

You'll want to go 80 MPH just because you can . . .

But . . . keep it at 65 MPH or less as the trailer tires are only rated to that speed!
 
jam20ster

jam20ster

Well-known member
I would love to get 9 mpg. I get more like 6-7.5 mpg.

Even with that low of mpg still no complaints.
 
A

alwaysbusy

Well-known member
In reality, it really doesn't matter what the TV is. Dodge, gas, SRW, Chebby, diesel, 2010, Ford, DRW, 2016 (did I leave anything out? LOL) there is no such thing as good fuel mileage when towing a coach....period.
 
JohnD

JohnD

Moved on to the next thing...
I get between 7-10 MPG with my 2015 Chevy 2500HD with the 6.0L gas engine and the 4.10 rear end while towing and around 14-15 MPG without trailer.

However, our trailer weighs just under 9900 lbs and is 34 feet long.
 
M

MEDEL514

Member
kf5qby said:
This last weekend I traded my Grand in on a 2016 RAM 2500 because of the lack of power. Mine struggled to maintain 60-65 MPH during my last trip. Will have to see how the 6.4L Hemi does.
Click to expand...
You'll have to let me know the difference in the two vehicles. I'm sure the power difference will be great, but I'd also like to know your fuel economy difference towing the same travel trailer. Thanks!
 
K

kf5qby

Active Member
MEDEL514 said:
You'll have to let me know the difference in the two vehicles. I'm sure the power difference will be great, but I'd also like to know your fuel economy difference towing the same travel trailer. Thanks!
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If your main concern is Fuel economy then you will not like this truck unloaded. I am averaging 13 MPG where I was getting 18~19 with the Grand (combined city/highway). I only have 700 miles on the truck and have not towed yet. Of course the truck weighs almost twice as much and has the aerodynamics of the side of a barn. :D

I have been on vacation so have not had a chance to tow yet and I am on call this week so can't leave town. I am hoping to get some highway towing miles on it in the next couple of weeks to give you a report.
 
ram_1955

ram_1955

Well-known member
I had an F150 with the V6 and twin turbos. I was towing a 36' 9500# trailer. I was right at overloaded on the truck GVWR. Truck had lots of power but not a lot of engine braking on down hill runs. I would have been happier with the truck with a V8, would have had the same power but more engine braking.

When I say engine braking I am not talking about exhaust braking.

I was getting about 7-8 MPG towing and 20 MPG empty.

Now with twice the trailer I get about 7-8 MPG towing and 14 MPG empty.
 
Mattman

Mattman

Well-known member
I towed my old 24' mini lite with my Yukon XL. May as well been a V6. That thing felt under powered to tow it. It was boarder line any way with the kids and gear. But I got 9-10 going to Florida. 8 with Hills or a breeze. Benifit is the 19 highway MPG in loaded. But conditions have to be right for that as well.
 
K

kf5qby

Active Member
MEDEL514 said:
You'll have to let me know the difference in the two vehicles. I'm sure the power difference will be great, but I'd also like to know your fuel economy difference towing the same travel trailer. Thanks!
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I finally can give you some feed back. I was able to take the trailer out this last weekend.

Fuel economy is about 2 MPG better towing with the new truck over the grand. At 65 MPH the engine is running just over 2000 RPM with the tow/haul mode turned on. That was in high winds and rolling hills. The Grand would have been running at least 4500 RPM in the same scenario.

The truck is way more stable in wind than the Grand was and having the extra power is a very good thing. Overall it is worth the MPG hit as a daily driver to be comfortable towing over long distances.
 
R

RockwallJDGx2

Member
Ford F 150 with the 3.5L V6 Ecoboost. My trailer is about 8,500 lbs loaded and power is not an issue. Normally I get 21mpg or so on the highway driving 75mph and 9mpg driving 70 when towing.
 
avvidclif

avvidclif

Well-known member
RockwallJDGx2 said:
Ford F 150 with the 3.5L V6 Ecoboost. My trailer is about 8,500 lbs loaded and power is not an issue. Normally I get 21mpg or so on the highway driving 75mph and 9mpg driving 70 when towing.
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Careful, the tires are rated for 65MPH, just saying....
 
DirtyMax88

DirtyMax88

Well-known member
MEDEL514 said:
I have a Nissan Frontier 4.0L V-6 and tow my Edge M22 with it. The truck is rated to tow 6400 lbs, and the M22 has a dry weight is 3690. It tows great, even up the hills in the mountains in Vest Virginia. I figured it would do good since other Frontier owners have towed similar loads. And the guy I bought the trailer from towed it with a Honda Pilot.

The only issue I have is crappy fuel mileage, I average about 10 mpg, up to 12 if I am on flat grades, but in the 9's going through the rolling hills of Georgia dn Alabama, going aboit 60-70 mph. I also use a SuperChips programmer in "Light Tow" mode. I thought it was bad, but my brother said he gets the same mileage with his 1500 Chevy Express 5.7L V-8 towing a smaller trailer.

Who else uses a V-6 to tow their travel trailer?
Click to expand...

Most of us on here would love to get 10-12 mpg towing. Ha! Like one of the other comments, no matter what your towing or TV is, you will never get good mpg....so I'd say stop worrying about it.
 
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