Calculating Range offroad

[dieck]

Hey guys,

I'm working on getting an extended tank for the new to me cherokee. One of the things I've been pondering is off road range. I'm sure you guys have a good way of figuring this out. My truck gets between 250 - 275 miles per tank on the stock tank with mixed city / hwy driving. I'm going to do the fuel tank mod to take my capacity from 17gal to 20 gal which should get me up around 300 miles per tank.

What kind of range calculations do you guys do when you will be doing extended 4hi or 4lo offroading? I'm curious what kind of mileage you get and how you calculate your safe distance and fuel reserve. With expedition weights, 4lo, and the slow speads, I'm guessing fuel consumption would drop from my 15 - 16mpg to 4-5mpg.

Thoughts?

 

[DaktariEd]

Hard to say...but I'd say you're about right.
I looked up my gas mileage figures for various trips in the last year.
Pyeatt Draw was a day of slow, 4 Lo crawling and I registered 3 mpg...I filled up before and after the crawling portion.
But then....that was my FJ40.
You mileage may vary!

I use 10 mpg for my average trip...nice number to calculate with.
I'll up it to 12 mpg if more highway than dirt. That way I have plenty of reserve.

:sombrero:

 

[BigAl]

I run a cherokee 4.0 in my wrangler, I get 16mpg, normal. I never figured milage offroad but I typically use about 1.5-2 gallon per hour when in low range loaded down with camping gear. I find it easier to monitor time vs. milage offroad b/c of issues like extended idling sitting still. Fill up before and after each offroad excursion and you'll get a feel for how long you can go. HTH

 

[dieck]

I run a cherokee 4.0 in my wrangler, I get 16mpg, normal. I never figured milage offroad but I typically use about 1.5-2 gallon per hour when in low range loaded down with camping gear. I find it easier to monitor time vs. milage offroad b/c of issues like extended idling sitting still. Fill up before and after each offroad excursion and you'll get a feel for how long you can go. HTH

Yeah, that sounds like a good common sense answer. Most of my wheeling is short and I'm mostly curious about the guys that go on extended excursions where it is all off road or fire roads. I've not had any practical experience like what baja taco or other long haulers.

 

[Tucson T4R]

When running mountain fire roads in mostly high and some lo range, pulling my 2200LB King Kamper with my V8 4Runner, mine varies from 10MPG all the way down to 6MPG depending on how rugged and steep the roads are.