Regcabguy
Oil eater.
That's gonna be nice Jim!
Real life MPG numbers wanted.
- Thread starter krj
- Start date
That's gonna be nice Jim!
redthies
Renaissance Redneck
Well, it's home, and I'm in love! The thing is so well put together (especially for a factory build!) it's ridiculous. I've already started doing a few mods, like installing my flat screen on a swing out, drawer dividers, removing all the ".com this and .com that" stickers etc.
I check mileage with the "lie-o-meter" on the EVIC in the truck, and it showed 10.9 on the way to drop my trade off, and 13.6 on the way home with the new camper! More uphill on the way home, and in a monsoon rain, so I'm hoping for even better numbers on longer trips. That is an almost 25% increase and I will happily take it!
On a side note, it was mighty entertaining that my old camper went out with a bang... After the dealer manager inspected it and said "all is good, it's ours now" I drove away from it to load the new one and a few minutes after I had moved, one of the front jacks collapsed and it fell over and hit a brand new trailer parked beside it! Luckily the things were so close together it couldn't get much momentum going, and didn't do much damage to either rig, other than bending the crap out of the jack that gave way. Unfortunately I didn't get a pic of it. We did get it back on 4 legs somewhat easily.
OP here with a new setup.
2002 F350 SRW, 7.3l power stroke, auto trans, crew cab, long bed, 4X4 & a 2007 Snow River 9'6" with a slide out.
Just got back from a trip to Baja. Of the 2600 miles I traveled in the states (& kept mileage records for) I averaged 10.4mpg. Best was 11.8, worst was 9.3. All hand calc'd. Highway speed usually around 70mph.
2002 F350 SRW, 7.3l power stroke, auto trans, crew cab, long bed, 4X4 & a 2007 Snow River 9'6" with a slide out.
Just got back from a trip to Baja. Of the 2600 miles I traveled in the states (& kept mileage records for) I averaged 10.4mpg. Best was 11.8, worst was 9.3. All hand calc'd. Highway speed usually around 70mph.
Would love to see 15 average. I don't even average that with the truck empty.
Average of 18 tanks with truck empty is 14.1. Best was 16 & only saw that twice. Mostly town but some highway.
Engine is stock. PO put a leveling lift on the front end.
Gears are 3.73 tires are 285/75 16.
I'm all ears for any suggestions to improve mpg.
Btw, nice campers.
Average of 18 tanks with truck empty is 14.1. Best was 16 & only saw that twice. Mostly town but some highway.
Engine is stock. PO put a leveling lift on the front end.
Gears are 3.73 tires are 285/75 16.
I'm all ears for any suggestions to improve mpg.
Btw, nice campers.
redthies
Renaissance Redneck
The cost to re-gear your truck would probably take 100,000 miles to pay off. 3.73s are the perfect gear choice for Cummins trucks, and your 285/75-17s are the best height/width combo for mileage. You could go to a 35" tire to lower your overall gearing, but the extra width that usually comes with that height would probably kill any gain.
wwpage66
New member
Titan Xd
I have been running with a 2016 Nissan Titan XD (5.0l Cummings w4x4)with my FourWheelCamper Hawk Pop-up since Oct 2016 on the road trips I have taken it has averaged 13.4mpg with the camper in the truck. Trips to Arkansas and another to MS. Drove it to FL for Christmas but no camper, just a load of some of my Dads items averaged 16.8 on that trip.
Would always like better mpg but Titan rides much better and beats the mpg of the F150(5.4l), was around 10 with camper on.
I have been running with a 2016 Nissan Titan XD (5.0l Cummings w4x4)with my FourWheelCamper Hawk Pop-up since Oct 2016 on the road trips I have taken it has averaged 13.4mpg with the camper in the truck. Trips to Arkansas and another to MS. Drove it to FL for Christmas but no camper, just a load of some of my Dads items averaged 16.8 on that trip.
Would always like better mpg but Titan rides much better and beats the mpg of the F150(5.4l), was around 10 with camper on.
charlieaarons
Explorer
Betty Ford
New member
I have a 2000 Ford F350 4WD SRW 7.3L with a Bigfoot 9.4. Manual transmission 3.73 rear end. Fuel mileage is very reliable at 13+ I've seen as high as 15.75 and as low as 10.5 but most of the time it's 13 and change. Taking the camper jack legs off helped our mileage somewhat (~.5-1MPG). My old Tacoma with a cap was lucky to see 18mpg, so I don't feel too bad about warming up the planet with my emissions. The other thing to consider is fuel costs are really low AND really don't affect your bottom dollar as much as repairs do.
Mundo4x4Casa
West slope, N. Ser. Nev.
C7train,
jefe here. As indicated above, you already have the optimal gears vs. tires vs. wheel combination for the best MPG. Your era Cummins is happiest, MPG-wise, running 1850-1950 rpm, so 2000 rpm is right in the wheelhouse. My change from 3.54:1 gears to 4:10's was warranted as 6th gear was unusable with 35's and the hard side on. The only thing to do would be to help the aerodynamics or slow down to get better mileage with that rolling windbreak. A definite downturn in MPG would be to install bigger, taller, heavier tires and wheels. How would I know that?
jefe
jefe here. As indicated above, you already have the optimal gears vs. tires vs. wheel combination for the best MPG. Your era Cummins is happiest, MPG-wise, running 1850-1950 rpm, so 2000 rpm is right in the wheelhouse. My change from 3.54:1 gears to 4:10's was warranted as 6th gear was unusable with 35's and the hard side on. The only thing to do would be to help the aerodynamics or slow down to get better mileage with that rolling windbreak. A definite downturn in MPG would be to install bigger, taller, heavier tires and wheels. How would I know that?
jefe
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topher800
New member
Did you reprogram the odometer / speedometer to reflect the new larger tires? Going from a 31" tire to a 35" tire would have your odometer under-report mileage by 10% and your speedometer over-report by 10%. I went from 31" (265/70R17) to 35" (285/75R18) and reprogrammed the odometer (gearing remained at 3.73). Mileage did not change much. Perhaps .5 mpg better on highway and something a little worse around town.
C7trail is already at a 34" tire (33.8"), so 35" won't be that much bigger/worse.
Ultimately, I have found my truck fairly impervious to mpg change (same mileage at 65 mph as 80 mph without camper). I have repeatedly driven from Colorado to California and back, both with and without the camper. Best thing for mileage improvement is a tailwind.