Fuel consumption too high?

[Urriellu]

Hello, I have a Ford Ranger 2019 that does 18-21mpg on the highway at around 65mph. I have just purchased a GD 17MKE which is a 21', 6400 GVWR, travel trailer.

I expected to go from 18-21mpg not towing down to maybe 11-13mpg while towing.

Unfortunately I'm doing 8.5mpg at 65mph or 7.4mpg at 75mph.

My brake controller seems to work. RV tires are at 60psi, truck tires at 40psi.

Does this seem reasonable?

Thank you!

[deltabravo]

Sounds normal. 4 cylinder was the only engine available in the Ranger, correct?

[GrandpaKip]

MFL wrote:

goducks10 wrote:

GrandpaKip wrote:
Umm…didja notice the question mark? Not a statement, maybe a rhetorical question.

Yes it was meant to be rhetorical.

Good catch Kip!

So many just jump in, with no reading comprehension, or skip over posts, and then miss the point of discussion. As threads progress, often times the entire subject may change. All good though, as forums are a source of information and opinions.

Jerry

All true, Jerry.
Can be very entertaining, also.

[MFL]

goducks10 wrote:

GrandpaKip wrote:
Umm…didja notice the question mark? Not a statement, maybe a rhetorical question.

Yes it was meant to be rhetorical.

Good catch Kip!

So many just jump in, with no reading comprehension, or skip over posts, and then miss the point of discussion. As threads progress, often times the entire subject may change. All good though, as forums are a source of information and opinions.

Jerry

[goducks10]

GrandpaKip wrote:
Umm…didja notice the question mark? Not a statement, maybe a rhetorical question.

Yes it was meant to be rhetorical.

[GrandpaKip]

Umm…didja notice the question mark? Not a statement, maybe a rhetorical question.

[nickthehunter]

There is no basis in fact in his statement. What is the J2807 max rating for each vehicle and then we can have a intelligent discussion instead of this cow pie in the sky discussion with no frame of reference.
P.S. that’s what the J2807 standard is for, to compare what trucks are capable of.

[ajriding]

nickthehunter wrote:

goducks10 wrote:
An 8,000lb 3500 SRW truck towing 16,000 lbs is safer than a 4,000lb truck towing 6400 lbs?

What makes you think so? That statement has no basis in fact. In one scenario you have a trailer weighing 60% more than the truck pushing around the truck; In the other scenario you have a trailer that weighs 100% more than the truck pushing around the truck. I'm highly skeptical your claim, and how would you measure "safer" to begin with. Its a pure nonsense statement.

I think he might be right...
Having driven a 7,000lb truck and towing heavy and also driven a small truck and towed light, i still think the big truck is more stable and handles better and controls the weight better than the little one that is not really made for anything except a few tools and 2x4s.
Little trucks are cars with truck beds. 3/4 and 1-ton trucks are built for work.

[nickthehunter]

goducks10 wrote:
An 8,000lb 3500 SRW truck towing 16,000 lbs is safer than a 4,000lb truck towing 6400 lbs?

What makes you think so? That statement has no basis in fact. In one scenario you have a trailer weighing 60% more than the truck pushing around the truck; In the other scenario you have a trailer that weighs 100% more than the truck pushing around the truck. I'm highly skeptical your claim, and how would you measure "safer" to begin with. Its a pure nonsense statement.

[Gdetrailer]

Urriellu wrote:
Thank you all very, very much for all the replies.

I just finished a second trip and I made a few changes as suggested:

• I went from 65-75 mph avg to 55mph.
• When going uphill I slowed down to 45 mph.
• I started using premium gas instead of regular.
• I speed up after stopping veeeeeeery slowly.

My consumption has gone up from 7.5-8.5 mpg to around 12 mpg. Way better!

Just using premium instead of regular also helped a lot, when not towing I went from ~18 mpg (using regular) to 21-22 mpg (using premium).

Thanks again!

Good job!

Just takes some retraining of old habits and a bit of boost in the octane level and you reap the benefits!

A lot of folks don't bother reading the manual on turbo equipped gas engines and totally miss the small print about using higher octane for certain uses can make a difference.

[4x4van]

goducks10 wrote:
An 8,000lb 3500 SRW truck towing 16,000 lbs is safer than a 4,000lb truck towing 6400 lbs?

Point taken 🙂 , although I wouldn't want to be anywhere near either one in an emergency maneuver!

[dodge_guy]

Urriellu wrote:
Thank you all very, very much for all the replies.

I just finished a second trip and I made a few changes as suggested:

• I went from 65-75 mph avg to 55mph.
• When going uphill I slowed down to 45 mph.
• I started using premium gas instead of regular.
• I speed up after stopping veeeeeeery slowly.

My consumption has gone up from 7.5-8.5 mpg to around 12 mpg. Way better!

Just using premium instead of regular also helped a lot, when not towing I went from ~18 mpg (using regular) to 21-22 mpg (using premium).

Thanks again!

Makes a big difference!
The gas alone on my Excursion made a big difference. With 93 pure gas, no ethanol, I went from 6 to almost 7 and the performance was huge. But finding non ethanol is near impossible!

[Urriellu]

Thank you all very, very much for all the replies.

I just finished a second trip and I made a few changes as suggested:

• I went from 65-75 mph avg to 55mph.
• When going uphill I slowed down to 45 mph.
• I started using premium gas instead of regular.
• I speed up after stopping veeeeeeery slowly.

My consumption has gone up from 7.5-8.5 mpg to around 12 mpg. Way better!

Just using premium instead of regular also helped a lot, when not towing I went from ~18 mpg (using regular) to 21-22 mpg (using premium).

Thanks again!

[Grit_dog]

goducks10 wrote:
An 8,000lb 3500 SRW truck towing 16,000 lbs is safer than a 4,000lb truck towing 6400 lbs?

Here on rv.net it is....
In the real world, not so much.
But it's pretty easy to pick out the mouths who gained 50% of their knowledge from what they think they learned online and the other half from that one trailer they've towed to go camping for the last 20 years.
Yet they couldn't tell you the difference between a 12 valve and a V-12!

[goducks10]

An 8,000lb 3500 SRW truck towing 16,000 lbs is safer than a 4,000lb truck towing 6400 lbs?

[4x4van]

Gdetrailer wrote:

4x4van wrote:
I have to laugh at the tow capacity wars that the manufacturers are currently waging with small/midsize trucks. Towing a 6400lb trailer with a small 4000lb truck at 75mph? While it may be able to TOW it, and it may be able to STOP it (with trailer brakes), in an emergency maneuver, the trailer will drive the truck. Hope I'm nowhere near the OP when that happens.

Trailer brakes generally are required items once you go above 2,001 lbs in some states and 3,001 lbs in most all other States. So in reality, yes, a "4,000 lb" truck CAN safely not only tow but STOP.

The trucks brakes handles the weight on the truck up to the rated GVWR and the trailers brakes handles the trailers weight up to the rated GVWR.

So in reality, it CAN be safely done, might not be pretty or fun but still very possible to safely stop during emergency maneuvers.

A lot of folks out there towing even greater of a mismatch, while that doesn't make me feel safe it is the reality we must deal with. Eventually with a big and heavy enough trailer even a F450-F550 truck will be much lighter than the trailer..

My personal feeling is I would much rather have a bit beefier tow vehicle to start with which provides a firmer platform (IE stiffer springs, firmer shocks and some added weight to match closer to the trailer's weight). But obviously not many people are willing to step off the 1/2 ton platform because they prefer the softer ride and a perceived lower cost to buy and a couple of MPG better mileage when empty.

Agreed that with the correct trailer brakes, the tow vehice can stop the trailer, even in an emergency stop situation. I'm more interested in an emergency "maneuver", such as swerving to avoid another vehicle or something. In that scenario, the trailer brakes are of little value, and the mismatch in weight between the trailer and the truck becomes a major factor in control (or lack thereof)..