added fuel mileage while towing questions

brian89 · Feb 6, 2012

Alright I am going to be doing a long haul with a God awful jeep in tow and I am wondering how I am going to get any kind of fuel mileage out of this, I need some ideas of what I can do to make a tank last

bruce · Feb 6, 2012

set the cruise on like 62 instead of 70, make sure tires are inflated properly

Trapn 6.0 · Feb 6, 2012

Well I drive by rpms not speed. Keep it right about 2k I believe is the sweet spot. And Run some TCW3 ashless 2stroke marine grade oil in your tank. Wally world sells it pretty cheap.

brian89 · Feb 7, 2012

Ok how much should I mix with 28 gallons? And I ran diesel kleen once and fried my IDM on my way back to Florida from PA, anybody know If the diesel kleen had anything to do with that or was that just bad luck? just trying to do this as cheap as possible because it is for a friend. and is there any small mods that can be bolted on or made that would help?

Ron's Power Stroke · Feb 7, 2012

DK did not cause your IDM to fry..air in tires..fresh oil, fresh air, keep the RPM's as low as you can and do not stop unless you have too...

PowerstrokeJunkie · Feb 7, 2012

Drive your truck sensibly until it's time to refill, stop and refill, get on with your business. Forget about towing and worrying about good mileage, its not going to happen, its a truck

01stroked · Feb 7, 2012

:whs:

PowerstrokeJunkie · Feb 7, 2012

:stupid:

TyCorr · Feb 7, 2012

Im surprised no one noticed yet, or perhaps they dont care, but try not to mimic what you're doing in your avatar.

Only accelerate as hard as you need to in order to get to the speed you are planning go travel.

brian89 · Feb 8, 2012

I figured all of these things, just about the only things I knew to do. just looking for maybe some other tips, but yea I know this was taken shortly after getting my tuner just over a year ago, and yea I know towing and good fuel mileage do not belong in the same sentence but I was just hoping to get better than 12-14 mpg. if it was for anybody else I wouldn't care but its for my friend who is graduating college and I was hoping to help him out and get him back home as quick and "cheap" as possible, thanks for the help tho, much appreciated

uncool · Feb 8, 2012

Delete your muffler.

dietoremain · Feb 8, 2012

Indeed, if you have a factory muffler you are choking your poor truck.
And oh yeah like they said.. I get about 14mpg towing that kinda weight if you take it easy like said its possible to get decent mileage, but regardless you're grossing alotta weight and remember thats WAY better mileage than any other pos gasser would get.

TyCorr · Feb 8, 2012

12-14? Thats pretty good for towing something. The only way Id expect near stock mileage is if you're moving 4-5k or less.

My 12 duramax will only get 12 towing. Iconsider that to be good.

brian89 · Feb 8, 2012

Well I haven't towed anything for awhile but 12-14 is normal daily driving, and right now my exhaust is hacked under the cab, im not sure but I really doubt thats any kind of good for it either

TyCorr · Feb 8, 2012

brian89 said:
Well I haven't towed anything for awhile but 12-14 is normal daily driving, and right now my exhaust is hacked under the cab, im not sure but I really doubt thats any kind of good for it either

Your motor doesnt care where your exh eliminates. So long as you've got a free flowing exhaust(4" downpipe too) you should be good.

brian89 · Feb 8, 2012

Stock down pipe

Jason · Feb 8, 2012

Man I got 13.9 dragging my 24' enclosed car trailer, with a 3400lb car inside it, luggage with clothes etc, back from new Mexico to Texas. How?? I used my tow tune, didn't let the truck downshift, and believe it or not I drove 70mph. If I slowed down for something, I didn't shower down on it to regain speed. I let overdrive pull me back. I filled up completely full in Santa fe, got to Santa Rosa, NM, and jumped out to check the load. 110 miles on the dot, dropped the nozzle in the tank, got to the side door on the trailer, and heard the nozzle click off. Wouldn't take anymore fuel, 7.88 gallons exactly. I maintained that all the way back home. That trailer is 9' tall from the roof to the ground, so it's not aerodynamic. I also sit down and ride...pretend the left door doesn't open and forget stopping. 450-500 miles before I NEED to stop for anything.

Jason · Feb 8, 2012

I just read page 2. I used to have a 2003 Chevrolet pickup, the 5.3 in it would get 21mpg on the highway. Put my mustang on a open trailer behind it and drug it to California...weighed 11k lbs and some change, got 11.x mpg towing that, and it downshifted a lot to maintain speed. My truck with the above mentioned enclosed trailer is 12k lbs empty, so 16k lbs with the car, me, my wife, and our junk for a trip. It doesn't downshift unless it's a big hill, and I'll usually just let the truck slow down as it needs to instead of forcing it up the hill.

Also, I don't get great mileage all the time. I can gross 24k lbs and get 8.9 making the truck GO 75-80 across I-44 in Oklahoma. But all the mods in the world won't help your mileage, it's that right foot. I drove to Tulsa Oklahoma from where I live in Waco Texas, bone stock and consumed 14 gallons. Run the miles, and do the math for yourself.