Towing MPG seems low

salisburysteak12

Tremor Fan
Joined
May 8, 2021
Messages
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Location
Seguin Texas
Current Ride
2021 F250 6.7 Tremor
So I took my TT out for the second time since getting my 6.7 and my MPG seems low. Im getting 9.5ish mpg, towing ~8.2k pounds. This on mostly flat roads in texas driving against the wind. I think it was like 10-11mph winds so nothing crazy. Maybe im being impatient as i havent even hit 2k miles on the truck yet. I'm just wondering if something is wrong, when im reading other posts of 6.7s towing 5th wheels at like 13-15k lbs getting 13-14 mpg. The power is there and I'm in 10th gear 98% of the time. Dont get me wrong. Its way better than the 6-7 mpg my 6.2l was getting. Just want to make sure this is normal or maybe I'm doing something wrong.
 
You really gotta let the engine break in before you draw any conclusions. Diesels take a fair amount longer to break in than gassers. Everyone will have a different experience with this too depending upon how you use it.

For example, my Cummins didn't fully break in until about 70k miles. Truth.
 
So I took my TT out for the second time since getting my 6.7 and my MPG seems low. Im getting 9.5ish mpg, towing ~8.2k pounds. This on mostly flat roads in texas driving against the wind. I think it was like 10-11mph winds so nothing crazy. Maybe im being impatient as i havent even hit 2k miles on the truck yet. I'm just wondering if something is wrong, when im reading other posts of 6.7s towing 5th wheels at like 13-15k lbs getting 13-14 mpg. The power is there and I'm in 10th gear 98% of the time. Dont get me wrong. Its way better than the 6-7 mpg my 6.2l was getting. Just want to make sure this is normal or maybe I'm doing something wrong.
What are you getting when you’re not towing?
 
I was getting 10-12 in my 2017 towing my 25' toy hauler, about 6,500# dry. Remember travel trailers are the opposite of aerodynamic. Havent towed the camper with the Tremor yet.
 
You really gotta let the engine break in before you draw any conclusions. Diesels take a fair amount longer to break in than gassers. Everyone will have a different experience with this too depending upon how you use it.

For example, my Cummins didn't fully break in until about 70k miles. Truth.

Broke-in at 70,000 miles and broke-n at 71,000. lol
 
16-17 city like 19-20 highway

This is consistent with what I'm getting. Idle time and regen have a huge effect.

With regen intervals at 400-500 miles and a tank of fuel lasting 500-600 its possible to have 2 regens in one tank which will make MPG look terrible for that tank. But then the next tank might not have any regens which will make MPG look outstanding (all things considered)
 
Funny...

At 100k the oil was still clean at oil change.... 10k mile interval.

Not soot black.

Yea, the Tremor probably want have clean oil at 100k, its already black at 3,500...
 
I have averaged between 10.5 and 11.5 mpg pulling a 38’, 8k TT 65-75 mph through mountains, wind and snow. That is on 1200-1500 miles of towing. The other day I towed the trailer about 100 miles on mostly flat ground in stop and go traffic through Denver and the mpg’ were in the 14’s.
 
Set off a week ago on our first trip with 1050 on the odometer. Am towing 8500-9000 in very curvy and hilly Northern California and averaging 12ish. Haven’t crunched the numbers real hard but during my 1000 mile break in I did and was surprised to find the
Lie-O-Meter quite accurate.
 
when your towing more than 5k lock it out of 10th and even 9th. Youll stay out of boost so often, and wont burn as much fuel and will help keep EGT's down.
 
So I took my TT out for the second time since getting my 6.7 and my MPG seems low. Im getting 9.5ish mpg, towing ~8.2k pounds. This on mostly flat roads in texas driving against the wind. I think it was like 10-11mph winds so nothing crazy. Maybe im being impatient as i havent even hit 2k miles on the truck yet. I'm just wondering if something is wrong, when im reading other posts of 6.7s towing 5th wheels at like 13-15k lbs getting 13-14 mpg. The power is there and I'm in 10th gear 98% of the time. Dont get me wrong. Its way better than the 6-7 mpg my 6.2l was getting. Just want to make sure this is normal or maybe I'm doing something wrong.
Has your MPG improved over time? This is our maiden voyage with this truck and travel trailer. I have many trips previously with this trailer with a 2006 GMC 2500HD and averaged 10 mpg over all types of terrain.
We have a ORV 22 FQS that travel ready is ~8500 pounds. I have a 1000pound canopy camper on bed of Tremor which is rather low profile. I have been very easy at 60-63 mph mostly cruise control and on pretty level terrain. The truck drove amazingly well…could hardly tell trailer was behind me, and never felt like it was working hard at all.
Damn if I wasn’t getting 9.5 and finally ended up averaging 10.2 over 350 miles. I have 2200 miles on the truck…and this is the 6.7. I was getting 21 mpg driving it from Granger to Oregon when I picked the truck up a couple of months ago.
I was really counting on this getting 13-15 as easy as I drive. I installed the S and B 60 gal tank, and have yet to reset the computer to the new tank. I was hoping that maybe hand calculations would show better…but, unfortunately no. They confirmed 10mpg.
I keep reading all these people towing 10k at 75 and getting 14 plus. I can only hope to be getting that someday soon…
 
I was getting 10-12 in my 2017 towing my 25' toy hauler, about 6,500# dry. Remember travel trailers are the opposite of aerodynamic. Havent towed the camper with the Tremor yet.
Cummins is a great engine... Just stuck in the wrong truck. Horrible body, interior, and transmission. Love the engine though
 
Has your MPG improved over time? This is our maiden voyage with this truck and travel trailer. I have many trips previously with this trailer with a 2006 GMC 2500HD and averaged 10 mpg over all types of terrain.
We have a ORV 22 FQS that travel ready is ~8500 pounds. I have a 1000pound canopy camper on bed of Tremor which is rather low profile. I have been very easy at 60-63 mph mostly cruise control and on pretty level terrain. The truck drove amazingly well…could hardly tell trailer was behind me, and never felt like it was working hard at all.
Damn if I wasn’t getting 9.5 and finally ended up averaging 10.2 over 350 miles. I have 2200 miles on the truck…and this is the 6.7. I was getting 21 mpg driving it from Granger to Oregon when I picked the truck up a couple of months ago.
I was really counting on this getting 13-15 as easy as I drive. I installed the S and B 60 gal tank, and have yet to reset the computer to the new tank. I was hoping that maybe hand calculations would show better…but, unfortunately no. They confirmed 10mpg.
I keep reading all these people towing 10k at 75 and getting 14 plus. I can only hope to be getting that someday soon…
It has gotten better over time. I think the heat had something to do with it as well. Now that is cooler and I have 19k miles on the truck now I am getting like 10-11 towing, but I am cruising at like 70 on the highways and 60-65 on "back roads" in texas. As im sure you know most back roads here have like a 75mph speed limit. so if I slowed it down a bit Im sure I would get a little bit better. But yea the guys claiming they are getting 13-14mpg with 5th wheels. I think they are liar liar pants on fire.
 
I have about 1,000 miles towing on my 2022 since I picked it up in December 2021. I have 2,500 +/- miles.

I am towing a 24' ATC toybox -that is 10k loaded and am towing in S. Cal up an over the grades and down to the desert - getting 9.5 - 10.8 per trip, depending on the wind. Last trip at 10.8 with limited wind. I was happy with 10.8, given load and up and down mountain each way. In the flats I did a check last trip also and got around 12 towing home, no wind.
 
I normally keep it around 65 towing my 28ft trailer (~7000 pounds). I average between 11-13mpg on most trips.
 
It has gotten better over time. I think the heat had something to do with it as well. Now that is cooler and I have 19k miles on the truck now I am getting like 10-11 towing, but I am cruising at like 70 on the highways and 60-65 on "back roads" in texas. As im sure you know most back roads here have like a 75mph speed limit. so if I slowed it down a bit Im sure I would get a little bit better. But yea the guys claiming they are getting 13-14mpg with 5th wheels. I think they are liar liar pants on fire.
I tow our 13k fifth wheel toy hauler a good bit and speed seems to be the biggest factor with mine. Anything over 70 and the mpg take a big hit when I’m towing. If I can stick around 60-65 I can get around 12, but that’s the best I’ve seen. Pretty similar to what you’re seeing.
 
So I took my TT out for the second time since getting my 6.7 and my MPG seems low. Im getting 9.5ish mpg, towing ~8.2k pounds. This on mostly flat roads in texas driving against the wind. I think it was like 10-11mph winds so nothing crazy. Maybe im being impatient as i havent even hit 2k miles on the truck yet. I'm just wondering if something is wrong, when im reading other posts of 6.7s towing 5th wheels at like 13-15k lbs getting 13-14 mpg. The power is there and I'm in 10th gear 98% of the time. Dont get me wrong. Its way better than the 6-7 mpg my 6.2l was getting. Just want to make sure this is normal or maybe I'm doing something wrong.

Not one mention of the speed you're driving in any of that. That's the single biggest variable in your towing MPG. Anything above 65 MPH and it's going to drop fast.

In my experience towing enclosed trailers with a diesel for the last 15 years, wind resistance has more to do with mileage than trailer weight. My new gooseneck enclosed weighs 5000# more than my old tag, but the gooseneck gets better mileage because I'm not pulling a vertical wall through the air.

Sure, people claim 13-14 MPG, but what they're probably driving 55 MPH everywhere. If you're out on the interstate going the speed limit (65-75 MPH), it's going to be around 10 MPG. +/- depending on the wind. On the same trip driving the same speed, you'll dip into the single digits driving into the wind and might see 13-14 driving with the wind. I've seen as low 6 MPG with a strong headwind in Wyoming and dropping down to 55 MPH to keep the trailer under control.
 

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