Truck Milage Question

OK guys. I’ve not been happy with my truck lately, then I got to thinking I don’t have all the facts. Would you guys mind telling me how your trucks are doing regarding mileage and towing? If you could be specific that would be great. Thanks in advance.

I drive a 2001 Chevy 1500HD with a 6.0L and 4.10 gears in the rear end. I get 11-12.5 MPG towing my boat(2300 pounds wet) on long trips doing the speed limit 65-70 MPH. Long distance with no load I get about 14 MPG doing the speed limit 65-70 MPH. I get around 12 MPG city driving.

Is my disgust for my truck misplaced?

I’d say that sounds about right.

I’ve got a 99′ Silverado 1500 with the smaller 4.8l V8. Pulling a 16ft boat I’m right around 13-14mpg or so but driving on the highway back and forth from work I’ve been averaging 16-17.

To be honest I’d sacrifice mileage to have the extra power any day.

07 ford Crew Cab 5.4L Just got 18 mpg in town, when I tow I can not tell I got any thing hooked up to the back. My 2000 Silverado keept down shifting all the time, like I was pulling a house or something.

Yeah, my truck down shifts frequently when I have the “tow/haul” on. It’s got all the power I’ve ever needed, even when hauling big loads (7000 pounds). It never seems to struggle. It just struggles keeping gas in the tank.

I’ve moved to Rochester and don’t haul heavy loads anymore. So I wonder if I don’t need a truck with 3.73s in the rear end. Go for better mileage city and highway and deal with whatever I get when towing the boat or sleds.

I drive an 06 Dodge Ram 1500 with the 5.7L. When I drive in town I get 12-13 MPG and I get the same when I pull my boat which is a Crestliner 1750 Fishhawk. If I am on the open road without towing something I will get 18-20 MPG. I know if I stay off the gas I can get about 15 MPG in town, but that rarely happens.
Hope this helps.

’01 Toyota Sequoia 4.7L with 4.10:1 gears.

I drive about 6 miles to work with lots of stop and go and I get about 13 MPG. Mainly highway driving, I get 17-18 MPG. Towing a 16′ tin boat with 60 HP, I get 13-14 MPG.

I’ve got a 99′ GMC WITH A 454.I get about 10-11 MPG going 80 on the freeway.Pulling the boat I get about 9.

’01 GMC small engine. (ie. Mistake) Ditto on the tow/haul setting tranny shifting in and out of OD. I quit pulling in OD if you go anywhere 60-70MPH it just can’t decide what gear it wants! I to would go with a bigger engine and sacrifice mileage but everyone I know who has the bigger engine gets better mileage than me Buddy has an ’05 Ford and I drove when we rented a John Deere mid size tractor and I could barely tell it was behind me. That’s when I realized how big of a mistake I made! Oh well nothing another $28,000 can’t fix…right?

Ferny.

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I drive an 06 Dodge Ram 1500 with the 5.7L. When I drive in town I get 12-13 MPG and I get the same when I pull my boat which is a Crestliner 1750 Fishhawk. If I am on the open road without towing something I will get 18-20 MPG. I know if I stay off the gas I can get about 15 MPG in town, but that rarely happens.
Hope this helps.

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I have about the same setup and that is very close to my mileage with my 05 Ram with a Hemi. I pull an Alumacraft T-Pro 175. A lot of it has to with the conditions (head/tail wind, rain, etc.). Poor conditions can wreak havoc on my mileage. Also, I find that if I go over 2000 RPM’s (65 mph) while towing that my mileage is noticibly worse, but most of my driving is done on roads with a 65 or less limit.

I have an 06 F250 6.0 dsl. 20-21 in town, 25 to 27 HWY (72MPH or less) Once I hit 72 the MPG goes in the crapper. Pulling a decent load she get 18 to 20 on the HWY a bit less in town. After switching to DSL I’ll never go back to gas. Especially now that I live in FL. Even with the higher prices it was almost a wash from my old 1500.

I have a F250 power stroke diesel 7.3 liter and I pull a Tournament 185 sport. Pulling I get 14-17 mpg depending on my driving. I get 18-21 mpg empty, I will never buy another gaser again. Thats my .02

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’01 GMC small engine. (ie. Mistake) Ditto on the tow/haul setting tranny shifting in and out of OD. I quit pulling in OD if you go anywhere 60-70MPH it just can’t decide what gear it wants! I to would go with a bigger engine and sacrifice mileage but everyone I know who has the bigger engine gets better mileage than me Buddy has an ’05 Ford and I drove when we rented a John Deere mid size tractor and I could barely tell it was behind me. That’s when I realized how big of a mistake I made! Oh well nothing another $28,000 can’t fix…right?

Ferny.

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Same here with the small motor and tow/haul not making up its mind. I’ve had WAY better luck just dropping it down into 3rd and not letting it go into OD at all.

Ruger, I had the same 2001 Chev only with a 5.3 V8…
12-13 mpg pulling my 1750FishHawk @ 65mph…but 18-19mpg highway w/o the boat.
My current 04 Ford F-150 5.4V8 gets about 11-12 with the boat and 16-17 mpg w/o. It does pull the boat well.

Guys… the GM tow/pull system is SUPPOSED TO downSHIFT A LOT….Better to downshift than having your engine make up the power needed by sucking more gas.

I miss my Chevy Silverado

With that powertrain setup, sounds about right for the 6.0, Auto, 4.10 gears. I had an 02 2500hd with the same setup, same crappy mileage, actually a bit worse. But what is expected with a 3/4 ton?
They got a little better in 2003, and I guess the latest version is even better on gas with more power.

I have a 2005 duramax with 115k miles on it, pulled a 620 all over the upper midwest, stock everything. I have NEVER got better than 13mph pulling and over 18mpg empty. I always try to keep my rpm’s around 2k so the engine doesn’t have to work so hard. I have a hard time believing anyone who has a diesel that claims to get over 20 mpg unless they have a smaller motor and they drive a constant 55mph down hill all day…my .02cents and expierence with my duramax…

Calvin has it right, IMO. I have an 05 Duramax and I did get 17.5mpg one time unloaded, highway. Pulling I get 10-12, if Im lucky. Last truck was a 6.0 Ford Diesel. While it did a little better mileage than the Chevy, it was never over 18, and didnt have the power.
If you are getting around 12 or so with a 3/4 ton gas, I dont think you can complain. Thats pretty decent. Go test drive a diesel, then you can spend an extra 10 grand right out of the hole!

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I have an 06 F250 6.0 dsl. 20-21 in town, 25 to 27 HWY (72MPH or less) Once I hit 72 the MPG goes in the crapper. Pulling a decent load she get 18 to 20 on the HWY a bit less in town. After switching to DSL I’ll never go back to gas. Especially now that I live in FL. Even with the higher prices it was almost a wash from my old 1500.

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You have the most fuel efficient truck on the planet. Don’t sell it. Most guys with that same 6.0 DSL, my own personal experiences included, would be pressed to see 18 – 19 on the HWY unloaded holding a steady 62 MPH. Crank it up to 75 and mileage will drop. Towing brings 12 – 14 MPG with that Ford 6.0 DSL… with an “average” load. Hitch up to something big and it will drop a little more.

I do agree with you about the dsl trucks though… I much prefer the dsl over the gas trucks.

06 f150 crew cab, hauling 7500 lbs. @ 65-70 I get between 9-10 mpg. 4500 lbs. I get 11-12 and empty around 17-18. But I also drive faster when it’s empty. GM’s 6.0 has never gotten very good mpg, more power and in heavier trucks. I have a load behind me about 40% of the time so I chose to keep with a gas engine, the fuel mileage I would save wouldn’t make up the difference in sticker price.

Also the duramax mpg really started to go down around 03 or so when they started bumping up the hp. So far we have my friends duramax up to 650 hp, I’m not going to even guess what his fuel mileage is.

If you can find someone to part with it…. look for a 2004-2006 Ram with the 5.9L Cummins. These trucks would get an Honest 22+ hwy and around 17-18 towing, depending on load. When they switched to 6.7L with ULSD, anybody getting 20MPG hwy now, is bragging about it…. Towing is around the same…..

big G

2001 GMC 2500HD Duramax / Auto Allison tranny.
Before the diesel fuel change from the low sulfur (500ppm) to the Ultra low sulfur (15ppm), I got what I thought was very good mileage. Empty, I averaged over 21mpg per tank and just barely under 20 while pulling 2000lb rig. Didn’t matter much about conditions or too many other factors. Was very consistent.

After the change to the B.S. Diesel fuel the socialist burro rats of America forced upon me, I suffered a dramatic drop. I average about 17 empty and I just want to put the blindfold on when I pull my boat. That’s over a 20% drop in efficiency or an increase of 20% increase of fuel purchased at an ever-increasing price. I have run all the different sulfur additives and a few of the homemade additive formulas that were supposed to be the cure for the drop with the new diesel fuel formulas. I only saw up to an 8% increase in mileage and in some cases, more than 25% increase in cost for them.

I know a couple of guys that make their own bio-diesel. If I understood them correctly, it costs them about 80 cents per gross gallon to make and their mileage pulling a boat stinks. So, I guess until we are on the board of directors at Exxon and Mobile, we get to use re-formulated fuels that lack the gusto to give us decent mileage and we get to buy more of it…..

Amen…….

big G

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If you can find someone to part with it…. look for a 2004-2006 Ram with the 5.9L Cummins. These trucks would get an Honest 22+ hwy and around 17-18 towing, depending on load. When they switched to 6.7L with ULSD, anybody getting 20MPG hwy now, is bragging about it…. Towing is around the same…..

big G

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Listen to Big G on this one! He has been through more pick ups through his job than any of us in a lifetime. The Cummins is a 6 cyl which helps a bit more, and there are a few on here that have them chipped and do even better!

Ruger,
The Chev 6.0L is and has been known to be hard on fuel. You’d be lucky to get 14mpg highway, empty. Towing 10-11mpg is average. I don’t think changing anything will get you better mileage with that engine.

My old ’97 F150 5.4L got average 15mpg empty highway, and 11mpg towing.

Now my current F250 7.3L diesel, summer-highway (60) ranges 18-21mpg empty. Towing my 18′ Skeeter 15mpg. However, when temperatures go down, so does the mpg in these diesels. Winter-highway-empty 16mpg is average. BTW-I won’t go back to gas in a truck. The power/torque is no comparison.

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My old ’97 F150 5.4L got average 15mpg empty highway, and 11mpg towing.

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I had a green one…yeesh I switched to a Blue 97 Silverado w a 350 CID and got better gas mileage all round.
18 mpg hiway…14 pulling the 1650 Fishhawk.

My 05 Duramax stock, was the same as mentioned. I’m a diesel fan, and made some improvements to increase HP, and fuel economy, but I never get both at the same time. I put on a 4″ performance exhaust , a cold air intake, and a programmer. About a month ago, I ran a 200 mile round trip empty, running a speed at no more than 5mph over the speed limit, pretty flat road, and calc MPG in the 21+ range. Towing my 20′ boat 2 weeks ago on my way home from Canada, I got in the 14’s. I didn’t even check on the way up, I was too excited to get there!

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I have an 06 F250 6.0 dsl. 20-21 in town, 25 to 27 HWY (72MPH or less) Once I hit 72 the MPG goes in the crapper. Pulling a decent load she get 18 to 20 on the HWY a bit less in town. After switching to DSL I’ll never go back to gas. Especially now that I live in FL. Even with the higher prices it was almost a wash from my old 1500.

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You have the most fuel efficient truck on the planet. Don’t sell it. Most guys with that same 6.0 DSL, my own personal experiences included, would be pressed to see 18 – 19 on the HWY unloaded holding a steady 62 MPH. Crank it up to 75 and mileage will drop. Towing brings 12 – 14 MPG with that Ford 6.0 DSL… with an “average” load. Hitch up to something big and it will drop a little more.

I do agree with you about the dsl trucks though… I much prefer the dsl over the gas trucks.

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Not the first time I’ve had this responce. It is what it is. I’ve done the math more than onece because I figured a mistake was made. This is also a 6.0 that had almost no issues during break in. (Anyone who knows this motor knows the issues.) I’m just glad I got a good one.

Chris

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I’m just glad I got a good one.

Chris

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You got a phenomenal one.

We all knows there’s quite a variance in performance from one truck to another within the same make / model / year. I just bought a 2005 Duramax… and I get quite a bit better fuel economy both empty and towing than some of the others have listed here.

Speaking of variances from one to another, this was not a truck, but we had a customer with a couple years old mini-van that swore he was getting 34+ mpg… this was just recently, it typically got around 23-25, this is the norm……anyways, he had a noise, coming from under the hood, after he shut it off… we could hear it everytime, we searched and searched and the tech found a vacuum line, for the NVLD (emissions stuff) pinched and it was not getting enough air or something and would always be sucking air, hence the little noise…. we fixed the small black hose and the noise was gone…. so was the 34+ mpg….. He’s now kinda sorry we fixed it…

big G

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After the change to the B.S. Diesel fuel the socialist burro rats of America forced upon me, I suffered a dramatic drop. I average about 17 empty and I just want to put the blindfold on when I pull my boat. That’s over a 20% drop in efficiency or an increase of 20% increase of fuel purchased at an ever-increasing price. I have run all the different sulfur additives and a few of the homemade additive formulas that were supposed to be the cure for the drop with the new diesel fuel formulas. I only saw up to an 8% increase in mileage and in some cases, more than 25% increase in cost for them.

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I agree with this 100% since the ULS came out I have seen my 03 7.3 3.73 gears automatic crew cab dually drop an average of 1.5 to 3 MPG. Where I buy my fuel makes a big difference.

Soft pedal it and 55MPH empty 17-18.2. Normal driving average 16.5-14.1 pulling boat or horse trailer 13.5 to 14.1 but thats pushing the go pedal down and running 75-80 MPH.

Worst mileage I ever got is I filled up at Cenex and ran there Gold deisel and to 8.1 to 10 MPG. Needless to say I won`t stop there again.

07 Silverado crew cab 4×4 with 5.3/3.73 rear end, active fuel management system( v-8 down to v-4 on hiway-no load). I can get 18-20 on highway not towing, 13-14 city. Just went to Canada pulling a 1750 Fishhawk with full gas tank, loaded down truck box,2 people in truck and got 15.6 on hiway,partial headwind, 14.5 with straight on head wind.
Barely felt the boat back there.