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Towing with new 6.4L

My question is how often do you plan to tow the trailer. I always viewed the flat front trailers as a destination trailer. Maybe you tow it to a location at the beginning of the season and home at the end of the season. Never seen people use them as a regular travel trailer moving from location to location on a regular basis.

That being said mt 3500 CC 4x4 SRW 4:10 gears pulls my 7k trailer at 2000 rpm and averaging 9-9.5 mpg.

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mkmsr said:
My question is how often do you plan to tow the trailer. I always viewed the flat front trailers as a destination trailer. Maybe you tow it to a location at the beginning of the season and home at the end of the season. Never seen people use them as a regular travel trailer moving from location to location on a regular basis.

That being said mt 3500 CC 4x4 SRW 4:10 gears pulls my 7k trailer at 2000 rpm and averaging 9-9.5 mpg.

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It will make the trip from Alaska to America two or four times a year. Trips to camp half a dozen times once in America. Not weekend-type trips, out for two or three weeks, remote areas.
 
Redcold said:
It will make the trip from Alaska to America two or four times a year. Trips to camp half a dozen times once in America. Not weekend-type trips, out for two or three weeks, remote areas.
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Sounds like a blast! Safe travels
 
I wonder if a rooftop wind deflector would help.
 
Redcold said:
I just have to ask, what I am I doing wrong? I have a "22 2500 Limited 6.4 3.73. Picked up the new TT, a WRC sheep camp, 9300lb 31 ft. Coming across western Utah from Mt Pleasant to Grantsville, mainly on UT 6 and UT 36. Hilly but no real grades. Averaged about 5 mpg at 55-60 mph. Used Tow/Haul mode the whole way. Seems like running about 3500 rpm the whole way.
Honestly, thinking about trading for a Cummins, but am willing to be educated before I throw a bunch more money at the problem (me!!).
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It’s the wind resistance of the trailer. And terrain. I just got rid of my 6.4 and went back to Cummins. This was my experience as well in the mountain states region. 5-8 mpg pulling my fifth wheel in this terrain. I was fine when we were doing occasional trips. But we’re using it too much. I couldn’t handle it anymore. Even my empty mileage was bad.
 
406Linetrash said:
It’s the wind resistance of the trailer. And terrain. I just got rid of my 6.4 and went back to Cummins. This was my experience as well in the mountain states region. 5-8 mpg pulling my fifth wheel in this terrain. I was fine when we were doing occasional trips. But we’re using it too much. I couldn’t handle it anymore. Even my empty mileage was bad.
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It is just depressing to see under 10 MPG on a computer, and I don't care that diesel costs more..
 
MEGA HO 3500 said:
It is just depressing to see under 10 MPG on a computer, and I don't care that diesel costs more..
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I’m not at all turning this into gas v oil burner.

I’m 100% with you. The range of the tank made it seem even worse.

Gas serves its purpose. And I’m sure a bunch of people with diesels would be better served with a gas. For MY use. The money is a wash. We’ll see on my first tow trip next week. But so far I’ve doubled my empty mileage
 
406Linetrash said:
It’s the wind resistance of the trailer. And terrain. I just got rid of my 6.4 and went back to Cummins. This was my experience as well in the mountain states region. 5-8 mpg pulling my fifth wheel in this terrain. I was fine when we were doing occasional trips. But we’re using it too much. I couldn’t handle it anymore. Even my empty mileage was bad.
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Thanks! That's what I finally figured out after hauling the TT in a bunch of different configurations and over a least some flat land.
It's funny how much things can change in a few weeks. The whole reason for the TT was to haul the dogs with me. Now I am without dogs, and about to put the TT and the Ram on the market. I think a new adventure is in order.
 
406Linetrash said:
It’s the wind resistance of the trailer. And terrain. I just got rid of my 6.4 and went back to Cummins. This was my experience as well in the mountain states region. 5-8 mpg pulling my fifth wheel in this terrain. I was fine when we were doing occasional trips. But we’re using it too much. I couldn’t handle it anymore. Even my empty mileage was bad.
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Not to mention being at 5000ft+ elevation. What octane fuel were you running? If you were running 85 then the engine was probably retarding timing to avoid knock further reducing power. Any head/quartering wind will ding your mileage too.
 
raven_dt said:
Not to mention being at 5000ft+ elevation. What octane fuel were you running? If you were running 85 then the engine was probably retarding timing to avoid knock further reducing power. Any head/quartering wind will ding your mileage too.
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89. Always used it pulling. It had a few tanks of 87 in it empty through Idaho where that’s mid grade. But I tried to stick to 89 as much as possible. I always thought it was a weird mid year manual switch to 87 is ok. Mine explicitly said 89 or could experience knock. Seemed like a sales boost statement to me.
 
406Linetrash said:
89. Always used it pulling. It had a few tanks of 87 in it empty through Idaho where that’s mid grade. But I tried to stick to 89 as much as possible. I always thought it was a weird mid year manual switch to 87 is ok. Mine explicitly said 89 or could experience knock. Seemed like a sales boost statement to me.
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Sorry 406 my comment was for Redcold.
 
406Linetrash said:
89. Always used it pulling. It had a few tanks of 87 in it empty through Idaho where that’s mid grade. But I tried to stick to 89 as much as possible. I always thought it was a weird mid year manual switch to 87 is ok. Mine explicitly said 89 or could experience knock. Seemed like a sales boost statement to me.
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I've been towing/camping since 1975. When I started all our tow vehicles still had carbs. There was a huge difference in power and mileage between octanes. Since the fuel injection age I have experimented with different grades of gasoline both towing and running empty. Over numerous tests with many different tow vehicles I can find no difference in power or mpg. These tests include pulling 8800# TT over 10000' mountain passes. I live at 5000' elevation and our regular octane is only 85. I tow often at sea level for weeks at a time and still can't squeeze any more power or mileage out of the higher octanes. The only improvement I see is when i find non-ethanal gas. I have experienced up to 2 mpg improvement and much better performance with it but its hard to find and don't really know if the price difference is justified. Just my .02 cents.
 
sanda said:
I've been towing/camping since 1975. When I started all our tow vehicles still had carbs. There was a huge difference in power and mileage between octanes. Since the fuel injection age I have experimented with different grades of gasoline both towing and running empty. Over numerous tests with many different tow vehicles I can find no difference in power or mpg. These tests include pulling 8800# TT over 10000' mountain passes. I live at 5000' elevation and our regular octane is only 85. I tow often at sea level for weeks at a time and still can't squeeze any more power or mileage out of the higher octanes. The only improvement I see is when i find non-ethanal gas. I have experienced up to 2 mpg improvement and much better performance with it but its hard to find and don't really know if the price difference is justified. Just my .02 cents.
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Don't use 85 octane in your modern vehicle. Here is the actual science behind it:
 
Just finished a 4k mile trip towing my enclosed 7x14 enclosed trailer. Using 87-88 octane, the lie-o-meter ranged from 8.5-11.5. I hand calculated the mileage one time and it was off by a .5 which is close to normal so I didn't bother with it again. I would guess my actual average over all for the trip is 9.5. My speed varied from 65-75. I had about 1k worth of cargo and passengers on board with 6-7k estimated weight of the trailer. Not bad but I was hoping for better with a light load. Mods that would affect mileage are a leveling kit with 35x11.5-20 ATs and a Borla catback.

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I forgot to add, it's a 22 6.4 CC 4x4 SB w/3.73 gears.

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