What do you tow with?

[Bird]

We are looking for a new truck to tow our 30 foot travel trailer. The loaded weight of the trailer is near 8000 pounds. Wondering what kind of truck you have and what mileage you get while towing and empty on the highway, What gears do you have? WE live in Louisiana where it is flat, but we are retired so the truck and trailer will see a lot of mountains and will be go to Alaska next summer,

Fifth-wheel trailer instead of conventional, I presume. It would be interesting to hear how your trip to Alaska goes. Over the years, we had lots of people ask about driving to Alaska, but I always told them that if they do it, after someone else tells them about it, they'll swear the person who told them about it lied. It changes that much from one year to the next, or even one month to the next. We spent the month of July, 1972, driving from Dallas to Anchorage, then on to Fairbanks and back with a 1971 3/4 ton Chevy, 350 4 bbl. engine pulling a 25' conventional travel trailer that weighed less than 5,000 lbs. At that time we had over a thousand miles of dirt and gravel roads. Then in both 1990 and 1991, we drove it with a 1989 one ton Chevy dually, 454 4 bbl. engine pulling a 32' fifth-wheel that was running 7,300 pounds on the axles and 2,500 on the pin.

The only thing that stayed the same was that it was hard, dirty work every trip.:laughing:

 

[Egon]

Truck wise I'd consider a 4x4 3/4 ton of whatever make you sit in best.

For Alaska consider the marine highway one way and drive the other.

 

[Diamondpilot]

I have 2 trucks, a 2006 F350 diesel and a 2012 F150 Ecoboost. Both are 4x4 FX4 package and both have 3.73 gears.

Around town tank to tank the F350 gets 17 mpg and about 23 on the highway empty. The truck has some mods. Pulling 16,000# I get about 14 mpg.

Around town tank to tank the Ecoboost F150 gets 18 mpg and 22 mpg on the highway. I pull 10,000# with it and at 60 mph it gets 9.7 mpg but running 75 it gets 8 mpg. It's about like any other V8 half ton towing but with power the V8 trucks could not dream of. It's more like an older diesel. I honestly believe it would out tow, out accelerate with a load or empty, and out perform my 99 F350 I had with a 7.3.

If towing under 12,000# I will always use mt F150. I'll leave the diesel parked till that threshold due to higher operating cost.

Chris

 

[wawajake]

After that Ford Advertisement.........we return back to our normal televised programming Now to original poster , you may want to research eco boost turbo problems occurring when humidity or rain caused problems with them, especcially if buying used. As for mileage GM.s new 5.3 litre V8 2014/ 2015 easily beats Fords eco boost at getting better gas mileage. And a Dodge Hemi with the 8 speed trannie will be quite competitive too.........you have lots of choices these days, don't limit yourself.

 

[RedNeckRacin]

to answer the OP's original question. I tow exclusively with a 2001 International 4700LP with a DT530E and an Alison MD 3060 transmission crew cab with air ride suspension. I think I get around 13 empty and 10 loaded. (Hard to tell with dual 50 gal tanks and not really concerned about mileage) I have yet to find a trailer that I can tell is behind me. The truck does weigh in the neighborhood of 12klbs though! I would not recommend it for driving in heavy snow unless you don't mind slinging chains. As for going down the highway, its relaxing. The truck rides smooth loaded and with the upright seating and the air ride seats, its very easy to drive for long periods.

Anyways, The reason why I mention this is to make sure you get enough truck to do what you want with some room to spare. Towing at the max rating is just that. There is no room for errors. I think the larger the trucks get, there more margin there is on the safety factor for the max towing but still.

 

[Threepoint]

Ahh. My one year old son grabbed my phone.

Sent from my iPhone using TractorByNet

I was just about to look "Bbu" up on an Internet slang site when I saw your second post! :laughing:

 

[bigtiller]

A 1/2 ton takes you to work....
A 3/4 ton or heaver does the work.

 

[fordmantpw]

Personally, I tow with an '08 F250 PowerStroke. Empty, I get between 12 and 19 depending on highway, city, traffic, hills, etc. Towing, I get between 9-11 depending on the terrain and speed. The '11+ 6.7L in the Ford typically gets 2+ MPG better than the 6.4L in the '08-'10 models.

With that kind of weight, if you are towing a lot (and it sounds like you will be, going to AK), I would go 3/4 ton. I would also go with diesel with that kind of weight if you can swing the added cost. Make sure you verify your payload capacities and that the truck you get has enough reserve capacity to haul your goodies around. I would look for a minimum of 1800 lbs of payload. If you were going to be staying in LA, I would recommend a half-ton Ford EcoBoost.

 

[timswi]

I tow a 32' Winnebago One. Net around 8000#, Gross, probably 9000#-9500#. I pull it with a 2013 1/2 ton 4x4 GMC Denali 3:42's and a 6.2 gasser. Gets around 10 in the mountains pulling although I'm not even trying to get mileage. It pulls perfectly and really doesn't work hard at all..The engine braking really helps too. Feels very stable at all times.

 

[Turbys_1700]

I just sold my 30' fifth wheel camper and 2003 F350 4x4 crew cab dually...
I had it for 11 years and was a great truck...
Last of the 7.3's...
I replaced it with a 2007 2500 HD Chevy with a 6.0 Vortec and 4.10's...
I like 4.10's in trucks for the towing capabilities...
I have not towed anything yet with the Chevy but I would expect 8 -10 mpg towing...
My 7.3 diesel would get 11 towing my fifth wheel...
The cost to run the gas truck is actually less than the diesel since diesel is higher per gallon...
I would stick with either a 3/4 or ton truck...
Just my personal preference...