Fuel Economy with the ToyHauler.

[Mopar1973Man]

Novice Question...

I currently use a long receiver as well (18" pin to ball) as I like to be able to drop the tailgate at any angle, and I am sure thats costs me over a mile per gallon.

Why would you do this?

[flagmanruss]

Guess my single electric scooter... and it is a big outdoor scooter... isn't heavy enough! Yeah, kind of looks lost in there.

I don't think I can get the tailgate down with the TH. If I have the gooseneck horse trailer exactly straight, I could lower the gate & crawl under the gooseneck.

To be truthful, I never thought about an extended hitch but I'm sure it's NOT a good idea with a Weight Distributing hitch.

When I hauled hay on my landscaper's trailer... I needed to run with the gate down. I could get it down but not turn without hitting the jack... I unbolted the jack the first year.

By the second year, I'd bought a side swing jack & mounted it next to the platform at the base of the A. I bought a bearing & extended the handle to the side of the platform. I also filled in the open A frame with expanded metal grate. When we were unloading hay, we'd drop the conveyor on the trailer. After the trailer was empty, someone would stand on the A platform pulling hay off the truck & feeding someone loading the conveyor.

[AH64ID]

With a standard receiver the tail gate hits the tongue jack, even when straight, put any angle on the truck and you can't hardly drop the gate at all. With the extended receiver I can open the tailgate regardless of the angle between the truck and trailer, makes it much easer for getting stuff in/out of the bed with the trailer attached. Also you can back up at tighter angles and not kiss the trailer with the bed-side. I know it decreases my mileage, but its a worthy cost of fuel.

--- Update to the previous post...

Guess my single electric scooter... big as it is... isn't heavy enough!

Yeah that's probably true. I bet the tanks are in the front too. If your going somewhere that has water I would fill there.

What do you have for a w/d setup?

[flagmanruss]

Eaz-lift. http://www.eaz-lift.com/eazlift/Instructions/Elite_Instructions.pdf (2) 50 gallon water tanks. Rear one is mosltly over the rear axle. Front tank is right in front of it... but ends up being mostly in front of axles. Grey & black tanks are forward.

[AH64ID]

Which model?

[flagmanruss]

I'm not sure of the model... came with the trailer. It is one of the heavy duty ones. The hitch part that goes into the reciever is solid.

[AH64ID]

Do the bars state their rating? Just making sure they are big enough for the massive tongue weight of that baby, there appears to be 4 different ratings.

[flagmanruss]

I went out to the trailer to check. The WD hitch spring bars are marked 10,000#, 750# tongue weight.

[AH64ID]

Your just on the edge of the rating for those bars, which is probably why there is so much tension on them.

[flagmanruss]

I'd be happier with heavier spring bars. But at this point, it's a pig in a poke... When I get the truck back & the ground firms up... There's a truck stop scale at I95 entrance. I ought to weight the truck and then, put the truck on with the trailer off... ought to give tongue weight. This will work, right? Then maybe a truck & trailer weight. (I can subtract to get the trailer weight.)

[AH64ID]

When I weighed my truck/trailer what I did was start hooked up and did the following. 1) Front axle only2) Both truck axles3) Trailer axles only (pulled the truck off the scale just far enough so the truck wasn't on, but the tongue jack was over the scale)4) Disconnected the truck and trailer with trailer and tongue jack on the scale. The sum of 2 and 3 is your GCW The difference in 3 and 4 is your tongue weight. If you want to know how the tongue weight is distributed you will need to re-do 1 and 2 without the trailer. And if you do that you can skip 4 on the scale.

[mr.mindless]

truck scales have different pads to give you your axle weights - just make sure you're on the right pads with your axles - with shorter lengths it's easy to get screwed up.then you can just weight your rig, drop the trailer and reweigh, and you have all your weights incl tongue weight (difference in gross weight - trailer axle weight = tongue weight)

[Bryan]

Don't feel bad Russ... My last trip down to Ontario, OR for new tires I barely pulled 9.9 MPG... But I took the time and found a public scale and check the weight of both the truck (7,800#) and the Travel Trailer (7,220#) with a Gross Combined 15,020# and the TT was even loaded... No personal effects, no water, no food, no bedding, no toyz...

Wow, I average 12-14 mpg towing a 29' 5th wheel weekend warrior. I weighed it once while on the road for a trip to southern Oregon, combined weight was 19,200. The trailer puts 1500 pounds on the rear axle. I just sold that truck (2500 '02 quad cab longbed, with HO 6 speed, with Banks exhaust, Banks exhaust brake, BD chip, AEF air filter - cold air wouldn't fit with Bankd EB), 450 hp clutch installed after stocker started slipping at 45K, FASS Ttitanium fuel system. Average speed on the freeway is 65-70 mph. But I just sold the truck and picked up a '05 3500 Quad cab longbed last week.

[AH64ID]

Wow, I average 12-14 mpg towing a 29' 5th wheel weekend warrior. I weighed it once while on the road for a trip to southern Oregon, combined weight was 19,200. The trailer puts 1500 pounds on the rear axle. I just sold that truck (2500 '02 quad cab longbed, with HO 6 speed, with Banks exhaust, Banks exhaust brake, BD chip, AEF air filter - cold air wouldn't fit with Bankd EB), 450 hp clutch installed after stocker started slipping at 45K, FASS Ttitanium fuel system. Average speed on the freeway is 65-70 mph. But I just sold the truck and picked up a '05 3500 Quad cab longbed last week.

Hand calc or overhead?

[Bryan]

Hand calc or overhead?

Hand calc. (my overhead display was usually within a 1-2 tenths for the average reading)

[dorkweed]

Guys, I tow most everyday of the week. In the warmer months, if my work trailer isn't hitched to my truck, many times my boat trailer is!!! Here are a few things I've learned in my years of towing...

1. A goose-neck style trailer will almost always get you better mileage towing vs. a bumper pull style of the same size. This is due to the trailer being physically closer to the tow vehicle. My new work trailer, although lighter than the old trailer, is further from the back of my truck and catches more wind.........thus it pulls "harder" IMHO.

2. With our Cummins/Dodge trucks, the weight of the load has WAY LESS of an effect on mileage than does wind resistance.

3. Slow down if you want better mileage. I used to haul livestock to market as a teen........you don't want to "stress" them critters prior to slaughter for USDA grading purposes. Slow accelerations, easy stops and careful corners help that big time!!! Also easier on the tow vehicle and trailer!!

4. Make sure your trailer has proper weight distribution. 10-15% tongue weight for bumper pulls and up to about 25% for goose-neck style. CajFlynn help here if that's no longer correct.

5. Maintain your trailer!!!!! Probably better than 50% of all trailer towing accidents are caused by a neglected trailer.............tires, brakes, frame, lights etc.

6. Maintain your truck!!!!! Our trucks were designed to haul and tow. Both are "harder" on the vehicle than a grocery getter type truck. See #5 above...........much of the other part of accidents is neglected tow vehicles..........tires, brakes, hitch etc.

I make my living as does CajFlynn by towing. I don't do near as much towing as he does.......no one does!!!!:lmao2:...........but if my work trailer isn't traveling down the road, I'm not earning any money and not making a living!!!!! You do have to spend money to make money................maybe moreso if you tow for a living!!!

[pepsi71ocean]

i feel that there are a few things i would take a swing at.1. you said the tire blew out, i would jack the trailer axle up enough to get the tire up in the air, and then kick the tire, or see if the tire rotates in any direction, if it does then i would first tighten up the bearings, or replace them.more then once i have had issues where the trailer i was towing had worn out bearings. One time the bearings were so dry that that shooting them with grease did nothing, well turns out there were no bearings left, lucky it was a local deal and i ended up replacing both sets at my house, the owner had no clue and when i explained it he said "oh that is what the squeak noise is":mad::banghead:Next, ide bump the tire pressure up to 5psi less then the max is cold on the rear tires, your trailer should also be withing 5psi of the cold reading. Next ide also change acceleration and driving habits, at the most i tow 60mph, typically i have found that with campers and RV's your mpg seems to go away above 55-58mph, with boats its typically higher around 60-65, but i ten not to go much faster then 60 because you also have to realize your rolling resistance X the speed and wind resistance, and then the overall weight will decrease the performance.Hauling 10,000lbs on a hitch my truck would get about 14, much more then that like some of the mad stuff i have hauled i haven't seen much works maybe 12mpg, but then im towing in 3rd gear at 52.Last thing ide check is rpm x boost x speed. i have found that i get better loaded mileage when in 3rd gear at 55mph and im running about 2K, the truck doesn't seam to be working, when compared to running 1,500 at 55mph.

[flagmanruss]

I finally got around to positioning the trailer & unhooking after our camping trip. Then I took the truck to the fuel station. The overhead "Lie-O-Meter" said 12.5mpg average. With 224.2 miles run... except for return from fuel station & to fuel station... and some soft ground parking back & forth maneuvering, 10 minutes of idling with hood up to cool down the very hot engine... was all towing. 20.9 gallons. Hand calculates to 10.7 mpg towing. This is with the Quadzilla XZT+ on power mode running 2000 tune. On the highway, the truck had quite a bit more power, was much more driveable with this load.

[Mopar1973Man]

Well this week I plan on hitchin' up and hauling out... But out here in Idaho everything is either up and down or twisting roads. So getting to 55 MPH is about all I can muster without getting crazy. I've got a killer video I just shot yesterday I need to finsh editing and get uploaded to YouTube but its from Grangevile, ID to close to Lucile, ID showing the Whitebird Grade (7%) and the Salmon River at high water... Video coming soon...