Still trying to convince my wife the CTD is the way to go and I'm kind of curious myself. Sorry to ask such question when I don't even have one yet but if a 4x4 2500 6-speed gets approximately 20 mpg on the highway at 70mph what can I expect at 65mph pulling a little 17 Whaler (approx. 2500lbs). 15-16mpg?

Explorer only gets 11-12.

Dang if this works out I may even be able to go the coast fishing more often!

 

I can't comment on the "new" trucks, but I get between 15-18 towing a car on my trailer which is about 7,000 lbs. I have a 4X4 with the 3.54:1 ratio and the automatic. Mine is a 98.5.

 

Thats pretty good mpg considering your load.

So would I be correct in thinking a 2000-2500 lbs load at 60-65 will only drop the mileage a couple mpg? That's awesome!

 

You may not even notice it's back there. I haul often but light (I'm a landscaper) and I have been getting 18-19 average. I think that how you drive with a load makes a lot of the difference. I must mention however that I have a 2wd (see sig) which helps some.

Jason

 

When I towed my 01 Celica, about 2500lbs, on a tow dolly approx 150 miles, I got about 17-18 mpg. When I pull my 6x12 cargo trailer, about 3000lbs loaded, I get about the same. No trailer I get 19-20 mpg,

Nick

 

I towed a buddies 3500lb boat from Great Falls,MT to Kalispell, MT and back (in other words up and down some pretty steep grades) and got around 17.5 mpg. That was doing 70-75 mph most of the way. And like it was said above, you won't even know it's there, in fact be careful of that, cause it's easy to forget it's back there and in town I put the trailer wheels over a couple curbs cause I forgot it was back there. Oh well, wasn't my trailer! -Steve

 

when I flat towed a 3400lb car w/ a tow bar, I didn't notice any difference... I get ~18mpg on the highway at 70-75 w/ my 370 injectors... I guess I probably did slow down to 65-70 w/ the car in tow.

get the Cummins... here's what you tell the wife... "honey, I'm getting a new truck... hope you like it... if you don't, I guess you can walk..."

forrest

 

I just do not beleave anyone is getting 17-18 miles per gallon towing 3500 pounds at 65-70 MPH unless your going down hill or a significant tail wind all the way.

I'am not saying anyone is fudging their numbers, perhaps figuring the numbers different, I just do not know.

I have read of numerous people that do not even get close to those numbers, me included and every truck I personally know of does not get close to those numbers.

I have a hundred dollar bill for the first person to take me for a 100 mile ride in their truck pulling a 3500 pound car or frontal area equvialant and gain speed like normal drivers do to 70 MPH and if you make 17 MPG hand calculated the money is yours.

Sorry just do not beleave the extraordinary mileage claims.

 

ok, cool... it was an 88 t-bird that I had a towbar on, and it was hitched to my bumper. maybe it was a "drafting" thing... it wasn't catching a bunch of air back there or anything. and like I said, I slowed the truck down once the car was hooked up. obviously mileage was reduced some, but not enough to notice.

 

When a car is pulled with a tow bar, it is close enough to the tailgate to not really have much frontal area, however, that is still VERY good mileage at that high a speed. I have to keep my speed down to 60mph to get that, and thats empty and not pulling anything. I have noticed that pulling my jet ski has no effect on mileage but, it is very light and aerodynamic in shape.

 

you guys are making me feel better! this truck consistantly gets ~16 in town, and about 17-18 on the highway... my old 1st gen got ~16 in town and 19-21 on the highway!! I figure the 370 injectors are hurting me a couple MPG.

both trucks are/were 2wd single cab 3/4 tons

 

I'd sure like to meet these people who claim to be getting anything close to 20 mpg even empty, let alone towing... on a 3rd gen truck. My 19k mile '03 still gets 10-11 around town and at best 15-ish on the highway (empty). Add my 4500 lb 2-place enclosed snowmobile trailer and I'm back down to 10-11.

And my 01 6sp never got much better than what I'm getting now...

Rob

 

the 3rd gens don't get the mileage that the earlier trucks got! I will say that my buddy's 600 is finally doing better on the mileage now that he's got 100k on it!

I'm surprised your '01 didn't get better mileage...

how fast do you drive on the highway? I'd cry if I got 15mpg at legal speeds!!

Forrest

 

I made a 300 mile trip empty and tried to drive for mileage (60 in the 55 zones, 68 in the 65 zones), and got something like 16 mpg, hand-calculated. That's with 2wd and 3.54 (though I think the HO engines are not particularly good with the mileage). I think these trucks are still carrying the reputation of the old 12Vs that did actually go 20 mpg. Roughly, the newer the truck the worse the mileage.

The good news is your mileage will decrease much less with added load than with a gas engine, and of course maintain more driveability.

 

That montauk is gonna drop you 2 mpg at most since you dropped 5 MPH in highway speed. 20 is pushing it empty for most 24V's..perhaps with 2 WD. To be realistic...I'd say 18 empty, 16-17 with the Montauk. They're light and have no frontal area to speak of.

Driving my truck from Missouri to California it got 17 mpg at 70 mph empty. With my 5k# camper (big frontal area) I get 11+ at 65-70 mph.