blairjahearn
New member
I just bought a 2001 4wd v6 4 runner to pull a 3500 lb travel trailer. I only got 7-8 mpg's. That can't be normal. What should I be getting. What would I check into to increasing that number? Thanks
towing mpg's
- Thread starter blairjahearn
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CAN-03runner
New member
Eeech. I pull a 1st gen with a 4th gen. Total trailer/truck weight is probably a nice 6000lbs and on highway I get 17L/100Km which is about 16MPG, with a 4.7 V8 4th Gen. I roll at up to 50-55miles/hr where I can, speed depends on traffic, road construction, nice vs bumpy road. With empty trailer about 16L/100km on highway. Which is awsome considering in city traffic I get 18L/100km and worse. And about 14.7L/100km not towing on highway.
How much difference when not towing?
Reduce speed and RPM.
Inflate your tires more if you haven't reached the max inflation rating already.
Do you have taller than stock tires?
Does your trailer have trailer brakes, and do they properly disengage.
Is your travel trailer just a cube acting as a big resistance in the wind?
Just putting stuff out there.
Koz
New member
Loaded my camper trailer is close to that. On flat road I get up to 13-14mpg. If there are any hills at all it will drop quickly.
blairjahearn
New member
Thanks for your replies. I get 19 hwy avg. usually. 7-8 seems like too much of a decline.
I tow all the time with my 2008 v6 and 7-8mpg for a 3500lb TT seems about right. When I tow between 1500lbs to 2000lbs I usually get around 15-16mpg. When I go over 3500lbs it drops to about 9-11mpg. The most I have towed was a 4800lbs (full gear, water, etc.) TT out west and back, total of 3400 miles and averaged between 7-11mpg. So 7-8mpg for a 3500lbs TT is what you should expect. Remember most TT, with few exceptions, are about as aerodynamic as a brick. Those big flat fronts push a lot of wind and slow you down.
What helps is to run premium gas and keep your speed 60mph or below, 65mph tops. But when pulling that kind of weight with a v6, its more important to watch your RPM’s then it is your speed. For example when you hit a hill don’t jump on the accelerator to hold your speed at 60mph by forcing your tranny to downshift. Instead let your speed drop off while you slowing accelerate to hold your RPM’s steady. Keeping your RPM’s steady keeps your tranny cooler, less shifting, and keeps your mpg up since your engine is not accelerating / decelerating all the time.
What helps is to run premium gas and keep your speed 60mph or below, 65mph tops. But when pulling that kind of weight with a v6, its more important to watch your RPM’s then it is your speed. For example when you hit a hill don’t jump on the accelerator to hold your speed at 60mph by forcing your tranny to downshift. Instead let your speed drop off while you slowing accelerate to hold your RPM’s steady. Keeping your RPM’s steady keeps your tranny cooler, less shifting, and keeps your mpg up since your engine is not accelerating / decelerating all the time.
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Kmvreter
New member
Less right foot articulation (i.e. keep the speed down) and don't use OD top gear.
I am getting about 14 mpg towing my 4000lb boat on a single axle trailer, in mixed driving conditions, on the freeway (2010 Limited, hills and what not) at 60 mph. OD for flat areas only, otherwise I'm in 4th going uphill, and manually downshifting before I have to push on the gas.
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V8.
Sounds like my F250 with a 460ci. MPG empty weight=10mpg. MPG towing=10mpg. Heh.
SwiftRunner
New member
I was curious about towing. The manual that came with my '94 T4R states that it wasn't built for towing. I wonder what the warranties read regarding towing. When I sold new Jeeps and used vehicles for an AMC dealership, we wouldn't go near a vehicle that had previously either had a plow or towed. The Jeep Loredo was specifically designed for towing.
OrdnanceMarine
New member
I just purchased a 2006 Jayco 1206 pop-up trailer which weighs in at about 2600 lbs empty and towed it 100 miles home yesterday over light to moderate terrain at 55 MPH to the tune of 18.2 MPG. On the way down with the cruise set at 65 MPH I got my standard pure highway MPG of 22 (results via my calibrated ScanGaugeII, not the onboard computer which consistently reads 10% high).
I was very happy with less than a 20% hit to MPG towing dry and 55 MPH. Hopefully when I load both vehicle and trailer up with another 500-750 lbs of gear and water I won't see much more than another 10-15% drop in MPG getting down to the 15-16 MPG range.
One of the key deciding factors that pushed me to get a pop-up was the aerodynamics as some here can attest to. I didn't want to be running my 4Runner without margin since we plan to do at least a half-dozen trips each year with most of our destinations being in the high country of the Sierra Nevada.
I was very happy with less than a 20% hit to MPG towing dry and 55 MPH. Hopefully when I load both vehicle and trailer up with another 500-750 lbs of gear and water I won't see much more than another 10-15% drop in MPG getting down to the 15-16 MPG range.
One of the key deciding factors that pushed me to get a pop-up was the aerodynamics as some here can attest to. I didn't want to be running my 4Runner without margin since we plan to do at least a half-dozen trips each year with most of our destinations being in the high country of the Sierra Nevada.
