Tow Vehicles

[Mike Serra]

What is everyone towing with? What kind of mileage? I have a 2014 Chevy 1500 with 5.3. Getting an average of ~9mpg. Thinking about getting a diesel F250.

 

[bobbie]

Dodge Ram 1500 5.7 hemi....towing mileage about 12.

 

[Paulie]

2006 Dodge Ram 2500 diesel 6spd manual. 15 mpg towing.

 

[John Mcpartland]

04 yukon denali. 11-12mph towing or not

 

[scot71]

2013 Ram 1500, 5.7 Hemi. I usually get around 11 to 13 mpg with the boat hooked up.

 

[McMark]

09 F150 5.4. Towing 11-12.5mpg. Not towing 18-19.

 

[Rainmakr]

I tow with a toyota tacoma. Towing 14-16 mpg.

 

[blacksapphirez]

18mpg towing on a good day. could go as low as 16mpg
unloaded, if i stayed at 65mph, i could get 30+mpg but speed limit here is 70+ lol

 

[giroux68]

2011 yukon. 9-10.

 

[USN SCPO RET]

2009 Dodge Ram 5.7...towing about 11-12 mpg.

 

[ripler]

2017 Nissan Titan, I get about 9 MPG when towing and 12 MPG when not. Nissan has not ironed out all of the transmission issues with this truck and it's driving me nuts. If they get it right soon I will be getting a new truck. I made the mistake of trading in my 2014 Ram 1500 on it.

 

[mraz72]

2017 3.5 twin turbo 10 speed trans I get around 9mpg.

Weigh the cost of having a diesel vs the gas you might save, unless you tow alot, it isn't worth it.

 

[adrianp89]

I don't have my boat yet but towed a pair of jet-skis 3500 miles round trip. 2013 Ram 1500 5.7 with 3.21 gears and 8spd - hand calculated 15.7... that was going much faster than I should have. (much of the trip 70-80, and 90+ in Wisconsin). If I felt like getting ran over I am pretty confident I could have pulled of 17mpg at 55mph (and another 3 hours drive time lol)

 

[fraserjr]

2014 Grand Cherokee Diesel - 16-17 MPG highway.

 

[props2you]

2014 Lincoln Navigator 5.4 Triton V-8 w/ K&N air filter I get about 11. I had a 2011 Tahoe w/ 5.3 and was getting about the same, it was tuned with K&N CAI. We also trailer to the U. P. every weekend in the winter for snowmobiling, granted much lighter trailer but a large wind sail, I would get 13 -14 in the Tahoe doing 75. Gonna try the wife's Explorer sport with the 3.5 Ecoboost this year and see if it gets any better. We did pull the boat with it and man those Ecoboosts have some torque and pulling power, pulled our boat with ease, but the fuel mileage was less, around 9-10. That's just a lot of weight on that mid-sized frame and tranny.

The biggest caveat here is what boat you are pulling. The 242 LSE's have a giant wind sail on the back that promotes a LOT of drag and they're a bit heavier.

My buddy has a Silverado 2500 HD Diesel and LOVES it. But, he also tows a 34ft camper and many other trailers on his farm. It is nice and will pull a house down but man is that a lot of truck for my needs. Like @Michael Rasmussen mentioned, look really closely at /if you'll be towing enough for the cost.

 

[RightStuff]

2016 GMC Sierra w/ 5.3L and I get about 11mpg towing to the lake. That route is a bit hilly and mostly county roads, no highway. Goes a bit higher, like 13-15mpg when on the highway.

 

[MrMoose]

'17 Nissan Armada, just over 14 mpg heavily loaded on a flat highway. Same highway, I got around 10 mpg with my '12 Durango R/T

 

[Jebdrup]

Everything comes down to how much time, weight, and roads you are towing. Yes a 2500 and 3500 will tow your boat so much better than a 1500 and get a little better fuel economy but do you need that much truck is the question. You will get all kinds of answers with regards to tow rigs. When I was offroad racing out west, I had 2010 Dodge 3500 DRW Mega cab pulling my 38 ft race trailer and I had friends tell me that was not enough truck. Mind you they where using class 8 trucks tagged as RVs.

Back to your question:
Do the math and a cost benefit analysis to see if upgrading to diesel is for you. I did this when I was thinking of moving to a class 8 truck over the 3500 and it wasn't worth it for my situation. Also, remember everything with a diesel is more money.

 

[chris oftedal]

'17 Nissan Armada, just over 14 mpg heavily loaded on a flat highway. Same highway, I got around 10 mpg with my '12 Durango R/T

How do you like Armada? We are looking at possibly getting one

 

[MrMoose]

How do you like Armada? We are looking at possibly getting one

Well, I didn't like any of the SUV options in this size range, but I needed to buy something for my recent road trip to/from Ft. Lauderdale. I am impressed with the Armada's size and towing ability while being fully loaded. I got the Platinum model and my boys really like the back seat, but not as much as the Cadillac ESV.
One thing that I like about it is that when I'm in tow mode, a slight tap of the brakes causes a down shift and hence engine braking; smart system and saves brakes.
Although it's a pretty big SUV, parking it is a breeze with all of the electronics in it, 360 degree proximity sensors, plus a birds-eye camera view.
The safety stuff on it is top notch, from the intelligent cruise control, to the feature that hits the brakes if there's cross traffic in your blind spot as you pull out of a parking spot.
The only real complaint that I have is that relative to the competition, I think that the quality of the lcd screen, and some of the ease of use of the nav/sat radio/climate... is older vintage. I think that this is because, although it's a new Nissan model for North America, it's not really a new model.
All that said, I think that the Armada Platinum will hurt Infinity QX sales.
Here's a pic from our recent road trip. One boy is playing Xbox and the other is watching a DVD.