another mpg question

The friendliest place on the web for anyone with an RV or an interest in RVing!
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
See posts with no answers
G

Gerst

New member
Joined
Apr 24, 2011
Posts
1
Happy Easter,
I currently own a 04 F250 (Triton v10) with a 94(?) Lance 480. This was not my setup of choice but it was a good deal for the package and has served me well. The problem I have is the camper does not have a "winter package" and the truck gets 10 miles per gallon no matter how you drive it. I use this mainly on weekends during the winter as a "ski chalet." Previously I had a Toyota Tacoma (I still own the truck) with a 1980 something Palomino pop up in the bed. I loved this setup but it wasn't the best for Colorado winters and the truck was my daily driver (loading and unloading the camper in freezing weather became a hassle).

What I need (ok maybe it's a want ;D) is a well insulated camper on a vehicle that gets decent mileage, say over 15.

1) Should I look at a newer camper for the Ford to haul around or will this truck only achieve 10mpg even with a new lighter camper?

2) I recently found a hard sided, all aluminum constructed camper that will fit the Tacoma for a fair price. Will the additional height kill the Tacomas mileage? With the Palomino, pulling a small trailer the worst I got was 16.

3) Are the new Four Wheel pop ups insulated well enough to spend frequent winter nights in?

4) Is my current setup "as good as it gets?"

I'd really like to hear from someone who has a hard sided camper on a small truck or someone who has driven a Ford with a v10 unloaded but all replies are welcome!

Thanks,
Gerst
 
I really don't know how you expect to get decent mileage climbing mountains in the lower gears to go skiing. If you wish to hear the music, you must pay the fiddler.>>>Dan
 
A friend had a F250 with the v10. He joked that he got 11 mpg uphill, downhill, pulling his boat, or with the engine off. I think it was about a 2002 give or take a couple years. I'd say your V10 isn't likely to get much better without the camper.  My 2000 f250 with the 7.3 diesel gets about 17 mpg unloaded, at 63 mph. I'm looking for a camper for it (hence trolling on this forum), but don't have one so can't say how that will affect mileage.

Re: winter camping - I parked my 30' 5th wheel in Tahoe this year and left it in a mobile home park for my ski weekends. We put some foam insulation under the frame rails,  and 1" foam insulation in most of the windows. We put shrink wrap window stuff on a couple of windows to let some light in. It worked pretty well, even in 20 degree temps. Not sure how this will help with your camper, but maybe the foam on the windows would help. The foam is about 1" thick and I got it in 4x6' sheets from home depo for about $10.00/sheet, I think.  I cut the foam to size and wedged into the windows and it held all season.

Hope this helps.
 
The ford v10 like it's fuel, you have no way around it if that is the horse you have chosen.
 
We go camping in the winter and planed for it when we purchased our camper, we have an 08 Snow River 10'8 that is designed for all season camping, it has a heating system that keeps
the tanks from freezing. we started with a 06 F250 Super Cab Power Stoke with 3.55 rear gear, but the camper was too heavy for it so we upgraded to a 99 F350 Crew Cab Dully
Power Stroke 6 speed manual with 4.10 gears.
With the 06 we got about 14 MPG if I used the cruis, with the 99 we get about 12 but that is with the boat on behind also, the 99 with the dully carries the camper SO much better.
Good luck with the winter camping, keep your eye out for a used Snow River, they are out there
 
There is more to life than gas mileage.

If you are concerned about gas mileage then RVing may be the wrong activity for you.
 
I have an 1983 F250 with a 6.9 L IDI engine, 1975-era Honey slide-on camper, 8' wide, 10 1/2' high.  Best mileage it gets loaded 7600# gross, at 55 mph, is 13 & that's with diesel fuel.  Completely unloaded the pickup gets 25 mpg, not bad for a 5000# vehicle.  Remember how much fuel you can buy for the price of renting a motel or hotel room for a single night.
 
Too bad everybody else has 8 and 10 cyl. engines. I happen to have an '05 Dodge dually with the sweet 5'9 TD 6 cyl. 6 speed manual, 3:73 ratio, 2WD, 600# of torque, 375 HP, stock I might add. Notorious for fuel efficiency. It burns six times as apposed to eight or ten times in other engines. Empty it weighs 7800# gets 22MPG at 60MPH at 1850 RPM. Loaded with an '02 Lance 1130, that"s a box of 11'6" plus cabover, weighing about 3800# loaded that's 11500# gross, it gets 16MPG at the same speed. Now add my 41" stinger to the hitch and put a 5X8 enclosed motorcycle trailer in tow (with bike) at 1500# now grossing 13000#, it gets 14.5MPG at the same speed.  Now going all out my 39' Grand Junction 5th wheel weighs 15800# that's 23600# gross I still get 12MPG at 60MPH. Now that drops off to 10.5 MPH at higher speeds say 70MPH. But whats the hurry the journey is half the fun, right? Too bad Cummins don't put their engines in other trucks isn't it? ;D You've heard of high maintaince women (expensive), well sorry to say you have a high maintaince truck (loves fuel). In my opinion you will achieve about the same results regardless of what camper you choose. I know of guys with the gas V10 Dodge trucks, same deal loves fuel, 13MPG unloaded or loaded about 10MPG.  :( STRAIGHT SIX'S RULE  ;D
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest posts

Members online

Total: 690 (members: 9, guests: 681)

Forum statistics

Threads
131,954
Posts
1,388,147
Members
137,707
Latest member
Opal6502
Back
Top Bottom