3/4 ton Truck Fuel Tank Capacity (Range)

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twscfltx

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Oct 4, 2016
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How important is fuel tank capacity (range) towing a fifth wheel with family?

We are searching for a 3/4 ton truck for a 4-5 month tour of the western national parks in a <12000# GVWR and <2500#pin fifth wheel. We'd like a short bed and don't want an auxiliary tank. We want a truck in warranty / extended warranty (2013-2015 and <75k mi). Hoping to find one for less than $32k.  We have a baby and toddler, so we will likely stop every 1-2 hours anyways.

Options (2014s):
F250 SB 35 gal gas
F250 SB 26 gal diesel
2500HD SB 36 gal gas
2500HD SB 36 gal diesel - Extra 120 mi or 2 hrs between fillups

Thanks for the advice.
 
It depends on your travel style. With young children you have to stop frequently so refuelling more often may not be an issue. OTOH, if you are on highway 50 in Nevada or the Alaska highway fuel range becomes important. We can run comfortably all day on one tank with our standard box 4 door diesel and fiver as long as I don't push it, we are never in a hurry.
 
I'd like to stop at more destinations than gas stations, and I'd rather not have to plan our route one gas station to the next.  On days that we drive, we'd drive less than 5hrs per day, and I'd like to only stop once a day to fill up. I can fill a portable tank when traveling through more deserted areas. Is that safe?

A dealer said that the Chevy 2500HD diesel short bed was 36 gal, bud I cannot find the fuel capacity in any specifications. Can any owners confirm that?

Do you think that with young kids that we will be stopping all the time anyways and we might as well stop at a gas station every other time?
 
I have a '06 Chevy Duramax and it has a 24 gal tank.  I'm traveling now and getting 11 mpg driving at 60 mph. That's in Ontario, New York, Pa, and Maryland. Lots of hills, but it hasn't really mattered, get about the same in the flat midwest.
 
We took a 6,200 mile round trip NY to Yellowstone in 2007 with a 2002 Chevy Silverado 2500 gasser with 26 gallon tank. We had no issues...stopped every 3 hours or so but could stretch it to 4+ if we had to. Only got nervous once when I passed up a gas station that I should not have and rolled into a mom & pop gas station on fumes.
 
I have a 15 Ford F250 with the 6.7 super cab with the 6.5 foot bed and tow a 03 Montana 3280 and did a trip across the United States and got a total of 11.2 Mpg's. We traveled 12,000miles. Got to see some great things. The super cab is kind of hard to find. With a toddler and a baby you may want a 4 door but for now the half door cab should work fine for you. i plain on doing more traveling next year so I got the Lariat trim in my truck. Make sure that you check the yellow sticker in the door for towing capacity. The F350 is available with a 11.5K payload and for not to much money than a F250.
 
Thanks for the good advice. I still cannot find any short bed diesels. I'll use it as a commuter for 5-10 months then as full time tow vehicle for 5 months. We plan to downsize when we settle down again, so we may only own the truck for 1.5 years.

1. Gas or diesel for short term ownership?
2. Does fuel capacity / driving range really make a difference in planning all of your stops?
3. Any lessons learned (pros and cons) of auxiliary tanks?
4. How big of a difference in drive comfort does short vs long bed make?

Thank you for the advice,
Tyler
 
A diesel motor will be more expensive the fuel millage towing will beat a gas motor all day. I have so much power that I wouldn't even consider a gas truck. My truck has gone over many hills and never had to floor it to get to the top.
I have a short bed so I only have a 26 gallon tank so I have to stop more often however its a good idea to get out and stretch your legs after about 26 gallons LOL I get 11.2 MPG's towing.
If you carry more fuel than you have to add that weight to the truck which means less weight you can carry in the truck. Which also lowers the Combined Gross Vehicle Weight. Say you add a 50 gallon tank and fuel weighs guessing for simplification here 8 pounds per gallon. That is 400 pounds that you have to account for when you hook up your trailer. On my trip I found that a extra tank was not needed so I personally not bother.
I have a short bed so I can only comment on that.
I have air bags and that improved the ride considerably. I wouldn't tow without them whether you get a long or short bed. Its like adding a shock absorber to the truck. it will soften the bumps and your kidney will thank you.
People are obsessed with towing weights so pick your truck carefully. Most trucks have a 10,000 pound load capacity as you add options that number drops. The 10,000 pounds is total weight of truck and load not the trailer. There is a yellow sticker in the door that tells you how many pounds of weight you can put in the bed. Miner has about 2,300 pounds I can carry. The yellow sticker includes all fluids full tank of fuel and a 150 pound driver. Than that number goes down even further when you add passengers and a trailer.
it gets kind of complicated as you can see. The more basic the truck is the bigger the payload will be.
Some folks swear by a dully but newer trucks are just fine with single rear wheel (SRW) which is what I have. They are easier to maneuver than a dully. They are easier to take to the store and you will go there.A dully will hold more and tow more it's something else to consider. I just reread your post and you may be in the F350 range with the 2,500 pin weight. You can I believe a 11.5K SRW truck. Just a guess.
Hope I haven't confused you further
 
I stop for fuel about every 250 miles maybe 4 hours usually stop once in between for restroom and meals.
I went with the F350 because it's about $1000 more than a F250 but has over 3000 carrying capacity instead of 2000.

I'm not sure if a long bed will make any difference in ride.
 
I have a 2013 F250 crew cab short bed diesel I hold 26 gals in the main tank and 30 gals in the auxiliary tank the reason I put the auxiliary tank in is so I can fuel when I want. when you pull a fifth wheel trailer it is sometimes hard to get in to stations. You should be conservative and figure 10 mpg that will give you 260 mile range between fill ups.
just my 2 cents worth.John
 
I have an 08 GMC 2500 short box diesel with a 26 gal tank. I am told that in 2009 GMC went to a 36 gal. tank. So the year of the truck might make a difference.  Cathy
 
Thanks everyone,
35-38 gal tank should be enough on most sections. Are there any issues to carry a couple portable (red) 10 gal tanks to manually add to the tank at rest stops? I should be able to strap and lift 10 gal (70 lbf) if I needed to avoid a gas station. I know it would be repetitive laborious work, but I'd rather do that than change diapers. Any issues strapping 10 gal diesel tanks in the bed?

I'd still like a short bed with fixed hitch. I'm only looking at 5W trailers with max turn radius designs. The only cargo I foresee would be extra tire changing tools and strollers. What else do people regularly carry in the bed towing a 5W?

Again thank you,
Tyler
 
twscfltx said:
Thanks everyone,
35-38 gal tank should be enough on most sections. Are there any issues to carry a couple portable (red) 10 gal tanks to manually add to the tank at rest stops? I should be able to strap and lift 10 gal (70 lbf) if I needed to avoid a gas station. I know it would be repetitive laborious work, but I'd rather do that than change diapers. Any issues strapping 10 gal diesel tanks in the bed?

I'd still like a short bed with fixed hitch. I'm only looking at 5W trailers with max turn radius designs. The only cargo I foresee would be extra tire changing tools and strollers. What else do people regularly carry in the bed towing a 5W?

Again thank you,
Tyler

If you're going with a short box you should look at a slider type hitch. Now, a short box differs between models, some are 6' and others 6'6". Even with max turning radius I think you could get into trouble with a 6' box.  Also, if you  are going diesel, your extra portable tanks should be yellow, not red.  I carry am extra 6 gal just in case I have a need.  Never have needed it because we usually stop and stretch every 2-3 hours and will use 18 gal max at that rate on a 24 gal tank
 
In my opinion, the extra gas can idea is overkill. You are still going to get about 4 hours of driving from 30-ish gallons of gas.

As far as using the bed, this is one negative I found when moving from a TT to a 5th wheel. I run a soft tonneau cover and always used my bed when camping. On longer trips, I would even put on my aluminum cap that I use in the winter. I just found it easier to store some items (dirty rugs, wet hoses, etc.) in the truck rather than in the TT. Now I'm reduced to a cooler, grill, and 20# propane tank between the hitch and cab. But I've adjusted and it's working just fine. I mostly miss carrying my own fire wood but in NY moving fire wood is becoming frowned upon or even prohibited in some areas anyway.
 
I admit we carry a 5 gallon can of diesel with us almost all the time plus a carton of DEF from Walmart. We travel in some pretty vacant country. Sometimes there are places with diesel that we can't get in with the trailer so we have to pass the up. And as an earlier poster noted, highway 50 in Nevada is pretty vacant! There are some places in Montana and Wyoming where the extra fuel was a nice insurance too. We make sure to use up the diesel every 2-3 months since it can start growing things! The DEF doesn't grow things, but it also has a shelf life so we rotate it too. DEF at the pump is handy, but not everywhere has it so we make do the boxes frequently. We also have the extra fuel in case we are winter driving and get caught in a snow storm. We travel back to the Midwest with the truck sans trailer every Christmas. Once, years ago, we got caught in a storm where they closed the interstates. I always want to make sure we have enough fuel to stay warm if needed.
 
People keep mentioning Highway 50,but let's put things in perspective.  Even on the Loneliest Road In America gas and diesel is available every 75 - 100 miles.  Even my old Honda 350 motorcycle with it's 2.6 gallon fuel tank didn't have any trouble going from San Francisco to Ely and back.

Fallon, NV to Austin, NV is 110 miles.

Austin, NV to Eureka, NV is 70 miles.

Eureka, NV to Ely NV is 77 miles.

Ely, NV to Delta, UT is the longest vacant stretch at 153 miles and would have been close to the limit of the Honda's range.  But there's gas available at the halfway point, Majors Place junction with Hwy 93.

Fallon, Ely and Delta are full service communities with numerous gas stations, supermarkets, restaurants, etc.

Austin and Eureka are smaller but each have a couple of gas stations and diesel is available.

If you want to make a side trip to the remote Berlin-Ichthyosaur State Park, it's only 56 miles south of Austin.

 
Ok.. how many of you are putting diesel in red cans? Do you mark it?

IIRC the color code is:
  Red for gasoline
  Yellow for diesel
  Blue for water
 
We had an example today about the advantage of carrying some extra diesel (yellow can for diesel,red for generator gas). Drove into Silverton, CO intending on buying fuel. The price was $2.74/gallon, a good 40 cents a gallon more than in Durango. We didn't go by a dealer with easy RV access so we planned on getting fuel in Silverton - bad idea. It was ok for us because we pulled over a couple of miles out of town and put the 5 gallons of fuel in. Saved us a significant piece of change by not being forced to buy the expensive stuff.
 
I installed RDs 50 gal diesel tank with ele transfer pump. Before the up grade our trips where limited with out running back to some town for fuel.I Can go 800 miles before running out and i'm not at the mercy of any service at hand. we just finished a 4000 mile trip to Oregon coast. Filling up in AZ is 50 cents a gallon cheaper then California . I figure the tank  has paid for itself and not mention the comfort it gives me.
 
I put a 75 gallon Transfer Flow auxiliary tank on my truck in 2009 prior to making an Alaska trip.  Including the factory 26 gallon tank, I now have a total of 100 gallons of diesel on board with 950 to 1200 mile range depending on the wind.  After 190,000 miles, I'm sure I've more than paid for the system by planning my fuel purchases using Gas Buddy so that I can take advantage of fuel price and be able to fuel when its convenient.  Many times some of the cheaper fuel prices are located at locations that are difficult to pull into while hooked up.  If we are stopped over night in a location with a favorable  fuel price, I'll unhook and fill er up.

Fuel is readily available throughout the country and you certainly don't need to worry about being able to find fuel when you need it.  However after getting used to the convenience of my auxiliary tank, I'll never be without one.
 
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