Cross Country Towing Round Trip 6000 miles

17013 Views 33 Replies 9 Participants Last post by DStrachan, Dec 5, 2014

firemist32

Discussion Starter · Oct 27, 2014

I had hoped to find more time to do a daily blog-ish update for this trip. However here I am on day 4 of my trip just writing the first post. My gang of 4 (2 littles, my wife and I) headed out from our home in NC to visit friends and family along the US and end up in CA for a couple weeks where I am originally from. The whole trip should be around 6000 miles. I left with 6108 on the odometer and on our 4th night now we are ~7500. I am having to fill up once a day and the first morning diesel was 3.44, then 3.41, then 3.33, then 3.26 today in Oklahoma where we are stopped. We are going between 57-63mph and I am mostly using the tow mode so the gears don't hunt as much. I turn it off down grades and on flat travel. Gas milage for the first 2 refills were 14.1 each and then a 13.1 and then a 14.6. We had a lot of wind today coming right at us today and the computer is showing 12.6 currently with about 115 miles to empty when I gas up tomorrow. I am not taking the time to hand calculate any milage on this trip but I have done it in the past and found it was always within .1 everytime I did it so I have stopped. The last thing I will add is I am towing a Rockwood Mini Lite 2504s for anyone wanting specs. It is ~5200lbs dry and I am guessing about 5800lbs with our stuff in it and some fluid in the tanks. I will update again in a few days I hope and if anyone has questions I will try to answer them. Pray for us and my sanity as I drive a 2 year old girl and 5 year old boy cross country!

See less See more

Reactions: 1

21 - 34 of 34 Posts

ECO33

· #21 · Nov 22, 2014

Cross Country Towing Round Trip 6000

Firemist, what do you try to average for MPH on flat roads.
Here is a neat site for finding DEF well traveling. Home - discover Diesel Exhaust Fluid (DEF) going to see if there is APP for my IPad,, I have one for finding the lowest fuel prices

firemist32

Discussion Starter · #22 · Nov 23, 2014

ECO33 said:
Firemist, what do you try to average for MPH on flat roads.

It depends on what the wind is doing. If its coming at me I set it at 57mph as I see about a 1 - 1.5mpg drop for every 5mph over that (i have done some rough testing of this at times). If there is no wind I am set at 63mph and if its blowing strong behind me I set at 68mph (assuming thats under the posted speed limit) I am in no hurry so even if its a 70mph limit that is what I do. This tends to get me around 14-16mpg on the instantaneous results. That wind coming at you is killer though and its hard to break 13 at times if its strong.

Today when I filled up in Auburn, Al the EVIC said 14.5 for the tank and got diesel for $3.14. Made it to Atlanta, GA with 3/4 tank to go with somewhat favorable wind and showing 15.7 on EVIC. Plan to make it home tomorrow in NC!

ECO33

· #23 · Nov 23, 2014

Cross Country Towing Round Trip 6000 mile

firemist32 said:
It depends on what the wind is doing. If its coming at me I set it at 57mph as I see about a 1 - 1.5mpg drop for every 5mph over that (i have done some rough testing of this at times). If there is no wind I am set at 63mph and if its blowing strong behind me I set at 68mph (assuming thats under the posted speed limit) I am in no hurry so even if its a 70mph limit that is what I do. This tends to get me around 14-16mpg on the instantaneous results. That wind coming at you is killer though and its hard to break 13 at times if its strong.

Today when I filled up in Auburn, Al the EVIC said 14.5 for the tank and got diesel for $3.14. Made it to Atlanta, GA with 3/4 tank to go with somewhat favorable wind and showing 15.7 on EVIC. Plan to make it home tomorrow in NC!

Firemist,thanks for the update. Your driving sounds like the way I drive when towing/traveling speed wise. When we toured the southwest last year we only had one date we had to make so we left with two weeks before that date so we were never pressed to make up time. We often only drove for 4 to 5 hours before stopping.
That made for a great trip and hope we can do as well fuel wise but will not lose any sleep over it if we don't.

Ray

camper

· #24 · Nov 23, 2014

I don't recall if you mentioned what gearing you have in your truck. I have the same weight trailer and we are planning a similar trip after we pick up a new truck. Before we order I'm trying to determine if I can get by with the 3:55 or if I will need to get 3:92.
Love the economy your reporting along with the driving conditions...thanks.

firemist32

Discussion Starter · #25 · Nov 24, 2014

camper said:
I don't recall if you mentioned what gearing you have in your truck. Before we order I'm trying to determine if I can get by with the 3:55 or if I will need to get 3:92.
Love the economy your reporting along with the driving conditions...thanks.

Good question. I have the 3.55 gear with a 4x4 (ran 2wd the whole trip though)

I made it home tonight and filled today in South Carolina for $3.05 (saw it later for $2.99 a first for the whole country in SC) Climbed a bit up and down big hills and faced a head wind and rain all day. Sucked my 15.7 down to 14.3 on the refill. That makes 11 tanks to get back and with our unexpected detour south about 3800 miles total. I averaged all of them to get 14.7 going east. We got 14.4 going west so I guess thats about the best I can do for the way I drive.

A few other observations from the trip in no particular order

1) I found I really needed to do the lift foot off the gas trick almost always to get the truck to shift into 6,7,8 if I felt it had the RPMS to do so. The truck always seems happy using more diesel than it should
2) We used A LOT of DEF. We went about 8000 miles and used about 18 -20 gallons
3) I found the NAV really accurate directions wise but I HATED that it warned me of accidents 60 miles away literally every 3-4 minutes and those were always gone by the time I got there. I am sure there is a way to turn this off but I just cancelled guidance when it got annoying since I mostly knew where I was going until I needed it again. The voice input is terrible as well from myself and my wife who are born and raised in CA with no accents. It 80% of the time could not tell what we were saying.
4) I did find a feature on the NAV I really liked and that is the altimeter and GPS coordinates which can be found under the - Information, - Where are we?, -GPS button. I really like seeing the rate of climbs and decents and altitude we are at.
5) Comfort. I really like my plushy leather seats in the Laramie. My wife and I were always comfortable even on long days and never complained of weird back or neck issues like we have had in other cars. I also love the seat heater/ steering heater that comes on with the remote start from my trailer before we get ready to leave every morning.
6) Reliability. At 14,000 miles now I have had ZERO issues with the truck other than some weird electrical things early on that got fixed with a firmware update. I have really pushed the truck hard with over 3/4 of its life towing up and down 7000ft grades in the middle of the hot summer and now the cold weather. The transmission / engine/ turbo all seem rock solid to me. I know some posters have had some serious issues but clearly these trucks are not all bad so I wanted to speak up to say mine seems good.
7) Power to spare. We never had an issue wanting/ needing more power. No matter what the wind was, or what the grade was, this thing can pull with the cummins. We climbed every grade with the cruise control on and 100% of the time it maintained the speed as we blew past old 8 cyl trucks and big semi trucks towing going up hills

Thats it! Thanks for the looks and the questions. If there are any more I am happy to answer them. Thank you

See less See more

ECO33

· #26 · Nov 24, 2014

tire size

Are you running 17 " or 20 " tires. I have the 3.55 gears and 20 inch tires.

I really enjoyed all your posts and the good information they contained.

Thanks much for the time you put into all the posts. Ray

zoomie

· #27 · Nov 24, 2014

firemist32 said:
Good question. I have the 3.55 gear with a 4x4 (ran 2wd the whole trip though)

I made it home tonight and filled today in South Carolina for $3.05 (saw it later for $2.99 a first for the whole country in SC) Climbed a bit up and down big hills and faced a head wind and rain all day. Sucked my 15.7 down to 14.3 on the refill. That makes 11 tanks to get back and with our unexpected detour south about 3800 miles total. I averaged all of them to get 14.7 going east. We got 14.4 going west so I guess thats about the best I can do for the way I drive.

That's a great trip write up Firemist. Happy to hear a good news story.

firemist32

Discussion Starter · #28 · Nov 24, 2014

ECO33 said:
Are you running 17 " or 20 " tires.

I have the 20" wheels with stock tires. I am glad people liked the posts

ECO33

· #29 · Nov 24, 2014

firemist32 said:
I have the 20" wheels with stock tires. I am glad people liked the posts

We are running the same gear ratio and tires. Like I said earlier thanks for all the good information. I'm sure a lot of people read it put did not post about it. Ray

10%More

· #30 · Nov 25, 2014

Lot's of "real world" information in this post. Missed the last few weeks by being off the computer while living at my camp in Georgia. Have to tell you how lucky you were with the wind.

Used to make about he same run delivering fire-safety trailers. Many times the headwinds were unreal and even diesel mileage can dip into the single digits. Then, to add more consternation, the normal west-to-east winds can reverse and you come back into the wind also.

You were lucky and all of us readers were lucky to learn from your post. Thanks.

Katoom250SX

· #31 · Nov 26, 2014

Firemist.....great read! Makes me feel even more comfortable knowing I have essentially the same truck configuration. One thing I may suggest is the voice commands. I wasn't too happy at first with mine, but I found if I speak softer it seems to pick up much better. A few times I raised my voice out of frustration and found the system repeated the command worse. Maybe you have already tried the softer voice but if not give it a shot!

Katoom250SX

· #32 · Nov 26, 2014

Also, u have the air suspension or coils with aftermarket assistance? Your pic looks like a good stance especially considering you have a cap.

firemist32

Discussion Starter · #33 · Nov 26, 2014

Katoom250SX said:
Also, u have the air suspension or coils with aftermarket assistance? Your pic looks like a good stance especially considering you have a cap.

I have the stock springs and shocks. I am using a weight distribution hitch (equalizer brand) which transfers the weight off the back of the truck. It rides very nice and never bottomed out. I was quite happy with it

DStrachan

· #34 · Dec 5, 2014

Hey Firemist32, Great post. Thanks! I have towed a 19bh Salem Le and a 27bhs North Country with my '12 Ram Hemi QC 4 wheel drive on trips of about 600 kms each way, and have seen the mileage at 8.1 mpg(imperial gallons). The smaller trailer was about 4500# and the larger one is closer to 8500#. I haven't tackled any mountains yet(2016 wedding in BC I'm hoping to trailer out to); just through some hills in northern Ontario. I have kept track of all fuel since buying the truck and am running at 15.7mpg(imp).

21 - 34 of 34 Posts

This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.