Just got back from a 1200 mile round trip marathon. Hauled a car about 620 miles for my brother and turned around and came straight back.
Trailer is a 6x16, weighs in at about 1900lbs empty. Has the full mesh ramp gate with reinforced wheel ramps on each side. With the car was pulling just under 5000lbs.
In the way down I got about 12.5mpg, was the first time towing with this truck so kept to the 500 mile 50mph best I could, heavier traffic I ran closer to 65 to stop from being plowed into. Thought it was a bit low but traffic was crappy, so was the weather plus I was following my brother who does not know how to use cruise control or keep a steady speed so 12.5 seemed reasonable.
On the way back I've I was getting 11mpg pulling the empty trailer. Felt like I was dragging the trailer.
Here comes the duh/PSA moment. Pulled over, took the ramp off and strapped it flat to the deck, averaged 16 mpg the rest of the way averaging probably 75mph.
I've only ever towed enclosed trailers or a few flat bed/tilt trailers that didnt have a gate. Being mesh i figured it wouldn't produce a ton a drag but i was wrong!
Wondering now if i would've averaged better than 12.5 if i had taken the ramp off and stuck it in the back of the truck. The car would've been pushing the air up to the top of the ramp but still would've been hitting the top 1 foot of the ramp.
The truck is a big horn with the regular 5.7, 4x4 & 3.92 gears.
Trailer is a 6x16, weighs in at about 1900lbs empty. Has the full mesh ramp gate with reinforced wheel ramps on each side. With the car was pulling just under 5000lbs.
In the way down I got about 12.5mpg, was the first time towing with this truck so kept to the 500 mile 50mph best I could, heavier traffic I ran closer to 65 to stop from being plowed into. Thought it was a bit low but traffic was crappy, so was the weather plus I was following my brother who does not know how to use cruise control or keep a steady speed so 12.5 seemed reasonable.
On the way back I've I was getting 11mpg pulling the empty trailer. Felt like I was dragging the trailer.
Here comes the duh/PSA moment. Pulled over, took the ramp off and strapped it flat to the deck, averaged 16 mpg the rest of the way averaging probably 75mph.
I've only ever towed enclosed trailers or a few flat bed/tilt trailers that didnt have a gate. Being mesh i figured it wouldn't produce a ton a drag but i was wrong!
Wondering now if i would've averaged better than 12.5 if i had taken the ramp off and stuck it in the back of the truck. The car would've been pushing the air up to the top of the ramp but still would've been hitting the top 1 foot of the ramp.
The truck is a big horn with the regular 5.7, 4x4 & 3.92 gears.
