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Suggestions for getting better fuel mileage

S

SDE

Well-known Member
I have a 95, 3/4 ton Chevy, 4wheel drive truck with a 350 V8, and a manual transmission with overdrive. The trailer is a 16ft heavy equipment trailer. I need to drive about 320 miles to pick up a 1940 Ford tractor. It is rated to get between 12 and 17 mpg. I do not have enough history with this truck to know what mileage I will get at any given speed. Some tips or suggestions are welcome.
Thank you
Steve
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Depends on what gears are in the rear end, most likely 4.10s, could be 4.56. And depending on the road and conditions, and how you drive, good bet on mileage would be 9 to 12.
 
First 3/4 ton 4x4 with a heavy equipment trailer generally does not fit in the description of "good" fuel economy. However some of the diesel models do fair. Driving 55 to 60 mph instead of 70-75 will be the simplest way to up your mileage.
 
My 91 diesel Chevy 3/4 ton 4WD pickup pulling a farm tractor on a trailer at highway speeds will get around 12-13 MPG. My 92 Dodge 3/4 ton 4WD with a 5.9 Cummins pulling the same will get 15 MPG. My 7.3 turbo diesel 1994 Ford 3/4 ton 4WD pulling the same will get 13-14 MPG. I find it hard to believe that any 350 gasser is going to do better. I'd suspect it will get around 9-10 MPG pulling that trailer.
 
Being a 95, you should be able to find a port to hook a vacuum gauge and read intake manifold vacuum. While you're cruising, you'll want to maximize the reading on the gauge while on a flat road and keep the reading steady. When you go up a hill you'll notice you have to lift your foot a little and lose some mph but then you can re-gain it on the other side.

Barring that, with your setup I would run 55-60 empty and 50-55 loaded, traffic permitting. I would use the OD empty but run in 3rd loaded. Depending on your gearing if you run loaded in OD you may work the engine harder and actually lose some mpg. (And because a stock 700R4 is not overbuilt to begin with) Again, the vacuum gauge will tell you.
 
Any chance you can haul that tractor on that truck without the trailer? You would need to drive as if it is loaded. Slower without trouble often ends up faster.
 
Steady speed, lower top speed, less use of brakes. Air up the tires. Nothng sticking out to make aerodynamic drag.
Then again you are hauling a load with a truck and trailer. This requires power which requires burning fuel to make. There is no way to obtain more than about 22HP per gallon per hour from diesel at the very most. Approx 15HP per gallon per hour from gasoline. That is in stationary applications with very low parasite losses.
It's the laws of physics. Anybody that says otherwise isn't being honest.
 
Have owned a '97 chev. 3/4T, 4x4, manual trans w/4:10's for many years, I would expect 11 or 12 with the empty trailer, certainly no better than 10 with an N series tractor on the trailer. And that's keeping the speed down to something reasonable too. Add some hills and wind and the mileage goes down FAST. A 20 mph wind will drop my mileage by about 3.
 
All I can say is stay off the gas pedel as much as possible and good luck. My '92 chevy 3500 2wd with a 350 auto will only get about 5 mpg pulling a trailer and I have got as little as 3 1/2 mpg in rather hilly terrain.
 
When I pull and empty trailer my milage drops. It even drops more when trailer is loaded. Empty 14 mpg, loaded 12 mpg. Some people say they may be lucky to get 10 mpg pulling a trailer with a car.
 
I have a 97 GMC K 1500 with 5.7 V8 with oil coolers on both engine and trans. I have made several trips ( 610 miles one way) with it pulling a 14 ft.inclosed trailer with 3,000lbs. load and a 1,000 lbs. in back of truck and got a little over 18 mpg loaded ( all turnpike driving 65mph). If I pull my 24FT. low pro file deck over with Farmall 450 I get about 13mpg.
 
Hi Just another way to look at this if your worried about fuel cost/ consumption and reducing it why are you going to get that tractor. seems like you want to nickle and dime on fuel savings, if so you can"t afford to do it.
Have seen some guys burn more fuel trying to save money than it was worth.
I hauled with my 5.7 gm half ton. it drank fuel what ever i Did with a trailer on. and does with out also.
Got a 3/4 ton ford 7.3 turbo, it does way better being a diesel. Now i just go buy fuel and think hauling tractors/ running any truck is expensive, and don"t do hauling anymore unless I have to. The truck now mainly hauls my tools round farms and other jobs, and does long runs as it"s better mileage than my gasser ever was . I think you won't save enough to worry about it pay the money and live with it. or sorry to say stay home is even cheaper l.O.L. only other thing is drive like you own it, not stole it and keep off the brakes as much as you safely can. My dad always said braking uses more fuel.
Regards Robert
 
A couple more suggestions:

-Check your tire pressure (be sure too include the trailer and spares)
-Fresh spark plugs, wires, cap and rotor
-Clean air filter
-Fresh oil changes (engine, transmission, transfer case, differentials)
-Make sure all u-joints have been greased
-Open the windows rather than running the A/C
-Check your coolant level

Since you don"t know the history on the truck a couple of those are just a good idea to check before embarking on a trip that length. Good luck!
 
With a 35 gallon tank, you should be able to make the 320 mile trip on one tank with some fuel to spare.

If your truck is around 5000+ pounds,
your HD trailer is likely 3000+ pounds,
the Ford tractor is around 3000 pounds,
plus any tools, etc.

Then you are moving 8000+ pounds empty and 11,000+ pounds on the return trip. 10 to 12 MPG will be pretty good for that truck with those loads.

The suggestion of adding a manifold vacuum gauge is a good one, as is stay out of overdrive gears when towing even an empty HD trailer.
 
unplug 2 of the spark plug wires. Get a fan that blows out the back, Remove the tailgate, drive slower, pour some moonshine in the tank,

Or, Buy a diesel.
 
I got a 97 3/4 w 305 longbed 2wd 12mpg. Less than that on high ethanol.
Good thing it's got the 40gal tank.

when it gets down say 5-10 gal it's like a tanker sloshing around. Stop and it feels like the tranny clunked.

411's man
I stand on it
run it up till it shifts
411's man
 
Ride right seat with my wife ONE time, watch how she uses the gas and brakes. Then do the opposite! Don't forget the Rolaids.
 
I have the same set up. Just took a same size tractor on a 220 mi trip. Did not tow in od, one good east coast mtn. 9 mpg.
 
Re-read and yeah, I missed that little detail! Well, no worries about making it home with that one.

In that case, I would run in 4th instead of OD.
 
No fish story this truck has did it. This truck has 373 gears in rear ends. I brought all my sister belongs back to Laporte, In. from Lewisburg, Pa. and trans only dropped out of overdrive once on a long grade in Pa. on Interstate 80. From Lewisburg Pa.(fueled up)to Laporte ,In is 610 miles and never stopped for fuel. When we hit Laporte, IN. fuel gauage read 1/8 tank and took 30 gallon to fill and it has a 34 gallon fuel tank( if you want to get technical thats 20.33 MPG).
 
I was just in Lewisburg yesterday afternoon. The Country Cupboard has the best cakes in Central Pa.
Sorry no tips on fuel mileage. Aftermarket air filter maybe.
 
I have eaten there several times and very good food. My sister lived there for over 20 years and worked for American Home Foods in Milton PA.. Its been almost ten years since the last time I was out there. My sister passed away in 2005 from a long battle with cancer.
 
It does, especially if you have a lot of speed limit changes. When you let off the gas and let it coast down to the lower limit, you are using 0 gas. When you maintain the higher limit til you need to brake to get slowed down, you are burning gas for some (albeit small) distance that you wouldn't use any gas for by coasting. At the end of the day it adds up.

Then there's increased/decreased brake wear, too.
 
Sorry to hear about your sister. I'm doing a job within sight of Home Foods at present. They've been bought out by Con Agra. Used to be Chef Boyardee if anyone is familiar with that. Milton was the home of Hector Boiardi.
 
When Con Agra took over Home Foods my sister was 5 years from retiring but they would not keep her so she could finish building her retirement account. She told them she would take a pay cut if they would keep for another 5 years and at that time she would walk. They told her they had their owen people and didn't need her services.
 
Drive faster so you don't use the truck as long! Okay the serious answer, make sure your tires are properly inflated, maybe even a bit over inflated, air filter is clean (or maybe even install a low restriction filter). Hard core check vehicle alignment. Truck it easy- meaning go slow and if you have hills on your route let the speed fall of rather than running it hard to hold your speed up. Bug shields, nerf bars , running boards and mudflaps can knock your mileage down. Over size tires will show a decrease in your mileage , but before you complain check out your tire circumference between the right size and what your running as the bigger tire is going farther for each revolution, so you're traveling farther and probably faster too. With today's automatic transmissions there is a lot of debate on to overdrive or not to overdrive when trailering. Consensus is you might get better gas mileage but kill you're transmission, personally I'd follow the manufacturer's recommendations.
 
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