Buyers remorse? MPG

[OFC Ranger]

For some reason a lot of people who tow and talk about MPG are a lot like people sitting around a campfire telling war stories.

A whole lot of exaggeration and pension for pizzazz.

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[canyonslicker]

I looked up the VW Touareg TDI stats....it has never achieved 28 mpg while towing....only rated at the highest, running solo at a combined city/hwy 24 mpg.....that was NOT towing, but empty/solo.
Maybe OP's buddy was using diesel and some VW "happy dust" to get the 28 mpg.....or had one of the famous VW "mileage claims" from the factory.

Maybe kpg not mpg..

 

[9zero1790]

That's my point... I didn't realize SUVs could tow like a truck could so it wasn't ever thought of. It didn't need to be a truck.

some suvs, mostly truck based suvs can tow like trucks. most likely when you use one like a truck its gonna get truck gas mileage. a long list of variables goes into the mpg like conditions, shape of trailer and so on. if you tow a lot i would say get a bigger truck. smaller trucks work harder to the same work a bigger truck does... Im sure someone will disagree and have some expert advice but if your towing on a regular basis for long trips get a 3/4 ton or bigger. the mpg towing will not be worse than the ranger or half ton trucks or most suvs. the upside is bigger brakes, better balance, more load capacity etc.

 

[Grumpaw]

For some reason a lot of people who tow and talk about MPG are a lot like people sitting around a campfire telling war stories.

A whole lot of exaggeration and pension for pizzazz.

You would think that, looking for a pick up to do a certain task, a person would do a little homework and search out just what a vehicle is capable of.
That way we wouldn't have members joining just to complain that their Ranger "doesn't tow my 36 foot travel trailer and get 87 mpg....I'm just not happy with it".
You'd think that after 5 years there would be a huge amount of info, as on the forum, that perspective owners could look up. When the truck dosen't live up to their expectations, they blame the truck.....
STOOOOPID !!!

For all future inquires about the Ranger's towing ability and mpg....
WHEN TOWING THE RANGER'S MPG SUCKS !!!
(Be funny if that were a sticky)

 

[9zero1790]

the best mpg and towing experience i have ever had was not a gas engine anything. it was a diesel and over kill for our trailer. it sorta felt like a large muscular Pitbull had a toddler holding the leash. truck didnt even take suggestions from the trailer lol.

 

[Bsthroop]

I bought the truck with the idea that it would tow. It checks that box with the 7,500 towing capacity. However, I didn't account for the importance of gas mileage while towing.

This is where it falls short... I believe at 65 mph I was seeing 10 mpg. At 55 mph, I was seeing 13-14 if IIRC. However, I discovered discussing this with a friend who tows... he gets 28 mpg in his diesel power motor which brought a lot of disappointment once I heard about this.

Is there any way to tow at 65 mph and have great gas mileage?

I have towed in diesel and gas and there is no way your friend is getting 28 towing, likely in that vehicle not even without towing.(hwy estimate is 28, and that is too high) Stop comparing your Ranger to a BS story, you will spend a ton of money trying to gain a few MPG.

 

[raytwntrvlr]

Okay, I admit to not reading through all the give and take on this thread. But, I owned a RAM 2500 Cummins, bought new in 2013. I used it to tow our first 2 travel trailers (TTs). Both weighed around 7000 lbs. loaded. I remember driving a thousand miles to pick up our first new TT. That Cummins beast was getting over 20 MPGs at >70 mph. on the way to get the trailer.

I was so letdown when I calced the MPGs on the return trip. It was around 10 MPG. Through the years, we put over 60K miles on that truck, mostly pulling our TTs. Never got better than 10-12 MPGs. while towing. Always over 20MPGs on its own.

Sold the RAM at 6 years of ownership and around 60K miles. Got almost all our money back.

Now have a little gasser that gets over 20 MPGs on its own and around 10-12 MPGs when towing. I guess that's life in the towing world.

 

[dtech]

Well at least on this thread no one yet has cited what the TFL guys say about towing with turbos as happened on another towing thread. I'm sure the TFL guys could get 30+ mpg towing out of the Ranger, they are so good at everything and use scientific methods in their testing. I recall a guy who bought the v6 Touareg and he whined al lot about gas milage and he wasn't towing.
Most of us who tow travel trailers in excess of 4k lbs including Grumpaw seem to consistently report 10 to 12 mph going 65 mph, and on a recent trip thru SW Colorado taking roads less traveled and keeping speeds around 50 mph I was able to get around 17 mpg towing, I also notice that on flat stretches not using tow mode does help with mpg.
But IMO there are better vehicles to tow with than our Rangers.

 

[dtech]

For some reason a lot of people who tow and talk about MPG are a lot like people sitting around a campfire telling war stories.

A whole lot of exaggeration and pension for pizzazz.

well with my buds on our fishing and camping trips it's usually telling stories about our glory days in dating and those type of adventures. Of course no one ever embellishes, Glory days, they pass you by, glory days.........

 

[Big Blue]

But IMO there are better vehicles to tow with than our Rangers.

True but will they fit in your garage?

 

[TomSim]

I bought the truck with the idea that it would tow. It checks that box with the 7,500 towing capacity. However, I didn't account for the importance of gas mileage while towing.

This is where it falls short... I believe at 65 mph I was seeing 10 mpg. At 55 mph, I was seeing 13-14 if IIRC. However, I discovered discussing this with a friend who tows... he gets 28 mpg in his diesel power motor which brought a lot of disappointment once I heard about this.

Is there any way to tow at 65 mph and have great gas mileage?

so, compare the price you paid for your vehicle with his, betcha he paid close to double. It's all relative really

 

[TomSim]

completely off topic, the new FordPass app isn't working on my cell phone, bummer. I contacted Ford and they said i'm not the only one with this issue. And then my check engine light came on today....SHT!!! Can anyone suggest which scanning tool i should buy to diagnose this engine light issue? One thing i forgot to mention, I've always run my truck on premium fuel, 91 octane, but, one month ago i decided to try running it on regular, 87 octane. I wonder if this could be the problem? So, today i bought a small bottle of jetfuel octane boost. This product had no real numbers as to what level it would boost what amount of fuel to, however, after dumping it in the tank using the fuel neck adapter(thank god i thought about that) low and behold after one minute of driving, the check engine light went off. Go figure.....I hope this helps anyone with the same problem.

 

[Bsthroop]

Okay, I admit to not reading through all the give and take on this thread. But, I owned a RAM 2500 Cummins, bought new in 2013. I used it to tow our first 2 travel trailers (TTs). Both weighed around 7000 lbs. loaded. I remember driving a thousand miles to pick up our first new TT. That Cummins beast was getting over 20 MPGs at >70 mph. on the way to get the trailer.

I was so letdown when I calced the MPGs on the return trip. It was around 10 MPG. Through the years, we put over 60K miles on that truck, mostly pulling our TTs. Never got better than 10-12 MPGs. while towing. Always over 20MPGs on its own.

Sold the RAM at 6 years of ownership and around 60K miles. Got almost all our money back.

Now have a little gasser that gets over 20 MPGs on its own and around 10-12 MPGs when towing. I guess that's life in the towing world.

I had similar results in my 2012 Ram, slightly worse with a 12k 5th wheel. If you want to tow, don't worry about mileage. Best thing you can do is increase your fuel capacity, I upped mine to 75 gallons and that would outlast my bladder.

 

[dtech]

True but will they fit in your garage?

yeah they would - where I live houses are required to have 3 garages, 2 of my slots can easily fit a full sized truck and the 3rd slot is huge - over 40' long. Having said that though when I bought the Ranger I had a 2 car garage that wouldn't fit a full sized truck.

 

[Jhbryaniv]

towing with an itsy bitsy 4 cyl with turbo = horrid mpg.

When I drug a small uhaul box trailer across the country I was getting dashboard readings of 5mpg going up some hills . . .

my overall mpg was probably mid upper teens.

shrug.

You want those 20+ mpg numbers when towing get a massive truck, pay ~100k for it and put diesel in it, while paying the premium for owning a giant truck...

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