Buyers remorse? MPG

[Cabose-1]

I am not in the same tow, I dont have a TT but I do car dolly and flat trailer weekly, my average load is 3500 to 4k and I do that a few times a week, mostly city/Hwy equally and I have never gotten below 17 MPG with a 2k load I am still in the 19 to 20 mpg range and no trailer at all I am 22 to 24 mpg, I am in upstate N.Y I use 92 Non-Eth I have no "engine mods" or bolt ons, for a year now its been a pretty awesome little truck with what I think is awesome MPG
I weigh, at weigh out at the yard about 5100 two guys and a half tank, the most I have had in the bed without trailer is 1200 lbs, the most I have had behind me is 5120, I have had to pull much larger trucks out of fields but no way to tell what MPG I was getting while dragging them through mud LOL
over the year I have never gotten below 17.5 and never seen more than 25 mpg
over a few weeks and 2400 miles my average mpg was 20mpg City/Hwy/Towing
I can actually get that upto 22 by going from 91 oct to putting 93 Oct gas in it, between everyone here we can get a good real world average ....
I say pictures or it didnt happen, I take a lot of pictures for my own head and records and I have a date I can go back to if a scratch shows up or tire ware over mileage

Yeah these trucks tow awesome. Did this today. 65 to 70 mph. I use regular gas, 87 octane, unless i am towing over several hundred miles. Just a lot of short towing trips.

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[Grandaccess]

weigh out at the scrap yard just the truck and 1/2 tank

 

[Reclaimerroger]

You might ask what he paid for his diesel and what he pays for fuel. I think you will find out you are doing better than you think money wise.

 

[Davidjc]

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?

Towing what? With my Tundra I towed a 5000lb travel trailer, 8000lb fifth wheel and a 7000lb fifth wheel. The best I got was 9mpg with the travel trailer. I seems with a gaser you can expect mpgs to be half the norm mpg when towing a camper. The wind is the enemy. Now, towing a bass boat or utility trailer, it wasn't so bad. 13-15 mpg. I just drove last week from southern CO to northern LA with the ranger loaded down. Bed was full and back seat was loaded down. Still Averaged 20mpg.
The only way I've found to get noticeable improvement in mpg while towing is by driving slower. From 55mph to 65mph can be 4-7 mpg difference. 75 mph even worse. Diesels aren't affected as much.
If you consider going diesel; more torque, more horse and better mpg BUT, up to $1.00/gal more in cost. Plus added costs of the purchase and maintenance.
Do a little number game with gas at $3/gal and Diesel at $4/gal for a 1000 mile trip and see how they compare. Either way, you've got a good little truck there with the ranger.

 

[Buckbull]

Interesting thread with good feedback. Below are the specs for the OP's friend's rig. The diesel may get better towing numbers to the ranger but I think we would be talking 2-4 mpg better.

VW Touareg TDI SUV
EPA MPG Diesel 24 combined city/highway MPG 21 city 28 highway 4.2 gals/100 miles

 

[awd.nv]

NO !!!! I'm towing 7000 lbs, and have never gotten over 12 mpg at 65 mph. At 55-60 mph it's get around 13-14 depending on terrain, wind, traffic, stop n go. Some may get a mile or two better or worse, but it is what it is. Climbing a grade for any distance....7-10 mpg at 55-60 mph.
As for your "bud" and his 28 mpg diesel towing....I'd like to know what he's towing. I don't think too many big pick up's with a diesel manage 28 mpg too much even solo, much less towing a heavy trailer.
You have a 4 banger turbo that makes great power and torque, but it is "working" to tow that heavy load....it is what it is, and no add-on's or tunes will get you much better.

I was just going to say this!! We rented an 2022 F250 6.7L diesel to tow our 10' trailer when our vehicle was in the shop. It happened to be the only truck they let you tow with as a rental. I dont remember the actual MPG exactly but do not think I even broke 20mpg empty. I think towing might have been 15-16mpg going to Utah from Vegas which was a large improvement over our Honda Pilots 10-12mpg.

I have seen towing threads on Facebook with the exact trailer we now own (Geo Pro 19BH), even F150 get within 2mpg of the Ranger when towing the exact same trailer by member reports. My gripe is that I wish I at least had 20-22 gallons for this size truck. Even then, on desert runs I just keep an extra 4 gallons in the bed just in case. Otherwise, the truck does very well. The turbo 4 totally beat my expectations coming from a v6 '16 Honda Pilot. Like crushed it, I thought I was going to need to go to an F150 for this towing experience. Now, my wife WISHES we had the interior space of an F150, that I cant fix with this truck

Adding this to my post:

Our '16 Pilot AWD was rated for 5000lbs, our new trailer is 3200lbs empty. I estimate as much as 4500lbs on some trips, in the cool winter I could tell that was MAXING out the Pilot. Like if your state only allows for 55mph towing, I guess it would be ok but that is like max for the SUV.

 

[Grumpaw]

Interesting thread with good feedback. Below are the specs for the OP's friend's rig. The diesel may get better towing numbers to the ranger but I think we would be talking 2-4 mpg better.

VW Touareg TDI SUV
EPA MPG Diesel 24 combined city/highway MPG 21 city 28 highway 4.2 gals/100 miles

His thread started off about comparing the Ranger towing vs the VW, however he gave the VW mpg same as you...running solo. Apples and oranges. Hook up a 5000-7000 camper and that VW mpg will dump. And, I tow a 28 foot total length camper, and I seriously doubt that a VW could handle that big a rig.
This mpg/Ranger has been in many many threads and hundreds of posts, argued and praised.
It's been talked about by those who tow, and those who don't but get their info from "ratings" that they have "read" somewhere.
Bottom line is the Ranger is a perfectly adequate tow truck for it's rating, and great for any smaller trailer.
It is not the perfect truck to tow a trailer close to it's limits if you are not experienced, but the majority of those who tow are towing smaller campers, or low flatbeds. There are only a few of us who tow near the max.
But, no matter what we tow, the mpg's are bad...no question about it. But has been shown numerous times, towing with a larger truck may only get you a few more mpg's....you have to weigh the added expense and size of a larger truck.
The mpg thing has been beaten to death, but I'm sure it will be brought up again and again !!!

 

[DasBoot]

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?

Never heard of anyone mention gas mileage while towing. Short answer is no you cannot get good gas mileage while towing

 

[Blue Streak]

Never heard of anyone mention gas mileage while towing. Short answer is no you cannot get good gas mileage while towing

Generally speaking I will agree. Way back in 92 when I purchased my F250 extended cab 4x4 8ft box I did a lot of research. Got it with a 460 I could pull anything I wanted at any speed A/C off are on & get 10mpg, but I also only got 10 mpg empty. I didn't get good either way, but I didn't suffer towing & the truck never knew I had anything behind it. My gas cost me the same. So I never had the disappointment of having to spend more. Not sure if it make's sense now but it did back then. ?

 

[dtech]

Contrary to TFL towing a big trailer up I-70 to the Eisenhower tunnel and singing the praises of gm's 2.7t 4 cylinder , most gm buyers who tow opt for a na v8 or the diesel, in 2023 gm announced plans to invest $850 m in their v8 engine production, agree with grumpaws statement about the full size pickup and mpg, but if your towing your tt at 75 mph and I live in CO not far from Moab I see a good many vehicles towing big tt doing 75 mph , you likely will see better mpg than a ranger towing at those speeds, plus as blue streak mentions and I've heard it repeatedly from numerous people who tow with full sized pickups-it's reassuring to tow with a vehicle that " can't hardly even tell there's anything back there". Now if gas prices go up we are all screwed anyways, but I have been looking at potential options to upgrade my tow vehicle , even though I'm only towing a 4160 lbs ugw tt I always feel it back there. I forgot to mention a guy I golf with occasionally picked up a 5800 lbs tt to replace his Lance camper, he also replaced his 2016 F150 with a Ford that he said was a "trimmer" , he pronounced it that way and said it has a v8 engine, I'm sure what he has is the Tremor. And he's from TN not AR

 

[ccasanova22]

I have never seen more than MPG in the teens when towing my travel trailer, and that’s at 55mph. 65mph drops that significantly, and 70+ just destroys the MPG.

It helps if you take back roads but it takes longer to get there.

And highway (interstate) mpg would be likely in mid single digits in places like CO and Texas where 80mph is the speed limit.

 

[Montana Ranger]

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

You didn't mention exactly what you're towing, but the answer is likely "No".

In the past I've towed a lot of boats with minimal impact on MPG. But they followed largely behind the silhouette of the tow vehicle, so the wind impact wasn't major. But if you're towing the typical travel, you're displacing a lot of air with a massive box. Most friends I have with full-sized trucks suffer the same hit in mileage as I do, especially at interstate speeds.

I bought my Ranger for two primary missions; weekly ski trips in the winter and towing our travel trailer in the spring, summer and fall. And I enjoy the smaller size than a full-sized truck when driving into town and parking it in my garage. I too was disappointed with the poor mileage when towing, but that's just the price to pay for tugging a large box behind you. I average around 11 MPG on the typical trip. The fuel type makes no measurable difference. Mileage goes to hell quickly above 55 MPH. I typically cruise at 60 MPH.

 

[ljames]

First, are you towing a racecar like your buddy? Most of the people answering this post are towing TTs, two entirely different tows. Towing a car on a trailer has much less frontal area unless your using a box trailer. When towing frontal area is a bigger mileage killer than weight.

Second, I have to question your buddies 28 mpg towing, even if it is a turbo diesel. Diesels will always get better mpgs than gas towing, but that seems a bit high. What does he get normally? If it is really true you best buy one quick before they are pulled from the U.S. market. I doubt you can find another SUV to match that.

Lastly, that is impressive tow rating for a uni-body SUV.

I believe your mpg....pulling a low trailer/car load. Not much wind resistance, and once you get up to speed the power needed is not near what it is needed to pull a big square box.
Towing a big square box with all the resistance that is met is the big downfall for us camper pullers. Thats where our mpg goes down the pottie.
Running on a windy day, into the wind, I've seen my mpg drop to single numbers, where yours are probably double mine.

Even a lightweight flat bed trailer with expanded steel ramp in the UP position will cost you 3 MPG on the highway

 

[Frenchy]

Late to the party as usual but here we go....

For starters, I don't care what vehicle you have. Just about any Gas Vehicle is going to drop MPG When Towing. The biggest thing to understand when towing is its not a.race to see how fast you get there, but to make sure you get there safely. Assuming you are towing near the max(nothing wrong since the Ra ger is Rated for it) I am not surprised you are seeing those numbers. Also keep in mind the shape of the weight. That shape will make a difference.

For myself I have experience towing between 2500 LBS to 5500 LBS. The lower but was with a 2019 Ranger and a 2016 Frontier. The higher was with the Ranger with a little less with the Frontier. Overall they did just fine with the expected power MPG.

Just remember to tow smart

 

[Friday yet?]

The mpg thing has been beaten to death

Ya think?!

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