Mpg. All highway. Surprise.

[silverflash]

The fact is I got 26.4 mpg and wasn't even really trying all that hard. On my trip to the coast using the back roads, I'd bet 28 or 29 is doable. That's going 55 the whole way.

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[jsphlynch]

all things being equal, something must be wrong with your truck. i'm getting up to 27+ pen and paper calculations in rural driving. worst 4wd mileage is something like 20 on the sticker. go to your dealer.​

I think a lot of times people don't realize just how unequal things can be.

Even though I have a pretty light foot, my truck gets 17-18 in the in the winter on my short commute with lots of stop lights and hills. In the summer on the interstate with the cruise control set to the speed limit, I'll get mid-20's. If I drop the speed down a little (anecdotally, I think the fuel economy sweet spot is somewhere in the 50-55 mph range), I can easily push the mpg's into the high 20's.

If he's worried about it, then he should definitely have the dealer take a look at the truck, but my guess is his relatively low mileage is symptomatic of some of the many variables that go into fuel economy, not an actual defect or failure.

 

[Chris M]

I tried a mpg run a few weeks ago. I tucked behind a semi and kept a consistent 30 mpg for 20 miles. That’s the only way I get above 25 on the highway.

Please don't do this.
Truck drivers hate having people close to the rear of their vehicle, especially for extended periods of time (if they have a high-value load on, they may also be instructed to call police for suspicious-looking vehicles following them for any length of time).
Truck trailer tires are inflated to 110-120 psi at any given time. If you've ever seen one explode on the highway, you would realize there is significant damage to be done to anything following reasonably closely (pieces of tire, pieces of mudflap, pieces of mudflap hangar, etc.).
It's just not a safe thing to do to spend any appreciable time in the vicinity of a tractor trailer.

 

[silverflash]

Fyi. I have a tonneau cover too.

 

[Chris M]

Thank you Debra. I was not violating any traffic laws. There is no law that says I can't follow another vehicle at a safe distance under normal circumstances. I said I tucked in behind a semi. I never said I was tailgating.

I was attempting to be polite, and the picture YOU drew with your post implied to my mind (as a former truck driver) an attempt to draft somewhat behind a tractor trailer. For you to have realized much of any benefit from such a "tucking in", you'd likely have had to have been quite close to the trailer in order to stay out of the turbulence created by the truck.

Not my intent at all to infer you were breaking any laws. In fact, based only on the statement you made it was my intent to possibly save your life, or that of someone you love that may have been a passenger in your truck during this experiment of yours.

That you would resort to name-calling so quickly when someone would not agree with your methods or opinion on a thing is sad, and a childish way to respond.

 

[Chris M]

As I said, I was attempting to be polite in my request, as what you describe having done was, in my stated opinion, dangerous to you personally and incredibly annoying to truck drivers when they experience such actions. If you found me preachy, so be it.

It's pretty much always the hit dog that hollers...

Good luck to you.

 

[P. A. Schilke]

Hi Folks,

My RV weighs 13 tons... I have people in cars cut in front of me just before a traffic light and stop before a right turn. It is all I can do to stop and not punt them all the way to Nebraska. Dumbshits... Ditto for tailgating the Ranger in tow.... Not safe practices.

best,
Phil Schilke
Ranger Vehicle Engineering
Ford Motor Co. Retired

 

[Leftcoast]

Hi Folks,

My RV weighs 13 tons... I have people in cars cut in front of me just before a traffic light and stop before a right turn. It is all I can do to stop and not punt them all the way to Nebraska. Dumbshits... Ditto for tailgating the Ranger in tow.... Not safe practices.

best,
Phil Schilke
Ranger Vehicle Engineering
Ford Motor Co. Retired

Not this again. Reading comprehension is your friend. I never said I was tailgating. Thousands upon thousands of vehicles are following semis this very minute. They would outlaw retreads if they were killing like cancer.

 

[2020FRL]

I haven't done a "trip" yet, but, I've put 6500+ miles on the truck since I purchased it. Most of those were driving my pup around, she loves to go.

I'm guessing most of those miles are 50% around town and 50% highway. I'm averaging almost 23 mpg.

 

[Ames]

I drive about 70 miles round trip to work and back on mostly county highways. I try to stay at 60 mph as much as I can but there is a stretch where the limit is higher so I do 70 there. I do have some city driving but it's not much. I'm averaging just over 26 mpg according to the truck. I just downloaded the fuelly app so I'll start using that to see what I get. I generally use either 87 or 88 octane with ethanol. I have run ethanol-free gas and didn't notice a huge improvement. Not enough to offset the extra cost anyway.

 

[dokkerdam]

As I said, I was attempting to be polite in my request, as what you describe having done was, in my stated opinion, dangerous to you personally and incredibly annoying to truck drivers when they experience such actions. If you found me preachy, so be it.

It's pretty much always the hit dog that hollers...

Good luck to you.

for the average passenger vehicle the (driving school/rules of the road literature) recommended distance behind any other vehicle is one car length per 10 mph. at highway speed that means 5 to 7 vehicle lengths from your front bumper to the vehicle or semi you are following.

there is no way you can draft behind a larger vehicle at these recommended distances.

if you were to hit the preceding vehicle because you weren't allowing enough stopping distance you very well could be cited for 'reckless' or another similar infraction. almost anytime you hit a preceding vehicle it will be considered your fault (unless you can prove that the other driver was behaving recklessly like brake checking, etc.)

i'm considering getting a dashcam because what i am afraid of is while allowing 5 to 6 vehicle lengths in front of me someone else might try to slide in (with all that room rude drivers do this all the time) and then UNTIL I SLOWED AND REESTABLISHED the 5 or 6 car length distance i'm unsure who would be at fault it the vehicle in front suddenly slowed or stopped (regardless of their intent).

a kind of reverse drafting is to buy a tonneau cover or to fill your pickup bed with a shape that reduces the vacuum your vehicle creates while passing through air. the best mileage i ever saw on a 2002 tacoma was a long highway trip with a 550 lb. antique snowmobile in the bed. i think the moderate weight and more importantly the shape of the sled (level with the pickup cab at first, then a gentle sloping to the open pickup bed tailgate) reduces the turbulence of the following slipstream.

that long trip's mileage was 23 mpg. the ranger i have usually gets 27 and has never gotten as low as 23 unless i had to plow with it. my guess is that with that same load on that same 400 trip at 60 mph the ranger would get 30 mpg.

 

[silverflash]

for the average passenger vehicle the (driving school/rules of the road literature) recommended distance behind any other vehicle is one car length per 10 mph. at highway speed that means 5 to 7 vehicle lengths from your front bumper to the vehicle or semi you are following.

there is no way you can draft behind a larger vehicle at these recommended distances.

if you were to hit the preceding vehicle because you weren't allowing enough stopping distance you very well could be cited for 'reckless' or another similar infraction. almost anytime you hit a preceding vehicle it will be considered your fault (unless you can prove that the other driver was behaving recklessly like brake checking, etc.)

i'm considering getting a dashcam because what i am afraid of is while allowing 5 to 6 vehicle lengths in front of me someone else might try to slide in (with all that room rude drivers do this all the time) and then UNTIL I SLOWED AND REESTABLISHED the 5 or 6 car length distance i'm unsure who would be at fault it the vehicle in front suddenly slowed or stopped (regardless of their intent).

a kind of reverse drafting is to buy a tonneau cover or to fill your pickup bed with a shape that reduces the vacuum your vehicle creates while passing through air. the best mileage i ever saw on a 2002 tacoma was a long highway trip with a 550 lb. antique snowmobile in the bed. i think the moderate weight and more importantly the shape of the sled (level with the pickup cab at first, then a gentle sloping to the open pickup bed tailgate) reduces the turbulence of the following slipstream.

that long trip's mileage was 23 mpg. the ranger i have usually gets 27 and has never gotten as low as 23 unless i had to plow with it. my guess is that with that same load on that same 400 trip at 60 mph the ranger would get 30 mpg.

i have the same issue. i go by the 3 second rule though. i do not follow within a 3 second space. i get cut off all the time if in right lane because of this. and i never move over from left lane into right until i give that person i am passing in the right lane, that 3 seconds. seems that MOST drivers that would be behind me are impatient and then decide to pass me on the right, thereby cutting off the person in the right lane. lots of idiots out there that have no clue how to drive safely.

personally, due to the above, i tend to be a left lane hog as i generally am not exceeding the speedlimit, well below the customary 9 mph over the limit. As long as I am passing folks on right, the guy behind me can suck it.

35 years driving. 0 tickets. 0 accidents that were my fault. about 3 that were others fault- or a bear.

 

[Leftcoast]

for the average passenger vehicle the (driving school/rules of the road literature) recommended distance behind any other vehicle is one car length per 10 mph. at highway speed that means 5 to 7 vehicle lengths from your front bumper to the vehicle or semi you are following.

there is no way you can draft behind a larger vehicle at these recommended distances.

if you were to hit the preceding vehicle because you weren't allowing enough stopping distance you very well could be cited for 'reckless' or another similar infraction. almost anytime you hit a preceding vehicle it will be considered your fault (unless you can prove that the other driver was behaving recklessly like brake checking, etc.)

i'm considering getting a dashcam because what i am afraid of is while allowing 5 to 6 vehicle lengths in front of me someone else might try to slide in (with all that room rude drivers do this all the time) and then UNTIL I SLOWED AND REESTABLISHED the 5 or 6 car length distance i'm unsure who would be at fault it the vehicle in front suddenly slowed or stopped (regardless of their intent).

a kind of reverse drafting is to buy a tonneau cover or to fill your pickup bed with a shape that reduces the vacuum your vehicle creates while passing through air. the best mileage i ever saw on a 2002 tacoma was a long highway trip with a 550 lb. antique snowmobile in the bed. i think the moderate weight and more importantly the shape of the sled (level with the pickup cab at first, then a gentle sloping to the open pickup bed tailgate) reduces the turbulence of the following slipstream.

that long trip's mileage was 23 mpg. the ranger i have usually gets 27 and has never gotten as low as 23 unless i had to plow with it. my guess is that with that same load on that same 400 trip at 60 mph the ranger would get 30 mpg.

Here is a quick search for highway drafting gains. In the article it states that a 100' following distance at 55 mph provides a 40% reduction of drag and a 20% increase in MPG. A 100' following distance at 55 mph is close to your car length per 10 mph. I'm not advocating everybody go out and hypermile behind semis. I'm just showing that you don't need to tailgate to get an advantage. I'm also showing that it isn't a guaranteed coffin nail.
https://www.treehugger.com/drafting-behind-trucks-does-it-work-4858386

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