Mileage thread

[91f2504x4]

I see you've never driven southern california freeways. 55mph speed limit, nobody is doing under 85... especially at 2am when there is no traffic to hold them back. The cops basically don't bat an eye unless there's something out of the ordinary, aparantly, actually obeying the law is out of the ordinary
Gotta remember which state we're talking about here

Well that is crazy, around here the rule is give them 13 mph over the speed limit and as long as they aren't driving crazy then don't bother them, and most of the guys go by that rule (there are a few that will pull people over at 11mph over but they live to give tickets) I couldn't imagine everyone running 30 mph over the speed limit. Around here pulling someone over for going the speed limit with no other reason would not hold up, but I guess if you had to, you could twist it to "Impeding the Normal Flow of traffic" if the normall flow of traffic is 30 mph over the speed limit.

 

[Dirtleg]

I had an incident where I was doing 80 pulling a trailer north of Atlanta on 85 in a 65 zone. Passed a cop who then pulled out behind me. In my frantic mirror checking I guess I missed to 70 speed limit sign. I was in the left lane and slowed it down to 70 right as the car in the right lane that I was passing sped up to 70. Cop right on my tail and I'm running 5 over with a trailer in my mind. Sped up a couple mph to try and complete pass but guy in right lane kept even with me. This lasted about a mile and cop pulls me over.

Asks me why I am going so slow. I thought I was running 7 over with a trailer and explained this to the cop. He informed me the speedd limit had just changed to 70 and I was being an impediment. The only reason I even slowed down is I thought he was going to pull me over for 80 in a 65 towing. We had a good laugh (really decent cop btw). He then informed me that on the stretch of road I was on he won't even look at you below 90. I asked him if I could quote him in court in the event I got a speeding ticket. Then he had a good laugh.

No he didn't write me a ticket for impeding traffic.

That all happened in my 97 club wagon with a small enclosed trailer. That setup got 10 mpg all day long. It needed a diesel badly.

 

[Fozz]

There are sections of freeway in California where the speed limit is 75, but from what I've seen that's running east (not along the coast). I was pulling my 5r one time with the cruise set at 65 and I was in the slow lane. A female motorcycle cop pulled up next to me and flashed a 5 - 5 with her hand to me, I waved and slowed down to 55 (speed limit when trailering). When towing, I usually have my CB on to monitor where the cops are (and road conditions).

 

[david85]

There are sections of freeway in California where the speed limit is 75, but from what I've seen that's running east (not along the coast). I was pulling my 5r one time with the cruise set at 65 and I was in the slow lane. A female motorcycle cop pulled up next to me and flashed a 5 - 5 with her hand to me, I waved and slowed down to 55 (speed limit when trailering). When towing, I usually have my CB on to monitor where the cops are (and road conditions).

Thats what I heard too. Speed limit for trailers in cali is 55 MPH. Not sure if thats just over a certain size or if it applies to all trailers.

 

[Clydesdale]

If a metro (geo) is pulling a trailer, 12' Hobie ct say, 300# trailer weight, double nickel.
sign says speedlimit 75 trucks "VEHICLES" with trailers 55

 

[Sycostang67]

20mph seems like an awful large gap, kinda dangerous too. Too many people not paying attention to easily run into the back of a vehicle going that slow. We only have a 10mph gap.

 

[funnyman06]

Hahaha, its not all that bad. I have been on both sides of things. I used to drive a bmw at 95 mph all the time. You stay in the fast lane and your fine. Now i drive 55 in my truck and get passed. most semis do 65mph.

 

[Clydesdale]

yeah 60 was a sweet spot for my truck, rolled from Sac to Redding empty behind semi's doing 60... nice ride.

 

[snicklas]

Illinois is the same way.... 65, vehicles with trailers 55. In Indiana it is 70 and vehicles over a certain GVW (13,500 I think) is 65. So with the camper or flatbed I own the speed limit is 70. IN the Ex I can do 75 all day long..... in the old Durango the speed limit was 62, not because of the sign, because of the rig!!!!

 

[kpj]

During this holiday i got the best mileage i've ever got. Speed was more or less 55 mph and mileage was 18.6 mpg with the specs you can check from my signature. Before the recent fuel system update and with this lift and tire combination the best result was somewhere around 15 mpg...

 

[dukedrummer89]

14 mpg mixed driving, but whos counting

 

[MR.T]

18.1 MPG

Recently put on a rebuilt IP and new injectors, and decided to carefully check the mileage on a 2000 mile trip this spring (2010). Excluding the off-road portion, the Truck in my sig got 18.1 MPG. The odometer is reading 1% low, so the mileage is actually about 18.3 -- not enough difference to worry about.

It weighed in at ~8000 Lbs for the trip, which varied from over 6000 feet to -300 altitude. Average highway speed was about 60 MPH. Previous experience is that the slower the speed the better the mileage. At 75+ MPH it might do ~15 MPG. Stop and go city driving, or snow is going to drop the MPG similarly. Highway miles are naturally the most consistent, too many variables with other driving.

This is the same, or slightly better MPG, as when the truck was new. The plastic air inlet and under-hood insulation is modified to let it breathe a tad better (also added a 1.5" drain hole at the low spot of the air inlet to let any inhaled water out). Proper tire pressure makes a noticeable difference, higher pressure gets better mileage -- However, for best tire wear and traction I run a PSI of 55 Front and 45 rear. 22 years of synthetic oil in the engine, tranny, xfer case, and diffs likely helps -- The viscosity index is typically better then the original "dino" stuff so it's less viscous (and slightly less power wasted) normally, but doesn't thin out to the danger level at high temps and load. Good maintenance is probably the main reason it's doing this well after 22 years.

 

[Death85e]

Well my .02 is that i get 12 mpg in the truck in my sig whether i have 2650 pounds of coal in the bed or whether i am pulling the 36 foot 5er or whether i am empty...it has done this since the day i bought her she loves to cruise at 63 mph that seems to be her sweet spot....she has 167000 mph on her now. I have rebuilt the trans once and when i did i went with all redline kevlar clutches and bands in her but still retained the stock torque converter.

I have no idea what my rear gearing is since the tag is gone but i do know she pulls better when i have a load on her than she does empty.

I can honestly admit that i envy all of you that get in the 16-18 mpg range. But the ol truck has never left me set anywhere and for that i am eternally grateful since i am at times called to be 100+ miles away from the nearest town and 60 miles from the nearest cell tower if something breaks.

 

[rjjp]

N/A 92 F250, E4OD, 4.10, 2wd, 265/75/R16 Cooper ATRs gets 16 to 16.5 always, has for the past 4 1/2 years that it's been in my family except one time with my dad driving it he got 16.9 mpg one one tank during a trip to Wisconsin and back. During the past 4 years it has been run with an empty bed with no trailer, and it has been run overweight (over 3000lbs in the bed) and has hauled hay wagons, a 28ft (just bed length, not tounge or tool box) triaxle tow behind loaded with rocks, cars, a Case 450 bulldozer and a few other things.
P.S. The injection pump was replaced 2 or 3 years ago, I would have to go dig up the receipt to be sure of when.

 

[Goofyexponent]

Well, my rig is a 1993 F250 4x4. E4OD, 3.55's, ext. cab long box. Before I did my D60 swap, I managed about 19 MPG. All the while, with what we discovered to be a stuck caliper, and a stuck e brake in the rear. This was an all highway trip, at or near 55 MPH with the cruise on.

After we did the D60 swap, I hauled a spare IDI in the bed for a week as I was flat out too busy to drop it off. I got 18.5 MPG out of that tank. This was mostly ALL in city driving, with a short shot up the highway (30 miles total) and back to the city. I have yet to re-fill it and try it again.

HOWEVER, OUR DAMN CAR!!! It's a 2004 Grand am with the 2.2 auto in it. not even 50 000 MILES on the damn thing, it's ALWAYS looked after and NEVER goes over 35 MPH as it NEVER leaves city streets.

We filled it up 2 weeks ago, it went a grand total of 210 miles on 11 gallons....it barely hit the mark of 19 MPG...which is pretty uch what my truck got with an extra 1600 pounds of junk in the back, doing the same type of driving!!!