Mileage question

[Full Timers]

I’m leaning toward upgrading my 2017 6.4 RAM to a diesel for hauling my 2020 Reflection 337RLS. The RV weighs in at 12000lbs, we tend to travel on the lighter side, but I only get 8.0mpg when rowing through the Ozarks. On flat roads, I get close to 10, which I think is acceptable since I get close to 16 when not towing.
Does anyone have a similar setup, but pulling with a 3/4 ton diesel? What kind of mileage do you get on that configuration?
I know a 1 ton would also satisfy any weight issue, but I’m not sure I would need to go there yet
Thanks

[Richter]

I have an F-350 diesel short-bed and a 303RLS. That’s a little shorter than the 337, but close on weight. Mine has a gross trailer weight of 11,995, and we’re pretty close to that. I get about 20 mpg empty, on the highway, and 11.5 towing. BTW, I’ve never tried rowing through the Ozarks, but it doesn’t sound like a great deal of fun. LOL

[GeoffnCheri]

2011 F-250 6.7 diesel with a 303 RLS and live in the Ozarks. My mpg while towing ranges from 9 mpg to 11 mpg depending on how hilly the roads are. I can on occasion hit 12 mpg on the interstate but on the windy, curvy, up and down highways I average about 10 mpg.

[Overtaxed]

2019 F450, I get about 8-9 towing, 15-17 empty.

[Full Timers]

LOL...We were in the Ozarks when hurricane Laura came through the Hot Springs area and it seemed more like rowing.
Thanks everyone for your responses. This helps us make our decision to upgrade. Even though the mpg won’t increase too much, the stress on the truck will be a lot less, so it should last several more years. I appreciate it, happy trails to y’all.

[Second Chance]

I'll start off by encouraging you to bypass any 3/4-ton diesel and go straight for a 1-ton SRW diesel. The diesel drive train is MUCH heaver than its gas counterpart and really eats into the available payload on a 3/4-ton truck. We started out pulling our Reflection 337 with a Sierra 2500HD Duramax/Allison and were always too close to the payload and rear axle ratings with the 337 to be comfortable. The price difference between comparably equipped 3/4- and 1-ton trucks is not that great.

Over on the Escapees forums, the old-timers will tell you that if you're worried about mileage, you don't need to own an RV. That said, pulling the 337 with the Duramax 2500HD, we averaged 11 MPG coast-to-coast and gulf to Canadian border. Since we traded for the F350 DRW with the PowerStroke, we're averaging 10.5 - 11 MPG under the same conditions. Unless you're pulling up steep grades, towing mileage is all about wind resistance rather than weight. Not towing, the Sierra got about 19 MPG on the highway and F350 gets about 17.5 (lower gearing on the F350).

Rob

[Full Timers]

Thanks, I appreciate your insight. I’ve had several people who had been RV’n for years say the 2500 with diesel will be fine and I’ve seen other posts on GD recommendation moving up to a 1ton for safety and security.
I do know having an 8’ bed also increases payload and maintains value over time.

Which ever why I go, it will be by the end of 2020 to take advantage of end of year savings.

Thanks again

[Overtaxed]

Thanks, I appreciate your insight. I’ve had several people who had been RV’n for years say the 2500 with diesel will be fine and I’ve seen other posts on GD recommendation moving up to a 1ton for safety and security.
I do know having an 8’ bed also increases payload and maintains value over time.

Which ever why I go, it will be by the end of 2020 to take advantage of end of year savings.

Thanks again

A 1 ton doesn't buy much "safety and security" over a 3/4 ton except from possible issues with the law or insurance (both of which are so rare as to be the stuff of urban legend). A 1 ton and 3/4 ton are so close in construction it's near impossible to point at anything and say "that makes me safer/more comfortable". In fact, I'd bet money a 3/4 ton with airbags would tow a heavy RV better than a 1 ton without. The thing a 1 ton will do better is "be legal" or within payload. Beyond that, at least in Ford, there's almost no mechanical difference between the two trucks, it has an overload (350) spring and a different sticker is usually the biggest difference.

If you want to buy "safety and security", skip anything with a single rear wheel (SRW) and go to dually (DRW). That buys a real difference, more tires, more contact area, redundancy for a blowout, more stability. It's markedly better towing with a dually vs a single rear wheel truck (from someone who's owned both, back to back, and towed the same trailer with both). It wouldn't take me 5 minutes in the seat blindfolded to tell you if I was in the SRW vs the DRW. It's just a better way to tow, which, of course, if why you see so many of them (duallies) hitched to trailers.

8' bed doesn't increase payload, does make it track a little better, but, biggest thing, gets you away from a slider hitch or possibly hitting the truck with the RV nose. You want an 8' bed for an RV, it's fine not to have it, but it's a compromise and you'll need to do workarounds to make it function the way it would naturally function in a 8' bed.

[Full Timers]

Thanks, good information to consider too.

[Hobo Bill]

See signature for TV info. 9-10 mpg towing (a lot thru the Ozarks and Rockies). 15 mpg not towing.