i towed a 16 foot Kodiak with a Quest minivan and got maybe 9-11 mpg's towing. It seems like somewhere around 10 is very much the norm, even for a very powerful truck pulling a light camper like yours. The total fuel consumption for all the miles you drive in a year might be more important to consider, with the minivan we were getting maybe 20 combined, which was a lot nicer than a pickup truck would get unless it was a diesel. We just got a 4runner which seems like it will do a decent job and it appears to be getting about 20 mpg combined.
You might want to compare the wheelbases on the vehicles you mentioned, that would be an important factor in the stability of the setup and could require you to purchase some extra junk like sway control and a better brake controler to keep everything safe. I upgraded to the Prodigy controller and can't say enough positive things about it.
I agree with a poster above. If it's paid for, you can buy quite a bit of gas/diesel for the monthly payment and the gas bill on top of that. Something to consider. All of my vehicles are paid for. It's a pretty good feeling.
Just the 3 of us...SpoiledRotten, TotallyRotten, and ALittleRotten
2000 F-250 Lariat, CC
7.3 PSTD-Superchipped
2005 33RL2 New Vision - AKA "SpoiledRotten"
2000 Jeep Wrangler Sahara Edition
Dry weight is without LP, water and options. AC, spare tire, awnings, TV's microwaves, and a host of other items need to be added on. Choose a TV base on gross weight. Some of the vehicles mentioned will not pull the Gross weight.
The thing to be aware of is the maximum frontal area of the trailer.
The vehicles listed may not meet this criteria for the trailer mentioned.
Things that will drop fuel mileage fast
1) Driving habits
2) Weight - Car mfrs assume .1 mpg / 100 lbs. Drops faster when trailer is over 50% TV capacity.
3) Wind resistance
Didn't read other responses - sorry if I duplicate, but I had a Canyon (GMC version of COlorado) and unless the new ones are different, they are only running an inline 5 cylinder engine.
I pull with a Dodge Dakota which would handle that load very well. Fairly good wheelbase/weight/and a 4.7 V8 motor and 3.55 rear gears. I get 20MPG without towing, and around 10-11 with.
Dirk
Myself (34), my Wife(32), and "The Boy"(3)
06 GMC Sierra 1500 Crew Cab, 5.3L V8, 3.42rear
05 30QBSS Trail-Cruiser, Prodigy BC, Reese Dual Cam W/D
jf44 wrote: What about the v-6 engines, 3.7 or 4.0, will they have enough power
to pull any hills not mountains ?
That trailer is pull-able by more than one V6 minivan. You just have to drop your preconceived notions about FWD minivans as the rules have changed. There are a few vans out there with V6 engines putting more power to the ground than your V8, and costing a lot less money to operate daily.
'04 Ford Freestar (Primary tow vehicle) '05 Subaru Forester (Backup tow vehicle) '65 Bethany popup (best popups ever made!) Looking for a tow vehicle Minivan towing
Getting 10mpg while towing with any Dodge gas motor is respectable. you will not get much if any of a difference by looking for something that "may" get better mileage. FWIW we used to have a 97 Dodge conv. van with the 5.9 and 3.90 gear I would get around 7-8 towing 6300lbs and 28FT.
I don`t think trading would be the way to go. if you are going to worry about gas mileage, then you picked the wrong hobby! LOL. stick with what you have, you cannot get the room you have now and will be uncomfortable on the road in anything smaller IMHO!
Wife kim
Son brandon 7yrs
Daughter marissa 6yrs
Dog shadow
07 Cherokee 32B
02 Excursion 4X4 V-10 4.30 gear
Reese HP dualcam,Prodigy brake controller,
Air lift air bags.
Better to have a bad day of
camping than a good day at work!
I have a ford minivan with the same motor as the 4L sporttrac, tt weighs 3500# loaded and I am over joyed with my performance, I lose very little on normal hills and gas mileage can only be expected to be lower(10-15) depending on wind, you won't win any races but if you drive sensibly you will enjoy the ride and the places
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