Gas mileage

[Starbrightsteve]

This is my first post. I now have an Escape fifth wheel pulled by an F-150 with the little 2.7 liter engine. On long trips, 3000 to 5000 miles I get 14.5 to 15 miles per gallon. I’m looking to get an Alaskan. I know I need a heavier duty truck, but all the F-250/350’s have big V-8’s that get 15 mpg empty. I was hoping I could get 15 loaded with the truck camper. Any suggestions from you experienced Alaskan haulers?

 

[popRoid]

Hi Starbrightsteve:

We have a 10ft Alaskan CO on a 2017 F350 Dually Diesel and with the camper loaded here in South Carolina I get 10.9 mpg on average....a bit worse in the winds of Montana and Wyoming. Wish it was better mileage but it is what it is.

Cheers...Lloyd

 

[Espresso]

I was heading back from Moab in late September and I stopped in Crescent Junction for gas. Next to me was a guy filling up his giant motor home. I asked him what kind of mileage he gets and he said, "Nine". It didn't matter if it was just him or his whole family, if he was towing, etc. It was 9 MPG.

On a side note, I've wondered about the smaller engines with turbo. It seems the turbo would always be active when towing or carrying a camper. I wonder if the gas mileage ends up being about the same but the stress on the engine is much higher when asking a 4 or 6 cylinder to the do the work of an 8-cylinder engine.

 

[geotrekker]

Well I drive a 2011 XL F350 6.2 gasser single wheel crew cab 4wd with an 8.5 Alaskan CO. Fully loaded the truck averages 12.2 mpg, sometimes a little better sometimes a little worse depending on conditions, but never have reached 15 mpg loaded.

I drive 65 mpg and roll on Cooper AT3s 275/70/18's.

Alaskans are heavy pop-ups, but having owned a soft pop-up Sportsmobile van for many happy camping years I really appreciate the security from the elements the solid side walls the Alaskan provides.

You are thinking correct that you need a heavier capacity truck to haul your future Alaskan or any slide in camper. A "1-ton" truck is the way to go - you will have peace of mind that your truck is not over matched going down the road.

I would concur with popRoid: "it is what it is"

Good luck!

 

[Wandering Sagebrush]

This is my first post. I now have an Escape fifth wheel pulled by an F-150 with the little 2.7 liter engine. On long trips, 3000 to 5000 miles I get 14.5 to 15 miles per gallon. I’m looking to get an Alaskan. I know I need a heavier duty truck, but all the F-250/350’s have big V-8’s that get 15 mpg empty. I was hoping I could get 15 loaded with the truck camper. Any suggestions from you experienced Alaskan haulers?

Steve, welcome to Wander the West! We have great members, and it’s a great place to hang out on the web,

We have a 2014 F350 with the 6.7L diesel, carrying a Northern Lite 10.2. Our mileage varies between 11 and 14+ MPG, depending on terrain, weather and speed. The camper weighs approximately 3,300 pounds, and is nearly 12 tall on the truck. Without the camper, we see mileage in the 16 to 19 MPG range. IMO, you should see better results with an Alaskan on a similar truck.

The downside is the initial expense of the diesel. If doing it again, I would look seriously at another F350, but with the 7.3L gas engine, it’s about $8,000 less expensive than the diesel, and has good torque and horsepower ratings.

I have visited the Alaskan factory twice, and my opinion is that it’s well made by a good crew, and perhaps the most comfortable camper I’ve ever been in. For us, it was a toss up between the Alaskan and the Northern Lite. Because of the wood construction (just like any other camper with lots of wood), I would not store it outside for long periods of time.

 

[Beach]

My F250 6.2 (4x4) gets a solid13mpg if I drive 60-65. If I up the rpms past 2k and drive 70+(interstate driving) it drops to 12. Note: I have a 3.73 gear, don't get a higher(numerical) gear than you really need, it will/can have a big impact on mpg. When you crunch the numbers its not as bad as one might think. The difference in cost per year for me if I'm getting 15 mpg or 13 mpg is less than $200 (i average 6k miles per year) if fuel is $3/gal. Which translates to about $20 per trip, not a deal breaker. I camped out of a van(15+ mpg) for years and might go back some day if fuel cost become prohibitive but for now Ill stick with the Hawk.

 

[wcj]

2004 DURAMAX, 8ft cabover Alaskan
12 +- 1 at 75 on interstate
14+- 1 at 60-65 on two lane
Best thing for me about my Alaskan is crosswind, which I deal with constantly.

 

[el_jefe]

99 Dodge diesel 4x4 with an 8' CO, average around 14, which is about 2mpg down from with it off.

 

[Dr.Science]

8 ft CO Alaskan on a 2013 Silverado 2500, gas engine, 12 mpg. It doesn't seem to care if it's got a fully loaded camper or an empty bed, it still gets 12 mpg. And about 9 mpg in 4WD, and something worse in 4W low. But it has no problem at all hauling the Alaskan up tall Rocky Mountain passes at 60 mph. The camper weighs 1500# empty and I figure my total payload is up to 3200#. There are some people who put their Alaskans on a trailer and tow them, in this case you could probably keep your F150 rig and get about the same mileage as with your 5th wheel.

 

[hugho]

I am a newbie with a 1986 CO. I bought it because my 17" RV I built from a cargo trailer yielded 10-12 mpg at 60-65 on a recent trip. My truck is a 97 2500 Cummins with an automatic and 3.55 dif. Empty at the same speed I get 21-22. 10 mpg was awful. I got 10 mpg towing my 26' tiny house so I decided to cut down on weight and air resistance and got an alaskan CO. I have now driven almost 600 miles and couldn't be more pleased. I am averaging 18.4 mpg but that is at 45-65 speeds, mostly 55-60.. I had a marginally comfortable sleeping/porta potti and cooler setup under a shell flush with the roof and got 20+ with 500-700 lbs of gear.

 

[Aquadoc]

I have a 16Duramax 2500. With my 30’ FR I get about 10pm loaded. With my Palomino SS1200 8.5’ Popup, I was getting 9mpg ish. With my 8.5’ CO I’m getting about 12mpg. My typical drive with the campers was OLY-SEA. So typically 50-65MPH maybe 1000’ of elevation change during the route. With the tow behind it could be over 5k’ passes and loaded for camping with 4 people.

 

[Lighthawk]

We just returned from Benton with a 500 mile round trip at 12.6mpg. I've seen 14mpg when I stay at 65mph or less.
3500 6.4l gasser with Hawk and two bikes on the back.

 

[Starbrightsteve]

Well just before Thanksgiving I found an Alaskan in Arizona. It was a 2020, 8.5’ and the owner said it had every option that Alaskan offered. I asked how much it weighed and the owner sent me a photo of the ID plate and it listed the weight at 2021 pounds. My truck payload is 1990. I am planning to get a truck with more payload but thought I could haul it home with my existing truck. I thought Alaskan weighed campers and had no idea that the weight listed on the ID plate was not even close. Lucky for me the owner didn’t want to wait for me to drive out to Arizona. I was disappointed but as I learned more about camper weights I was glad the sale fell through. I’ve ordered a Hallmark Guanella and now have a truck with a 2700 pound payload and an 8’ bed. I’ll be fine although everyone thinks I need a one ton truck.

 

[hugho]

This is my first post. I now have an Escape fifth wheel pulled by an F-150 with the little 2.7 liter engine. On long trips, 3000 to 5000 miles I get 14.5 to 15 miles per gallon. I’m looking to get an Alaskan. I know I need a heavier duty truck, but all the F-250/350’s have big V-8’s that get 15 mpg empty. I was hoping I could get 15 loaded with the truck camper. Any suggestions from you experienced Alaskan haulers?

We have a early 2000 Alaskan on a 97 3/4 Ton Cummins with a Dana 80 1 ton differential. At 55-60 emptywe get 21-22. With the Alaskan we get 14.5-16 if we keep it under 65. No half ton can carry the over one ton of a heavy Alaskan camper. Overloading PU trucks makes them unsafe at any speed. heavy springs or air bags can take care of the sag but you risk killing the tranny, differentials, transfercase , rear bearings shocks etc.

 

[Starbrightsteve]

Steve, welcome to Wander the West! We have great members, and it’s a great place to hang out on the web,

We have a 2014 F350 with the 6.7L diesel, carrying a Northern Lite 10.2. Our mileage varies between 11 and 14+ MPG, depending on terrain, weather and speed. The camper weighs approximately 3,300 pounds, and is nearly 12 tall on the truck. Without the camper, we see mileage in the 16 to 19 MPG range. IMO, you should see better results with an Alaskan on a similar truck.

The downside is the initial expense of the diesel. If doing it again, I would look seriously at another F350, but with the 7.3L gas engine, it’s about $8,000 less expensive than the diesel, and has good torque and horsepower ratings.

I have visited the Alaskan factory twice, and my opinion is that it’s well made by a good crew, and perhaps the most comfortable camper I’ve ever been in. For us, it was a toss up between the Alaskan and the Northern Lite. Because of the wood construction (just like any other camper with lots of wood), I would not store it outside for long periods of time.

 

[Starbrightsteve]

Well I paid attention to some things that I read and ended up loading a new Hallmark Guanella on an F150 with the heavy payload package and used a set of stabiloads on the rear springs. The folks at Hallmark thought it worked great and so did I for the next 5000 . miles. When I got home I got on some scales an found I was traveling at 800-900 pounds over the gross for the truck. So we traded in a 2023 truck with 9000 miles for a used F350 with 38,000 miles and took somewhat of a beating. We did get 15 mpg with the camper loaded on the F150 but now 13 is the best with the F350 at 60mph. That’s ok . I prefer to drive slower and now with 4000 ponds of payload I don’t have to be constantly concerned about weight.

 

[Wandering Sagebrush]

I’m surprised your mileage is that low, do you have a gas F350? Pulling our travel trailer about 3000+ miles with the New 6.7 diesel, our average was over 15, and at times was at 18.

 

[Vic Harder]

We just did 14,000km on a SW USA road trip. Puma/Grandby on a 2015 Chev one ton with the 6.6 Duramax. I do not drive slow. Our average with this rig is 15.09 mpg (us gallons). And that includes our worst ever tank of fuel, driving at 80 mph in Montana with high winds and hills, we only got 12 mpg. Best ever was just over 20 mpg, 70 mph cruising day.

 

[Starbrightsteve]

Yep, I have a gasser, the 7.3

 

[JaSAn]

I’m surprised your mileage is that low, do you have a gas F350? . . .

That correlates with my experience; Ram 2500 4X4, Grandby: 12.5 mpg on level road with no wind (60 mph). I get about 14.0 with an empty truck. Traveling across the Dakota's I get 10 - 18 mpg depending on wind.