I have owned my truck since late in 04 and up until last weekend I thought it was the greatest thing since HDTV... My "happiness" was destroyed this weekend when I offered to pull my father-in-law's travel trailer from Dallas TX to Shreveport LA. I had been squawkin all week that I was gonna not only pull the trailer easier but with better gas efficiency that his 2002 Chevy Suburban (he recently averaged 8.3 mpg on a long haul). I was dead wrong...

Anyhow the travel trailer is a Dutchman Lite 19' with a rated empty weight of 3600lbs. It didn't have much "supplies" loaded in it but for arguments sake lets say it approximately was at 4000lbs. The truck was carrying 5 adults and no payload cargo.

Observations:

While towing on Interstate I-20 I tried both standard 'D' and standard 'D' with Tow/Haul.

In the standard 'D' gear the engine would cruise at 2400 rpm while at about 57 - 59 mph. If you asked the truck to do anything more the engine would jump to 5400 rpm and stay there until you let off. Typically I could only muster about 64 mph top speed.

In the 'D' with Tow/Haul gear the engine would cruise at 2600 - 3000 rpm at about 62 - 64 mph. Again if I was climbing a hill or needing to pass someone the engine would rev and stay at 4800 - 5000 rpm until Ilet off.

In both modes of 'D' I could not find a sweet spot between the high 2k and sub 4k rpm rangesand I was astounded to find out that there wasn't a "higher gear" at the times when I was at the 5400 rpmrange. I kept waiting for the tranny to shift down to a lower rpm but it never would...

I averaged 150 miles on 23 gallons of gas both coming and going on the trip. There was no head wind or tail wind as there was not any wind of signfigance on that day.


Needless to say I didn't have as much gambling money as I had hoped for due to excessive gas expense.

Im looking for some enlightment from you folks who pull travel trailers often to see if this is true to form for gas mileage... I am shopping around for a travel trailer of my own but feel as if I have no choice but to opt for a pop up camper weighing 2700lbs or less on the account of my trucks limitations......

2004 Dodge Quad Cab ST
4.7L engine with factory towing package
I assume the truck is geared at 3.55 and it is a 4x2
K&N air filter
I serviced the Spark Plugs at 30K Double Platnium Champions
Oil change with 10w30 before trip

 

The gear ratio and smaller engine hurt you the most. I have the 5.7 but a friend of mine has your same setup. He ran into the same rpm woes,so he swapped to a 3.92 rear, now he does much better.

 

Just curiouse but what is the maximum payload a 4.7L can pull?

I wouldn't feel too bad though my friends dad offered to pull our boat a while back with his old ram which I believe had a 5.9l at the time. All together the boatweighed about 8,000 fully loaded/stocked plus myself, my dad, my friend and his little brother tooand we only needed to go about 100 miles to the lake. We stopped in every town at the begining and end of each to fill up plus we had to stop and buy some extra gas containers too so we could fill it up inbetween towns, he was only getting 4.5 - 5mpg!!! Coming back he averaged closer to 6mpg because we were going downhill alot. Since then he upgraded to a CD so he doesn't have that problem any more.

 

It's not just weight either - it's the massive wind resistance created by the shape of what you're pulling. My old truck (92 GMC extd cab 4x4, 350) pulled a 6500lb load (Grand Marquis on a U-Haul trailer) easily on the interstate. It cruised at 65-70 easily and could have gone much faster if I'd been crazy enough to do it. I wasn't able to accelerate all that quickly - 200hp/310tq - but cruising was easy. I was able to use OD on the flat stretches.

Your truck makes similar/more power than my old one but I was hauling an aerodynamic car where you had this big slab of trailer behind you. My old truck once got 9 mpg towing an empty utility trailer yet managed 15 mpg on the return trip with the trailer fully loaded. I surmised that it was becasue the air then flowed over the trailer's gate (expanded steel) rather than getting caught like a parachute.

 

http://www.hilotrailer.com/

Towed a 22' with a '95 dakota 318 4X4 for yearsandgot 14.5 mpg.

 

What about:

www.trailmanor.com

Model 2619 only weighs 2500 lbs and sleeps six.... Ever dealt with those?

How much is a 3.92 rear end going to run me? I am proficient with tools should I call my local salvage yard?

 

Eh, the Dodge Ram with the 4.7L V8 is going to get crappy gas mileage compared to any truck with an actual bigger block V8 like the Tahoe, Silverado, even a Ford while pulling a trailer.

What you forget is that the Ram already weighs a crapload, then you add in 5 people on a puny V8 motor......

A Dakota weighs a good bit less then a Ram, and will definitely get better mpg with the 4.7L

 

Get this one, great paint job!!

http://www.rvtraderonline.com/addetail.html?88387604

 

Gearing would help without a doubt. 3.55's have a hard enough time with just the weight of the truck. 3.92's would be better, but if I was gonna do a swap, I'd go 4.10's.
This is something you SHOULD NOT attempt yourself, no matter how proficient you may be. Good mechanics w/o experience with gears usually won't touch them, and the forums are full of horror stories about people tearing up their whole rear ends.
As you have a 4x2, you only need the rear gears, get a good name brand (motive, precision gear, etc) for about $200 bucks and add an install kit for another $75. I paid $400for the installation of a4.56 rear and front set, plus LSD on my 4x4, at a reputable 4x4 shop who has a mechanic on staff that only does gears, LSD's & Locker set ups, so youshould be able to get a seasoned pro to do your rear end for under $200.
My gas mileage around town actually went up 1-2 mpg, but went down about the same over 70mph on the highway (non-towing).
I just sold my bass boat, but it was about 2700lbs. boat, motor & trailer (w/o gear), and I know was a hell of a lot more aerodynamic than a camper, but my mileage decrease was very small (maybe 2 mpg) when towing it with my Hemi. I used to tow it back & forth from my home in central Fl. to my farm in south Ga. and average mpg w/o the boat was about 15/16 and with the boat in tow was usually 13.5-14, if the trip computer is to be believed. Although my mileage was about the same (towing & non-towing) before I changed from the 3.92's to the 4.56's, the tranny acted like nothing was even back there after the switch.

 

Pulling my 2006 Dutchment 32ft travel trailer I get about 7-10 with Hemi and 3:55s. Once I get my next little car, I will get the 4:10 swap for my gears. I think the camper empty is right around 7k.