Tundra guys...we know they are thirsty but what kind of fuel mileage are you getting towing?

[StuckInTheEast]

Wrapping up a 3300 mile trip to and from wyoming for a mostly successful antelope hunt( thats a different story for when I have a real keyboard).
Just for back ground my hunting rig is a 2016 crewmax 5.7l non-flex fuel. It sits on 34.5" tires 18" fuel wheels. Stock gearing c4 front bumper, skid plates a the way back, rock sliders, Dobinson springs with RAS, roof rack, RTT and all aluminum deck Nuthouse bed rack with 20 gal pressurized water tank, 70qt fridge/freezer and 200 Ah of house batteries and solar amongst other bits...long of it short this thing is a tank but rides, drives and handles great for how heavy it is.
Keeping it locked out in 4th and 5th other than down hills my wife and I fully loaded with gear for 2 other folks as well and 3 processed cow elk in tow averaged 11.6mpg round trip on same route to same area of Wyoming ladt year. Alot less back road and 2 track driving that trip.
I didn't think that was too had for a 9k lb 1/2 ton truck.
So this year I took my dad and oldest son out for antelope, same route but pulling 16' all aluminum v-nose enclosed traler with camp gear for a week and pioneer 1000-5 inside as well...I figure about 5k lbs in tow.
We ran 65-75mpg whole way, nasty head/cross wind all through south dakota.
We averaged 7.58mpg. Hand calculated which is surprising close to the dash read out of 7.4mpg.
It may actually be a touch better as thats not accounting for the oversize tires giving lower odometer reading than what was actually traveled.
That being said, it sounds abysmal at face value but not outlandish for what im motivating down the road.
Just curious what you other 2nd Gen 5.7L guys are seeing when towing?
Tire size? Weight in tow? Any gearing changes?

 

[TNHunter18]

I haven’t towed very far but pulling about 4500 lbs in mowers and trailer around town I usually see between 9-10. I don’t have all the weight in aftermarket upgrades so that probably contributes to the lower. Also only on 33 inch tires. Will probably be going to 35s soon though.

I have a 2017 with 5100s on the top setting for reference.

 

[SloppyJ]

My old one would get 12 or so around town and about 8 or 9 hauling my boat. Seems legit. Thats with 35" tires.

 

[Beendare]

A good internet Resource on all of these trucks is "Getty Garage"...he does a towing loop comparing them all. The Fast Lane channel does the same with trucks.

The problem with the new Tundras- I think it's rated the worst engine for reliability with recalls and such. I had the 5.7 and it was bulletproof.


I've had Diesel and gas trucks. The Diesels have an advantage towing by design- they are high torque motors at low RPM.

The truth; All of these new mototrs- Gas and Diesel are designed more for EPA emissions than efficiency and performance. Thats where all of the Climate weinies have taken us.

The new low displacement turbo charged motors can pull a trailer just fine but you can watch your gas gauge move. The Latest Diesels are much better dedicated tow vehicles but nothing will get stellar mileage towing a heavy trailer.

It really comes down to poor mileage with Gas...or dealing with more maintenance on a diesel.

 

[weekender7]

10-12 depending on the load.

 

[aMurderOfCrows]

I’d say that’s pretty good considering all the weight, gas engine and tire size.

 

[Mountain_Life]

Impressive. I don't have a 2nd Gen Tundra so I can't give my input there, but my Ford f150 powerboost gets about double your mileage. All stock with stock size tires, but I can get 12-13mpg pulling a 5k enclosed trailer around town all day for work and when I road trip with it I see 22-24mpg depending on speed. With my cruise at 85 mph all the way across Nebraska on I80 pushing a crosswind I was at 22.4 mpg.

I had the newest generation of Tundra for 80k miles, and got about 15% less on mileage.

 

[Silveroddo]

I'm not a Tundra owner but that seems consistent with those speeds and that weight regardless of the brand of gasser. Trailer aerodynamics play a roll as well. Anything over 65 and especially over 70 is going to kill your MPG's. My best rig was an '01 Chevy 1500 hd with a 6.0 and 373 gears with a pop up pickup camper pulling a single axle 6x12 v nose enclosed trailer. I could do 75 in 4th gear and be cruising around 2200 rpms and get 9-10 mpg's. My big block 8.1 2500hd gets 10 mpg doing 75 mph empty.
From everything I've seen theres no silver bullet to get beyond 7-8.5 mpg towing cross country doing 70-75 unless you go Diesel, and even then talking to buddies pulling regular campers and full width enclosed trailers I'm not that impressed with the numbers I hear.

 

[StuckInTheEast]

I figured it was about on par but curious for input. I expected it was gonna suck but I was vainly optimistic for another mpg or so.
Our last couple tanks east of Iowa getting into flatter ground and more 60-65mph due to traffic and construction netted about 8.5mpg.
Im sure without a head wind and toning speed down to 60-65 we could have managed 8.xx mpg.
Overall the truck did all it was asked.It got worked hard and didn't complain in any way.
I gotta say im contemplating selling this one and using the proceeds to build version 2.0 based on my old 2011 ram 3500 SRW crew cab long bed with a lightweight slide in camper. It barely gets used and only 75k on it so should be solid base.
I know fuel expense will be a wash with diesel costs, but I think for the long haul drives in western terrain with 5-7k lbs in tow it would be a much more pleasant drive...might even be able to use the cruise control!
I love my tundras, but other than payload rating and mpg the only place I feel they lack is the cruise control programming. Its ok stock not pulling anything, but add bigger tires and some weight and its damn near useless, never knows what gear it wants and always kicks down to far and revs too high to try to maintain speed on grades.

 

[BluMtn]

I had a 13 with the factory-dealer installed supercharger (540 hp) and the small fuel tank. On the road I would get about 15 MPG and with the toyhauler I got 6 MPG. So 6x28 meant every 150 miles I was looking for a gas station. As the old adage goes "I could pass everything, but a gas station".

 

[Rock’N Tacos]

8-10 depending on load and head/tail winds

 

[fulldraw1972]

One thing I did was add RAS to the back leaf springs on my 2017 TRD pro.
Without towing it’s added 1.5 miles to the gallon.
Pre RAS while towing my boat. 19’ fiberglass with a 150 Suzuki, 4 batteries roads, tackle electronics etc I average 12 on the highway and 10 on the interstate.
I haven’t towed my boat much since adding the RAS but I know it went up.
The truck now sits slightly above level with boat on and it’s got an 1 1/2” rake to it when nothing hooked up to it.