Trucks.

[Name Redacted]

I'm not the sort of dude that inflates my mpg numbers cause I love my truck. I have a topper, a Decked shelf that always has stuff in it. Best I've ever done was 21 mpg without the topper and decked doing 55 for a few hours. Some guys say they do better, maybe they do... a guy I work with has the new 2.7 with the 10 spd and his overall averaged is 20. But at the same time, I have two buddies with newer Tundras. One says 16 all the time and the other told me 12 in town and 14 on a really good day. Who knows, I'd take 16 in mine over 13 in that Tundra. I'm skeptical of 16 in a 5.7 Tundra but it would be cool.

I think when there's a Tundra with a 6' bed, crew cab and gets over 20 on average, I'm in.

My FIL just got a brand new F150 FX4 with the V6 3.5 Ecoboost. Extended cab, aluminum body, 6.5 ft bed, and topper. Said he is getting 21 mpg not the hwy. 11 mpg towing a 26' camper. Not bad compared to my 15 mpg I'm getting with a V8 2013 non aluminum with topper and a Roof top tent. He does drive like a grandma and I drive like a bat outta hell sometimes. Of course he paid almost twice what I did so you do the math how long it'll take to recoup that.

If I could get 21 mpg in a full size truck, I might be happy. I do miss the maneuverability and the off road capability of my old Tacoma though. Until I pay a few grand for a lift on the already high F150, I can't really take it into some of the stuff I like to get into without some scraping.

[LHutz Esq]

My tundra 5.7 numbers after 2 years have been fairly consistent 14l/100k highway 20 in town- which I think is between 11 and 16 mpg. I have a topper and rack on at all times. Pulling the 19ft travel trailer loaded to the max- I am down to 26 or about 9mpg. It is what it is it's no Prius.

[iceman]

My '04 Chevy 2500 4x4 gets about 3 gallons to the mile.

[BCMtnHound]

2003 taco with the 3.4 gets consistent 12L/100km (~20mpg) with the sled in the back. The 2015 Chevy with a topper and the 5.3 with AFM turned on gets 13.5L/100km empty, about 24L/100km (~10mpg) pulling a 24' trailer. The tacomas since 2005 make no sense to me for my needs. Too wide for the narrow old grown in backroads, burns more fuel for not much larger payload than my 03.

[frorider]

My Transit 3.2 diesel gets 24 mpg hwy with all season tires and <1000 lb payload, seems to drop to low 20s mpg loaded up but I've never exceeded 2000 lbs yet. Rated to 3500 payload I believe.

[Name Redacted]

Since we are talking fuel efficiency, who's taking bets on how many more years until an electric full sized truck comes out that can go a few hundred miles on a charge?

F150 is the best selling Passenger Vehicle (not just truck) in the world, so it is just a matter of time, but how much time?

[PowerWhore7]

My 2013 Chevy Silverado 2500HD (gas) with a Hawk model 4wheelcamper in the bed gets 12mpg pretty consistantly...

[Name Redacted]

My Transit 3.2 diesel gets 24 mpg hwy with all season tires and <1000 lb payload, seems to drop to low 20s mpg loaded up but I've never exceeded 2000 lbs yet. Rated to 3500 payload I believe.

But that's comparing a diesel van to a gas truck. How far can you get that thing off the beaten path? Clearance, suspension, tire size, drivability are all better in a truck, or we'd all be driving vans....amiright?

[TAFKALVS]

My 2008 F350 with 6.4 Powerstroke ranges between 19 - 27mpg. Depends on how much stop and go traffic I encounter.


My new plow truck. 1974 Jeep J10 with Jeep OEM Myers Snowplow. Was the plow truck for a local sporting goods store since 1983. 49,000 miles and nothing beyond surface rust. Pretty excited to have snagged this thing.

[jackattack]

My Transit 3.2 diesel gets 24 mpg hwy with all season tires and <1000 lb payload, seems to drop to low 20s mpg loaded up but I've never exceeded 2000 lbs yet. Rated to 3500 payload I believe.

4x4?

Add that transfer case and increased ride height and your back down here in the teens with the rest of us.

[frorider]

Driveability is good, better than the ten year old HD diesel pickups I've driven.

Off-road depends on what 4wD u install (2 vs 4 inch lift, etc) but will be inherently inferior to a built up Tacoma or whatever.

The reason so many die hard pickup owners like me are getting unibody vans these days is payload and security (dirt bikes on trips to Baja etc). Anyone doing real towing needs a HD pickup.

The unfortunate trend toward super cushy crew cab mall runner pickups is bloated heavy trucks with ridiculously low bed payload ratings and mediocre mpg.

[Conundrum]

My FIL just got a brand new F150 FX4 with the V6 3.5 Ecoboost. Extended cab, aluminum body, 6.5 ft bed, and topper. Said he is getting 21 mpg not the hwy. 11 mpg towing a 26' camper. Not bad compared to my 15 mpg I'm getting with a V8 2013 non aluminum with topper and a Roof top tent. He does drive like a grandma and I drive like a bat outta hell sometimes. Of course he paid almost twice what I did so you do the math how long it'll take to recoup that.

If I could get 21 mpg in a full size truck, I might be happy. I do miss the maneuverability and the off road capability of my old Tacoma though. Until I pay a few grand for a lift on the already high F150, I can't really take it into some of the stuff I like to get into without some scraping.

When I'm driving like a grandpa (55-65) I get 19 ish. The aluminum body and 10 spd transmission makes sense that he's netting another couple mpg. I'm with you though...$25k over what I get for mine to get a new truck buys a lot of gas. I miss my '00 Taco. If Toyota could go back to a bit smaller Tacoma that got 25ish mpg, I'd buy one. I just don't see the sense in buying a new one for what I do where it's not small, it doesn't get very good mpg, and doesn't tow nearly what a full size half ton will. Seems like Toyota got a little too caught up in 'Merica.

On the van topic, I have an '04 extended body E350 with a 6" lift, 33s, and 4x4 that weighs about 10,500 lbs. I get between 14-16 mpg with a 6.0 diesel. The engine has had a number of upgrades and bulletproofing so I'm guessing that makes a difference.

[El Chupacabra]

My 2013 Chevy Silverado 2500HD (gas) with a Hawk model 4wheelcamper in the bed gets 12mpg pretty consistantly...

That's with the 6-speed automatic, right?

My 2000 GMC Sierra 2500 (gas 6.0, 4L80E 4-spd transmission, 4WD, 4.10 axle gearing, ext cab longbed, stock tire size) with a Northstar TC800 camper gets 10.5-11 consistently. Empty, it only improves to 11.5, maybe 12 if driving slow (55 mph eastern Sierra).

Anecdotally, from what I've seen, the newer ones (like yours) see a decent improvement in MPG when empty. Older ones (like mine) suck down fuel at 10-12 mpg consistently no matter what -- city, hwy, mountain, flat, empty, full.... doesn't seem to make a difference.

[TAFKALVS]

My 2000 GMC Sierra 2500 (gas 6.0, 4L80E 4-spd transmission, 4WD, 4.10 axle gearing, ext cab longbed, stock tire size) with a Northstar TC800 camper gets 10.5-11 consistently. Empty, it only improves to 11.5, maybe 12 if driving slow (55 mph eastern Sierra).

Mine was about the same with the Northstar TC600 I had. Got as high as 15mpg with the truck unloaded. I had 3.73 gears. I think that makes a big difference for highway cruising. With the 8' Bigfoot (weighed about 2500lbs) got a consistent 8-9mpg.

It's kind of mindblowing how much better fuel economy my F350 gets by comparison. Same size fuel tank but I only have to fill it every 2 weeks instead of weekly.

[Telemarketeer]

When I'm driving like a grandpa (55-65) I get 19 ish. The aluminum body and 10 spd transmission makes sense that he's netting another couple mpg. I'm with you though...$25k over what I get for mine to get a new truck buys a lot of gas. I miss my '00 Taco. If Toyota could go back to a bit smaller Tacoma that got 25ish mpg, I'd buy one. I just don't see the sense in buying a new one for what I do where it's not small, it doesn't get very good mpg, and doesn't tow nearly what a full size half ton will. Seems like Toyota got a little too caught up in 'Merica.

On the van topic, I have an '04 extended body E350 with a 6" lift, 33s, and 4x4 that weighs about 10,500 lbs. I get between 14-16 mpg with a 6.0 diesel. The engine has had a number of upgrades and bulletproofing so I'm guessing that makes a difference.

Yeah, my old 98 Taco only got 17 mpg so it is a pretty good trade off. I could lose the RTT and probably match that. New Tacomas are way too big. Imagine what a ecoboost v6 could do in one of those.

[XXX-er]

. If Toyota could go back to a bit smaller Tacoma that got 25ish mpg, I'd buy one. I just don't see the sense in buying a new one for what I do where it's not small, it doesn't get very good mpg, and doesn't tow nearly what a full size half ton will. Seems like Toyota got a little too caught up in 'Merica...

yup they quit making those small PU's cuz america just didnt want them, if you google sales figures for small PUs the production figures dropped thru the floor year after year and you can't import the small trucks cuz of the chicken tax

[Telemarketeer]

Chicken tax? Explain

[jackattack]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicken_tax

[El Chupacabra]

For those lamenting the unavailability of tiny Tacomas, why not just buy a Frontier? Smaller than the 2005+ Tacoma and a lot less expensive.

[bagtagley]

Tacomas grew with Full-Size trucks, and cars and vans and SUVs. Visually, they may look as big as a full-size, but behind the wheel (and actual dimensions), they're noticeably smaller. Payload and mileage aren't great, though.

[PNWbrit]

For those lamenting the unavailability of tiny Tacomas

New Ford Ranger coming soon too.

[Conundrum]

For those lamenting the unavailability of tiny Tacomas, why not just buy a Frontier? Smaller than the 2005+ Tacoma and a lot less expensive.

Unjustifiable brand loyalty in my case.

[gravitylover]

Since we are talking fuel efficiency, who's taking bets on how many more years until an electric full sized truck comes out that can go a few hundred miles on a charge?

F150 is the best selling Passenger Vehicle (not just truck) in the world, so it is just a matter of time, but how much time?

I'd consider an electric truck if the range is there or if the charging network grows sufficiently.

My 2008 F350 with 6.4 Powerstroke ranges between 19 - 27mpg. Depends on how much stop and go traffic I encounter.


My new plow truck. 1974 Jeep J10 with Jeep OEM Myers Snowplow. Was the plow truck for a local sporting goods store since 1983. 49,000 miles and nothing beyond surface rust. Pretty excited to have snagged this thing.

Sweet Jeep! I always liked those J series trucks.

[ncskier]

As the owner of a 2017 superduty with 6.7 diesel I can honestly say it get's the same if not better mileage then the 2003 2.7 4wd tacoma I just picked up. I average 19mpg unloaded in the super duty and 15 around town with stop and go. The tacoma does a steady 16 or so mixed. The Super Duty is 8300lbs the taco is listed at 3300lbs. Miracle of modern engineering if you ask me.

[Telemarketeer]

Because the Nissan would be a POS and resale drops like a rock.