Towing an open trailer with a F-350....

So I've got a quick question for ye'all.

For those who have towed a 6x10' open trailer with a bike and crap on it (or equiv weight) with a F-350 diesel (or anything that size and diesel) did you notice if your fuel milage went down at all towing it from your normal fuel milage?

 

Oh no, it goes way up. That always happens when you add a load....

 

I feel like I am missing something here...

 

Not necessarily. It depends on how close you are drafting the transfer trucks.

 

Dork.

 

I had an F-350 diesel dually when I first started doing track days and my first year of racing and bought an open eight-foot trailer to haul the R1, a generator, and a canopy, along with a few minor items and I didn’t see a single change in mileage. I did eventually sell the trailer off for something substantially larger after getting laughed at several times for hauling something so small with something so big.
The larger trailer is now for sale if you want something people wont laugh at you for hauling.... hint, hint, hint...

 

That is about the same as what I am towing in a GMC van with a 350 engine. With a bike and equipment on my open trailer, I notice very little decrease in gas mileage or power. An enclosed trailer is a whole different story. With my 7X14 enclosed trailer, it's really noticeable in both fuel consumption and power loss. Your truck should pull an open trailer with no problems.

 

I am trying to figure out why, if you have a pickup, do you need an open trailer haul the bike?

 

Court Jester and 2-Stroke thanks for the info.

 

The trailer was cheaper than the 12-foot ramp he'd needed for the truck?

 

'need' and 'want' are very different.

loading a bike into the bed of a truck gets old really quickly - and I'm betting the suspension on an F350 rides considerably higher than most other trucks out there, adding to the difficulty. a high enough tailgate can make the bike bottom-out if you don't have a really long ramp, or one that arches.

the only time i'd choose to put a bike in the bed of my truck rather than putting it on a trailer is if i knew the tolls were absolutely killer (like driving across PA on 76).

 

It has to be to make easy access to the underneath to fix it.

And trust me, I know about getting a bike in and out of a truck.

 

OK I'll share.

Plans have turned on its head on getting to the GNF. Right now there are only 3 of us going from here and it looks like my truck is going to be the one going.

Now we could take the usual 28' enclosed trailer which will net us 10-11mpg for the 6000 mile round trip.

So I've thought about why not just use a smaller enclosed trailer. Thing is we've used my truck to tow to Vegas in January with my trailer which was a 7x18' and the milage was the same. So this tells me its the wind resistance which was hurting the milage the most. I don't have this trailer anymore as I sold it planning on getting a tow hauler over the winter. I've changed my plans and I'm going to get a 20-24' enclosed trailer next spring/early summer.

But until then I'm tired of putting my bike up into my truck...since I can't find a 10' ramp I have to remove the belly pan each time and not to mention the wear and tear on the gear and bike from having to load it into the truck. So I figured I'd buy a 6x10's open trailer over the winter to haul my bike around. and it'll double as good for yard work crap. And I could tow it with our Subaru Outback if I don't want to pull it with the truck.

So I figure I could just pick up the trailer earlier than I planned on it. Load up the three bikes and gear in the trailer and the bed of the truck (its a long bed so plenty of space in there). Then haul it the 6000 mile trip. If it won't noticably affect my fuel milage from when I have my bike in the back of the truck it makes this idea a reasonable idea as it'll save us an estimated $600 in fuel.

 

Damn I need to type faster....

 

Come on Sunshine, you asked the question. Who's your kind of man

 

Sometimes you are hauling more than just the bike itself.

 

I did the same thing back in the wonderful rewarding and enjoyable days of my life (racing) with a diesel dualie f350 and a gay little 3-rail trailer.

Sorry I can't help you on the mileage thing because I never paid attention to it. I just know my truck was faster with a full bed and 2 750's on the trailer than Keith Marshal's completely unladen Avalanche. Haha.

 

I use my fathers 07 F350 diesel all the time to tow my 6x12 enclosed trailer with it FULLY loaded down and the truck just laughs at me the whole way. Fuel mileage hasn't changed a bit, but he does have the hypertech programmer. On stage 3 right now it is averaging 21.6mpg.

 

Calculated with a calculator or looking at the dash cause my 04 gets 16mpg on the highway.

 

That's gotta be the funniest response I've read in quite a long time. Thanks.