Cargo Trailer and Toppers Questions

[Mouldy]

<p>1) Anybody have any info on your difference in MPG while unloaded highway driving and pulling a CT?<br>(i.e. "My Ford 150 gets 15 on highway w/o CT and 11.5 w/ CT being about 2000lbs")<br><br>2) Info/Thoughts on difference between pulling a CT with a topper vs. no topper (air deflection) and thoughts on 6ft wide truck pulling 6ft wide CT (air deflection again)<br><br>Currently I get about 8.25 pulling my 4000lb travel trailer (7.5ft wide) with no topper driving 60 , 14.25 on the highway driving 60. (98 Dodge Ram w/ 5.9)<br><br>I love the trailer, but it is so grossly inefficient that it bugs me to no end. I feel like I could get all I want/need in a 6x10 or x12. <br><br>I'm guessing that I could bump that up to 10mg by going with a CT. That would be dropping ~2000lbs, adding a high topper (A.R.E. MX, Leer 122, etc.), and going with a 6ft wide CT (my truck is 6ft wide, so in theory, little air drag).<br><br>Think this is a legit mpg estimate?<br><br>By going with a higher topper, that would also give me the option to live in the bed if I want to go to some 4x4 areas which is important to me.<br><br>Any thoughts are appreciated.</p>

 

[owl]

&nbsp;&nbsp; The realistic way to look at this is to decide roughly how many miles a year you are going to be driving. Then do the math and decide if giving up all the amenities of the travel trailer for the cargo trailer is worth it to you. Most folks routinely overestimate the amount of traveling they will do a year ,especially after the first couple of years. You might also be surprised at what the cargo trailer will end up weighing after you load up.

 

[Boonie]

Mouldy, I too am interested in fuel economy numbers for pickup cap/shells pulling trailers. It's funny that the manufacturers, such as A.R.E. and Leer, don't present such numbers. Then again, maybe that's because the gains just aren't that large, so it's better marketing to settle for adjectives ("more aerodynamic") instead of numbers? <br><br>It would affect my decision of buying a 6' or 7' wide cargo trailer if I knew what the effect on fuel economy was. Full size tow vehicles are about 6'2" wide, so it seems that the 6' wide trailers would slipstream better. But HOW MUCH better?!