Envy...

Freelheeler

Freelheeler

Advanced Member
Joined
Sep 2, 2009
Messages
95
Location
Gardiner, MT
It's been a hell of a year since i purchased my camper (eagle) and setup my truck (03 tundra access cab) I've gone through 2 knee surgery's, followed by a ski season ending fall which torqued the crap out of one of my new ACL's. So yes it's official I'm getting old, and a little more attuned to the creature comforts.

My setup has been great when we could use it, but than i crawled inside a newer hawk and than i saw a dodge power wagon. Not that i want to afford either but man that would be a great setup (i know dodge advises against slide in camper in the power wagon, but) who has them? i'm not a dodge guy or a domestic truck guy but man it'd be an impressive setup if the truck would hold up! it sounds like there a 'soft' suspension-ed 3/4 ton with heavy duty drive train, w factory lockers and the works! I got to think airbags or a helper spring and you're set!

So for you dodge guys what sort of 'real' mileage are you getting with the hemi loaded with a camper. what sort of problems are most common. and is there a market for a used 'setup' tundra with camper? what's a fair price?
 
I can't answer your questions, but glad you asked them. I'm kind of a die hard Ford guy, but I'm pretty into the Power Wagon. I've been looking at them for a few years, and drooled over one at the Toronto Int Auto Show this year. I'll be watching this thread to see if anyone can chime in. Would be a really nice looking setup, albeit a bit of a high step to get into the camper!
 
Most slide in campers are twice the weight and the statement from Dodge might be slanted to that assumption. I would look at the payload rating of the PowerWagon and stay within it and not worry about it. With the long travel suspension on the PowerWagon putting airbags on might require limit straps or the long travel version (from Carly?). I think I read an article on Truck Camper Magazine site about a camper on a Powerwagon.

I just took off my airbags and rear sway bar to get the most offroad performance and not rip an airbag. Do not need them anymore. Had a full size 8ft camper on my RAM 2500 until 2 months ago.
 
Mike (I believe his login is Bajaexplorer) has a nicely setup powerwagon with a hawk camper on it. I know he added the carli long travel airbags, but I believe he has left pretty much everything else stock.

The other option depending how much of the "powerwagon" setup you need is to put a lorenz, carli or kore suspension on a regular 2500/3500 truck.

I run the lorenz suspension w/ the carli airbags on my 2500 as I wanted the Cummins rather than the hemi.
 
Mike (I believe his login is Bajaexplorer) has a nicely setup powerwagon with a hawk camper on it. I know he added the carli long travel airbags, but I believe he has left pretty much everything else stock.

The other option depending how much of the "powerwagon" setup you need is to put a lorenz, carli or kore suspension on a regular 2500/3500 truck.

I run the lorenz suspension w/ the carli airbags on my 2500 as I wanted the Cummins rather than the hemi.



yeah your setup is pretty nice, i've been reading up on the 03-04.5 CTD's and they sound like the dodge to buy. what sort of MPG are you getting with the hawk, and what size tires?

my situation is such that i really don't need the CTD but would like one if i could find a good deal, i'd be paying the extra for the mpg not necessarily because i need the extra torque and towing. the initial cost and 50cents more per gallon for diesel make me think. i was figuring if folks are seeing real mpg of say 15-17 with the hemi with a manual i'd be set well at least for a few more years.

i'd also thought a std 2500 quad cab with 3.73 gears, hemi plus a manual would work. i think the PW has 4.56 gears which would be okay but i'd take a few more mpg's for a higher gear ratio. i don't necessarily see myself 'rock' crawling too much but definitely tons of backcountry roads a FS road exploring. it needs to be robust but not over kill.

The wife is not totally into an upgraded rig but she's still talking too me!
 
Here is my post from another thread regarding full size 3/4 ton GAS trucks. Of course this is comparing older gas trucks to pre emissions Diesels. I'm not sure if the difference in fuel mileage is as great on the newer trucks. That said, if I was looking at buying a new truck today I would seriously consider the new Ford F150.







I just got back from a trip from Sacramento to Portland and back, 1150 miles on I-5

I was driving a company truck, an 05 Dodge quad cab 4x4 with the Hemi, Auto, 4.10 gears. Driving 60-70 mph it averaged about 11-12 mpg. The same truck towing a 5,000# tractor on a trailer weighing about 2,000# got about 6-7 mpg going from Sacramento to Redding. I wouldn't own one.

I just went from a 2000 Chevy 1/2 ton 2wd silverado that got about 18 mpg to a 2002 f350 4x4 7.3 diesel that gets about 17 mpg. I really didn't need a 3/4 ton diesel but I covinced myself I needed it, my reasoning was that I didn't want/couldn't afford a newer diesel with all of the new emissions equipment and if I was going to get an older one I wanted to find a clean one with fairly low milage before they all get Beaten, Hacked up, Jacked up or Smokestacked up

If you are worried about milage get a 1/2 ton, if you want milage and 3/4 ton, get diesel.
 
I have the 6spd manual and 315 70 17 BFG ATs and 3.73 gears. I average about 19 mpg over city and highway miles. Traffic isn't usually terrible in Tucson, so I think my city mileage is better than most and our highway speed limits are 75 in AZ, so my highway mileage is probably a little lower than most. Towing the Jeep or carrying the camper, I seem to drop to about 16 mpg. I have yet to tow the Jeep with the camper on the truck, but I suspect mileage would drop to the 14 or 15 mpg range.

Something else to keep in mind if you go with a manual is that you can get away with a higher gear ratio, lower numerically because of the granny low 1st gear. My Dodge has a crawl ratio almost equal to my Jeep with a 4:1 transfer case and 4.10 gears because of the Dodge's 6.xx:1 first gear. So while I don't use the Dodge for rockcrawling by any means, you can certainly have a good level of control offroad. Another advantage that I have been reminded of now that I have a gasser as my daily driver again is the range that is provided by Diesels. It is so nice to go for 500+ miles without a fillup vs. the 300 or so that a gasser gets.

I think it is tough to make a financial justification by the monthly or per mile cost, but if you consider longevity of the vehicle and resale, I think it makes a bigger difference. Also, once you drive a Diesel and get the "bug" you won't ever go back (or you will regret it if you do!) My next vehicle will again be a Diesel... I still just can't believe that we don't have better acceptance/availability of Diesels in the US.
 
I just did a 500 mile round trip this weekend from Seattle over the pass to eastern WA. 2005 RAM 2500 Hemi 3.73, LT265/70R-17 tires (stock) with 69K miles on it, mid grade fuel, Grandby with 20 Gallons water, loaded with 2 people's offroad motorcycle riding gear and food, ice chests, tools, and towing my 600lb trailer with 600lbs of bikes and 100lb of parts/wheels.

I got 11.1mpg eastbound and 11.5 westbound (actual, not indicated which is 0.5 more). With my last full size camper adding the MC trailer resulted in a 1mpg loss. Assuming this to be true still, I got 12 to 12.5mpg freeway all loaded up. Gas was $3.95 for mid grade today in Ellensburg Shell. $120 for the fillup.

I plan to put some 285 AT tires on the stock rims later in summer. Might spring for a Diablo Predator perf tuner to calibrate and adjust the shift points and select regular grade fuel. I find I am running too high RPM in tow/haul mode and hunting too much in regular mode. I don't think 4th gear is hardly every used in tow/haul mode, very rare to see it. Hopefully I can change that and probably improve my mileage a bit more by not running level ground at 3K RPM at 70MPH (in tow/haul). Normal mode I am at 2000 RPM at 70mph. Also I run regular grade fuel for normal driving and even most towing/loads. I spring for the midgrade once in a while.

2011%20Desert%20100%20from%20K7MDL%20(24).jpg
 
Thanks guys these are the 'real' life experiences i'm looking for. to summarize in simple math...

-hemi with camper gets roughly 12-13 mpg
+CTD with camper gets about 17-18 mpg

I'll assume both trucks have 30 gal fuel tanks
-gas $3.69/gal= $111, 360 miles (12 mpg)
+diesel $4.39/gal= $132, 510 miles (17 mpg)

So to drive 360 miles
-gas @ $3.69/gal= $111, 30 gal, (12 mpg)
+diesel @ $4.39/gal= $93, 21.2 gal, (17 mpg)

For the Gas and Diesel to equal out, diesel would need to be $1.55/gal more than gas
-gas @ $3.69/gal
-diesel @ $5.24/gal

So at these prices if you average 15,000/year for 5yrs, and of course the longer you keep your truck and the more miles you drive the better diesel pencils out.
-gas= 1,250 gal @ $3.69= $4,613/ year, over 5yrs= $23,065, 10 yrs= $46,130
+diesel= 883 gal @ $4.39= $3,876/ year, over 5yrs= $19,380, 10 yrs= $38,760

In essence if you plan to keep a truck 5yrs you could spend up to an extra $4,000 for the diesel and come out the same, not to mention the higher resale of the diesel???

KBB retail pricing (70,000 miles, 4x4, manual 6spd)
2004 Dodge Ram 2500 Quad Cab SLT Pickup 4D 6 1/4 ft= $18,000 (gas), $23,500 (CTD)
2003 Dodge Ram 2500 Quad Cab SLT Pickup 4D 6 1/4 ft= $21,000 (ctd)
 
I have a Dodge Cummins, 6 speed manual, 4x4. With an ATC I get 17 to 19 mpg, depending on if I am driving 75 or keeping it down to 60 or 65.

Gearing is so frickin' low that I never get stuck on any roads including a fair amount of rocks and ledges.

I would highly recommend diesel. Nobody ever goes back.
 
yeah its pretty easy to talk yourself out of a new truck that gets 11-13 mpg when gas is what it is and headn upwards, i was really hoping folks were seeing 15-17 with the hemi's, but so is life. my tundra gets about 12-13 (winter)mpg with the eagle on and for some reason i've kept it on all year? i suppose a mix of not wanting to deal and the convenience of having it accessible. The best i've done with the tundra is 19 mpg with just the topper. so if we upgrade trucks i'd like better economy and a beefer setup, thus the PW if only it was diesel, how many times has that been said.

the good news is you can pretty much build a 2500 4x4 quad diesel short bed to PW specs, and do i really need the dual lockers. 17-19 is pretty freakn sweet economy for such a big rig, my other hangup is the domestic market trucks and perception of poor reliability, i've been a toyota guy and mid size truck believer true and through even though i've had a few problems and realize they're not the most economical vehicles. i suppose i need to go drive a few rigs and see...

what sort of economy are the ford power-strokes getting with campers?
 
my other hangup is the domestic market trucks and perception of poor reliability, i've been a toyota guy and mid size truck believer true and through even though i've had a few problems and realize they're not the most economical vehicles. i suppose i need to go drive a few rigs and see...

I have had absolutely zero problems with my 2006 Dodge Cummins. I think the USA trucks have become much more reliable and at the same time the Japanese trucks have gone down, possible to a level now lower than the reliability of the domestics.

Coming in possibly 2012 is a Jeep Wrangler Pickup with diesel. If we get lucky it will have a better payload than the rice burners, add to that something like 25 to 28 mpg, and you may have your new rig with an ATC Bobcat.
 
Coming in possibly 2012 is a Jeep Wrangler Pickup with diesel.


Along with the 2010 Ford Ranger diesel, the 2011 F150 diesel, etc. etc.... :rolleyes:

I'm crossing my fingers for more midsize/fullsize diesels in our market, but I gave up holding my breath 2 truck purchases ago.

Having said that, not a stretch to think Jeep would make something like the AEV Brute kit. Sweet rig.
 
According to this, it'll be 2013.

http://motorcitymusclecars.com/2011/02/01/jeep-gladiator-4-door-pickup-truck-coming-in-2013/



but this says 2012...

http://carreleasedates.com/2012-jeep-gladiator-release-date



Whichever it is, it certainly doesn't appear to have a diesel under the hood. The 4.0 I6 I had in my old Wrangler and XJ was a sweet and torquey motor, but I can't even imagine the mpg with a camper! I'm sure they get better mileage with the new V6 but I doubt it's any good (mpg-wise) for hauling a camper down the highway.

I think we're officially off-topic now :D
 
yes off topic but very interesting... i think we all could agree a tundra size truck that gets 26-28 mpg would be a very popular but the reality of such a beast is unlikely. hell my commuter car only gets 26 mpg during the winter so anyhow...
 
I was in Nicaragua earlier in the year for a month and rented a Hilux D4D 2.5l turbo diesel. If I could get one here I'd do it in a heartbeat! The 5 speed manual was awesome, and it just barely sipped the diesel. I've read it does between 27-34mpg, can't find much about the payload but I imagine it's decent the frame is bombproof.
 
I've had my 5-speed manual, 3.54 rear end, first gen 1991 CTD since new. It is rated at 160 hp and 400ft-lb torque so it is about half the power rating of todays diesels but it gets fantastic fuel economy for a 4x4 and carries my estimated 1400lb Phoenix camper with ease.

Empty it gets 26mpg (combined city, mountain, highway) but that is an Imperial gallon so in smaller US gallons it gets about 22mpg.

Pulling a 8400lb 5th wheel trailer thru the mountains it gets 18-20mpg. Again this is the larger Imperial gal so in US gallons i guess it would be 14-15 mpg in US gallons.

A used first gen CTD in western Canada sells for about 3 times the same year domestic gas powered truck.
 
I have good mileage luck with my 2006 CTD. Empty, if I can keep it at only 60 mph, I can do 22 to 23 mpg as I just did last week on a trip which included some long grades. With an ATC Ocelot, at 60 to 65 mph I can do 18 to 19 mpg. As soon as I speed up to 70, it drops to 16 to 17 mpg.
 
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