How far can you go?

[ski3pin]

......................... So at 250 miles on a tank it's time to start looking for fuel. At 275 miles I've got a firm grip on the seat, if you know what I mean. Somewhere around 325 miles I'm walking.

well put

 

[Bwht4x4]

I hadn't done the calcs for diesel. In the past I have done them for gasoline. Based on that .00046gal/°F Cf my 35 gallon tank's contained fuel volume will expand ~1/3 of a gallon going from 60°F to 80°F when full. Figure in a factor of safety for extreme circumstances and a 1 gallon free volume isn't unrealistic for my tank size.
To the best of my knowledge the OE's don't make diesel specific fuel tanks for their pick-ups, so the expansion volume of the tank is likely set for gasoline.

I think my money is better spent on a transfer tank as it will yield me more overall capacity. For someone looking for just a little more range it might be worth the trouble, but that assembly of parts could be had for less if you're familiar with industrial plumbing components. I'd use a Dowty seal or a Stat-o-Seal with a AN/JIC bulkhead union inserted from inside the tank.

With my '84 Xcab I've found, after ~100k combined miles, that it's dirt mileage is about the same as it's city mileage. So at 250 miles on a tank it's time to start looking for fuel. At 275 miles I've got a firm grip on the seat, if you know what I mean. Somewhere around 325 miles I'm walking.

I would have preferred a transfer tank or a larger OE tank too, but the costs associated with them is really high. The 3-5 additional gallons I got out of the vent mod along with my decent mpg has given me plenty of range to do everything I want to do. I always take additional diesel with my on hunting trips, but I've never needed it.

 

[Riverrunner]

I get 13-14 mpg on average in mixed driving on trips with camper (highway/gravel/offroad) and I'm able to go about 450 miles before I fill up. I also usually take the time to fill right to lip on the filler neck which ad's another 3.5 gallons. Seems like decent range to me and have never felt the need to carry extra fuel. I usually plan to fill up before I head off the pavement and around here there is a Pacific Pride in most towns.

 

[clikrf8]

2008 Ford F250 Super Duty 4x4 Off road package

2013 Hallmark Ute loaded lightly as possible: 2 people + 1 60# dog, rarely used grey tank and black tank emptied when we can, fresh at about ⅔ full

Mileage: between 10.6 and 11.0 depending on whether we are on paved road or off road, pulling uphill and whether we make frequent stops for rock hounding or photo ops. Just returned from 3 week trip to OR/CA/NV mostly on county or state highways with some freeway (maybe 250+ miles out of 2000) and quite a bit of gravel/rocky/sandy back roads. We truly wander the west. Working on blog so will post TR asap.

Tank capacity: 38 gallons diesel/never gets all the way full

Full Tank range: 420 miles

Oil changed regularly every 3000 miles diesel specific oil sold by NAPA/14 quarts!!!

Just got new tires: 34" rather than 35" Toyo A/T true 10 ply E rated - actually they had around 50 miles on them as previous owner decided he didn't like them. Nubbins still there. Les Schwab knocked about $400 off new. Pays to ask.

Hubby also installed home made air dam for under front bumper. Ford wanted over $100 for OEM although they didn't offer it for 2008.

Just ordered Ranch Hand Sport replacement bumper winch ready: too many near misses with free range cattle and ungulates, also idiots who pull out in front of you or make last minute left hand turns (particularly prevalent along 101 in Oregon). Will add 200#+ to weight less OEM bumper

Hubby is fabricating a hitch mounted angle iron holder for jack which will add some weight.

We will be leaving May 18 for about 3+ weeks down into Utah/Arizona/Nevada/New Mexico doing the same type of driving. I hope that our mileage improves. Surely our communication will as M/T tires were loud on highways so we were always shouting which upsets the dog

 

[Wandering Sagebrush]

After 14+ years with our 2000 F250 7.3L diesel, our overall average is 15.3 mpg. We get about 19+ when empty, with a low of about 11 mpg on climbs and loaded. Probably the worst mileage we get is when the hardside camper is on.

The truck has a 38 gallon tank, and we get a range of around 500+ miles with the Grandby or the Airstream. Empty, it's around 700 miles if the tank is REALLY full. Either way, it's to blasted far for my old sit down to want to go in a single shot. One of my friends subscribes to the 2-2-2 travel methodology. 200 miles max, stay 2 days, or have 2 drinks. That does seem reasonable...

 

[Foy]

2002 F350 4WD single-rear-wheel 7.3 liter diesel, Crew Cab, longbed, auto trans (tried to find a 6-speed when shopping for used in 2004, but they're scarcer than hen's teeth here in the East). Now with +239,000 miles. Have yet to mount the Palomino pop-up camper purchased well-used in late 2012. Have had a heavy fiberglass shell + way too much in the way of tools and gear aboard since 2010. Standard 38 gallon tank. No "chip" or other mods, save for a K&N air filter. I run Rotalla T6 full synthetic oil and Mobil 1 full synthetic ATF. A simple oil and filter change thus runs about $100 even with DIY, and the full ATF pumpout and refill, which consumes 20 qts of ATF, runs just under $200.

Mostly by keeping my speed down in the 70 mph range, or less, I clocked an honest 17.1 mpg on my last summertime trip out West. That was a 7,017 mile round trip and involved about 400 miles of "bombing around" on trails along Montana's Rock Creek and in the Pioneer Range west of Dillon, MT. Ran the A/C some of the way out and all the way back, and 2 of the 4 days of the return trip were in +100 degree weather in the Midwest and Southeast. On that trip, I had a good 1,000 lbs of shell, camping gear, and fishing gear on board. On one tank I reached 570 miles and on another 607 miles. Each day's travel on those tanks involved a steady and big tailwind and no A/C, and with the aforementioned light foot on the skinny pedal. My onboard gauge in those instances was reading 18.5-19.75 mpg, and the volume purchased at fill-up was under 35 gallons, so I had a needle's width still showing.

On lightly-loaded "bombing around" excursions on halfway decent gravel roads, without a lot of climbing, running 40-45 mph keeps my gauge in the 21-23 mpg range. I've never run it enough in that mode to really test the gauge, but it's pretty much spot-on for open highway calculations.

She's an oldie but goodie, and as long as I can keep her, I intend to.

Foy

 

[BillM]

2008 Nissan Frontier 4wd and Eagle shell camper. Just checked my truck log. In May 2010 we did a trip to Death Valley. We drove 333 miles on one tank, mostly on dirt, some 4x4. Filled up in Lone Pine and it took 20.2 gallons in a 21 gallon tank. We had a 5 gallon can in reserve if we needed it. I trip plan at 15mpg and carry at least one 5 gallon can if we are pushing it.