gas mileage | RTT vs trailer tent?

[[DO]Ron]

No idea if this question has come by before. But I was just watching a YouTube movie of a bunch of people out camping, few with a RTT and few with trailers with tents or even towing campers..

So I then thought, what would be more fuel efficient? Towing a trailer with a tent (RTT?) or having a RTT on the roof of the vehicle.. No idea if towing something actually gives less drag then having a RTT on the roof, having just a RTT saves the weight of the whole trailer I guess..

Anybody actually knows?

 

[theheineken]

I think the trailer itself will make quite a bit of difference. With my 4Runner, I'll average 16 mpg at 70 mph. With the RTT on top I'll get 13.5-14 mpg. With the trailer in tow I get 11.5-12 mpg.

Another big factor is that when we're in the hills pulling the trailer I'm running in 4th, not OD. When I can run in OD it hovers just at or above 12 mpg.

 

[vegasjeepguy]

This is a reasonable question, but for some of us there is the additional consideration of additional storage afforded by having a trailer. As a Jeep TJ owner cargo capacity of my vehicle is quite limited and my trailer gives me the capability of carrying all the gear I need and a lot of what I want considering my Yeti cooler virtually fills the back of my Jeep with the backseat in place.

While I take a mileage hit towing my trailer, once on site my mileage returns to "normal" when I drop the trailer. The advantages of having the trailer to set up camp and leave it without having to pack up the RTT every time I move my vehicle far outweighs the additional fuel consumption. I also haven't increased the CG of my lifted Jeep by putting an additional 300 lbs. on the roof in the form of my Tepui Kukenam XL tent. But the final consideration, as I said above, was the additional cargo capacity of the trailer which I don't get by putting a tent on my roof.

 

[vegasjeepguy]

But that said the impact of a roof mounted RTT drops to almost zero when off-road due to the lack of drag because of the slower speeds, but the weight of the trailer is always there.

 

[LandCruiserPhil]

With our RRT or pulling the popup trailer we achieved almost the same MPG. The difference for me was the Land Cruiser handled the popup much better at speed than the RTT.

 

[The other Sean]

With our RRT or pulling the popup trailer we achieved almost the same MPG. The difference for me was the Land Cruiser handled the popup much better at speed than the RTT.

I find the same with my popup on the interstate. It is just a little taller than the top of the truck bed and not really any wider than the truck, so, I don't think I'm pushing any more air than the truck alone.

 

[[DO]Ron]

I can get along with the air resistance, but the weight, doesn't that add up? I got no idea how much LBS something is so I'll take KG.. but a RTT is like 50/60 KG while a trailer is easy 650 to 750 or even more KG..

 

[LandCruiserPhil]

I can get along with the air resistance, but the weight, doesn't that add up? I got no idea how much LBS something is so I'll take KG.. but a RTT is like 50/60 KG while a trailer is easy 650 to 750 or even more KG..

A 350mm x 1200mm air dam on top feels like 650-750 KG or more behind you. ☺

 

[Super Toyota]

No idea if this question has come by before. But I was just watching a YouTube movie of a bunch of people out camping, few with a RTT and few with trailers with tents or even towing campers..

So I then thought, what would be more fuel efficient? Towing a trailer with a tent (RTT?) or having a RTT on the roof of the vehicle.. No idea if towing something actually gives less drag then having a RTT on the roof, having just a RTT saves the weight of the whole trailer I guess..

Anybody actually knows?

Will it fit in your garage with the RTT 2017 TRD off road 4 runner -1 mpg when towing small jumping jack trailer

 

[The other Sean]

I can get along with the air resistance, but the weight, doesn't that add up? I got no idea how much LBS something is so I'll take KG.. but a RTT is like 50/60 KG while a trailer is easy 650 to 750 or even more KG..

Sort of. Once up to speed on the interstate, not as much. getting the extra weight up to speed, yes.

 

[Jeepney]

Seems like rtt or not my gas mileage is the same. It's the roof rack that seems to impact my mileage most.

I can say that the rtt weight makes the weight shifts more pronounced. Not scary but you'll definitely crawl slower to soften the side whipping.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Joey83]

[DO]Ron 1 kg = 2.2 lbs ;)