Towing and Gas Mileage

[Mark Hofman]

I turned the overdrive off this weekend for our trip to Kinkaid Lake in Southern Illinois. It did make a difference in both the gas mileage (went up from 10.2 to an even 11) and the pulling power. Thanks for the recommendation to go without the overdrive, guys!



MO

 

[Scott S.]

MOFish I would like to hear about your trip to Kinkaid, Where you stayed, Boat Ramp Location in relation to where you stayed? Boat Ramp Condition, and a few details about the lake.. is it Propeller safe in many areas? I am planning on heading down there in Early November for Muskies. Thanx, Scott

 

[Scott S.]

As for towing and Gas Mileage.. I recently pullud my 17 foot Deep V Lund with 115 4 Stroke, loaded up with gear..I would estimate 3200lbs trailered weight from Chicago To Wisconsin.. I can use OD, tow at 2000-2200 RPM at 70-72 MPH and get 13-14 mpg with a 99 Suburban 4x4 with 5.7 engine and 373 axle... I tried the second half of the trip with a 99 Dodge Ram 4x4 Extended Cab with 5.9 Engine and 392 gears.. I figured the Lighter Ram would holdits own in Overdrive but it struggled way to much..Had to use "D" at 3000 RPM to achieve this speed or else slow down.. The clear winner was the Suburban. Both motors have equal horsepower ratings too.

 

[Mark Hofman]

Scott:



We didn't stay overnight, but if we did I have an aunt and uncle in Murphysboro. So I'm no help there.



Ramps are great, especially the first ramp access coming in on Marina Road from Illinois 149. Five lanes, courtesy docks, prep and recovery areas and lots of parking. The lake is more than 25 feet deep in most areas. I've got a topo map and I'll check it to see if there are areas to avoid, but we didn't have any problems with depth whatsoever.



My Dodge will do just fine in overdrive, but the mileage was abysmal. Someone (JimB?) recommended taking the OD off to see if the milage would improve (it did), and to save a bit of wear and tear on the transmission. It was good advice. The 5.7 HEMI is a powerful engine; just gas thirsty. With the OD off, I was turning 2500-2600 rpms.

 

[Scott Hammer TOXIC]

What am I missing here??? You turn the OD off, increasing your rpms and you get better mpg.....? How can that be?



TOXIC

 

[Michael Snow]

Toxic, it's because the motor wasn't lugging. I get as good of gas mileage from my 5.3l Chevy that I got from my 4.3l Chevy. It has to do with how far the accellerator is pushed. Also, when having to downshift to compensate for lugging, the RPMS can go way up for longer periods of time, trying to compensate for having too big of a gear, elephant man.

 

[TOMMY RICH]

Depends...on my 94' Silverado and towing my 185...if I drive say under 60 MPH ..I get good gas mileage in Drive. If I'm in overdrive and under 70 and not going up and down hills...I'll get maybe a little better. Seems the Chevys can tow a little better in OD...not saying I recommend it per say...just depends on how heavy your rig is. Mine is under 200 lbs. so it's not an issue...

TEE

 

[David Hunt]

Tee-



Your rig is under 200 lbs?? Do you have a toy model you tow. I hope you meant under 2,000 lbs.



david....

 

[TOMMY RICH]

Ooops..yep...meant 2000.

 

[Jim B]

Tox like the guys said its the lugging in od that causes the mileage difference. What happens is in od you have to press the throttle more to maintain speed and more air let in means more gas too. my truck in thrid is can tow at 65 barely having to hit the gas to climb anything. in od my dakota gets like 11-12 towing in drive it shoots up to 13-14.



Btw lugging the motor is also harder on the motors bottom end. letting it rev a little bit and running free is much better then luggin it anyday.

 

[Mark Hofman]

Scott (Esox):



Looking at the topo map, as long as you stay in the middle of the lake you'll be fine except for a couple of areas. There's one spot with a semi-submerged bridge, but you'll see it so it shouldn't be a problem. And, at the upper end of the lake there are a couple of submerged humps that come up within two or three feet of the surface. But the surrounding area is only five to eight feet deep and I wouldn't run WOT through it anyway because of possible flats and sandbars.



There were places where we would be only ten or fifteen feet way from the bank and we'd be sitting in seventeen or eighteen feet of water.



You can access the lake from either the upper end (Johnson's Creek access off of Illinois 151) or the lower end (four different ramps near the marina). Like I said, the ramp we used was excellent, protected from waves and wakes by a nice breakwater and close to the main channel.



It's not an overly large lake and less inclined to suffer from wind, whitecaps and big boats than other lakes in southern Illinois (notably Rend and Crab Orchard). I think you'll be impressed.



There are campgrounds in the area, and you could probably find reasonable hotels either in Murphysboro or Carbondale. As far as I know, there are no resorts lakeside. The marina and the semi-submerged bridge are really the only man-made structures/features around besides the dam.