Average speed while towing

awellis3 · 09-14-2011, 07:41 AM

OK ... calling on the engineers and trip planners!
What is y'all's experience with average speed on a long trip? Not your towing speed but the result of dividing distance by time.
We haven't kept records (but will start) of this on our trips, and I wish I had for use in trip planning.
So... for instance: You're headed out and your TV has a fuel comfort range of, say, 300 mi. Your wife wants to combine the fuel stop with lunch at Cracker Barrel. What time would you leave home to have lunch at noon? What time would you arrive at your campground 275mi. past the Cracker Barrel? That sort of thing.

Hope I'm making sense,
Teach

**PTHutch** · 09-14-2011, 12:53 PM

Hey Teach,

I use an overall average speed of 50-55 mph to estimate the overall time on the road for trips, time to reach a destination, etc. For example a 300 mile trip will take between 5.5 - 6 hrs.
This estimate has been very close to actual for us based on our type of driving / stops.

**Tweety** · 09-14-2011, 03:05 PM

We tow at 60 mph. We used to frequently do a trip to Charlottesville of exactly 300 miles and it was always 6 hours towing or 5 not towing. It always takes us 7 hours to get from our house to Claytor Lake State Park, which is 390 miles. Since we've done those routes many many times I use them to guage how long a similar distance trip will take. For unusual distance trips I will use google maps and just add on a hour for anything over 4 hours. We stop alot.

awellis3 · 09-15-2011, 05:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tweety

We tow at 60 mph. .... We stop alot.

That's us, too. We try to take a stretch break every two hours.
We're headed to Cumberland Gap (from Richmond) in October and will stop at Claytor Lake SP for a day. We plan to stop at Fairy Stone SP on the return trip. I'm trying to keep a day's travel under 250 mi. Hey, this is supposed to be fun, right? Interstate mileage will be limited to I-81 from Roanoke to Bristol on the second travel day. Everything else will be winding country roads.
I'm guessing my average could easily drop below 50mph for the majority of my trip.

Teach

luvrque · 09-16-2011, 03:35 PM

We tow @ 50 to 63 MPH. and keep records of all our trips.
The results of our most recent 26 days of travel are:
307 miles Avg. per day
5.89 Hrs. Avg. per day
This includes stops for gas & lunch.
We leave camp about 9:00 to 9:30 AM and get to the next camp before 4 PM on average.

Billy Milko · 09-20-2011, 12:11 AM

i set my cruise control on 70mph and roll,that of course is interstate driving,i don't know why but 70 just seems good for me with or without the trailer. you guys think i am going to fast?

**Tweety** · 09-20-2011, 05:56 AM

At some point I read that trailer tires are only rated for 60 mph. Whether that's true or not I don't know.

awellis3 · 09-20-2011, 06:48 AM

According to this website, the limit is 65mph.

Trailer Tire Facts - Discount Tire

I'm "in the groove" with my rig around 55-60mph. At this speed, the truck and trailer feel more as "one" and my confidence in my ability to panic stop or emergency maneuver drops off above this speed. This is why, when we plan trips, the old 4-lane, divided US routes with their 55 to 60 mph speed limits are so attractive.

Now I'll hijack my own thread: Do any of youse guys up the tire pressure on your TV when you tow? My truck is supposed to run 32 front, 36 rear psi. as is. Since the OEM tires are designated "P" not "LT," I figgered I'd bump it to 38 - 42 psi. (44 is max. on these tires) while towing with a WD hitch to compensate for the load. What say you?

Teach

mainah · 09-21-2011, 03:04 PM

My Garmin GPS gives me all kinds of info about times, distance, time while stopped, ETA, max speed, ETA. I reset every thing before I start and it pretty much gives me every thing I want to know. Last trip to Canada know of gave me a little shock when I checked my max speed at 78! Guess I better slow down first clue was the poor fuel economy.

henryj · 09-21-2011, 03:19 PM

Teach, I'm with you on the US hwy. We've towed significant mileage on US2, 20, 30 and 50 and I'll take them any day over I90 and 80. The pavement is no worse, and often better; the view is better and gas availability and station access is better too.

For tire pressure, I'd definitely air up to 40, maybe 42. On my previous 1500 with P tires, I always ran at 40 solo or towing. 32 is just too soft on a heavy truck like yours--the tires roll under onto the sidewall in hard turns. Air it up in stages even solo. If you like it then, you'll certainly like it towing.

Henry