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Trip planners for fuel stops? (Towing mileage concern.)

Davexxxx

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Hi all. Still loving my truck. Its a technological marvel and so far, not a whisper of problems.

Reason for the post, is wondering about trip planners that are good at fuel stops.

Reason that is a concern, is the towing mileage, which is less than I was hoping. I see some of you with TTs citing mileage in the 10s. I had one trip sub 8 and never a full trip over 10.

You'd call the terrain, mostly flat-ish. Not coastal flat but no mountains yet.

My TT is a full 8' wide and 11-3 tall, so that could be the difference, because we're talking in the same general neighborhoods for weight (7K).

WDH is dialed in perfectly (WeighSafe and CatScales). Trailer is flat, with a very slight nose down tilt. When towing this load, tires are at 50 psi. (handles much better than the sticker's 35psi)

With this load, always in tow haul. I have the boost gauge showing and have fiddled with locking out gears as it shows boost but I'm not sure its worth the draw from driver's attention. I tried a full tank of premium but thats the one where I got the worst mileage. Generally not faster than 67 mph but I'll probably lower that to 62 and see what the effect is.

So, it is what it is but the problem I'm looking to avoid, is running short on fuel. If its this bad in flattish terrain, the mountains won't be better and with 30 gallons in the tank, IF, I get 8, I need to pre-program in fuel stops, every 200 miles or so. Sometimes less.

The web says google maps will do this but every time I try, it times out with a server error.

I know you can do it along the way (on the built in Ford system too) but I'd rather have an idea in advance, so I don't get caught. Something I could do the night before the next day's drive.

How do you guys handle this?
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UGADawg96

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I map out the route using a combination of Google maps and a Garmin RV890 GPS. I look for Pilots/FlyingJs along the route (or buccees or other trucks stops) and plan for 2-2.5hr chunks for stops for both fuel and stretch/RR breaks. Then will look at the aerial view to make sure they look good. Once identified, save the locations both in Google maps and on the GPS.
 
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Davexxxx

Davexxxx

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I found RV Trip Wizard and it looks to do what I want and plenty more and there is a free app, Truck Map.

Both are customizable for height, width and weight of the load and Trip wizard will preprogram the fuel stops as I desire. Truck Map seems pretty clunky on the phone but much more stable on a PC. It did choose a different route on a trip I'm planning than Google. TM wanted me to stay on the interstate longer.
 

PaulGrun

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Hi all. Still loving my truck. Its a technological marvel and so far, not a whisper of problems.

Reason for the post, is wondering about trip planners that are good at fuel stops.

Reason that is a concern, is the towing mileage, which is less than I was hoping. I see some of you with TTs citing mileage in the 10s. I had one trip sub 8 and never a full trip over 10.

You'd call the terrain, mostly flat-ish. Not coastal flat but no mountains yet.

My TT is a full 8' wide and 11-3 tall, so that could be the difference, because we're talking in the same general neighborhoods for weight (7K).

WDH is dialed in perfectly (WeighSafe and CatScales). Trailer is flat, with a very slight nose down tilt. When towing this load, tires are at 50 psi. (handles much better than the sticker's 35psi)

With this load, always in tow haul. I have the boost gauge showing and have fiddled with locking out gears as it shows boost but I'm not sure its worth the draw from driver's attention. I tried a full tank of premium but thats the one where I got the worst mileage. Generally not faster than 67 mph but I'll probably lower that to 62 and see what the effect is.

So, it is what it is but the problem I'm looking to avoid, is running short on fuel. If its this bad in flattish terrain, the mountains won't be better and with 30 gallons in the tank, IF, I get 8, I need to pre-program in fuel stops, every 200 miles or so. Sometimes less.

The web says google maps will do this but every time I try, it times out with a server error.

I know you can do it along the way (on the built in Ford system too) but I'd rather have an idea in advance, so I don't get caught. Something I could do the night before the next day's drive.

How do you guys handle this?
There are a couple of truckers’ versions of Google maps that might help you. We used one while towing a teardrop because Google maps kept routing us onto routes that prohibit trailers, e.g. the Merritt Parkway in CT.
In the RV world there are some fairly usable trip planning tools that may be helpful. We use Roadtrippers.
 

Gros Ventre

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Read Ford's info page on towing. There is a limit on the square footage of the towed trailer. As to fuel requirements, speed makes a difference. The air resistance is a cubic function, so if you double the speed, say 40 to 80 (Interstate speed limits in Wyoming are 80) the power required goes up by a factor of 8. Mountainous terrain may not be the onerous load you think. I found on an Escape Hybrid that loaded towing MPG improved in rolling terrain since the regen rate was better on the downhills. I have yet to test this on my PB. What I have noted is an open top U-Haul trailer with a light load still sucks the gas because of that big ramp sticking up in the airflow.
 

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cghall77

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For any of our longer trips we use the CAA website for planning. We do that for trips with and without trailer. Not sure if AAA has the same. Think it was call triptik. GasBuddy is also pretty good with planning the trip with gas stops.
 
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Davexxxx

Davexxxx

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For any of our longer trips we use the CAA website for planning. We do that for trips with and without trailer. Not sure if AAA has the same. Think it was call triptik. GasBuddy is also pretty good with planning the trip with gas stops.
Back in the day, I'd used TripTicks before and I used to have an MSFT mapping program to print out paper maps, that you could pre program in fuel stops along the route.

I'll take a look at gas buddy but I really need whatever I choose, to be able to consider the trailer dimensions.

Without the towing mileage hit, with a nearly 600 mile range, its a non issue and can just let Google, or Ford Nav handle it.
 

powerboatr

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we use in our bus, that gets 6.5 to 7 at 65 mph
i use its garmin and it does not let you see to plan fuel, but does let you see fuel stations...its not even perfect
it holds 100 gallons, i use 4 to 5 hrs drive time and or 300 to 400 miles as NEXT fuel look
i use google maps to plan route and then break it down into the hrs chunks and look at those cities
i use loves, bucc ees and ta truck , murphys stop apps to see what they have and where
i have found over the years that larger fuel stops are in the 250 to 350 mile range, with some like loves and t/a are closer.

so your looking at 10 mpg
i would use that as a good gauge and say 3 hrs is 195 to 250 as miles between stops that leaves you about a 50 mile cushion on the high end.

if your going to be more hilly, then 180 to 220

i have found also on google maps, patience is a virtue but zoom in at those mile intervals and see whats there for fuel

your nav system in truck will display fuel stations, but again with trailers make a difference and the trailer tow setting in navigation is better, but still it uses info given to it...i have seen stations called large for rvs to be actually a single pump impossible driveway.

then i >>>>>>>print my route so i have quick reference as driving
 

redline

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I just carry a jerry can with me when travelling into the unknown … the powerboost has the small tank but with the Extended tank , i can easily go 4 hours pulling the trailer in the mountains.

good luck and enjoy
 

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I do what a few others above have said, and plan to stop every 200-250 miles or so. You may be able to plan ahead before you leave, but if you're traveling for multiple days in a row, things can quickly get sideways with your planning (e.g., there's a huge wreck on the highway and causes you to detour or sit in traffic for hours, which quickly throws off your whole perfectly-planned schedule). I always have ways of planning on the fly, though it helps that my wife is a good navigator to find the good spots.

If you have good cell service, Google/Apple maps is your friend; the satellite view and street view will help see the orientation of the gas pumps before you get there, for instance. There may be a gas station at the exit you want, but depending upon how the gas pumps are oriented, it's often difficult to get in and out of some stations with a giant trailer attached. We usually start looking at gas options when the truck says we have 50-75 miles to empty (depending on frequency of gas stations in the area of the country you are in).

If you're in an area with unreliable cell service, we've found the annual Next Exit book to be an invaluable purchase. I think that you can still buy these at many RV sales/service stores like Camping World, but it looks like you can also find it on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Next-Exit-2023-Interstate-Highway/dp/B0BXGJJ1DB/ref=sr_1_1?qid=1703966773&refinements=p_27:the+Next+EXIT+inc&s=books&sr=1-1&text=the+Next+EXIT+inc It doesn't have quite the fidelity that Street View might give you, but it's written with RVers in mind, and we haven't had it steer us wrong yet.

Edit: while I'm thinking about it, another couple of books that we always carry with us on extended trips are the two Mountain Directory books, which describe the conditions of many mountain passes from a Trucker's/RVer's perspective. Looks like you can get them from Amazon as well (https://www.amazon.com/Mountain-Dir...refix=mountain+directory,stripbooks,78&sr=1-1), but you'll probably get the most up-to-date version directly from the publisher (https://mountaindirectory.com/).
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