As a senior citizen on fixed income and an ardent RVer, I am on a quest to gain the best milage from my RV. I have a 1997 Coachmen 23’ Catalina (class C) powered by a Ford V10 engine. I have taken care to have the engine, tires and vehicle well maintained and in tiptop condition and consistenly get …

You are doing well with what you have. Don’t try any of the gimmicky things like air filters and what not. They will either not help or not help enough to recoup the purchase price in mpg difference. The only other option to improve mileage is to get a diesel rig, but those come with drawbacks of…

If you want to get a little better mileage, cruise just above the shift point to overdrive. You need to have enough RPMs to avoid lugging, yet not enough to use too much gas. About 300 to 500 RPMs over the shift point should be fine. If you find the RV hunting for gears, you need to increase your …

If you have a large clutch fan on your engine I would swap it out for a “flex” fan. It will slightly improve your fuel economy but don’t expect much because you have a V-10. The flex fan will also make it quieter in the cab. All the previous comments are right on the mark especially the advice about…

Thank you for your comments and suggestions folks. I guess it was unrealistic to hope for a “silver bullet” solution but I thought I would give it a try. I am concerned about get rear-ended if I get too slow. Thought I would put up a slow moving vehicle sign or flashers to warn others. thanks again…

I might look into one step past Missileman’s flex fan idea - I wonder if an electric fan setup might help some. You might check out some RV forums, but be warned that scammers sometimes pose as owners to advertise.

Texases brought up a very good point that I should have expounded on. The electric fan will also work in conjunction with the flex fan if you decide to do that. If you travel in the desert at all then having both would keep the engine from possibly overheating.

If you are getting 10 - 11 mpg from a 23 footer, I would say that is doing quite well. We owned a 26 foot Class C motorhome with a 460 Ford for about 10 years and a 25 footer with a Dodge 360 for a year before that and got about 8 - 9 mpg with both. Slowing to 55 will result in better fuel mileag…

The only other thing you can donis add a secondary overdrive unit. However the cost involved would be tough to get back in mpg. You can see if any of the programmers out there can get more mpg out if a v10, but all and all as other have said i think it’s a loosing battle.

I think you are doing very well. What is the rpm at 60 mph, and 55 mph? Reducing speed will help reduce the substantial wind resistance due to your “big boxy” RV shape. But too slow a speed will just involve more downshifts, and staying in the highest gear as much as you can is a big factor too. …

Squeezing the best mpg from a RV

Maintenance/Repairs

jtsanders March 12, 2012, 1:06am 8

@Minnemike, have you seen the bumper sticker" “You may have the right of way, but I have a truck”? You won’t be rear-ended. Everyone except an 18-wheeler would lose in that match. And then they’d have to pay to fix your RV. Your RV is big, broad, and heavy. No worries. Unless you use that Mercedes-Benz cloaking device.

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Squeezing the best mpg from a RV

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