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 …

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.

@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 Merc…

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. …

60 mph on the highway in an RV? I think I saw you recently. There were 40 cars lined up behind you, half of them trying to get to work and becoming enraged. You may be retired and not in a hurry to get anywhere, but the rest of us are not. Show some consideration for the rest of us. Make saving a li…

Squeezing the best mpg from a RV

Maintenance/Repairs

missileman March 12, 2012, 1:13am 9

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.

Topic		Replies	Views
Fuel efficiency better at higher speeds? Maintenance/Repairs	65	2573	July 24, 2008
How do you get your best gas mileage Maintenance/Repairs dodge , avenger	29	3874	November 5, 2011
Is 55mph still the optimal driving speed? General Discussion	56	13838	November 5, 2012
2016 Lexus RX350 better fuel mileage than 2013 RAV4? General Discussion lexus , rx350	49	4121	August 8, 2018
Speed range for best mileage General Discussion	36	2286	May 24, 2017

Squeezing the best mpg from a RV

Related topics