If you’re looking to travel in America, gas prices make you cringe. Depending on where you live in the country and the destination, you could easily and quickly put out hundreds of dollars in gas as an RVer. Ga prices in America aren’t friendly to the RVer, so we’ve put together some tips and tricks for improving RV gas mileage and saving money as you travel.
Improving RV Gas Mileage
The first step to improving RV gas mileage is to look at what you currently RV in seriously. Do you use a motorhome or a trailer? Motorhomes, on average, get anywhere from 7 miles per gallon (MPG) to 12 MPG under best conditions. This means that you’re consuming gas on the road quicker than if you were in something smaller, such as a travel trailer.
Things get a bit trickier when using a trailer though. While your pickup truck might offer more MPG than driving a motorhome, if you’re towing a trailer that’s not hooked up properly or doesn’t get the right support from the truck, you’re wasting gas trying to get it to where you want to go.
Going with a trailer over a motorhome is the key to improving gas mileage. It’s very hard to improve it when using a motorhome because many factors are out of your control. The following tips can be applied to some motorhomes, but it still is more gas-efficient to go with the trailer or 5th wheel RV over the motorhome if you want to save on RV gas mileage.
Tips for Improving RV Gas Mileage
- Always check your tires before you head out. Make sure the pressure is correct and that the tires are in working conditions. The worst off the tires, the more gas you’ll eat over time.
- Check the oil before a long trip. A good, solid synthetic oil can help keep your engine working at peak efficiency which helps with gas mileage.
- Never, ever idle. Any time you’re idling for more than a couple of minutes, turn the engine off. Are you stuck in traffic? Hitting a fast food drive-thru? Turn the engine off while waiting! You’ll be surprised by how much gas you can save in a regular car, let alone a trailer and truck set-up.
- Avoid rush hour traffic. Sitting in rush hour traffic, even when turning the engine off, can cost you time and money, especially on the gasoline.
- Fuel efficiency begins to degrade by 7% for every 5 miles per hour (MPH) you go over 65. Unless you have to keep a higher speed due to posted speed, keep yourself below 65 MPH.