suggestions to help beat the gas price crisis.

[WeCampDisney]

First, everyone knows how slowing down will increase gas milage. The bigger and taller your rv, the more it will help. Tall rigs are like a big sail, catching wind. At 70 mph that wind resistance is incredable. As a matter of fact, at highway speeds, that wind drag on an rv increases more than the increase in speed, percentage wise. In other words, if you slow down from 70 to 63 ( 10 %) your gas milage will increase more than 10 %. I usually got about 8.5 mpg towing with my old expedition on I 10 at 65mph. on one trip, we went through some heavy rain for hours driving about 50 to 55 mph. On that tank i got 10.5 mpg! Thats over 20 % increase in gas mileage. Now I know i won't be driving 50 on the interstate, but i will drive 60. My trailer is a low profile , less than 9 feet to the roof. You guys with the big 11 to 13 foot tall rigs will benifit even more by slowing down. I have read a lot of stories on an rv forum about this. I bet most big trucks and rvs will be slowing down.

 

[chief19spixi]

We gave up trying to beat the gas or should I say diesel prices..they are going to keep going up anyway.

 

[becky1960]

Its not just the Gas/Diesel, everything else, Food, Utilities, Etc. We will beat the prices by staying home this summer, according to the polls 70% of the people are taking Stayvacation..

 

[djblu883]

Its not just the Gas/Diesel, everything else, Food, Utilities, Etc. We will beat the prices by staying home this summer, according to the polls 70% of the people are taking Stayvacation..

well I'll not be one of the 70% but I'm leaving the TT home and tenting it....have loads of camping gear I haven't used in years so why not still enjoy!!! Bought a new tent for the extended family....decided to use it myself!!! now they can just use another one!!!

 

[OK GRUMPY]

well I'll not be one of the 70% but I'm leaving the TT home and tenting it....have loads of camping gear I haven't used in years so why not still enjoy!!! Bought a new tent for the extended family....decided to use it myself!!! now they can just use another one!!!

I did this our last trip in April. We orginaly had 2 campsite we decided to just use 1 site and my folks drove there RV down and we tent camped behind them. This next trip we plan to do the samething but I will bring the 5ver down.

 

[ftwildernessguy]

I'm budgeting more money for gas for our annual FW trip for sure. But I'll tell ya, that truck is staying parked in the driveway more. I used to use it as my regular vehicle, but now my wife's beetle is taking a beating instead. I think I've put less than 1800 miles on the truck since 4 January. I am slowing down some when on the highway, and I use my motorscooter as my workhorse/errand runner on weekends instead of hopping in the truck.

 

[djblu883]

I found by using my cruise control on a regular basis I can save a bundle!!! I've even used it when hauling the TT and it helped alot.......i don't wanna do the tent thing...just wanting to save for more things I want...like my new golf cart I wanna buy lol...haul it down and tetning will still be a good thing!!!...may skip carrying the Christmas decorations I planned if I get the cart....that way I don't have to haul cart on a trailer....ideas just ticking away......but the spoiled girl's voice in my head keeps saying...take the TT you know you want tooooooooo !!!

 

[medic9016]

Alot of people are suprised how much of a difference regular vehicle maintenance makes along with slowing down. Regular oil and filter changes, proper tire inflation, tune-ups, and changing some driving habits.

We do alot of interstate driving with out TT, we get the best MPG (14.5) with the cruise control set at 65 mph.

 

[~Kristina~]

Ya know, I can't take the cost of gas out on my kids. So I don't drive around that much on the week days and try to reserve the gas budget for the fun stuff. Short of a revolution, there's not too much we can do with the price of gas.

 

[77ed]

The wife and I ride together to work that saves a lot of fuel. Like others have said, we just slow down a little when towing. It is hard to do. I will be going 75 and say just slow down to 65, but before you know it I'm going 75 again.

 

[Us3]

DH is commuting in my suburban to work rather than his 8.1L truck. I work from home, so that is saving us quite a bit. We do not take as many "Sunday drives" anymore. We also have our weekend camping trips closer to home.

However, we will NOT cancel our trips to FW this year. The fun family times and memories are just too important to us.

 

[77ed]

I forgot to say a clean air and fuel filters,and the o2 sensors in good shape for the gas burners.

 

[ntsammy5]

My van that's lucky to get 18mpg has less than 2,000 miles on it in the last 10 months. We drive my wife's Malibu that just got 32MPG on the highway this weekend - 3.5L engine so that's pretty good. When we got it a year ago, I resisted the temptation to get a larger car and that was a good decision. Gas is $3.89/gallon today, so it will definitely be $4.00 by Memorial day. I take the bus to work and walk/ride my bike as much as I can for short trips.

We're taking a trip to Burlington VT over Memorial Day, about a 1,000 mile round trip($150-$200), so I'm planning on setting the cruise at 65 and we'll see what kind of mileage I get. No long distance Camping trips this summer -- less than 200 miles away and we're flying to Disney this fall.

Like Medic says, maintenance is very important. Proper PMCS, right Jim?

 

[chief19spixi]

Well we could all walk to the fort.. it would be great for the enviroment and our wallet!! LOL

 

[PanFanAL]

I am doing the same things. I haven't had this truck but about 8 months, so I really want to drive it. But in the last 3 months I haven't even put 1000 mile on it. We have a 97 Honda civic my wife had when we married that I drive. It has 175,000 miles on it. But it still gets 34 mpg, compared to 18-19 on the truck on good days.

 

[ftwildernessguy]

. Proper PMCS, right Jim?

Roger that.

 

[jugman]

I grumble about the gas prices also, but I'll say one thing. It's getting really old listening to people complain about the gas prices while they continue to fill up their car with it still running, and smoking a cigarette in the other hand. Then to top it all off they go in an buy a case of beer. When tobacco and alcohol sales start to drop then I'll say gas is to high. It also goes for alot more things that I don't need to be able to live.

 

[LONE-STAR]

Well we could all walk to the fort.. it would be great for the enviroment and our wallet!! LOL

Before I walk I will just take the golf cart. I guess I need a small camper to pull behind it

 

[eisforpants]

I grumble about the gas prices also, but I'll say one thing. It's getting really old listening to people complain about the gas prices while they continue to fill up their car with it still running, and smoking a cigarette in the other hand. Then to top it all off they go in an buy a case of beer. When tobacco and alcohol sales start to drop then I'll say gas is to high. It also goes for alot more things that I don't need to be able to live.

Huh? What does alcohol and tobacco consumption have to do with the rising gas prices? Color me lost!

 

[wrongagain]

I just ran the fuel calculator part of the gps program in the bus.
It seems this years fuel cost for the trip to the fort is going to be,...
$1952.78
Based on 6 mpg at $4.50 a gallon.
YIKES