2022 AT4 1500 poor towing mileage, anyone else?

[slythetove]

Isn’t the max tow weight 8800? It is on mine anyway.

 

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[slythetove]

I thought you couldn’t get the max trailer package (NHT) on an AT4 due to the off-road shocks and lift.

what does your door sticker with all the weight ratings say?

 

[zeeya]

I thought you couldn’t get the max trailer package (NHT) on an AT4 due to the off-road shocks and lift.

what does your door sticker with all the weight ratings say?

I was under the same impression with the AT4 and shock package it comes with. The standard trucks do have a larger tow capacity.

 

[zeeya]

I made my first towing run yesterday (5600km/3500 miles on truck), tandem aluminum trailer 900 lbs, sxs 2300 lbs. total about 3200 lbs. not very heavy but not very aerodynamic. Going up empty 28.6 mpg. coming back with trailer 100kph/62 mph. 15.47 mpg. Temp about 3C/36 F no wind very light traffic and rolling paved 2 lane.

Interesting to watch the boost on the idash empty 6-9 psi, towing up to 24 psi. on hills, soot dropped from 86% to 60% in about 240km/150 miles without going through a regen and EGT empty 600-800F vs 800-950F towing. Towing I was burning roughly twice the fuel that I was empty. Banks has a HP display and it visually correlates to the fuel useage and boost.

Before the first tow I checked my oil level and was right at the top of the dipstick, after the short tow I am almost a 1/4 of a quart down at 6000/3750 miles. It appears the extra boost and fuel useage during towing caused a slight drop in oil level.

Compared to my previous 6.0 2016 3500 SRW gas I used about 4l/1usg less fuel. We have about 5"/12 cm. of fresh wet snow this morning so my timing was good.

Andy, mine did the same thing pulling my 22' bay boat up to Toledo Bend. My oil level went down as well on the 300 mile round trip. I did notice the coolant temps dropping down to 190 to keep oil temps down. Oil temps got up to 250 and coolant temp would drop pretty quick to cool it down. Driving around 68 mph.

 

[James III]

i was wrong. you guys are 100% correct. this truck belongs to my company and i didn't realize the build specs are for trailering package, not MAX trailering package....i swear im not so dumb, usually.

may as well give details on the experience towing with an overloaded 22 AT4. i have towed a lot with one ton trucks and comparatively the AT4 performs pretty well.
with the load balanced it did not squat the truck terribly or seem to max out the suspension, not like the average tundra or f-150 is see around hauling tractors.
upside is, the AT4 will tow and stop 12k no problem. however, i won't be doing that again.

 

[slythetove]

The reality is the frame is the same and built to pull up to 13k and the engine and transmission have the same setup. The real differences are rear end / axle, springs / shocks, and I believe an added transmission cooler. My bet is in a pinch and being careful the truck is just fine for the rare overweight pull. Pretty amazing on a half ton truck.

 

[Big Kahuna]

my at4 struggles to 13mph empty and I am trying to get good milage if I drive normal that thing would get 7mpg

 

[James III]

my at4 struggles to 13mph empty and I am trying to get good milage if I drive normal that thing would get 7mpg

where do you drive? that sounds terrible. i dependably hit 20+ if i am halfway acting right on 2 lane or interstate., avg 17.5 where i am now at 15k. that is a lot of idling and woods driving, too.

 

[kindafearless]

I’ve been getting 13-14 pulling a 5k load, and 10-11 pulling a 7k load. AT4X all stock.

 

[Andystoy AT4]

I made my first towing run yesterday (5600km/3500 miles on truck), tandem aluminum trailer 900 lbs, sxs 2300 lbs. total about 3200 lbs. not very heavy but not very aerodynamic. Going up empty 28.6 mpg. coming back with trailer 100kph/62 mph. 15.47 mpg. Temp about 3C/36 F no wind very light traffic and rolling paved 2 lane.

Interesting to watch the boost on the idash empty 6-9 psi, towing up to 24 psi. on hills, soot dropped from 86% to 60% in about 240km/150 miles without going through a regen and EGT empty 600-800F vs 800-950F towing. Towing I was burning roughly twice the fuel that I was empty. Banks has a HP display and it visually correlates to the fuel useage and boost.

Before the first tow I checked my oil level and was right at the top of the dipstick, after the short tow I am almost a 1/4 of a quart down at 6000/3750 miles. It appears the extra boost and fuel useage during towing caused a slight drop in oil level.

Compared to my previous 6.0 2016 3500 SRW gas I used about 4l/1usg less fuel. We have about 5"/12 cm. of fresh wet snow this morning so my timing was good.

I made a return trip on the same route and averaged 16.9l/100 @ 13.42 mpg with the same trailer, sxs and a skidoo on the back 3800 lbs. and carrying a sled on the deck about 900 lbs. and a total weight of 4700 lbs. plus a passenger and extra gear in the truck. I got a 1000 mile DEF range message when I was at about 3 bars remaining.

This trip the EGT were 800-950 F and the boost was always @ 15-24 psi and a minimum amount of time in top gears usually hanging at 1750-1850 RPM. This trip I noticed that the oil temperature was 240-250 F while previously it was always below 240 F. This may be why folks towing heavier loads in warmer weather are experiencing oil useage because of much higher engine oil temps and the result much thinner oil. But before you head out to install an oil cooler remember that the oil temperature, engine coolant temperature and transmission temperature are controlled by the 3 way valve and the ECM and not the lack of cooling through the radiator.

 

[Teegunn]

My 2023 month old AT4X doesn't get very good mileage. Have 2700 miles on it. Most of it hwy as I bought it out of state 1000 miles away from where I live in MT. On the interstate I was getting 14 to 15 mpg. Regular driving about the same. Towing my 7000 lb job trailer, I didn't figure it, but the 6.2 is thirsty.

I am coming from a 2020 AT4 3.0ltr diesel. Of course that engine got better mileage all the way around. I would say 5 to 6 mpg better on the diesel than this 6.2. With the price difference between gas and diesel, I am probably still ahead in the pocketbook fueling the 6.2 though. Just quite a big shorter range.

Both trucks have larger aftermarket wheels and tires, which is going to negatively effect fuel mileage. I just got the new wheels and tires on my AT4X so haven't really had a chance to determine how much the 285/70R18 Nitto RG's (34x11.5) tires will lower my fuel mileage. I am betting at least 1 mpg though. These tires weight 10 lbs more per tire than the stock 32" duratracs that came on the truck. I don't think the wheels I put on it (18x9 -13 offset Fuel Contra 437) will be much weight difference over the stock 18" wheels. So I am spinning 40lbs more mass with the Nitto wheels than the stockers, whick will lower fuel mileage.

Also have side steps, a BAK X4S tonneau cover, and a 1.5" RC front level with 3.5" RC UCA's on the truck now. The tonneau cover should help a little with fuel mileage on the hwy with less wind resistance, but I did add a bit more weight with the tonneau cover (guessing 50lbs) and the side steps (guessing 30lbs). That isn't enough weight to matter.

The extra height with the front level will create more wind resistance though. So that will lower fuel mileage.

This is not a truck that is going to get great mileage. Especially in the winter in MT where I live with snow on the roads almost the entire time.

If I can average 14 to 15 mpg with my setup, I will be happy enough. Likey 7 to 9 mpg towing, depending on if in town or on the hwy, makes a big difference. My 16' job trailer is tall and has large ladder racks with 5 extension ladders on top - tons of wind resistance. Not a cheap trailer to tow around daily.

 

[Cc1999]

My 21 diesel AT4 could get low 20 if babied and kept under 65mph And wind speeds are minimal.
85mph on the highway it would typically get 18.
My new 6.2 gets around 14-16 so far.
‘I am not all that surprised about the OP getting 7-8 with an enclosed trailer,
I know with my 2015 Cummins 2500 I would get 12-14 with my enclosed trailer, yet my 2018 LTZ 4x4 6.2 Silverado would get only 8-9mpg, that LTZ was 100% stock. Adding taller 10 ply tires typically cost about a 2 mpg loss compared to stock 4ply tire. So based on my experience with my trucks and enclosed trailers, that 7-8mpg is about what I would expect.

 

[Teegunn]

My 21 diesel AT4 could get low 20 if babied and kept under 65mph And wind speeds are minimal.
85mph on the highway it would typically get 18.
My new 6.2 gets around 14-16 so far.
‘I am not all that surprised about the OP getting 7-8 with an enclosed trailer,
I know with my 2015 Cummins 2500 I would get 12-14 with my enclosed trailer, yet my 2018 LTZ 4x4 6.2 Silverado would get only 8-9mpg, that LTZ was 100% stock. Adding taller 10 ply tires typically cost about a 2 mpg loss compared to stock 4ply tire. So based on my experience with my trucks and enclosed trailers, that 7-8mpg is about what I would expect.

I will be leaving on the 18th of this month back to Nebraska (from Montana) to do another job back there. I will get to see how the fuel mileage is at 83/84 MPH on the interstate. It got about 15 PMG on the way back from Nebraska (where I bought it) to MT when I drove it home a month ago. But that was into a headwind (wind is almost always blowing east, and I was going west from NE to MT), plus there is about 5,000 feet in elevation difference between NE and MT and that adds up too, more uphill driving.

It "seems" that my AT4X is getting better mileage than it was. IDk if that is just that it is at 2700 miles and more broke in, or just my imagination. But it seems to have improved a bit (I keep pretty close track) these last few tanks. When I was averaging 18 to 22 (depending on what I was doing) on my 2020 AT4 3.0 diesel, I am averaging 14 to 17 on this 6.2 AT4X lately. Since diesel is about 40% higher than gas currently, I am still out ahead in the pocket book driving the 6.2 AT4X. Just has a shorter range betwee fill ups.

I will check the avg while pulling my enclosed job trailer during the next week. I expect it will be 3 to 4 mpg less than the 3.0 diesel would get pulling the trailer. That torquey little diesel is a good engine.

 

[ArcticHC]

my at4 struggles to 13mph empty and I am trying to get good milage if I drive normal that thing would get 7mpg

I am in the same boat!