Zeek,
I tow with a similar Explorer, I found I can get an extra mile per gallon towing with my boat covered. I usually get 14 towing between 68-70. 16 is the best I have gotten at those speeds but that is when I can find real gas not ethanol.

Hey Zeek,

Most likely you have a head wind going down and a tail wind coming back. Wind can make a big difference especially with high profile vehicle. I would not get too excited about you MPG without the A/C until you factor out the wind.

Gotta lose the obsession with Towing MPG. You're gonna get your rig rear ended,some night,while Hyper Mileing at 35 MPH.The mileage is what it is. Be safe.

I have a 99 Suburban with a 351 vortex, I pull a ranger 205 to alot of tournaments. Without the boat I get about 18 mpg at 70 mph and at 2000 rpms. When I have the boat on I do around 65 at about 1800 rpms and I get around 15 mpg, if not in hilly country.

Now if I go over 2k rpms, with the boat on I go to about 12 mpg.

My 2010 Tundra is horrible on gas, towing or not! It's the best truck I've ever owned, gas mileage is it's only downside!!

pulled my 519 ranger..200opti,,,tandem axle...6000 miles last year avg,,was 12mpg with 2008 z71,,,5.3 ext cab ran avg of 70 - 75mph

I guess from reading these responses that my simplest 'fix' on mileage is to just drive 60-65 and be happy with 15-16mpg

'03 F150 FX4, 160k+ miles, towing a 20' champion, i get 9-11 mpg.

but i don't tow slow. 75-80 mph avg. if you're not first, your last...

Right. You gotta "Tow with the Flow" to be safe.

That's my driving speed day or night on the highway. Save gas, and no risk of a ticket.

You'll also be able to discover when driving your boat on plane there is a way to get more mileage from your motor if you don't run all out, I have a Mercury 175, and for me it is about 3500 rpms.

Oh yeah, already had my boats optimum speed figured out & yes, it's close to 3,500rpms. Cruise at about 22-24mph on the water

98 K2500 4x4 Suburban with 454- 8 to 9 mpg approx pulling the boat,about 11 on the freeway without the boat.
gets better gas mileage at 80 than it does at 55!!!!
just depends on your gears,transmission and powerband.

You're leaving out the most important aspect of towing...Wind direction.

This time of year the winds come out of the SE generally, especially the closer you get to the coast.

So going down you'd have a head wind and leaving you'd have a tailwind.

Last month I pulled my boat down and back. I pulled the same speed both ways with the a/c blowing cold. I burned a full tank going down and a half tank coming back. The difference was the unmerciful 20-30 mph head wind on the way down.

When pulling my RV the biggest factor is wind. If my brother and I caravan together with our RV's we'll leap frog and take turns in the lead while the follower drafts off the leader. Makes a huge difference in fuel economy.

I just made a trip to Sabine Lake with my 481 Ranger and averaged just shy of 15 mpg on the round trip (625 miles). There might have been 25 miles that the boat was not hooked up to the truck. I pull with a 07 Tundra 5.7 between 60-65 mph. Because of Alex, I had 10-20 head winds both ways which did not help the fuel mileage.

Ditto on both points