Featherlite Stacker

[Joe Cannarozzi]

Kevin great info.

The ultra low sulfur fuel? Could it be hurting you by a full 7/10ths?

Another question for you heavy haulin stacker bunch.

What is the tongue weight, empty trlr.?

Seems like individual fuel mileages are all over the place although Jack did not say at what speed he clocked in that 4.1mpg.

Kevin the milages you have noted are more in line to what they should be for pulling that stacker. You should get about the same as your KW does mabye a little less aka automatic trans. and flat nose.

I think a used bus with mileage of 7+ with some sort of decent proof is valuable to potential buyers who will be frequent users. Especially now when it looks like the newer stuff isin't hitting that mark anymore.

Kevin you said your 99 got 7.2 at 68? Do you remember what it got at 62.5.

[Kevin Erion]

Joe, never drove 62 without a trailer. I always drive 68 alone or towing 4 wheels down. I think the tounge weight empty was very heavy, maybe 1500 or something like that. It would help to load heavy to the rear to get the weight off the front. The one thing I found funny was I could not find a ball mount that was rated for more than 15000LBS even though you can buy a 30000LB ball.
Anyway, the trailer is for sale, the suburban works well or I might buy a 4 door pick up with a cab high shell. This will make it easier to have the bus spare tire and everything else that I still don't need but can't leave behind.

[jack14r]

Joe,In response to your question,I only had one trip with the 2001 Marathon pulling the Chevy PU and on that trip I got 5.3 MPG.We were on the same trip from Florida to NC and we ran as much as 10 MPH over the speed limit.If I remember correctly it seems like without towing I always got at least 1 MPG greater.The 2001 would get over 7 MPG at 65-70 MPH without towing the toad.Jerry might be able to chime in here,how bout it Jdub?

[1carguy]

I am really envious of those that get 7 mpg or so. I have owned a 95,99, 01, 03, & 06 H's and have never gotten much over 5.25 mpg. With the stacker trailer my average is 3.5 to 4 mpg. I am running 68-70 mph.

[Coloradobus]

Kevin,

Our former coach, 2002 Marathon 0740, XLII one slide, never did much of 6.5-6.8. running at 68 mph. It had the DDEC IV. It also ran a bit hotter.
Our current coach, Marathon 0586, 2000 "H", does much better no matter what we tow. Going to Quebec in October, with a tailwind, we got 8.1 mpg. Mostly at 68, then came OHIO's interstates ugh, 55mpg.
Coming home we averaged 7.2 with lots of Illinios and Nebraska crosswind. Total triip was 4700 miles. Final average per DDEC INfO Center was 7.7. The better mileage must have been from the 4 days it took me to wax it.

[Kevin Erion]

Jim, I need to look into what the difference between DDECIII and IV is. Someone told me it's just got more computer ability but what do they need it for if everything is the same?

[Ray Davis]

The XLII with DDECIV only gets about 6.5 on the trip from Texas home at 68 or 70, I just wonder if thats the difference between DDECIII and DDECIV, I thought the engines are the same.

Kevin, as a comparison when I drove my 2002 XL2-40 back from Texas I had dreams of 8mpg. (I remember someone posting values in excess of that). At one point my overall (reset when leaving TX) was up to about 7.2. But, once we started some uphills through NM, it went down quickly to about 6.5.

Final average when arriving in Southern CA was 6.9. Mine is DDEC4 as well. At least it's better than the 5.5 I was getting in my 8V!

Ray

[Jon Wehrenberg]

There are three things that will destroy the mileage. Going fast, towing, and hilly terrain.

I only reset the Pro Driver with oil changes so the mileage I show doesn't reflect any special circumstance, but my driving under most conditions. We rarely go anywhere without our H2, I set the cruise to show 63 on the Pro Driver which shows 65 on the GPS and the speedometer. Hills are what comes with our trip, with some trips far worse than others.

Here is a photo of my Pro Driver taken about a year ago just prior to an oil change. My current Pro Driver shows about 1/2 MPG less which I attribute to a lot of driving in the mountains, and I can't confirm it, but I think the fuel is affecting my mileage.

[Joe Cannarozzi]

Jon so now you are down to 7.6 at 63mph but aren't willing to attribute that to more hills or ultra low sulfur fuel? Still better than most plastic class A pulling toads. 7.6 would be a 33% improvement for us. That would save us 700 bucks on one trip to Key West and back.

I am really surprised and disappointed to here these sub-5mpg numbers from the stacker trlr group? I guess Kevin is getting it though. I wonder what he is doing differently?

[jack14r]

Jon,I did check the XLII Prevost owners manual today and the 2004 shell that I have has a trailer hitch rated for 20000 pounds and a tongue weight at 6.5 inches aft of the hitch of 1500 pounds.Prevost does not discuss any other dimension other than 6.5 inches nor is there any way to do a caculation.