OK, we have looked all over for a truck to haul our competition vehicles in and just can't seem to get any good answers. We are looking for something that will fit the following criteria. Is this at all possible? What would it require? Does anyone have proof of their truck getting the mileage we are looking for? Fuel Mileage is the biggest kicker for us. If we are going to replace a pickup that gets 13 mpg for something else, we would like to be able to get 9 - 10 and justify the loss with the increase in comfort.
Here are the criteria we are looking for:
Enough power to haul 10k pounds in the box and occasionally another 5k on a trailer pulled behind. If there is only 1 or 2 rigs in the box, we would like to be able to hold 60 - 70 going across MO on I-70. We know that CO or something similar will be harder to hold those speeds, but we don't travel that way as much. We do more KS, MO, OK driving with the current setup.
A big enough sleeper that we can convert it to seat 6 people including driver and passenger. Most that we have looked at that will work are the 60" plus sleepers. There doesn't need to be a big worry about sleeping space, because that will be taken care of in the box when the vehicles are unloaded. Having a inverter is a big plus for us also.
In order to haul 2 rigs, we need to be around a 26' box. We could fit two into a 24' 6" box, but it would take some fancy loading. 26' gives us plenty of room for both, plus the added room for sleeping and camping.
The big kicker is being able to get 9 - 10 mpg at 65 - 70 mph. We know that if we want to run 75 plus, we may drop to 8, but would like to stay around the 9 mark as much as possible. This would be with a max of 10k pounds in the box. We have seen claims of 10 mpg out of the 3126's, but we test drove one and had the palm reader on it the whole time and just weren't able to even get 8 out of it. It barely reached 7.5. I know this has a lot to do with gearing, but you guys drive the highways day in and day out, so fuel economy is a big deal for you. The other factor is that idle time is not figured in to our required fuel economy. Obviously idling will affect it greatly.
We also don't want to spend more than $22,000. That would be the top dollar and would have to meet all the requirements we have set out. I know this isn't much but we won't use it but maybe 10k miles a year. It won't be a source of income or the only mode of transportation for us.
Please give me you thoughts and ideas. If you have something for sale that you think might work, let me know. We are open to looking at anything.
Thanks
Here are the criteria we are looking for:
Enough power to haul 10k pounds in the box and occasionally another 5k on a trailer pulled behind. If there is only 1 or 2 rigs in the box, we would like to be able to hold 60 - 70 going across MO on I-70. We know that CO or something similar will be harder to hold those speeds, but we don't travel that way as much. We do more KS, MO, OK driving with the current setup.
A big enough sleeper that we can convert it to seat 6 people including driver and passenger. Most that we have looked at that will work are the 60" plus sleepers. There doesn't need to be a big worry about sleeping space, because that will be taken care of in the box when the vehicles are unloaded. Having a inverter is a big plus for us also.
In order to haul 2 rigs, we need to be around a 26' box. We could fit two into a 24' 6" box, but it would take some fancy loading. 26' gives us plenty of room for both, plus the added room for sleeping and camping.
The big kicker is being able to get 9 - 10 mpg at 65 - 70 mph. We know that if we want to run 75 plus, we may drop to 8, but would like to stay around the 9 mark as much as possible. This would be with a max of 10k pounds in the box. We have seen claims of 10 mpg out of the 3126's, but we test drove one and had the palm reader on it the whole time and just weren't able to even get 8 out of it. It barely reached 7.5. I know this has a lot to do with gearing, but you guys drive the highways day in and day out, so fuel economy is a big deal for you. The other factor is that idle time is not figured in to our required fuel economy. Obviously idling will affect it greatly.
We also don't want to spend more than $22,000. That would be the top dollar and would have to meet all the requirements we have set out. I know this isn't much but we won't use it but maybe 10k miles a year. It won't be a source of income or the only mode of transportation for us.
Please give me you thoughts and ideas. If you have something for sale that you think might work, let me know. We are open to looking at anything.
Thanks
