“We’ve basically turned this thing into a Lamborghini” 😂😂😂 Nice!

While I agree that the mileage is affected, I wanted to say that using a different route may have messed up your numbers. For example, in my A4, when I drive South to San Diego from Orange County, I am at around 33.5 MPG. Coming back North, my mileage actually drops about 1.5 MPG. This has happened consistently for several years. Going East vs. West can also affect your mileage due to wind and elevation changes. Thanks for the great work!

Young kids and their new math ! What they dont realize is it could be all uphill one way and all downhill the other !!!

1300 miles of driving in a 10 minute video... impressive!

Hey guys, do you know if there was any major elevation changes from the trip there compared to the trip back? e.g if you are travelling uphill the entire way there, the way back will be more efficient too. That is probably getting too specific but the results already speak for themselves

Maybe if You put the front of the roofnest a notch lower than the back, You'll get extra downforce, like having a spoiler, lol.

Morning Alex and Case!!... Love the Trailboss Truck!!! Great video guys!!

I'm gonna miss this Trail Boss. Such a cool and manly truck even in that cute red paint

I sure would like to see fuel numbers for an F-150 with it's 3.5 engine and transmission over that same trip,.. I'd almost bet that the Chev / 5.3 is the fuel economy leader. Thanks for this Gentlemen!

You have to make the full trip, both ways with the tent in each position else you will reach the wrong conclusion. Travelling east to west almost is always a different change in elevation then west to east. Sorry guys, I love your videos, but you need to redo this test.

For everyone else in the world, 17.7 US MPG = 13.3L/100kM. Not too bad for a big bluff-fronted truck. Roughly equivalent to a petrol 'cruiser.

I've made two round trips from Buffalo New York to Vero Beach Florida. To use my cruise control every chance I get. I don't know why but I've always gotten close to 2 mi per gallon better going to Florida than coming back to New York both times.

I enjoy experiment contents like this. I live in Salt lake City area and have taken countless trip (50+) to StG in last 8 years. I have always found that driving from SLC to STG I get 5-10% better MPG than driving from StG to SLC. It's combination of SLC being higher elevation and typical wind direction faced as headwind seems to be more common when coming back from StG. I am confident that if two trip loops were taken under similar condition, where one loop was done with Roofnest up above the roof line and second loop with below the roof line, the % of MPG will be even higher on the below the roof line setup what was found here.

I would love to know more about this converted school bus at 8:06

Curious what your start and end altitudes were. Driving that distance with a net altitude gain can definitely affect your mileage.

I wonder what was for lunch 🤔

Holy crap! 3.80/gal for gas?! I just paid 1.92/gal!

2018 F150 3.5 eco with FX4 36 gal. Tank 24 mpg on hwy 65-68 mph bed cover hwy. tires 600+ miles range

Rooftop tents have got to be the silliest trend going with all things automotive. The amount of reasons you should not get one vs why you should get one are about 10-1. Have you tried getting out of one at 2am because you have to take a piss? And That’s not even in the top reasons i dont like them.

I believe the truck computer computes engine idle time also.

Rooftop tents are definitely cool... but I don't see the benefits over just throwing a traditional tent into the back of a truck/suv. Time wise most decent tents can be put up in maybe a couple minutes. Sure, your tent is raised off the ground, but for multiple day campsites you are forced to completely break down camp it you want to drive anywhere.

To do this truly scientifically you should compare same direction, same day, same driving style, but I’m sure you know that and I know that’s more time consuming to make, whereas this you could make as part of your trip to an event. And I appreciate it. Vids like these are really helpful. Makes you think about some things you might not otherwise. Bet that side by side day was fun- looking forward to vid.

Great vid of what we suspected. Nice to see verification. Lower does make it hard to get to the front of the bed, more so on longer beds and older, human, bodies. Always trade offs

Fun fact it is not pronounced Hurricane like the storm but Hurrikhan.

I average 19-21 70%, highway In my Trailboss. But most important the highway speed limit is 90kmh or 55mph. We do have some highways that are 70mph and the mileage drops to 17-18.

Think you need to do it on your 100 mile loop. Cuz the way u did it, it could have been more uphill one way and downhill the other which would skew the numbers. Granted I expect an increase, but this probably isn't 100% accurate

Would love to see the elevation profile of the drive in each direction.

And if you want to save even more, leave it in the garage when you aren't camping. That goes for ski and kayak racks too. Some people leave them on all year long as some sort of badge of honor or something, "Yeah, I ski" and wait gas leaving the rack on all the time.

On my f150s it was a difference of 12mpg (2016 w/5.0 above cab) to 17mpg (2020 w/3.5 ecoboost below cab) you do have to sacrifice a lot of bed space but on the bright side nobody has asked me to help them move

The prevailing wind blows west to east, so going there with the box above the roof line you were also heading into the wind which could cause some of the difference too,

2.4 MPG is a HUGE difference for such a simple change! 😳

should use the same route. your mpg going one way will differ from your mpg going back.

I would love 15mpg.. getting 6-8mpg currently!

We're you traveling towards a higher or lower elevation on the way to and the way home?

People say the tundra gets bad gas mileage yet I get similar mileage to this Silverado in the test. With 35’s and 3/1 leveling kit. Sweet test though!

Dude, if you need that attachment for your job or camping pleasure, GO FOR IT!!! Don’t worry about MPG. 🤗😎🤓🧑‍🚒🧑‍🚀🧑‍✈️🤵👷👮👨‍👨‍👧‍👦🎉🇺🇸

Do you think there is a difference if there is a sloped air dam at the front

This instance is really pretty obvious, but sometimes what you think will be better actually isn't. I would like to see the same test on a truck with the tailgate up and one down. I remember seeing a truck run at Bonneville that had a tonneau cover that only covered the back half of the bed because their testing showed it was more aerodynamic. You wouldn't have thought so, but I am sure they wouldn't have been trying to set a record and just making it up.

Watching this now as just got my 2022 model. But, would adding the air deflector in front help with mileage when RTT is above roof height on the truck bed? I was thinking of keeping it below the roof height for the reason to avoid blocking the RVMirror camera and of course for better mileage.

Pro tip, clear your cruise control setting prior to filming the trip computer. Set at 85mph, which I know is only 5mph over the 80mph Utah speed limit (or is it 75mph outside of Hurricane, I forget where it switches to 80]. Enjoyed the video and the Lambo joke. Missed the opportunity to say: “We drove a vehicle with lambo hurricane visibility in Hurricane.”

Good video of basically a 1300 mile round trip and proved daily facts most of us wonder about

4:25 - Utah resident here, I know it's silly, but Hurricane, UT is pronounced more like Hurri-cun, almost like there's no vowel between the 'C' and 'N'.

It's so weirdly placed.

MPG tests should always be A-B-A to even out elevation and wind et.c. But with that distance it might even out anyway or make the elevation difference neglectable.

LOL my 99 5.3 Chevy gets 18 MPG on the Highway Kind of funny , Great job Guys Keep it up / Or Down ?

Big rigs have those aerodynamic air shield/deflector extensions, perhaps you can rig up something similar to compensate for things like this.

You know if you just pull the handle out a little bit the pump will work fine. The fumes are tripping the auto shut off

Exactly why on our F150 were having a custom rack to put the iKamper tent basically right at the roofline. Great video 👍

Have you considered doing an MPG comparison between a truck equipped with a rooftop tent that sits above the cab versus no rooftop tent while towing a small camping trailer like the Colorado Teardrops Summit model?

Thumbs upped for the Lamborghini comment!

nice to see the newer guys do a quick truck vid

Prevailing west to east winds and aerodynamics will be of consequence. A 1/4 mile elevation difference in home vs destination is of minute consequence over 650miles.

I'd like to see an MPG test were you do three different types. One type would be driving a pickup with the tailgate down. The second trip would be the same pick up with the tailgate up. And the third trip would be with one of those bed covers. Same trip same truck all type all three times with the cruise control on

Did you take into account the elevation of both the starting and ending locations? Also, on your way out you were comparing the fuel economy from the vehicle's computer and your own calculation. You said the difference is about half a gallon and that's not correct. The difference is half a mile per gallon.

You 2 make a good team. Lot of editing time in the office these days to put this so far behind that actual trip. Same direction/miles with the tent in 2 different positions and 1 trip in the same direction with no tent at all would have been a more comparable test. But for the purpose of giving you something to do on the trip, it proves to help MPG.(no surprise)

Thats quit a bit of savings actually at those low numbers. I've been waiting for someone to do a vid like this. If I ever put a tent on my truck a rack system like this is probably a must. It'll pay for itself in the savings over time. Where I live right now thtas $177.53 cdn vs $146.78 cdn. I live in Canada and gas is around $1.1/litre right now. Thats a savings $30.75 cdn for a trip like that. Thats add up quick pver 4 or 5 years.

Did you account for elevation? Was the destination higher or lower in elevation from the start position and did you account for prevailing winds? You may have had a tailwind all the way home. Should have been 2 runs in the same direction really because anything could happen over such a distance.

that's horrible mileage either scenario and only a 24 gal tank.

Not a good comparison due to elevation changes and such. You have to mimic the speeds and route to get closer accuracy

Its all relative, I like my ARB 6 feet of the ground = 12.2 mpg on I95.

Top of the morning TFL

Rooftop tents don't make sense in the US. Nothing is going to kill you if you're sleeping on the ground. Get a nice big tent, nice pad, sleep on the ground.

It would be interesting to see how some incremental height adjustments affected fuel mileage. I would expect that letting the tent protrude a couple of inches above would not hurt mileage and return some rear visibility.

What about factoring in wind speed, wind direction, elevation gain and elevation loss?

Why was it 648 miles one way and 621 miles back, seems like they took a different route? I would think that maybe they should do the 99 mile long f mileage loop TFL use to run.

07:31 PUNCH BUGGY! NO PINCH BACK!😂😂😂😂

how fast did you guys go on average?

This test was meaningless. What you need to do is take it to the Nürburgring and drive it 1000km (621.371miles) in both directions twice for the most accurate fuel economy numbers. And no eating or drinking is allowed or you have to start over.

Hi Alex and Kase 🙂, excellent video content on this episode of TFLoffroad, very cool to see the difference in mpg by lowering and raising the camper.

Great idea. Please, can you do the same kind of test, but now with and without a tonneau cover?

Anyone else from the midwest feel bad for what they pay for gas in Utah?

You should test a truck with and without a tonneau cover to see if that makes a difference.

How would the mpg compare to having an empty bed with no roof nest

Still waiting for you guys to compare the power wagon vs the f250 with camper

That was a great video. I am super down to see more videos on these edge case type of situations that most people would gloss over. Another good thing to test are the effects of tires. I have definitely seen people put their AT tires in the bed on their way to a trail in order to save fuel economy and wear. Keep it coming!

Was the speed the same going each way? Looked like you had the cruise control set to 85 going there and that will always lower your mileage.

Oh gosh that’s a lot of fuel for not many Miles! I won’t complain about the small Turbo Diesels we get in Australia ever again 😜 35 Mpg for 150kw 500nw - not an awesome V8 but better touring!

I have a 2020 TB and have a peragon bed cover on it. Can yall recommend a good, inexpensive rack that I can use with a bed cover?

I can see a 2mpg difference going from 65mph to 75mph. How fast were you driving?

TFL "not truck owner" guys First, don't buy a truck if you're concerned about fuel efficiency. Especially, a Trail Boss or 4x4 equipped pickup. A 2WD truck is where its at when thinking about fuel consumption. Second, any slide-on camper, roof top tent, or camper shell in the back of your truck is going act like a 'brick in the wind' and hurt it's MPGs. It doesn't take a genius to understand this.

Thanks, good test and comparison that we don't do.

Case, I have a few questions. What speed were you driving at on the interstate? Is St. George, UT a nice place to visit? Is the roof top tent easily removable from the truck? Have you ever used the roof top tent? Do you like the setup? Thanks.

That will only work if the wind direction was not an issue. And it always is.. And you guys don’t fill up correctly. Pull the nozzle back and fill it to the very top. Waiting 30 sec is not reliable. I always pull the nozzle back so I can see the fuel as it fills to the very top of the filler neck. You could have almost doubled your milage with a 2.8 or 3.0 diesel

Good reporter

Wow that is well below the rating of 21 on the Highway. I thought you guys said in another video that it could hit its MPG rating?

85 MPH for the cruise control on the way to Utah, not the best for fuel economy.

If anyone wants to know more about the bus that was in the background, go check out Connor Ward's KZfaq channel

I saw you guys on I70. Truck looks good.

There are so many comments about the efficacy of this test and while I've often given TFL grief for some of their conclusions this is simply a fun sort of "what if" piece done for entertainment on a drive they were going to make anyway. Is it scientific? Not in the slightest. In order to know exactly how much the tent position effects fuel economy you'd have to run in both directions exactly the same mileage with the tent both up and down in nearly identical weather and traffic conditions. Or, more simply, just ride over to a stretch of eastern Colorado and run a fifty mile flat loop both ways with the tent up and down. Much more likely to get similar weather that way with way less traffic in the mix. In any case the video here is not misleading it just may not be showing precise numbers. Considering that there is more elevation gain returning from St. George than leaving from Boulder I'd say the real difference is probably larger than shown because the elevation gain would have otherwise reduced fuel economy on the return trip if no tent were present. Of course, I'm sure there will be another event in St. George and they could simply remove the tent altogether to see what difference it makes.

What rack is that

Good trick. How to make a 5.3 with a 10 speed get the milage of my 8.1 with a 5 speed.

Owning a TRX shouldn't make any other truck feel like they have bad fuel economy lol

Headwind, tailwind, elevation changes? You just need to do your MPG loop that you guys normally do. Would be more accurate.

Did you guys account the difference of elevation on both cities?

Theres a 2000ft difference in elevation between the two cities. Of course you're going to get better mpg going downhill. Sorry kids but I think the TFL OGs would have caught this immediately in their videos lol.

At time 3:52 your tach shows 3K RPM on what seems to be level road. Why is it running so high? not good for MPG. Are you manually shifting and holding a lower gear?

Please have Case do more videos! He’s easy on the eyes and entertaining to watch. 😜

Idk if octane rating has anything to do with it but these 5.3L engines run better on 87 octane and I noticed the pump at the loves doesn't have 87.

nice video guys. You should test an electric motorcycle soon.

Dirty windshield is what killed your mpg.