Vegas/Axis Mileage and Weights with Toad

[Bruce]

589 miles, 8.0 mpg. The engine is still not complete broken in. I do expect slightly better mileage in the future.

Here are my weights:



12,460 lbs for the Axis 25.1. I am going to have to slim down If I ever install levelers.

I was towing a Jeep Patriot stuffed with my windsurfing equipment.

Bruce

[JamieGeek]

When I weighed our 24.1 loaded with us and full fluids we were 4700/6700 front/rear. Interesting that the 25.1 is so much heavier in the rear (granted some of that is tongue weight but if you're flat towing that tongue weight will be <100lbs).

[TyCreek]

Tucked everything into an Axis 24.2, filled tanks and pulled a toad to the scales as a first destination. Front 4580, Rear 7540 and JK toad 4120. Feeling lucky that nothing was over maximums.

[Larry]

Originally Posted by TyCreek

Tucked everything into an Axis 24.2, filled tanks and pulled a toad to the scales as a first destination. Front 4580, Rear 7540 and JK toad 4120. Feeling lucky that nothing was over maximums.

What air pressure are you running front and rear? Thanks.

[groswald]

Had ours weighed this trip.

4640 steer
7860 drive
1540 trailer & Spyder
14040 total

Running the recommended 75 front, 65 lbs in the rear. Been meaning to try and find a Michelin chart and see what they recommend. It would be great to smooth out the ride with a bit lower pressure.

The Ultragauge says 10.2 MPG so far. That's Colorado Springs to Carlsbad NM, then Santa Fe. I expect it will drop a bit closer to 10 as we do the last leg home over La Veta pass.

Regards,

Randy

[groswald]

No time like the present...

Michelin says that up to 2330 lbs/wheel for singles the correct pressure is 65 psi. I think I'll drop mine to 70 since I'm really close to the limit for running 65. I'll post a note on any ride improvement when we get home tomorrow evening.

Randy

[JamieGeek]

The sticker near the drivers seat on ours says 70 in front and 65 in the rears.

[groswald]

Jamie,

That's interesting. Just checked my sticker and it says 75 in front. I wonder which is newer?

Randy

[TyCreek]

Originally Posted by Larry

What air pressure are you running front and rear? Thanks.

I started with 75psi front and 65 rear. Now at 80 front and 70 rear. IMO the fronts still look like there's too much sidewall flex and I wonder if going to a 17.5 F tire up front might be worth looking into.

[JamieGeek]

Originally Posted by groswald

That's interesting. Just checked my sticker and it says 75 in front. I wonder which is newer?

Well I was going by memory--haven't looked at it in a while so mine probably also says 75 in front.

[Larry]

Originally Posted by TyCreek

I started with 75psi front and 65 rear. Now at 80 front and 70 rear. IMO the fronts still look like there's too much sidewall flex and I wonder if going to a 17.5 F tire up front might be worth looking into.

I've been running mine @ 75 front & 65 rear with close to the same weights as yours and was considering increasing to 70 psi in the rear.
Did you notice any increase in gas mileage with your change?

[TyCreek]

Not enough miles before and after to note a difference ... getting about 8 with the JK in tow. Handling didn't seem to change other than I think it corners better.

[groswald]

Well, we got home and the Ultragauge still says 10.2 MPG. Can't complain about that! The Axis ran really well this trip. We're up to 6600 miles on the odometer. The V10 seemed to pass some kind of hurdle at about 5000 miles and now just hums along. Raton pass, in both directions was a breeze. We came home via Raton due to heavy rain predicted over the Rio Grande canyon and Taos.

I did drop the front tires to 70 PSI. I think the ride may have been a bit smoother, but it could well be wishful thinking. We were running on empty tanks (all of them), but I'm not sure if that improves or degrades the ride.

We did confirm that the gas tank holds 55 gallons. There was a thread on another board where someone claimed only 50 gallons are "usable". We had a "1 dollar off" deal at a local supermarket so we wanted to be nearly empty when we got home. I actually cut it closer than I wanted. The "5-gallons left" light came on 3 miles from the station. It took 51.062 gallons!

Regards,

Randy

[Larry]

Glad you got home safe and the Axis ran so well. I wouldn't complain about the 10.2 mpg either. Mine has just under 4,000 mi. on the odometer and I'm only averaging about 9 mpg. 300 mile round trip we went on over the weekend into higher country, I only got around 8.5 mpg driving 60 - 65 mph pretty much loaded. Not interstate travel though and several small towns to pass through and it was a bit windy. I figure mine the old way with a calculator. Perhaps after reaching the 5,000 mile mark, I'll get better performance as well.

Good to know about the fuel tank and you didn't have to push it into the gas pumps.

[JamieGeek]

We are just above 5000 miles and get about 8mpg (see below) but we've run pretty fast (70+ mph) with the genny running. This year when we start pulling a car around I imagine our mpg will drop as well as our driving speed.

Our mpg data:

[groswald]

I do keep the speed down. I rarely break 65 on the interstate. And, the Ultragauge eliminates the impact of the genset and all the fast-idling over the winter to keep the battery up. When I include all that and calculate by hand the overall is 9.1.