4866 miles over two weeks in "Blucifer"

[greenlaker]

Well, we had planned on taking my Sprinter that I DIY'd into a camper van on our annual summer trip to see the spawn in the Twin Cities, but the differential was dying on the van (at 61k miles!), so we pressed the baby Bronco into service for the trek. We had to forego the luxury of being able to pull off to sleep whenever/wherever we wanted, but overall it was a comfortable and relatively relaxing trip.

Final MPG would have likely crossed 30, but I towed our 2000# boat about 120 of those miles. Just from a friend's house in the Madison, WI area to Green Lake, WI and back. Nothing but rolling hills on back roads, with speeds under 60MPH. I could certainly feel it behind the BS, but the vehicle didn't feel especially stressed. Still I had to forego my original plan of bringing the boat back home to NorCal, as I didn't want to drive it at the limits at Interstate speeds and up and over the grades of NV on hot summer's days.

Since we had time, we stretched our legs at the Bonneville Salt Flats. Too wet to drive on it though - no sense in giving the undercarriage a thick spray of brine.

While we certainly missed the space and towing capacity of the Sprinter, "Blucifer" did the job admirably, and I appreciated the adaptive cruise, quieter cabin, and it being more nimble and efficient.

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[Mark S.]

Spectacular photo. Smart decision on the boat towing.

 

[wireman]

Did you do an actual pen and paper MPG calculation based on your gas receipts?

On my 4100 mile trip, shown MPG was about 1.4 MPG higher than actual calculations.

The dash display isn't usually accurate, but a ballpark estimate.

 

[westcoaster818]

Well, we had planned on taking my Sprinter that I DIY'd into a camper van on our annual summer trip to see the spawn in the Twin Cities, but the differential was dying on the van (at 61k miles!), so we pressed the baby Bronco into service for the trek. We had to forego the luxury of being able to pull off to sleep whenever/wherever we wanted, but overall it was a comfortable and relatively relaxing trip.

Final MPG would have likely crossed 30, but I towed our 2000# boat about 120 of those miles. Just from a friend's house in the Madison, WI area to Green Lake, WI and back. Nothing but rolling hills on back roads, with speeds under 60MPH. I could certainly feel it behind the BS, but the vehicle didn't feel especially stressed. Still I had to forego my original plan of bringing the boat back home to NorCal, as I didn't want to drive it at the limits at Interstate speeds and up and over the grades of NV on hot summer's days.

Since we had time, we stretched our legs at the Bonneville Salt Flats. Too wet to drive on it though - no sense in giving the undercarriage a thick spray of brine.

While we certainly missed the space and towing capacity of the Sprinter, "Blucifer" did the job admirably, and I appreciated the adaptive cruise, quieter cabin, and it being more nimble and efficient.

You are overweight on the tow max if your boat is 2k pounds. How much does the trailer weigh? Is there gas in the boat? Any other supplies?

 

[greenlaker]

You are overweight on the tow max if your boat is 2k pounds. How much does the trailer weigh? Is there gas in the boat? Any other supplies?

I should clarify that all-in the boat, on trailer, with fuel and accessories is right about 2000#.

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