Fuel consumption of a M934 Am General and a Winnebago (haha)

[Alice]

Im going to right of the bat apologise if this is a stupid question.... BUT ive done a little research and im told (on this forum) that the AM General M934 has an average fuel consumption of about 7-10MPG. Which is not surprising but dawwwwwm thats a beast. I want a truck to travel a wee bit through the US from time to time as i work freelance in film and need something that moves all my **** around. So i started looking at alternatives and found the older Winnebagos for sale. I did some research and found that those ALSO get about 7-12 MPG, what the heck???

So my question is, how is it that the AM general, a 5-6 Ton truck have the same fuel consumption as the RV??? Am i not understanding something about motor vehicles of various sorts?

 

[Jericho]

Apples and oranges, gross weight Horsepower drive ratios and fuel efficencie , The M series engine is a modern enough engine, pretty fuel miserly, Unloaded pretty good mileage , Winne is a Broad front and slab sided .

 

[98G]

You've been told wrong.

M934 will get 4-6mpg.

Also, it's not a 5-6 ton truck. It weighs 29,900 empty, closer to 15 tons.

The M934A2 with the 8.3 turbodiesel wI'll get slightly better fuel economy, but I don't think you'll see 9mpg out of it.

 

[snowtrac nome]

that's more what I was thinking, all those trucks were intended for a 300 mile operating radius, so look at the size difference between a hmmwv, duce, 5 ton, lmtv, and hemtt fuel tanks and you get the idea. forget what the 5 ton tank size is but you can do the math and figure it out real quick, than add a little fudge factor for a strong wind. we had a m923 in korea and a 30mph head wind would slow it down to 50.

 

[Alice]

Apples and oranges, gross weight Horsepower drive ratios and fuel efficencie.....

You've been told wrong.
M934 will get 4-6mpg.

all those trucks were intended for a 300 mile operating radius

Hot **** guys! Thank you for clearing it up for me. Im so in love with these monster that i desperately wanted to make one work a part of my life. I have a 70's German Military motorcycle in the UK but now that i moved back to the US/canada i miss these machines so much. I guess ill have to put off on getting an AM general for now. I really appreciate the advice from all of you though! You guys are amazing and so are your trucks. Jealous.

 

[Jericho]

Oh , I don't know so much, I run a M 931A2 as a daily driver in the summer , unloaded, no trailer 16 miles one way. Ten miles at 30 mph on dirt roads and 6 on a 50 mph state road. I get an easy 6 to 8 MPG . Compares to my F250, which is nothing to write home about. Granted the M 931A2 is likely the lightest variant of the 5 tons. I think for me the MPG doesn't matter, I just like the RIDE !

 

[Alice]

Oh , I don't know so much, I run a M 931A2 as a daily driver in the summer , unloaded, no trailer 16 miles one way. Ten miles at 30 mph on dirt roads and 6 on a 50 mph state road. I get an easy 6 to 8 MPG . Compares to my F250, which is nothing to write home about. Granted the M 931A2 is likely the lightest variant of the 5 tons. I think for me the MPG doesn't matter, I just like the RIDE !

NOOOOO xD Youre supposed to tell me im out of my mind and its impractical to get one! Now im back to reconsidering the hunt for an AM General. Does anyone ever travel cross country with them like an rv??

 

[98G]

NOOOOO xD Youre supposed to tell me im out of my mind and its impractical to get one! Now im back to reconsidering the hunt for an AM General. Does anyone ever travel cross country with them like an rv??

Go test drive one... description just doesn't do it justice.

And I mean that both ways it can be taken.

Edit - I probably drive these things more than any 10 people i know (unless you count simp). In the past few months I've done Tucson to KS, Chicago to Albuquerque, and numerous other trips. When it rains you get wet, when it's cold you freeze, and when it's hot you broil. They all leak. Windshield wipers don't help much - the inside of the windshield gets as much water as the outside. 400 miles is a full day. Learn to like the right lane.

All that being said - I've never had so much fun driving so slow (stolen from someone's signature)

 

[Alice]

Go test drive one... description just doesn't do it justice.
....

I WISH i could test drive one. I first saw them pop up at some factory warehouse near my home in canada as they were being transported somewhere else. I couldnt find any one to talk to about them or even take a closer look in person as they were in a private area, but from then on the M934 just stuck with me and i googled it obsessively, so here we are
Im going to aim at finding a few in the area before i make more plans to buy one but i have yet to find anything of the like in Toronto (where i currently live).

All the issues youve mentioned im perfectly happy to tolerate. While in England i lived on a Dutch Barge and it was exactly how you described So its safe to say im very comfortable with whatever the trucks throw at me (or leak on me). Sure i can get something more practical and cost efficient but as you said its all about enjoying the ride and following what you're passionate about. So thats all i focus on in my life.


Wow those are literally the trips id ideally want to make. I want to kind of make my way around from state to state while i have this year free from any commitment. With that being said i imagine i will not be traveling around much more than a few months in the year. If you dont mind me asking how much did you spend on fuel and maintenance along the way? I hear parts (depending on the model of course) are not very difficult to find if anything needs replacement but how fussy are they in needing repairs, or are they quite resilient?

 

[Jericho]

Quite resilent, Simp has the miles trophy hands down! A friend drives one every other week end from NH to CT , Loves it, Love my Duece , but driving comfort with A M 931 A2 , just doesn't compare, Parts , OK, really SIMPLE TRUCK

 

[98G]

My driving is typically various trucks a couple of thousand miles each and then handing them off, so I don't have the exposure to replacing parts.

Figure fuel at $0.50/mile.

If you put serious miles on one, a modern truck is going to be cheaper to maintain.... (otherwise you'd see more MVs used for OTR).

 

[TechnoWeenie]