Born Free Leap'n Lions RV Club

For those interested in gas mileage, I just completed our annual trip from Iowa to AZ and NV with round trip mileage totaling 4215 miles. The total mileage was measured with my Garmin 2610 GPS which has shown year after year that my E450 mechanical odometer to be reading low by 0.8% which is not much error but the corrected mileage was used anyway to determine fuel economy. I have a 2002 Born Free 26' RSB on the Ford E450 chassis with the 305 HP V10 gas engine and I tow a 3400 lb 2005 Chevrolet Malibu. On this 4215 mile trip the average fuel economy was calculated to be 8.67 mpg.

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Bill Hemme - Spencer, Iowa
E-mail: whemme@earthlink.net
2002 Born Free (Ford E-450 V10) 26' RSB
2016 VW Golf GTI - toad

Hello Bill,

That’s good mileage with a towed. What is your cruising speed?

We have a 1999 Born Free 24' RB on the Ford E450 chassis with the 7.3 PowerStroke Diesel engine. Over the last 7,693 miles we've averaged 11.26 mpg. I also correct for the odometer error. This mileage is fully loaded with a family of 4 and 4 bikes on a hitch rack. I run 65 mph and it seems that our trips always include mountains. Three of the last 5 trips had mountain destinations. We enjoyed camping in the snow in the Smoky Mountains on spring break.

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Chuck & Laura Meadows
'99 24RB PSD

I run 63 mph on roads that permit at least that speed. And of course my yearly trips back and forth between IA and AZ & NV involve running up and down mountain grades when in the states of NM, AZ, and NV. The mileage is always less on the trip out to AZ vs the return trip because going out is an up hill run generally into the wind wereas the return trip is downhill with a general tail wind.

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Bill Hemme - Spencer, Iowa
E-mail: whemme@earthlink.net
2002 Born Free (Ford E-450 V10) 26' RSB
2016 VW Golf GTI - toad

in our 95 BFT we get 12.67 mpg. Course that's not in Colorado or any mtn state,, but it was going up and down hills in the hill country of tx... on back and winding road. Lots and lots of ups and downs. We were thrilled. This rig has over 80K miles on it

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Life is what you make it

Recently bought 1992 RSB model. E350 with 460 motor, 124,000 miles. Drove from Lake Havasu City,AZ back home to Montana on Highway 93, so I could stop at some hot springs in NV and ID. A lot of elevation gain and some city driving around Twin Falls, ID looking for a Thai restaurant... Over a big pass between Idaho and Montana, through Missoula for a Costco stop, and on to Flathead Lake.
Total of 1350 miles, averaged 9.8 on 2 fill ups. Used a GPS to check speedo and odometer error. Very little error.

Not bad for an older motor? My '96 Class B with Ford 351 and 60000 miles averaged 14, but half the living space.

Should I, could I, be getting any better MPG? I traveled with water tank only 1/3 full, but a lot of paperwork and merchandise for my business.

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1992 26' RSB
2008 Papillon named Emmett
1984 Honda GL1200 Standard
2008 Kawasaki Concours 14
2010 Kawasaki KLX250S

All week we have been near SOmers, Mt. visiting our relatives that live on Flathead River. They farm a bunch of land up here. We went right thru Polson,, a lovely little town, I gotta say! Just had to tell you were in your neck of the woods.

JanetG from Texas

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Life is what you make it

I have completed 1288 miles of what will be a 1500 mile trip from Indiana, Wiaconsin, Minnesota, Michigan and then back home to Indiana. This trip included 2 trips thru, around Chicago. I avoid the toll roads, but still spent hours on their freeways, sometimes crawling along at less then 5 MPH. Never again.

I have a 2008 27' RB and tow a Chevy HHR. The coach has the overhead cab bed and a jack knife sofa and a powered inclined bed. No captains chairs. It also has auto levelers, so that adds some weight.

I am a solo male traveler, so all I have is clothes, food, and several cases of wine, so load is about normal, might be a little light.

Using a scan gauge, GPS, and paper pencil tracking of fuel, I am running 10.1 MPG. I have learned to keep the speed under 60 and run between 2200- 2300 RPM for the best mileage. Speeds of 65+ really kill the fuel economy.

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Looking for 2011 or newer RSB

2008 27' RB. SOLD,
2007 Chevy HHR "toad"
ReadyBrute Elite tow bar with Ready Brake

AWWWW did I miss you? I LOVE to meet Born Free people. Are you coming this way?

There was a couple here last week with one like mine, but newer and towing a HUGE trailer. They are full timers in it and had done some very nice mods.

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1992 26' RSB
2008 Papillon named Emmett
1984 Honda GL1200 Standard
2008 Kawasaki Concours 14
2010 Kawasaki KLX250S

Yours is way newer, so must be the V-10?
I also have automatic levelers (lucky for me they were on it). Powered incline bed? If you have a rear bath, where is that bed? I am trying to picture the floor plan.
I am a solo female traveller with 2 tiny dogs, and probably your cases of wine balance out my motorcycle gear.....(priorities) But I am not towing and I definitely don't keep the rig 'under 60'. Ha! here in the west, that would get you some , ah... salutes? So I guess for the age and size of my rig, and the speeds I drive (average 65), the MPG is about right. I am very impressed with how easy it is to drive and how it slips through crosswinds. I am in the process of adding a rail on the back to carry my small motorcycle and hoping that doesn't affect MPG. It didn't seem to bother my Class B.

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1992 26' RSB
2008 Papillon named Emmett
1984 Honda GL1200 Standard
2008 Kawasaki Concours 14
2010 Kawasaki KLX250S

Yes, V-10. I Bought this coach from the original owners and the levelers and configuration was their design. The single powered incline bed is opposite and runs parallel to the jack knife couch. Both very comfortable. Bath is in the rear as normal. Being a 27' I gain a double wardrobe with 4 drawers an a larger pantry. Plenty of storage.

Next late summer, I plan to hit Yellowstone, Flathead and then head south to St George Utah and then possibly Qartzsite.

Who knows? With no schedule or commitments, I just might make it.

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Looking for 2011 or newer RSB

2008 27' RB. SOLD,
2007 Chevy HHR "toad"
ReadyBrute Elite tow bar with Ready Brake

Interesting configuration. I have only seen the RSB models so far. I plan to go to the factory rally in Tucson next Feb to see some more BFs.
If you drive Yellowstone to Flathead Lake, you will pass my store. I have a shady back yard with hookups for a Born Free. I'm a snowbird- Montana in summer and SW in winter. I've been to Quartzsite many many times. It's a hoot, and a gazillion boondockers. There are prettier places in AZ, though.

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1992 26' RSB
2008 Papillon named Emmett
1984 Honda GL1200 Standard
2008 Kawasaki Concours 14
2010 Kawasaki KLX250S

To get a truly meaningful MPG reading it is necessary to measure mileage over several thousand miles. A snapshot of 1,000 miles does not give an accurate picture of what your long term experience will be. I have over 90,000 miles of gas records for my BF and have not compiled MPG recently. Mine still will not be typical of what you can expect because I have 1238 hours of generator use to factor in. I have never averaged two digit MPG on any tank of gas for the 90,000+ miles driven.

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Dallas Baillio
2001 26RSB
Born Free Leap'n Lions RV Club Member

90000 miles! Good for you! And that's a good point re generator use. I expect to be using mine a fair amount this winter. I'm adding a solar set up, too. I tell people that its not great mpg for a truck, but it's pretty good for a house.
The PO of mine told me got 12mpg. A) he only drove it 10000 miles in 9 years. And B) he must have driven at 45mph.

I have concluded that mpg is irrelevant to the enjoyment of RVing. You either sit in a park all season paying rent, or you use that $ for gas to go enjoy the rig.... Having my bedroom, kitchen and stuff along....priceless.

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1992 26' RSB
2008 Papillon named Emmett
1984 Honda GL1200 Standard
2008 Kawasaki Concours 14
2010 Kawasaki KLX250S

I have a 96 26 rsb and tow a 2700 lb. Honda Accord. My BF has a 460 V8 and I have avg gas mileage of 9.3 mpg without towing the toad, and 8.8 mpg with toad. I usually pull the toad which gets 30 mpg as it sure is convenient to just park the Bf, disconnect the toad and use it for transportation. This suits our camping style. 90,000 miles on BF with full records from previous owner. It appears from repair history that this has been a trouble free vehicle. Local ford truck dealer says the 460 V8 is one of Ford's all time great engines.

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William Higbie
'96 26 rsb
2000 Honda Accord

On our trip to Alaska this year we traveled 8201 miles and averaged 13.3 MPG with our 2004 Born Free with the 6.0 diesel.