16K miles, 14.6 mpg empty--Tell me it gets better!

[Tmartin000]

I really am getting concerned. Is this mpg gonna get better? Like I said, average for past 8 months is 14. 6, 14. 4, 14,5... . over and over. I always fill the tank and divide the miles & gallons. So far I have 5 pages of fillups recorded. Further, I get maybe 12. 6 towing a 5000lb boat. Mileage with a pop-up camper & boat together is about 10. 5-11mpg. I have added Stanadyne but never see a difference. Best I have ever seen is 16. 4 on the freeway. Not so sure I shuld have sold my 97Dually. I would get almost 15 fully loaded past GVCR.

As stated above, I have several pages of history all hand calculated... . By the way, the trucks cpu is actually pretty accurate. Crappy almost always shows 13. 5mpg!


I drive responsibly.

Larger tires are programmed appropiately to trucks computer so I am sure that the odom is accurate. Checked w/ GPS too.

What does the future hold..... ?

 

[RRees]

I have about 16k on my 06 now. The last fillup, hand-calc was 17. 3mpg.

I have stock tires on my truck and 3. 73 gears.



The elevation around Des Moines, Iowa is about 950 feet above sea level.

I don't know if that helps or hurts.

 

[BHolm]

If you do not tow heavy often, it is going to take a long time to get the milage numbers up. My guess is you are about halfway, by 30k you should be at 19-20 mpg empty. Your boat and camper don't sound like they are enough burden for the beast:-laf



My '06 Mega started out getting 13. 5 mpg... empty After several 3000 mile round trips pulling max cgvwr the milage really came up. When I traded it off at 46k miles, I was getting 19-20 on the same drive it used to get 13. 5 on. There is hope It just takes a lot of work to get these thing broken in fully.

 

[Dbonzi]

Tmartin

your milage looks exactly like mine.

I have 170,000 miles on mine so the break in is done.

I recently tried to get the best milage I could.

I never went over 50 MPH took off real slow from every stop. Coasted almost to a stop before stop signs. I got 16. 9

When driving normal I get 15. 5

I wonder if some of these guys have checked their milage since the low sulfer fuel came out?

By the way towing in strong head wind at 65MPH I got 10. 2

Are you using soy diesel? I can get 1-2 mpg better when not using Soy

But then I don't want to have to add more money to the tank with all the additives for lubrication so I run soy as much as I can

Dennis

 

[Tmartin000]

Are you using soy diesel?

No just the low sulfur crap. I can't say I saw much of a drop when we all went to the newer ULSD. So, I can't blame that.

Maybe the motor isn't being worked hard... camper 1400lbs boat 5000lbs. Your right, It ain't alot.

I am really disappointed... . :{ I really expected to get more MPG. I might just stop driving the truck as a daily driver---It's costing me a fortune in frequent fill-ups. Maybe a small crappy car is in my future.

Smart-*** at the dealer says, "If your gettin over 10mpg towing your boat and camper, your doing good". I swear I almost decked him. What a Jerk.

Funny, I heard earlier this year... . "Wait for milage to improve... once your over 20K".

I can't seem to figure out when to switch to Amsoil 5w40. I have two gallons waiting to go in... . AFTER the engines broke in.
... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ..... WHEN DO THEY BREAK IN!!!! #@$%!

 

[CDonaldson]

I only have 20K on my truck, so I guess we are at comparative levels. I started out with a consistent mileage of around 14. 5 to 15. 5mpg stock truck. Then at about 5K I put on 315 tires. I had a highway gain of 1 mpg because I could get into the 2Krpm range at 65mph bringing my mileage up to 15. 5 empty BUT 16. 5 on the highway. I tow a lot, use my gears and keep the rpms up because I am at 7K ft elevation and tow up to 11K ft and down to 3K ft on most all trips towing, so I am all over the elevations and getting the mileage I am.



Just a couple weeks ago I made a trip to Minnesota. Now I have towing at much less elevations and my mileage DROPPED going to MN to 12 mpg towing the same kind of load I tow at the higher elevation. My mileage came up some on the return trip. I can speculate that the drop had more to do with humidity, because from TX, through OK, KS, NE, SD and then in MN the humidity was on a steady rise all the way. In MN my mileage dropped into the 11mpg range.



I am actually heading back to MN in September. I am in hopes that the humidity will be a little less and I will be able to get a little better mileage. Also, the towing load I will be returning with will be at the 12K lbs range, that's 4K lbs more than the last one. I am thinking that this will push me more into a broken-in state, maybe not.



I think that the 2006 325/610 engine changes/ECM changes more or less blew the fuel mileage out the window as compared to earlier CR 3rd gens. Regardless, the couple miles per gal differences are not enough to make me get rid of my 2006 and seek an older model.



It may be that the ULSD and it's lower cetane IS behind the poor mileage as compared to earlier models, but as mentioned earlier, are those who are reporting their mileage looking at ULSD numbers or LSD numbers? When I first got my truck it was not long before the ULSD came out, and, also the winter additives were in place, my mileage was a little higher then as compared to now.

CD

 

[DPKetchum]

14. 6 to 15. 2 is about what I get empty and driving easy. I get 11. 5 to 13. 0 towing 10k depending on weather,headwind and type of country pulling through.

 

[Regcabguy]

I got 14. 5 last tank with camper on my back,Smarty sw#1 partime,285's and really babying it. I worked to keep my rpm's below 2100. My tire correction has stuck on my truck as I checked repeatedly with my GPS,with or without Smarty. 285's are set@75psi. Overhead read 16. 1.

 

[Schrowang]

Mileage

My 04. 5, 4wd has a littleover 60K on it. I'm running a 6spd standard transmission with 4. 10 gears.



Until I turned 20K my mileage was crappy. Since then it has increased pretty good. I get 20mpg bobtail driving right at 2000rpm over the road. Towing on the highway drops it to around 12. 5 to 13mpg. That is all hand calculated from this last trip out west. I put 8,000 miles on the truck this trip towing my Wildcat 29RLBS (scale weighed in at 10,840 lbs).



I got some really crappy ULSD at a stop in Minneapolis, and it took two tankfulls of Flying J and silver Diesel Service to flush it out.



I love this truck. Oo.



On the trip, I noticed that in most of the states west of PA the price of diesel was about 30 cents cheaper than regular unleaded. Got back east and my local Shell station with the truck island is selling it for a penny more than regular ($2. 849 v. $2. 839).



Go figger #@$%!

 

[DHuffman]

I'm still waiting for the mythical "jump" in mileage... I'm happy with 17. 5



#ad

 

[jjack]

Jerk those tires off and put the stockers back on and your mileage will improve. You have a big heavy mud tire whick produces more spring weight and rolling resistance because of the softer compound. You may try airing them up to the max amount indicated on the sidewall. In addition you hvae raised the belly of the truck an inch or 2 creating more buffeting underneath. You are seriously losing 2 to 3 miles/gallon strictly on tires and height and the fact that the Speedo along with odometer are wrong.

 

[Regcabguy]

I wish somebody besides Denman Tire would produce a "tall,thin" tire for those of us that want the lift,reduced rpms and wind resistance that such a tire would yield. 19. 5's are nice but I don't want to run rocks under my truck.

 

[Dbonzi]

I live in Minnesota and have poor milage.

But earlier this summer I went down to Missouri and filled up while I was there.

I got 18. 5 running around town. I just thought it was a fluke or i wrote down one of the number wrong. As far as humidity goes it wasn't humid in june and I still could only get 14-15. I wonder if its just the quality of fuel we are getting here in Minnesota??? Oh well high taxes low fuel milage what else could one ask for???

Dennis

 

[CDonaldson]

Somewhere I recall reading a post where the person referred to our trucks as ROLLING BRICKS towing BARNS when it came to wind resistance alone. That statement is not far from the truth, in fact, it is VERY MUCH the truth. Lower cetane rating, winter fuels, less lubricants in the fuel, temperatures, humidity, and finally the thire injector event - maybe we are all doing better than we think considering all the adversities involved.



I too experience a couple tanks of fuel where my milleage jumped right up to the 20mg point, I thought it was a fluke or a calculation error, but have since figured that it was maybe more of a PREMIUM diesel thing or a tank of left over LSD.



CD

 

[BBoling]

My mileage graph looks almost exactly like DHuffman's... . mixed city driving about 17. 5 mpg, empty. My camper is about 4K lb and just hauled that baby 3,000 miles while towing a pee-wee trailer of about 1500 lb at most, got about 11 mpg. The 19. 5s in my opinion look and work great, and improve the OVERALL performance of my truck. It is a bit rougher ride compared to stock, yes, but I wouldn't be without 'em, ESPECIALLY when hauling the camper -- they provide a HUGE improvement in handling when loaded up. NIGHT and DAY.

I love my truck, WHAT A MACHINE.

 

[Turbo Tim 1]

I forget what the TSB number is but I had the flash for the long crank done to the wifes 06 and mileage has gone from below 12 up to just over 16 just driving locally around town. This is with 4. 10's, I remember someone else saying there mileage came up after this flash so I had the dealer do it and so far I am happy.

 

[scottmcd]

i just got 16. 73 hand calc on driving around town, had 160 miles of freeway driving on it, plus all the playing around while driving to Truck Fest. (have to blow smoke @ the OVAL's & BOWTIE's) That was with the Edge set @ 3 most of the time. Last long trip I got 22. 64 on over 1400 miles doing 85, EDGE set on 1..... Scott

 

[DerekW]

I really am getting concerned. Is this mpg gonna get better? Like I said, average for past 8 months is 14. 6, 14. 4, 14,5... . over and over. I always fill the tank and divide the miles & gallons. So far I have 5 pages of fillups recorded. Further, I get maybe 12. 6 towing a 5000lb boat. Mileage with a pop-up camper & boat together is about 10. 5-11mpg. I have added Stanadyne but never see a difference. Best I have ever seen is 16. 4 on the freeway. Not so sure I shuld have sold my 97Dually. I would get almost 15 fully loaded past GVCR.



As stated above, I have several pages of history all hand calculated... . By the way, the trucks cpu is actually pretty accurate. Crappy almost always shows 13. 5mpg!





I drive responsibly.



Larger tires are programmed appropiately to trucks computer so I am sure that the odom is accurate. Checked w/ GPS too.



What does the future hold..... ?

not with that formula to calculate fuel mileage it dont get better. try this formula to make yourself happier for a second miles times gallons divided by 4. this formula only works with a minimum of 40 miles traveled and minimum of 2 gallons of fuel burnt. :-laf now do the real formula to calculate fuel mileage and get upset with oil companies and the epa for running a scam on you.

 

[champspa]

two of my friends bought 06 , 2500 dodges and both get 21+ miles per gallon , they got this new and hasn't changed. I would test drive a truck before I bought it and if the milage wasn't acceptable I wouldn't buy it.

 

[BHolm]

two of my friends bought 06 , 2500 dodges and both get 21+ miles per gallon , they got this new and hasn't changed. I would test drive a truck before I bought it and if the milage wasn't acceptable I wouldn't buy it.

Those would be the first new trucks I have heard of getting those mpgs. My '05 started at around 14. 5 and ended up at 17. 8 (36k miles), my '06 Mega started at 13. 5 and ended up at 19. 8 (46k miles). I find it pretty hard to swallow that your friends trucks were getting 21 mpg new. I also don't think a G56 truck is likely to get 21, autos, definately. Which trans did they have? I am on my 5th third gen, so obviously I have tried a bunch of them, in different configurations, though all 4x4s. They have ALL improved with time, none of them started out getting 21 mpg. Believe what you will I guess.