2006 Ram 5.9 cummins MPG

[turboram]

Hi everyone I have a 2006 Ram 2500 5.9 auto trans 2wd 4 door long bed with 100 K . I have a spare 50 gal tank in truck bed about 85 gals total. I tow a 23 travel trailer around the country. With the price of diesel I need to improve on my MPG's. I change oil regularly replace filters tire pressure up everything I can think of and it still is not good. I don't know for sure but it needs to get better. Some people say I need to install a chip that might help. I don't know what chip to look for and we have emission tests here in Az. so I don't know if a chip might send up a red flag when going through emissions. Any help would be greatly appreciated thank you

 

[AEdelheit]

What is your current MPG that needs improving???

 

[slowmover]

Hi everyone I have a 2006 Ram 2500 5.9 auto trans 2wd 4 door long bed with 100 K . I have a spare 50 gal tank in truck bed about 85 gals total. I tow a 23 travel trailer around the country. With the price of diesel I need to improve on my MPG's. I change oil regularly replace filters tire pressure up everything I can think of and it still is not good. I don't know for sure but it needs to get better. Some people say I need to install a chip that might help. I don't know what chip to look for and we have emission tests here in Az. so I don't know if a chip might send up a red flag when going through emissions. Any help would be greatly appreciated thank you

(Edited & slightly revised)

You’ll need records before you can say it’s good or bad. Try a phone app like Fuelly, or simply keep a journal.

MPG good or bad is relative to others doing the same work with:

1) Same truck spec

2) Same climate

3) Operate in same way

4) Driver equally motivated.

Among professional drivers where all else is identical, the difference can be almost a third.

The number that matters is not the tank by tank mileage. Too much can change to throw that off. It’s the annual number of gallons divided into total miles that one wants.

One needs a 3-5000 mile “snapshot” to accurately state what the MPG is.

Along with records are basics:

1) Proper alignment of both truck and trailer. (Don’t assume, verify)

2) Proper trailer wheel bearing lube and preset.

3) Proper brake operation on trailer. No drum or caliper drag on either vehicle. Verify.

4). No CAC leaks on truck. All maintenance per book is up to date in time and miles.


5). Tire pressure is according to CAT Scale reading. Trailer hitched, everything loaded with max fuel and ready to go. Too much air not good any more than too little. Get the CAT Scale phone app.

6). The weight distribution hitch (preferably with integrated anti-sway) needs proper adjustment to perform well.

6a. the short version of “proper” is that the truck Steer Axle weighs about the same solo or hitched with WD tensioned.

7). Bilstein or Koni shock absorbers on the truck should be installed. Whatever helps the rig track straighter is big. Ball joints and tie rods should be checked. Front springs may need replacement as 2WD not very strong. Assume front anti-rollbar end links are toast. Genos Garage for those.

8). The trailer needs to have suspension gone thru. They wear quickly. Less than a year of use. Bushings, bolts, spring hangers, etc. It will also ride and tow better with a shock absorber kit.

9) Trailer must ride level. Place a level across doorframe and get it as close as possible. If new gear is needed, go for it. Hitch rigging is big. 90% get it wrong. (The test is a split axle weigh on the CAT Scale. Ask inside for their help. Procedure is in their op manual).

A WDH with integrated anti-sway is preferred. REESE Strait Line Dual Cam best of conventional types. A Hensley or ProPride if you want to do it right.

10). Brake controller should be no less than a Prodigy 2. (TUSON, best).

11). Besides mechanical problems or adjustments or repairs that may be necessary to make rig track straight with no driver input, the next culprit is operator error.

A). Travel set speed on rural Interstate too high.

A pickup is a 55-65/mph vehicle. Respect that. Can’t steer, stop or handle when it’s empty. Loaded and towing, it’s the worst vehicle on the highway. Don’t make us laugh with any talk of skill. I’ve been pulling travel trailers larger than yours for forty-five years. And have a couple million in big trucks.

Highway driving is about maintaining space. 700’ or more preferably. A man’s a terminal screwup if he ever finds himself surrounded by other vehicles. No way out.

Spacing is always your control: How well you’re doing.

Learn to use your mirrors. The future is behind you and coming fast. Manage it.

Someone passing? Slow (cancel cruise) and get them around you. Don’t let a pack form up. Backing off is not a penalty.

Every vehicle hits the wall (aerodynamics) at 60-mph. MPG falls fast after that. A good range is 58-62/mph on cruise. That gets the commercial truck traffic governed at 65 around you easily. It keeps you from changing lanes, having to accelerate or brake. These matter bigly. Count them.

Set the cruise before the end of the entrance ramp. Use it except in hilliest terrain.

PLAN your daily drive. Limit the time and miles. 300-miles or 3 o’clock is as valid today as it was in the 1960s when I first heard it.

A break every 2-Hours or less. Plan that stop the night before. At four hours plan the lunch stop and/or fuel for an hour break.

A trip is a day broken into legs. Decisions already made as to stops.

A truck stop and/or rest area on your sides travel direction is fuel efficient. Park so that leaving is easy. (These new habits pay off at years end). The little things really add up; they’re the biggest difference between you and me.

Don’t chase 5-cents/gallon pricing. False economy.

No idling. Not even at startup. Ease down road immediately.

Around town:

Combine errands. All of them for the week. Forgot something? Then it waits till next weeks errand run. Exert discipline.

Look at routing. No left turns. Longer on non stop road versus cutting off early thru city stop/go.

DHS says 90% of us go to 90% of the same places 90% of the time. Make a list of those errand addresses and map a route. A loop. Start at farthest point after gliding up the highway to warm it, and ease on back. (MapQuest: Fuel Efficient Routing).

Etc. There’s lots more than this surface layer. I improved town mpg from 18 to 22 after a dare from a Cummins engineer.

That’s 20%. For an average RVer doing 5k annual towing miles I just made it “free” based on then current prices and average total miles.

(The dummies stare at phones to chase fuel price and increase accident risk on vacation. Save it before you leave home).

22-mpg in town isn’t the thing. It’s the 20% decrease in fuel burn from present and getting the same work done. Longer life, not just lower cost. It’ll show in average mph.

To re-cap:

1). Get mechanical problems or relationships ideal. Verify!!

2). Travel at a safer & fuel efficient speed. In town or out. It’s below posted limit as vehicle spacing is always the control on “speed”.

3). Never turn the key there isn’t already a plan. Right to the end.

4) Eliminate duplicate trips and miles; drive remaining miles more conscientiously. Learn!!

(Pays for vacation when annual records consulted).

The single “change” to the truck that will improve MPG in every instance is tires. Size should be stock. Tread should be closed shoulder highway rib. Michelin LTX A/S was best example. Study pics. Quality and design pay.

LTX M/S or Bridgestone Duravis M500 best choices for long life and MPG.

“Tuners” haven’t been shown to increase steady_state highway mpg. May not even pay for itself.

I have an ‘04 2WD longbed with man trans. I average 15-mpg pulling my 35’ travel trailer in Texas & surrounding. 24+ highway solo. Bought both vehicles with plan for longest life at lowest cost with highest reliability. (Trailer is aero all-aluminum). Clutch original and tires/brakes go over 100k.

And for over 200k miles it hasn’t bothered me a bit to run 58-mph at 1,725-rpm on the Interstate.

On a 300-mile trip the time difference versus faster is next to nothing. (I drive for a living; an understanding of average mph separates men from boys).

Compared to the 4WDs and their problems plus their higher costs, I could have two of my 2WD versus their one and operated them as cheaply. As I don’t live where law enforcement needs 4WD, neither do I.

The average CTD owner does no better than an annual 15-mpg average for all miles. Mines 21. That difference is huge on an annual basis. Then take it out over ten years.

If I’m at the higher end of mpg, at least you’ll know what’s possible when all the pieces work together.

So here’s the final piece: Get the engine hours and find the average mph since new (hours into miles). Track this every time you fill. Above 27 is acceptable. Below that is bad for every measure of life and health.

Don’t change anything else once you’ve gone over and thru that rig. Get your records going. Knock the drivers head with a wrench so he thinks . Compete against yourself to bring that average up:

No idling
No braking
Smooth in every circumstance.
Vehicle spacing

New habits you’ll stick with are necessary. Records that won’t lie. A truck is a good family working vehicle. Understand the strong and weak of it.

 

[Killer223]

^^ that right there is the best advise i've seen on this forum about MPG's,
i listened to his advise and did my best and got from 9 up to 13 towing my 34' 5er.
as for tuners, i've ran EFI, smarty, custom ones, still the best mpg's is stock.
get ride of the K&N, cold air intake, you want nice warm engine, warm air form the stock air box. synthetic oils dont really help, unless it in the dif's and trans. engines once at temp could care less on dino vs synthetic.
slow down and enjoy the drive, you don't have to keep up with the crowd.

read here.

https://cumminsengines.com/uploads/docs/cummins_secrets_of_better_fuel_economy.pdf

 

[dougsram]

Slowmover, you must be my brother from another mother since I practice all your points from speed to tire selection. I average about 13.5 mpg towing my 27’ Airstream. Since my travel plans are usually flexible, I try to be on the road when wind speed and direction are favorable. With a 20mph tail wind, I added 1.5 mpg to my average on my latest trip. My big penalty is having 4WD, but it has saved my *** in too many situations to do without.

 

[Mark31]

Turboram, slowmover really wrote an "epistle", didn't he! He did such a good job I almost hate to try to add anything else. Put up with me and let me add some more suggestions for your consideration. 1. Try to as much as possible keep the torque converter locked. Consider maybe adding a manual switch to lock it for like those times you get caught in 3rd but not fast enough to lock up. 2. Do you have a topper? I get better mileage pulling our disaster relief trailer when mine is on the truck. 3. I have a boost, exhaust temp, and trans temp gauge in a dash mount to let me know what's going on. 4. Run light. Don't carry more water than necessary and just use your extra fuel tank when needed. A little extra weight doesn't matter as much at a steady speed on level ground, but hills and stop and go cost fuel and increase your stopping distance. Enjoy your travels! I'm jealous! Mark

 

[bigceltic]

Tread should be closed shoulder highway rib. Michelin LTX A/S was best example. Study pics. Quality and design pay.

LTX M/S or Bridgestone Duravis M500 best choices for long life and MPG.

Amen to this. Since my stock Michelin LTXs wore out, I replaced them with BFG ATs (my MPG dropped) then with Cooper Discoverer STT Pros (even more aggressive - more MPG drop). I did not like the way the Michelins looked but they certainly returned the MPG.

 

[KOG]

This one probably needs to become a sticky. Pretty much says it all.

 

[Tuesdak]

It would be interesting to know what the OP's "Not good" is for MPG. Nothing wrong with wanting to get the most MPG from a rig. After diesel hit $5.00+ per gal during The Great Depression V 2.0 Frankly there is NOTHING to complain about with today's diesel prices. The Aux tank already allows one to find better diesel prices when towing. I assume or recommend you use a site like Gasbuddy to maximize savings. Not cheapest in town, but, plan stops where fuel is cheaper on average. Some towns have extreme prices. A Diesel 3/4 or 1 ton isn't the best choice when MPG is the #1 concern. A 1/2 ton gas pickup gets better or similar MPG on currently cheaper gasoline and the maintenance costs are less. Towing the MPG leans toward Diesel, but, you would have to run the total costs depending on how much you tow vs. unloaded driving. Too expensive to trade a vehicle for MPG alone. Changing the oil regularly may be a waste of money as running the oil 2x as long saves the cost of a tank of Diesel. Run it at least as long as the severe duty interval from the owner's manual. Verify with Used Oil Analysis to see if you can run the longer normal duty oil change interval. Look at total cost not just MPG for ways to be Frugal.

Some additional things to consider:

1) Arizona is hot and dry both make MPG worse.
2) Turning on the AC, windows up, drops my MPG by 1/4: 21 MPG to 16 MPG.
3) The frequent grades and extreme long grades in Arizona put literal meaning to "uphill both ways". Example from another rig of mine towing: Phoenix to Lake Havasu is 11 MPG where Phoneix to Springerville (via the 7600'+ Mongollon Rim, Payson, Show Low) is 7.5 MPG. Thus the route you take may be the reason for bad MPG here.
4) Loose weight. Travel with nearly empty water tanks and plan where you will fill them. Some campgrounds have had water problems so you may need a full fresh water tank. Go through everything on the trailer and loose what you don't need. Do you really need 2 propane tanks and 2 batteries on the trailer? That unused dining chair? The 5th flashlight with dead batteries? Yeah, go through everything.
5) Your trailer could be well built and heavier than a light weight one of the same size. Arctic Fox is known to be heavy and IMO worth the MPG difference over a light weight unit.

Tunes won't pay you back in MPG gains. (If you are doing 550 miles a day and get a 3 MPG improvement maybe. I have only seen that payback with a turbo upgrade on a 6.5 GM diesel because the OEM turbo was an Asthma Attack over 2200 RPM. How long does 1MPG take to pay back $500? ) You get a tune for other reasons. Emissions in AZ is just a snap smoke test, fuel cap test, and visual inspection to make sure items in the exhaust are still there. You can revert to stock tune before you go for the test, but, they don't look at what tune is in it as long as it blows under a 40 on the smoke meter. (Over 40 they still don't care and you just fail.) You don't want to be smoking anyway as that is wasting fuel. With the grades in AZ more power even if it costs some MPG is not a bad thing. Time is money. YMMV.

 

[Prairie Dog]

Buddy has an 06 he bought new that now has 42K on it (really).
It has always gotten lousy mileage compared to mine. He gets around 9 towing 25' travel trailer and 12 around town empty.

 

[slowmover]

(I went back and cleaned up earlier post; plus added some ).

Thx

 

[Cooper_D]

Deleted post

 

[KRSmitty]

On my old 07 5.9...12-14mpg (Smarty Jr) towing a 32' 5er and 20-21mpg highway.

 

[GCuzzy]

For comparison I have a 4x4 2003 with 208 K miles and pull a 26 ft trailer, no chip. I run about 62 mph and get around 12-13 mpg.

 

[WalterScott]

I have 2003 5.9L 4x4 pulling 33 ft 5th wheel. Several years ago dealer decided to flash my system. Ruined mpg. Went from mid 20’s with boat. Called dealer on it, response was state made them do it, but for a fee they would correct it. Good thing is they went bankrupt. Bought a logic tech controller. It saves original settings. Has performance,heavy haul trailer and economy. I keep it on economic. Have played with other settings pulling trailer. You will get better mpg as your not 4x4. My truck passes smog without going to state settings. It’s legal in all states.

 

[Bob4x4]

I have 2003 5.9L 4x4 pulling 33 ft 5th wheel. Several years ago dealer decided to flash my system. Ruined mpg. Went from mid 20’s with boat. Called dealer on it, response was state made them do it, but for a fee they would correct it. Good thing is they went bankrupt. Bought a logic tech controller. It saves original settings. Has performance,heavy haul trailer and economy. I keep it on economic. Have played with other settings pulling trailer. You will get better mpg as your not 4x4. My truck passes smog without going to state settings. It’s legal in all states.

I don’t think I have heard of that controller?

 

[ScottLewis]

After reading this thread, I guess my poor mileage isn't too far out of line. I know it's better if I stay below 60 towing but often feel pressed to make better time. My truck is a 4X4 but also has 4.10 gearing. MPG ranges from below 9 MPG bucking the wind to as much as 13 under favorable conditions. That's with an 11K 5'er in tow. At about 140K miles total, close to 80% towing, I'm still happy with my dodge despite using more fuel than I'd like. I do try to stay below 350 miles in a day but my last trip went about 420 for 4 days trying to get home because of wife's illness.

 

[Hootguy]

well i have to say i was quite surprised at the mileage i got with my 2007 Megacab dually 4X4,on last long trip to Florida this october,that i could actually do in one go,left Daytona Beach tank completely full,,drove all the way to where i get off 95 onto 17 near DC,,topped off full there again,and drove home to Ottawa,still some fuel left,it was my first time using the 07 for a long trip,i always prefer my old 96 12valve for it reliability over the crappy electronic injectors of the CR engine,but friends with the same truck jsut sadi load and go and not to worry,so i did,,and it was a much nicer ride in the Megacab for sure,,but i was worried the whole way about having fueling issues of some form,i'm used to my 12 valve and trust it way more,and can handle almost anything that can happen on the road short of a blowup,but i'm not to sure about the CR engine,,but i can't argue the great mileage and ride quality,

 

[AHutson]

I have noticed I get about 1-1.5 mpg better on Conoco diesel vs anything else with 2001. Wife's Ecodiesel gets 2-3 better on Conoco vs anything else. Keep in mind these are empty driving mileage and not towing. We don't pull much of anything at the moment, just buck that wonderful Wyoming wind a lot.

 

[Motorhead]

My very best MPG, Hand calculated with my 2007, 5.9, 3.73 gearing, 6 speed stick with the late .74 ratio 6th (AE Code trans), dynatrac free spin hubs, Smarty jr on 70hp setting was 22.3 MPG. I drove from Seattle south to Yreka Ca on one tank approx 510 miles. I drove speed limits with stock wheels and Michelin tires and I had a cab high camper shell. NO coasting out of gear either!
The free spin hubs really only save MPG when you are empty on the long highway runs.
The "Latest Bang for the Buck" for towing mileage was having Tom at Turbo Re-source at Lake Havasu rebuild my STOCK turbo installing the stock 6.7 turbine wheel (Hot side) and leaving the stock 5.9 compressor wheel (Cold side). I gained pulling power and about 1.5 to 2 mpg on towing. When out of Commiefornia and the towing speed limit goes up to usually what cars run, I run 65 to 70 mph.