Better mileage ?

[CATCRACKER]

17. 5+ some hwy, idling,wot conditioins. a perfect world 65mph all hwy 19+mpg. i fill up when my light comes on it usually takes 28 gallons give or take 510 miles right around 18mpg. 17 w/ 3. 73 should be normal. remember i live in the flatlands right at sealevel. my mpg was 12mpg first tank 14 second and has increased ever since 8100 miles now. i have noticed a d/f with fuel additive around . 5 to 1 depends. i use redline and lucas.

 

[Jeremiah]

Originally posted by CATCRACKER

17. 5+ some hwy, idling,wot conditioins. a perfect world 65mph all hwy 19+mpg. i fill up when my light comes on it usually takes 28 gallons give or take 510 miles right around 18mpg. 17 w/ 3. 73 should be normal. remember i live in the flatlands right at sealevel. my mpg was 12mpg first tank 14 second and has increased ever since 8100 miles now. i have noticed a d/f with fuel additive around . 5 to 1 depends. i use redline and lucas.

I kinda wonder if all these low miles per gallon reports aren't being written by some Phord guy who gets a commission for every Dodge owner he converts. Hee! I ain't never heard of such low numbers!

 

[stevencarroll]

overhead said 18.8

Went to reno and back all highway,ac on 75% of the time. Cruise set on 75 , 566 miles 30. 306 gallons

 

[Greg Boardman-RIP]

Originally posted by Jeremiah

I kinda wonder if all these low miles per gallon reports aren't being written by some Phord guy who gets a commission for every Dodge owner he converts. Hee! I ain't never heard of such low numbers!

The first three tanks in my 4X4 were 12 or worse. Hauling a backhoe the first 250 miles were 8. 9 mpg. on the way home, I saw 11. 4. At the end of the trip the truck had 1700 miles on it.

 

[JThiessen]

HO/Auto

I have 2500 miles so far. Computer has never been re-set and its reading 17. 1 MPG. So far best tank was 20. 1, worst was 13. 1, and that was towing an 8K fifth wheel up over a curvey two lane mtn pass.

 

[MattSt]

Originally posted by Jeremiah

I kinda wonder if all these low miles per gallon reports aren't being written by some Phord guy who gets a commission for every Dodge owner he converts. Hee! I ain't never heard of such low numbers!

I WISH you were right. I would push my Dodge before I drove a Ford. But I'm still getting 15. 5-16 MAX mpg. My drive to work is 30 miles. 5 of those are stop and go and the rest is interstate 65-75 mph. It's now got 10,575 miles and not getting any better. But I still like it.

 

[Jeremiah]

Re: overhead said 18.8

Originally posted by stevencarroll

Went to reno and back all highway,ac on 75% of the time. Cruise set on 75 , 566 miles 30. 306 gallons

You got 18. 6 calculated. Not too bad at that speed. What's amazing is how close the calculated mpgs are to the overhead, which can be WAY off.

 

[stevencarroll]

jeremiah

My overhead has always been accurate to within 1 mpg. It also seems to read a little higher when empty and a little low when towing. The AC sucks about 1 to 1. 5 MPG to. 12000 on truck now and i like it more everyday.

 

[GHinton]

anyone had sorry mileage and done something about it? Ran 79mph on speedo with cruise on flat Eastern NC roads pulling 3K(very generous estimate) boat and overhead read 12. 3. My old '97 would get 24 mpg on the same trip empty. -Jay

 

[Greg Boardman-RIP]

Adding an EZ on the 2WD added 2. 5 mpg per tank. Thats with the wife driving it daily driver style. She sees 17. 5-19 now.

 

[DocDetonancour]

Looks like around 19 is pretty common. for the rigs getting 12 I would go to my dealer and say "what da hell da matter". Thanks guys. My 96 gets very similiar mileage.

 

[radar doctor]

Mileage Good or Bad

I wonder what it would be if you were driving a 4X2 , 373 rear end standard output engine, LSR, ^ Speed Trany????anyone running one of these???

 

[Jeremiah]

Originally posted by GHinton

anyone had sorry mileage and done something about it? Ran 79mph on speedo with cruise on flat Eastern NC roads pulling 3K(very generous estimate) boat and overhead read 12. 3. My old '97 would get 24 mpg on the same trip empty. -Jay

I didn't know whether to take this message seriously or not. Any truck runnin' 79 mph is going to get lousy fuel mileage. That is, unless its got a 40 mph tailwind. If I got 24 in my old truck at that speed, I'd have kept that sucker and passed it on to my kids.

 

[GHinton]

Originally posted by Jeremiah

I didn't know whether to take this message seriously or not. Any truck runnin' 79 mph is going to get lousy fuel mileage. That is, unless its got a 40 mph tailwind. If I got 24 in my old truck at that speed, I'd have kept that sucker and passed it on to my kids.

Jeremiah, take it how you want it. You are more than welcome to make the trip with me. Want to go fishing? And yes, there are times when I wish I still had the 97, though I will clarify that new interstate with 70 mph roads replaced 55 two laner. I apologize for not including that info earlier, and any confusion it may have caused... .

 

[Jeremiah]

Originally posted by GHinton

Jeremiah, take it how you want it. You are more than welcome to make the trip with me. Want to go fishing? And yes, there are times when I wish I still had the 97, though I will clarify that new interstate with 70 mph roads replaced 55 two laner. I apologize for not including that info earlier, and any confusion it may have caused... .

H-m-m-m. You wouldn't be the first person to pull a few legs on this board. There was a feller awhile back who said he poured used motor oil in his diesel fuel. Somebody else was impressed and said he quit using diesel fuel entirely and switched to 100 percent used motor oil. I just didn't know which way to go on your statement. I wonder what mileage you would get at, say, 60 mph? Probably up around 30 or so.

 

[jponder]

Originally posted by Jeremiah

H-m-m-m. You wouldn't be the first person to pull a few legs on this board. There was a feller awhile back who said he poured used motor oil in his diesel fuel. Somebody else was impressed and said he quit using diesel fuel entirely and switched to 100 percent used motor oil. I just didn't know which way to go on your statement. I wonder what mileage you would get at, say, 60 mph? Probably up around 30 or so.

There are probably some light 12 valves that are tall geared that could do 30 if the people would just slow down some.

 

[Jeremiah]

Originally posted by jponder

There are probably some light 12 valves that are tall geared that could do 30 if the people would just slow down some.

I am thinking about buying the 19. 5" wheels from Rickson, which would increase the tire height from 31" to 34". It would also drop the final ratio from 3. 73 to 3. 44. I am a little concerned that it would limit my power too much in 6th gear, but I sure would like to lower the 75 mph rpm from 2250 to around 1800 or so.

 

[GHinton]

Originally posted by Jeremiah

H-m-m-m. You wouldn't be the first person to pull a few legs on this board. There was a feller awhile back who said he poured used motor oil in his diesel fuel. Somebody else was impressed and said he quit using diesel fuel entirely and switched to 100 percent used motor oil. I just didn't know which way to go on your statement. I wonder what mileage you would get at, say, 60 mph? Probably up around 30 or so.

My point was, I am currently dissatisfied with the mileage I am currently seeing. Yes I did see 24 mpg on old truck, (2500 4x4 long bed 5 spd 3. 55) and the best I have seen so far on 03 has been 18. 5. My original question was ,"has anyone been able to improve their current mileage?" I did not intend to "pull a few legs", and no, I would definitely not advocate using used motor oil as a fuel additive. I am aware that mileage improves with break-in, and '03 currently has 4800 miles on it. I hope this will hold true with this vehicle. Mileage at highway speeds (65 to 70 speed limit, drive 5-9mph over) hovers around 16. I am not satisfied with this mileage, though I am ecstatic about all other aspects of the truck.....

 

[Jeremiah]

Originally posted by GHinton

My point was, I am currently dissatisfied with the mileage I am currently seeing. Yes I did see 24 mpg on old truck, (2500 4x4 long bed 5 spd 3. 55) and the best I have seen so far on 03 has been 18. 5. My original question was ,"has anyone been able to improve their current mileage?" I did not intend to "pull a few legs", and no, I would definitely not advocate using used motor oil as a fuel additive. I am aware that mileage improves with break-in, and '03 currently has 4800 miles on it. I hope this will hold true with this vehicle. Mileage at highway speeds (65 to 70 speed limit, drive 5-9mph over) hovers around 16. I am not satisfied with this mileage, though I am ecstatic about all other aspects of the truck.....

I am no expert, but Robert Patton, who edits the TDR rag we all swear by, says you're in the ballpark mileage-wise. There's not much you can do except keep your tires inflated to 60/50 or so and keep the RPMs under 2000 on the highway. But the pros say break 'em in hard by pulling hard and the engine will treat you well for many miles. You might make sure the fuel filter isn't plugged. Check the air cleaner too. Then sit back and wait until she's broken it (10-20,000K depending on how you drive it).



Unless you're putting a bunch of miles per year on the truck, the cost difference between 16 mpg and 20 mpg won't hurt your pocketbook that much.

 

[Goodys1ton]

I installed a Scotty 3 a week ago, and in city driving I have noticed close to 2 mpg increase. I was getting 15. 5-15. 7 now with the intake I am seeing 17. 6-17. 9. I have not been able to test the increase on the highway or even higway speeds. I think the increase is do to the decrease in my EGTs, between 25-40 degrees. I only have 7,500 miles on the truck, so it is no where near being broken in yet, I think the increase was from the intake. Just my two cents.