better off with wrong truck????????

[Thoennes]

new diesel owner here. bought my 04 2500 short bed 4- door 2 wks ago and i really like the truck. highway depending on wind i get 21 -23 mpg since it had 11 miles on it. my sister and her husband bought same style dodge a week later and when we compared mpg they are getting 14-16 at best. well now i know why!i never had a diesel before so the first thing i ask salesman when we looked at the ram that i bought was is this the 325 hp 600 and he said yes all 04 rams are the 600, so i said good that is what i want. so we test drove it, my wife and i and my sister and her husband. we all liked the truck so i got one and a week later so did they. i was bragging about my mileage and when we compared the two something didn't seem right. about 7 mpg difference. so i was looking at window stickers and noticed their truck had 325 -600 on sticker and mine didn't. then i started comparing both trucks under hood, i have a new 8-23-03 build date ctd 305- 355 and they have a 1-24-04 build date 325-600 boy was i p-----. but then i thought much better fuel mileage and it has so much power that i couldn't be happier. after looking i can see 5or 6 changes under hood between the 2 trucks. called salesman and he didn't know they made a 04 1/2. i told him that its a good thing that i like this 04 or we would have a big problem. so all in all i think i am better off with this 305-355.

 

[barbwire]

I will agree with you, that you are better off with the 04 model. From what I have read on TDR, I think that the 04. 5s do not make as good mileage. Not to mention that there is probably not that much of a noticeable power difference.

Good luck with your truck.

 

[bmoeller]

You don't have the emissions crap choking the motor. Want more power, just put a box on it AFTER gauges. Enjoy the ride.

 

[DocDetonancour]

I'd buy the 04 305 every time with the choice. MHO Doc

 

[Snow man]

i was wondering how long it wopuld take for this to come to light. i too would run past a 325/600 to even a 250hp. The 325hp is getting 3-6 mpg worse mileage,and like was mentioned power can easlity and cheaply be added, to bot the 250,and 305 hp models. my buddy was given a 305hp to run while his 325 was coming in, hes had the 325hp 2 weeks now and wants the 305hp back,he says you cant noitce a power difference but hes getting 100 miles less per tank of fuel that is easy to notice.

 

[Thoennes]

i feel bad for my sister because i talked them into trading their 01 gas 2500 ram in on the 325-600 diesel showing them the mileage i was getting because of a mistake in my favor. but they just love their 04 1/2 and hope the mileage will go up as it gets broke in. we both have traval trailers around 6500lbs and their warranty ran out on the 01 so they were looking at ctd for a couple months any way. myself i have had 5 new rams in last 11 years my last being an 02 1500 4-door slt+ a very nice truck with 18,000 miles on it and loaded. but i just got tired of 14 mpg at best. number 1 reason for getting ctd was fuel mileage. number 2 was pulling power. i can't imagine getting 14 with a 325-600 like i thought i had. i would be sick. DC better do something very soon about this mileage problem because owners are not going to accept this thinking they will get 19-23 mpg like the 95-04 ctd.

 

[bmoeller]

Originally posted by Thoennes

DC better do something very soon about this mileage problem because owners are not going to accept this thinking they will get 19-23 mpg like the 95-04 ctd.

Thank-you, MFn' EPA! Not D/Cs fault.

 

[Thoennes]

yes maybe not DC fault but they could have warned people of the bad fuel mileage before they bought these trucks or maybe they never should have released them . myself i bought my truck for a little towing and my wife drives it back and fourth to work. do you not think this 325-600 is not going to change the dodge truck market?a $5300 engine opition that gets the same mileage as the new hemi. i beleive this can be a big problem for DC if they don't fix it right away,weather they are at fault or not.

 

[Spooled-up]

Makes you wonder...

If it takes more fuel to go a given distance, you're just putting that much more exhaust into the air. Yeah, the pollution you're putting into the air is "cleaner", but... THERE'S MORE OF IT!!!



Thoennes,



Just curious. What are your driving habits/truck configuration/ etc. ?



I've got a 305/555 Long Bed 4x4 6spd and the best I've seen is 18. 49 (hand calculated). I tried driving 5mph slower on the highway for a tankful and got 1mpg better mileage for the tank. This was my usual mix of city/hwy.

 

[Dick R]

wronge truck , wow

I sure hope not all of these 41/2 600 Cummins all run the same , all I have read so far is they are real dogs on power and fuel milage , if they are i am in trouble , I have been working on my brother inlaw to trade off his power Ford diesel for a Cummins and he finally did it , actually he had a good running powerstrock , was chipped and pulled his 5th wheel well , and now we get dumped on by Dodge and Cummins , Will be eating this one for a while

 

[Thoennes]

i have a 2-wheel drive short bed 4-door auto 373 rear. i have 700 miles on truck half city and half highway. driving home from dealer 45 miles interstate i reset gage before i left and i got 22mpg. in city i get 17mpg. went back to dealer a week later running 65 mph reset gage again it went to 26mpg for 22 miles then hit some speed zones it went to 22-23 mpg. this is on highway at 65 no wind. yesterday i went to get my traval trailer out of storge about 30 miles on country roads driving 50 and started out 18. 1 ,when i got to town it went to 16. 9-17. 1. trailer 6100lbs. i have been very pleased with all 5 of my dodge rams over the past 11 years and i am looking foward to getting this truck on road with trailer in tow. i want to see the difference between this 305 diesel and all the 360,s i had in my other trucks which always pulled good for me. my wife didn't want to give up our 02 slt+ with the heated seats and the leather and so on and couldn't figure what the big deal is about the ctd. i had to do a lot of talking before she said ok. alot of the talk was about fuel mileage ,so if i would have come home with the 325-600 that i thought i was buying and getting 14 mpg like the truck i just traded i would be sleeping outside.

 

[Punkineater]

Originally posted by Thoennes

i have a new 8-23-03 build date ctd 305- 355 and they have a 1-24-04 build date 325-600 boy was i p-----. but then i thought much better fuel mileage and it has so much power that i couldn't be happier. so all in all i think i am better off with this 305-355.

You only have 355 lb-ft of torque? :--)

 

[Thoennes]

555 thank you my mistake.

 

[Snow man]

also by going with the 250 or 305hp you do not have to deal with the cat convertor. between that and the mileage the 250/305s are the ones to get given the choice.

 

[Ol'TrailDog]

IMHO you lucked out. I purposely jumped on the 305/555 because of the 04 regs and changes.



Personally, I don't know how to tactfully put this, either the salesman was blowing smoke about not knowing there was a 04. 5s or I wouldn't go back go back to a shop with such ignorant help.

 

[Thoennes]

yes i thought of that also and i did get first oil change free so i will go back for that. on a good note i went for a ride in my brother-in-laws truck today and it was a 40 mile trip down the interstate 65mph and he got 18 mpg with his 325-600. they also have around 750 miles on truck. he is very happy with truck.

 

[dpatt67]

Sorry to be against the grain here, but mileage, while important, was the least of my concerns buying my Ram. It's a heavy duty truck designed to pull and carry, not put up the best mileage numbers. To ask a vehicle or a manufacturer to make a vehicle that pulls 16000 pounds safely and reliably is a feat, but by god, it better get 25 miles per gallon too! Thats asking a little much, don't you think?

 

[dpatt67]

Sorry to be against the grain here, but mileage, while important, was the least of my concerns buying my Ram. It's a heavy duty truck designed to pull and carry, not put up the best mileage numbers. To ask a vehicle or a manufacturer to make a vehicle that pulls 16000 pounds safely and reliably is a feat, but by god, it better get 25 miles per gallon too! Thats asking a little much, don't you think?

 

[RobbieH]

I think it will get better when it's broken in. My 555 got 17 mpg when I got it and now with 16,000 miles on it I get 20+ mpg driving back and forth to work.

 

[Carlsummers]

I bought strickly for fuel mileage (and the fact that I just wanted a diesel). I have the 250hp version. It is very pleasing to be getting 18 - 19 mpg and to know that I can tow or carry anything I want to without overloading the truck.