Cant understand my milege

[mickeyblueyes]

I have a 2003 HO dually bone stock,except for bypass filters, 4:10 ls rears. Auto. Filter changes are up to date. I get 14. mpg around town driving like grandpa, yet I read in Diesel Power magazine, guys have 800 HP and 1200lbs of torque on average are getting 22 mpg..... whats the deal? My 94 got 24 mpg but it was a reg cab sw. Guys doing 9 second 8th miles are getting way better fuel economy. You thoughts for a new member.

 

[Rams-n-Hogs]

Don't believe everything you read. I can tell you, I get between 15 and 17, with auto and 4. 10's in my 04. Most of the time, it's around 15. And that's on the hwy. I used to get around 20, before the bug hit.

 

[mickeyblueyes]

Well the test was done in a prominent magazine so thought it was truthful ,the Sept issue of Diesel Power. "Diesel Death Match"

 

[Grizzly]

I'm averaging 15 mpg around town with my dually 4WD, 3. 73 gears and 6 speed manual.



I agree with Rams-n-Hogs, don't believe everything you read and hear. Remember, the best way to increase your fuel milage is to lie about it.



Grizzlyblueyes

 

[AH64ID]

Well the test was done in a prominent magazine so thought it was truthful ,the Sept issue of Diesel Power. "Diesel Death Match"

I didn't see that article, but many magazines and tv shows use the overhead as a gauge, because its easier than math...



In my truck I have averaged 16. 37 over the last 30K miles, with tanks as high as 19. xx and as low as 10. xx.



Have you run any fuel conditioners/cleaners lately?

 

[mickeyblueyes]

I run either Amsoil or Power Service every tank.

 

[LBARTLETT]

are your tires the stock size? also is your mileage hand calculated or from the overhead?

 

[mickeyblueyes]

Stock, good pressure, hand calculated. This is why I am stumped I would expect to get 18 around town and 22 on the highway. I have to keep the spedo on 58 mph to even get close to 20 on the highway.

 

[brods]

You may want to check to see if the brakes are dragging. Check to see if the slide pins are binding. Steved has a thread on it. Also make sure the pads can move relatively easily on the on the anti rattle clips.



Do you have any drag producing add ons, like bug shield, mud flaps, window vent whatevers, etc.

 

[HBarlow]

I will add my agreement with what Jim and George (Grizzly) have already advised.

Ignore the false and inflated fuel mileage claims made by some. Don't fall victim to the fuel island liars with their outragous claims. It's like the fisherman who always caught the biggest fish or the gambler who returned from Las Vegas and always tells you he won a little.

Gen III HPCR Rams do not achieve the same fuel mileage as 24 valve trucks because the ECM orders multiple fuel pulses during each cycle and 24 valvers achieve less than 12 valvers do. My current 6. 7 with DPF, EGR, etc. gets even worse mileage.

But all of them provide better fuel economy, year for year, than the competition plus far greater low rpm pulling power and longevity.

 

[KParsons]

town millage

18 mpg is very unlikly around town. i do not think it could be done. even 19-20 on the hi way is sometimes hard to do. kp

 

[JBloom]

With my 2006 I get 12-14 in town and 18-21 on the highway. MGP vary depending on hill, wind, lead foot, etc...

 

[huwenfut]

I can squeeze 20mpg out of mine This is all on 2 lane roads (we don't have freeways here on the Big Island) with speeds rarely higher than 65mph and a lot of stop and go.

 

[Regcabguy]

I average 14 mpg city/highway mileage with my reg cab '07 srw g-56 4wd w/2000# popup. I'm running 285-75-17 tires and have a 2" lift. Smarty is on sw#1 Revo default. My '98. 5 with mods that brought it's horsepower up to the '07 level got identical mileage,maybe less.

 

[JWadford]

they dont perform the tests correctly, they overfill their tanks, idle down the hills, not normal driving, then when they refill, they dont re- over fill it, make sense so it looks like they didnt use much fuel

 

[mickeyblueyes]

ok then, thanks for the accurate answers I got . I am right in line with everyone's averages. I suppose if I put on manual hubs and a add on overdrive unit I could squeeze a couple more miles per gallon, of coarse it would take $6000. to do it.

 

[JRMora]

Stock, good pressure, hand calculated. This is why I am stumped I would expect to get 18 around town and 22 on the highway. I have to keep the spedo on 58 mph to even get close to 20 on the highway.

Mickey,



Hand calculated over many tanks (over 100k miles) I have never gotten better than 15 in all in-town driving and I have 3. 73's. I am 80% highway driving (both county and US highway) back and forth to work 55-65 mph as speed limits dictate and I can see 17.



Towing I average 10. 5-11 at 23,000# combined.



Nothing has helped other than regular maintenance. I pulled my quadzilla a while ago as it wasn't helping my mileage and was only putting more strain on my stock clutch (not to mention I have had two LP failures).



I got better than 20 in my '97 at 70 mph, but that truck had 3. 54's, and was a good 1000-1500# lighter (and had only 4 tires!)



Some will get more, some less. I am happy with what I am getting for the kind of use I put the truck through.



Juan

 

[CUMMINZ]

Since my AZ flash my overhead has been real close and sensitive. When I am on flat ground it reads about 17mph and I am getting around 16. The MP8 I install months ago did not do what it promised. I have see ups and downs on my mileage since I purchased the truck. As my mileage increases I see small gains in mpg. The smarty I am using in my opinion has the greatest possibilities for this 6. 7. . I am getting the best mileage I have seen. I leave it set on 30hp. I also see much less re-gens and they don't last near as long. I am sure my wheels and tire sizes have hurt me the most. I am getting an increase of 1. 5mpg while towing. That is a lot on a 6k trip.



After all this is a 9500# truck

 

[therabbittree]

Also if you looked at that article the only dodge with higher MPGs ran a water meth kit . . that does help mileage and the article does not state how that did the calculations etc or what they filled the tanks too etc... so its not 100% accurate. The duramaxes seem to do better mpg wise too. . also the higher mpg vehicles were lighter in the article and did not have 4. 10 gears . I think the lighter the vehicle, the less rolling and wind resitance, and the more efficent the engine, the better mpg so a common rail is going to get less then a ve 12v mpg . . same with a reg cab 2wd vs a crew cab dually ... its relative. The best bet i would look into is a set of mild injectors, and a timing enchancement . . may a newer smarty and the 3. 42 gears... more power does mean less mpg. . in many cases the more efiecent . . which gives more power the better the mpg if you drive easy.

Thanks,

Deo

 

[GaryOwen]

What mileage are you seeing on the highway? My 03 had 6-speed, 2wd, 4. 10's and I averaged 16. 4 mpg over 450k miles. Approximately half of the miles was towing travel trailers. I averaged around 14 towing and 22 empty. I drove about 65 mph empty and 60-63 loaded. I never did enough around town driving to get a good reading on mpg. Mileage was hand calc'ed. I did see a slight drop in my average when ULSD came out. I used Michelin LTX M/S with air pressures set to 65 to 70 psi.



How many miles on your truck? I got my best mileage from about 125k to 250k miles on the odo. You didn't say if you had 4wd, but that will drop mileage a bit. Automatic hurts some also. Aggressive tread tires are also mileage busters. If you have a topper, that will hurt also. Extra weight (tool boxes, hitches, etc. ) will cause some decrease. Since you were getting 24 mpg with your 94, you obviously are gentle on the throttle, so I think you should be seeing better than 14 mpg.