First post- Poor 07 mileage.

[JFriesen]

I've been a member for a while, and an observer for six or seven years. But my fuel mileage with my Dodge has finally promted me to post. :{ First tank home from the dealer- 2lane 65 mph about 300 miles was 17. 25 mpg and I have yet to top that since. I average about 15 mpg (run 13-17). Mostly highway. Highway lots of short trips of less than 5 miles between stops 13-15. Highway all long hauls 15-17. 25mpg. The only long haul interstate speed driving has been with a four place enclosed snowmobile trailer at 70-75mph and 8-10 mpg. I have 10K on the truck. Dealer claims I idle too much. I do, but according to hour meter still averaging 34mph. Just replaced air and fuel filter. Filter minder in the red for a while now. Both filters grossly black at 10K. Maybe helped a little. Talked to two dealers that said it was normal or my fault. I drive this the same as I did my 98 12v. and my Dad's 01 and they beat it by 3 or 4 mpg. Thinking of trying intake, exhaust and a smart jr. Why not? Or any other ideas?

 

[Regcabguy]

Mpg

I'm carrying a popup camper around all the time w/AFE Bladerunner,Smarty,low restriction muffler,nano drop in air filter,g-56 and 285's. Truck's got 6800 on it and last tank was 14. 4mpg,80% freeway@65mph. Not too great,but actually about 1 mpg. more than my '99 w/similiar power,load, and DTT auto. I'm hoping for more with time. With a gasser,I'd be looking at no power and maybe 9-10 mpg. Hang in there.

 

[daytripper63]

My 03 has recorded mpg's as high as 22 mpg and as low as 11 towing with the TST dialed up. The 04. 5 and later diesels have three injection events per firing vs my 03 only has two events, if you combine that along with the crappy Ultra low sulfer diesel of today which also will cause you to drop 1 or more mpg your mileage looks fine to me.

 

[F-15I Ra'am]

The bumper in your sig. probably has some extra drag costing you about 1 to 2 mpg. . Try running some injector cleaner - cetane boost regularly and definetely get a Smarty Jr!

 

[Grizzly]

Welcome to TDR. Give it time. These engine take many miles to break them in.

 

[JFriesen]

I was amazed that the filter would be so clogged up after so few miles. It's a smaller filter than on 12 and 24v trucks and this CR makes more power?!? I could easily get 50K out of the bhaf on my 98 with a gentle blowing out at about 25K.



Maybe this summer when I do more heavy towing I can loosen that motor up a little. Thanks for the welcome and encouragement.

 

[BHolm]

I change the fuel filter every 10k anyway. It will always be black as coal when you change it, that is normal. These trucks flow a ton of air to make the power, I used to change air filters every 15k on the stock trucks.



The main thing is that the engine isn't broken in yet. By 30k miles my '06 Mega went from 13. 8 ave when new to 20. 2 mpg. Give it some time, and work it hard as much as possible, that makes a big difference.



I'm with Bob on this one, I had a 2500 qc sb Hemi and that truck would get 14 empty on the same route the mega got 20. Towing a small 3 horse gooseneck the hemi would struggle and return 7-8 where the Cummins yanks it like it isn't there and get 12-13 while doing it.



My lightly modded, low geared g56 truck averages 17. 5. While lower than I would like, I know it is the gearing and accept that this 8000lb truck, that goes like stink, is doing dang good on fuel

 

[jjdiesel]

Great advice guys! It all makes sense.

 

[Bachant]

My 06 didn't break 15mpg till about 35000mi. With 200,000 in it now it will average 20mpg, 90% freeway

 

[TBittner]

Hey guys new to the forum but have been observing the site for a little while since i bought a truck in september. My 06 is averaging between 14-17 combined highway and around town with almost 19,000 miles. Im still waiting as well for my milage goes up and hopefully soon.

 

[roperteacher]

When my 07 5. 9 was 3 days old it pulled 12,000 pounds in the BListering Desert heat. I started the trip with 600 miles and made a 700 mile round trip. I consistently get 21-23 unloaded Hwy at 65 MPG and 14 LOADED with the 12,000 pounds! Fuel filter changed every 5,000 Baldwin 5 micron.

 

[BHolm]

Hey guys new to the forum but have been observing the site for a little while since i bought a truck in september. My 06 is averaging between 14-17 combined highway and around town with almost 19,000 miles. Im still waiting as well for my milage goes up and hopefully soon.

Chances are, you have same OD ratio in your trans that mine does. The early G56 is simply geared too low and we end up with high rpms at highway speeds. The Cummins does great cruising around 2000 rpm. Mine is often way above that and economy suffers. You may never see better than 18 unless you manage to keep speeds under 60 mph My '06 G56 truck has 95k miles on it, lots of heavy hauling and averages (mostly two lane highway) 17. 5 mpg.

 

[FLynes]

Keep in mind that this ULSD crap plays a part in the fuel economy (or lack thereof) we're getting. My 2005 went from a steady 22-23MPG hwy to 17MPG, when I couldn't get LSD anymore. It was one of my decisions to get rid of the truck and get a 24v ISB, since they supposedly got better mileage... . BS!



Yeah, I now have the truck I've always wanted (minus the 4x4), but I'm still getting 17MPG (mix of city and hwy)... . of course now I have a 3500 quad cab 4x2 manual dually w/4. 10's vs a 2500 quad cab 4x4 auto short bed w/ 3. 73's.

 

[MA2LA]

Depending on your flat bed and tool box setup you may be loosing mileage there as well.