Fuel Milage on 2003 HO with 48RE

[dnitzel]

Best - 19 mpg empty, 60 to 65

Worst - 9. 5 mpg with 6000# 5th wheel at 75 to 78 mph, hot day AC on (I was in a hurry for about 600 miles)

AVG tow - 12 mpg at 60 mph.

In town - 14 mpg



8k on truck. All milage is calculated from fill up to fill up. My overhead reads about 2 mpg lower than calculated. It get's about 1 - 2 mpg better milage than my '01 CTD SO 5 speed with 3. 54s.

 

[DF5152]

just got back from 800mile trip towing a 3500-4000lbs trailer. i averaged 15. 5 mile per gallon. truck now has about 1500 miles on it. i think this is great since im coming from a gasser where i would have gotten 8-10 mpg.

 

[Parshal]

Originally posted by DF5152

just got back from 800mile trip towing a 3500-4000lbs trailer. i averaged 15. 5 mile per gallon.

How fast were you driving and was it all interstate?

 

[DF5152]

65 -75 except for when i was stuck in traffic for 2 hours. about 200 miles of city driving the rest was highway. I live in Ny and commute on the world largest parking lot, Long Island Expressway. thats one of those oxymorons(sp) there is nothing express about it. except its a sure way to get stuck in traffic fast. unfortunately its the only way off the island with a trailer.



Dan

 

[Parshal]

That's some seriously good mileage. I get around 10 mpg at any speed between 70 and 80 mph on the interstate, flat and level with no hills. 65 - 70 mph and it jumps to around 11. 5. I tow a 1975 Nomad that weighs just under 4k.

 

[ray1933]

MPG/ Empty

I have just over 2000 on my truck, Yesterday I made a 288 mile trip all interstate driving at 70 to 72 MPH. The computerized read out was 17. 9 to 18. 9. Will check the actual when I fill up.



I made some short trips with the camper on and pulling the horse trailer w/two horse's and the reading was 12. 5 to 13. 5 at 60 MPH. I filled up after those short trips and the actual was 13. 3

so I'm not unhappy.



On both trips I was careful to turn the over drive off and on when I was pulling a long grade or in slow traffic.

 

[Wiredawg]

We get around 17 mpg on our 03

Fellow Rammers:



We get around 17 MPG on our 03. We have 6,300 miles on it just running empty. I plan on hitching 20' car hauler w/ our Massey Fergussen on it and putting about 500 miles just to get some good towing miles under its belt. FYI: best tank on my 02 3500 has been nearly 16 mpg, but avgs around 15 mpg empty (around 10,000 lbs).



IMHO if you can get better than 15 mpg empty and 10 mpg towing, you're doing good. I tow 17K lbs w/ my 3500 and get 10 mpg.



If you read Trailer Life, the latest issue shows F-550 getting 11. 8 empty and only 8 mpg towing 13K lbs.



Finally, my wife and I always seem to get a little below what everyone else seems to avg. Might be a heavy foot problem.



Have fun and keep on truck'n



Wiredawg

 

[Jim Smith]

Hey , Is my trip computer wrong or what? It registers 15. 8 to 16. 3 when I'm towing my 36 ft Kountry Star. Maybe I should check the miles to the gallons used at my next fill-up.

 

[dandlwiley]

I appreciate all you good folks kicking in with your milage. We DO calculate our milage the miles traveled divided by gallons used--not the trip computer. It seems optimistic. The 11 mpg for a short, light haul was pretty startling. My husband drives VERY conservatively--speed limits in Oregon are low also. We don't have a canopy (topper for those of you in the east side of the country) yet--had one on the '97. The '97 2500's best milage was about 25 mpg solo--one person in cab, light camping load for one. Filled up in Bend, OR, and again in Burns, OR. Under 60 all the way--no stops. We could get 15-16 mpg towing our lighter trailer, but towing at the 16K GCWR dropped it some. Our Dodge mechanic said diesel quality could have made a difference--we did use a slightly lower volume station near home for the bad tank. Think the same stuff is in it now, so will just have to run it out and see what gives. We do love the new truck--except for worrying about having an '03 with a 48RE and a Jake!

 

[CATCRACKER]

I get 17. 8 at 2000 rpms with 315BFG does anyone know what speed that would put me at? i think that is around 73-75. i set cruise on the 2000 rpms which is right before the buzz in the steering wheel comes in.

 

[DBVZ]

On one tank, part of it could be how you filled each time. If you let the fill nozzle turn it off on one fill up, and then top off the second, you could get 2 or 3 more gallons the second fill so the fuel used will be off that much. Just a thought. Some fill nozzles shut off quicker than others.

 

[ray1933]

Fuel Mileage

Just filled up after my short 311 mile trip. Driving 70 to 75 MPH

and it was 18. 9 MPG. Oo.

 

[joe308]

Mileage

Hi, 03 48re ho 3. 73 w/5500 mi. getting 17. 5mpg w/o AC and 17 with AC. No trailer and no load - mixed roads but 65% highway. This is according to computer, but I checked it 2 months ago for 4 tank fulls against my calculations and it was very close - will check again for ha-ha's next week.

 

[DPKetchum]

My computer and by hand is only been about 1 mile to the gallon differance.

 

[MichaelAnderson]

first post, happy with 13.2 mpg

well, i just towed 3,400 miles from Virgina to Denver and back. i had a 15' car trailer loaded with a dodge Dakota on the way to Denver and emtpy back. loaded i got 13. 2 mpg and unloaded 13. 5

my truck is a ho 03 3500 dually crew cab 8' bed 4x4 48re with 373 posi rear. my air pressure is 65# and my back hurts as i wright this because of the rough ride.

i bought my truck because i wanted to tow safely, without worry and it did the job! i traveled 9mph over the speed limit the entire way, i needed to make this trip in 4 1/2 days and in my old dodge this wouldn't of been possible. my previous tow rig a 78 dodge dually with a 440 it had more power, millage of 5 mph towing, not so rough a ride but for all its power you couldn't tow at top speed with it. no way would the old rig would handle the terrible roads on route 70

the 03 does this with safety and speed. diesel was also about ~ 1. 49 while super was $2! (the 440 required 92or >) so i was very happy to be in the 03!

mike a

fairfax va

soon to be addressing the dealer about patriot blue paint problems, and adhesion.

 

[nwjetboat]

I just got back from a round trip Idaho to Mississippi and back. Down was empty, with the tailgate off.

I averaged 17. 4 in Idaho, Utah, Wyoming, and Colorado, where I ran 77-78mph and 18,8 in Kansas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Miss, where I ran 72. I hand calculated each fill up and have averaged them to post here. My computer shows a bit low on the mileage, by . 5gal or so. I did notice once you cross the 2000-2100 mark on the tach mileage goes down.

I came back with 300 lbs of tools and a 660 Grizzly in the back.

Got 18. 5 in the slow states and 17. 2 in the fast states. I paid $1. 30 for fuel in Oklahoma!!

I ran 60lbs in the frt and 55lbs in the rear for this trip.

Currently at 7000 miles and love the truck.

 

[zari]

I seem to be...

... averaging (calculated) around 17. 5-18. 0 mpg in mixed HWY/city traffic (around 70-71 on I-state), and about 12. 0 - 13. 0 while towing the 5er (around 20,500# combined weight, 65-70).



03 Auto transmission quad cab dually with the 3. 73 axle.

 

[nfox]

Fuel Mileage

Took my friend 03 crewcab 3500 srw auto 3. 54gear out to diesel extravaganza last week and the best we got was 16, which i thought was low compared to what others are claming. Truck has 17,000 miles on it odometer.

 

[Parshal]

Re: Fuel Mileage

Originally posted by nfox

Took my friend 03 crewcab 3500 srw auto 3. 54gear out to diesel ...

Do you mean 3. 73's?

 

[smithinc]

I have 3800 miles on my truck and routinely get 18-19 mpg empty with mixed highway and city driving. empty on the highway i get between 20-22. pulling a 4000# trailer interstate i get about 16 mpg. i keep the rpm's under 2000.

very satisfied



gary