Engine/Transmission (1998.5 - 2002) fuel mileage

[Kurt Henzler]

why does everybody seem to get better mileage than me. my 2001 HO six speed 4x4 SB quad cab with 4. 1 gears has never ever got a tank of gas over 16. 5 mpg. that was in kansas in trafic at a constant 50-55 mph. i live in pittsburgh and do not notice a difference in winter blend fuels from summer to winter. drive to colorado ever year on interstate 80 at about 70-80 mph with 300-400 pounds of hunting gear and never get a tank over 16 mpg at this speed. i run amsoil synthetic in everything and 5w30 series 3000 in engine. use amsoil 2 stage air filter, everything else is totaly stock. seems like some guys get this mileage with several bombs and are having more fun. truck runs great, seems to have tons of power, just wondering if there is something that i can do. thanks for any help or information on mpg with same truck. i love TDR , i am a new member. if i was not hunting everyday i would read this all day. thanks in advance.

 

[CATCRACKER]

not to be a smart butt, but get a new truck with 3. 55's i get 21+ at 70mph. i am in the process of finding a 6spd with 3. 55's look to get even better b/c that 21+ comes with mud tires and auto transmission. i will not buy a truck with 4. 1 b/c i pull 20% i bought the diesel for mpg's oh yea also b/c it said cummins too:-laf clean you IAT and put an EZ on this will help. check to make sure all of your air hoses are fastned. i see the tdr bug has bit you also. i love this. oh yea i did the d/f in $ from 20 mpg to 16 at 20K a year with the price of diesel being 1. 35 =$337 dollars a year. not really that big of a d/f. hope this makes you feel better, besides if you ever need to pull a bull dozer 85 you can.

 

[Midnite]

I think that was one of the first things I noticed when I first started looking over the TDR site--everybody seemed to be getting better milage than me! And it didn't seem to follow any logic either; I'd see a guy with a '99 2500 4x4 quad cab with 4. 10 gears claim to get 22mpg on the highway, and another guy with a '99 2500 4x2 reg. cab with 3. 54 gears (which is a significantly lighter vehicle) claim a best of 18mpg.



Some people chalk it up to driving style, but nothing's ever that simple. However, assuming there *isn't* something wrong with your truck, changing your driving style is the easiest way to see an improvement. For example, 70 - 80 mph is pretty fast for our trucks (speaking only in terms of fuel economy), considering they have the aerodynamics of a brick. If you limited your highway speed to no more than 65mph, I guarantee you'll notice a significant milage difference. Of course, you may not want to do that.



Things like bug shields and visors adversely impact fuel milage as well via aerodynamics, and that impact gets worse the higher your speed is. For example, they won't make a bit of difference at 35mph; there may be a tiny difference at 50mph; there will probably be a noticeable difference at 75mph (I'm just pulling those numbers out of thin air to help illustrate the point).



I'm sure others will have some good ideas.



Mike

 

[CATCRACKER]

oh yea get some 305/70/16 tires. this will lower your ratio. this will hurt you in the city.

 

[Pit Bull]

I have around 2500 miles on my truck and I am getting 16 mpg around town. I am sure it will get better after 10 - 15K miles. My 2000 was the configuration that would get the worst mileage - 3500QC ETC 4x4 auto with 4. 10's, it got 15 mpg around town and would get 19 - 20 on the highway if I kept it at 2000 rpm's. I think it is your driving style. With 4. 10 you are a lot higher than 2000 rpms at your quoted 70-80 mpg. The other thing that might be causing your problem is that you stated "my 2001 HO six speed 4x4 SB quad cab with 4. 1 gears has never ever got a tank of gas over 16. 5 mpg. " It's that "gas" part that is the problem, these trucks run better on diesel Sorry I could not resist

 

[RADdodge]

I wish I got better mileage too, but it’s still better than a gasser. Besides, it still isn’t broke in yet. Still, my last six tanks have been 12. 3, 12. 1, 11. 7, 11. 9, 13. 4, and 13. 0. These are generally over the county side hauling a heavy camper, but I was hoping to get 16 mpg! But then again, I’m not light footed.

 

[brobeson]

4.10 or 3.55 no diff for MPG!

There have been many tests over many years/decades with same vehicles, same course. Never has any test showed more than just a small faction of MPG improvement. These are the test from magazines and other forums.



My own truck, a 1998 !/2 24 valve stock auto and 4. 10s.



With the stock tires (245) I got an average of about 18MPG

I installed 285 tires and calculated the ratio at 3. 60.

My MPG is still 18 mpg.

I recently went back to the stock tire size of 245 and still get 18 MPG.



My first 2001 HO with 4. 10s gets 16-17 at 60 mpg, 14-15 at 75 mpg.

My 2nd HO with 4. 10 gets about 1 mpg less.



Also, talk to people that have installed over drive kits on there vehicles. Non of the ones I have interviewed can show any increase in MPG.



The 3. 55 will lower engine rpm, which means at 300,000 miles it will have run fewer RPMs, though at a higher level of load. Again no savings.



The real benefits of 3. 55 is lower rpm, quieter on the freeway, accelerates easier and shifts fewer while empty.



4. 10s for heavy towing, longer clutch auto life.

3. 55 for running empty or light loads.



Bob