Looking for a milage increase. 2006 5.9

[run2trouble]

Hello,



My father has a 5. 9L 3500 SRW mega cab 4x4 manual, and is looking to increase his fuel milage. What products are out there? He is not interested in adding any power to his truck.



Thanks.

 

[jtwcummins]

In over 10yrs of driving the truck in sig the only thing to get fuel economy up is to drive slower and use lighter foot on the pedal. The 06 has more HP and some emissions so they don't get the same economy as the older trucks, but they have the aerodynamics of a barn so slowing down will help.



Many claims are made for mileage, but the only thing that has reduced my fuel mileage is towing or a heavy foot. With 4. 10 gears I can get 20mpg setting tach to around 2k rpms, a little less than 65.



I just got an 08 3500 and the 97 is for sale.

 

[SBeretz]

Easy things that seemed to help mileage on my truck was putting some good towing miles on the truck, getting rid of the muffler, put a high quality intake with filter on the truck. Those three seemed to help the most. My tires have helped alot with my unloaded mileage. 285/85R17 Toyos have helped since they are about two inches taller than stock and have actually knocked my cruising rpm's down by about 200Rpm's. Anyhow, give us some details on the truck. Gauges would be a good investment for mileage so you can see where the trucks sweet spot is. Scotty

 

[Panther1400]

Smarty is my best mpg mod, with it stock I get 18-19 with varied driving, with setting 1 adds 30hp and I get 21-22 with alittle towing and varied driving. I drive very easy, don't accelerate hard and most importantly keep the speed around 55mph.

 

[jelag]

jtwcummins has the answer... .

I have at least a 500 hours with a dyno and working with vehicles in testing them for drive ability problems... . this was years ago but we used to set up the dyno and run it like an indoor highway...

You can do a lot to improve performance and HP but very little for mileage... Its based several things... wind resistance, speed, and how fast you want to get there... . the wind resistance on the front of a vehicle goes up something like 4X's every time the speed doubles. . there was a formula I used to know for this but for the life of me can't remember it...

There is no magic when it comes to fuel economy... . my wife gets 15% better mileage than I do driving our car, or our 05 3500 dually for that matter than I do... she accelerates slower, drives 10 mph slower than I do and never blasts around cars to pass... she just has much better habits...

 

[ENafziger]

From doing a lot of reading around the forums, it seems like a cam swap provides consistant gains of 1. 5 - 2. 0 mpg for everyone who's done it.

Also, several people have installed a gear vendors overdrive, and a DynaTrac or EMS front hub/disconnect kit. These 2 kits combined seem to provide another 1. 5 mpg gain.

Both of these options are labor intensive and pricey, but if he's keeping the truck for a couple hundred thousand miles, it would be worth it.

As far as electronic add-ons, I've tried Smarty, Edge EZ, TS MP-8, and TST, in various combinations and tunings, and have never seen enough fuel economy increase to offset the initial cost.

It does seem, however, that each truck behaves a little differently with electronics. The mechanical mods do seem pretty consistant though as far as I can tell.

--Eric

 

[hsmith]

Attach a pine cone to the go pedal and drive barefoot!

 

[JimB1]

Just finished hauling yard of gravel (2700 lbs) for 7000 miles of cross country vacationing. Mileage is 4-5 mpg better than first few tanks of brand new unloaded driving. Getting 21-22 mpg on the '07. Will do same to the '06.

 

[Turbo_Bob]

Remove the muffler or use a straight through muffler. Install a TAG (turbo air guide). Keep the tire PSI up to proper specs. Keep below 70 MPH solo and 62 towing. Let the engine and trans get you up to speed, not the gas pedal.

 

[MAtkinson]

I'm on the same trail for milage increases too. I have moved the fuel tank breather up to the high point in the tank adding 5+ gallons of capacity and now can fill / flood right up to the tip-top for accuracy. I replaced the stock air filter with a Wix, switched to synthetic oil in the engine and added an Edge E-Z. With the tailgate down holding as steady to 72 MPH (Highway Only) and the Edge E-Z on setting 1 my best is 21. 83 MPG on a straight non-stop 200 mile run.



I know more can be done. I know that 24 MPG can be achieved on a 2003 but our 2006's are a bit more difficult. The Gear Vendors will help and I'm planning on that. I've got a an Edge Juice w/Attitude to install but that's more for gauge/info readouts and anticipate only a slight milage improvement. Right now I'm considering Injectors from Dynomite Diesel. A cam change can help but that seems a bit much for now. You can improve some efficiency with a Cool Power Intake Hose w/Cool Hose on the existing air box. I would not spend much on the exhaust because the stock system is pretty good. Remember you want mileage not power. You will get (some?) more power every time you do something anyway. Whatever you do it's got to pay out.



I'll post my results as I progress and would appreciate comments from others too.

 

[BILLVO]

I have posted this same question a couple times about a friends 06 4x4 dually ext cab auto and never get any good feedback either. He drives pretty easy and tows a lot and gets a high of 11. 5 mpg empty at 65-70 easy driving he says he has only hit 12 a couple of times hand calculated,and 8-10 while towing 10k on average. he only has about 8k miles on it now. I am leaning him towards an EZ or preferably a smarty or smarty jr. he is not interested in more power at all just some kind of economy. I have driven it and it is truely a hog for fuel. There is no reason for it to be that low. His best empty milage is 2mpg worse than my heavily fueled 02 at while towing heavy with a heavy foot.

 

[Regcabguy]

Pinecone mileage increaser.

Attach a pine cone to the go pedal and drive barefoot!

That's the best one yet!

 

[Ross]

Nothing has helped mine but slowing down. The Smarty did not help. Exhaust did not help... Turbo did not help... .



She runs like a striped ape, but she's thirsty!

 

[Bachant]

Accelerate slower. Speed slightly affects my mileage till I brake 75 mph. There is a 3 mpg difference between my driving and my wifes driving. We both have the same highway speeds. She'll get 20+ all the time and I get around 17. Both are hand calculated of course. The overhead is just for giggles.

 

[Turbo Tim 1]

I got a few flashes done to the wifes 06 and picked up quite a bit, we averaged 12 mpg for the first 5,000 miles and then the flashes got done and now we get around 15mpg but she drives mostly around town. Out on the road empty we get 20mpg and that's with 4. 10's

 

[JHardwick]

With the tailgate down holding as steady to 72 MPH (Highway Only) and the Edge E-Z on setting 1 my best is 21. 83 MPG on a straight non-stop 200 mile run.

Put your tailgate up and you'll see better mileage.

 

[wcjp]

Could add the factory plastic wing to the tailgate from the 1/2tons. It's supposed to be good for . 5mpg.

 

[Lifted Mega]

Billvo, don't hold your breath thinking better mpg with more miles on the odometer. I have the same dilemma as your friend an i currently have 28000 miles in 9 months. My mileage is the same as his. Ive been back to the dealer for the re-flash with no improvement. Went to different dealer no problem found. The truck starts and runs great w/no smoke. I have paid 2 different diesel shops to look at it to see if the could find anything thats causing my horrible mpg. After checking fuel pressure. turbo boost, ect. Everything was well within factory parameters. I did get a smarty from Bob on a trial basis for a trip up to Oregon and running on #1 & #3 and different speeds 65mph and 73mph i actually lost a 1/2 mpg on both settings. I'm still getting 13 mpg at 65mph.

 

[BrianJ]

Put your tailgate up and you'll see better mileage.

What he said...



Best mileage will come with a tonneau cover or empty bed with the tailgate UP. With the gate up an air pocket forms in the bed and air coming over the top flows over the pocket. You get a lot more tubulence with the tailgate down, which increases drag and reduces economy.

 

[cclark746]

tried many different programmers and boxes, the smarty is the best if your looking for mileage i gained atleast 1. 5mpg and i drive hard all the time. who ever said they have never seen a programmer/box gain enough to offset the price well my mileage is up at a minimum of 1. 5. so you do the math and around 30000 miles mine will pay for itself. i run it on sw3 which you gain extra hp mileage the ability to change tire size and read codes alone with usb updatable. Most of all the smarty feels really constant althrough the rpm band, feels stock just stronger. huge increase in drivability and fun factor.