Miles per Gallon Data

[BHolm]

Be a skeptic if you like I guess. I have checked mine, hand calculated, on occaision, on all of my trucks. I don't do it all the time, I don't keep a spread sheet. When people ask, I give my opinion, or share my experience. If you need hard facts on something like milage, I kind of pity you. Glad you spend time with your family and things though. That would seem to be a better way to spend time than either keeping a spread sheet for your truck milage, or being a skeptic of those who don't

 

[hearingyourlies]

"If you need hard facts on something like milage, I kind of pity you. "



That's kind of an asinine swipe, isn't it?



Keeping yourself open an honest about what your vehicle is and is NOT capable of is a worthwhile pursuit, IMHO. Just as providing those figures to other members should be seen as a service, rather than an insult.



Personally, i think anyone who tries to tell me that one of these trucks equipped the way that mine is can realisticly and CONSISTENTLY get 25 mpg is sitting a little to close to their tailpipe a little too often, especially when compared to the numbers I get.



Of course, if people like to use these inflated figures and estimates for diesel justification - rather than cold hard numbers and data - all the better.



It's just more people that will be switching over to diesel.

 

[Crunch]

Personally, i think anyone who tries to tell me that one of these trucks equipped the way that mine is can realisticly and CONSISTENTLY get 25 mpg is sitting a little to close to their tailpipe a little too often, especially when compared to the numbers I get.

Based on my experiences I could see a scenario where someone is consistently getting 25 MPG on an `03 truck:

• 2003 Dodge Ram 2500 HO
  
• SWB
  
• SRW
  
• 2WD
  
• 3. 73 Differential
  
• Standard transmission
  
• No camper shell
  
• 90% of truck use is to commute to work
  
• Commute is 40 miles or more
  
• Maximum speed is no higher than 60 MPH
  
• Minimum speed is no lower than 50 MPH, except when starting out from a stop
  
• Driver is smooth and consistent on both the accelerator and shifting
  
• Not towing or hauling
  

If you need a psychological boost regarding MPG I can give you a tip that will increase your fuel economy dramatically. But don't tell anyone. I don't want word of this getting out to the general public. First, fuel up. Set the console to display fuel economy, then take your truck out on the highway and get your speed up to about 70 MPH. Take your foot off the accelerator and click the reset button on your console. Voila! Now you're getting 99. 9 MPG! Snap a picture and post it here to get people riled up.

 

[BHolm]

"If you need hard facts on something like milage, I kind of pity you. "



That's kind of an asinine swipe, isn't it?



Keeping yourself open an honest about what your vehicle is and is NOT capable of is a worthwhile pursuit, IMHO. Just as providing those figures to other members should be seen as a service, rather than an insult.



Personally, i think anyone who tries to tell me that one of these trucks equipped the way that mine is can realisticly and CONSISTENTLY get 25 mpg is sitting a little to close to their tailpipe a little too often, especially when compared to the numbers I get.



Of course, if people like to use these inflated figures and estimates for diesel justification - rather than cold hard numbers and data - all the better.



It's just more people that will be switching over to diesel.

Wasn't meant to be a swipe but I don't think you have to keep a spread sheet of every fill-up to have "cold hard facts".



The people that do it for diesel justification likely don't get the good numbers anyway, because they likely use it as a car and not a truck. If you don't work them, it can be 30k miles before the decent milage manifests itself. In which case they would be better off with a gasser.

 

[Grizzly]

If you want better fuel mileage, you can simply lie about it. That's what my brother-in-law does when he tells me about the fantastic mileage he gets with his new 08 furd, 6. 4 powerjoke.

 

[J&LRam]

a spread sheet four foot long on fuel usage is only credible as the info that was penciled in. Same with pencil figures for each tank.

Part of the problem with reporting mpgs is a best tank vs a multiple tank average. Trucks are made for towing/hauling so usually we give a empty and a towing mpg figures. Many other factors in why some get bad/good mpg with a diesel truck. My '03 2500 2wd Dodge/Cummins HO 305/555 QC 3. 73 NV5600 is driven 650-700 miles a week on the same hiway commute and mpgs may vary a . 5 mpg at the most 5 days a week for 3 years. My neighbor has a '04 3500DRW auto 4x4 QC 4. 10 big front bumper 33" tires and doesn't get anywhere near my much lighter 2500 truck on the same commute or towing the same 24000 lb 36' GN stock trailer. Trucks weight should be noted when comparing mpgs.

JIM

 

[courierdog]

Here is my avarage milage 19. 4 MPG, HWY only, on cruse control, running at 60 MPH. Running in light courier service, less than 500 Lbs. 14,500 miles on the clock. Not bad for a 2007, 6. 7 litre engine. I monitor the milage on every fill up as a means of monitoring the current health of the vehicle.

 

[Turbo_Bob]

Everybody is always comparing how many their miles per gallon their truck gets. I have never seen real data from real truck owners to backup their claims. So here is some real world data on my truck.

I dont have the fancy excel, spreadsheet, pdf files, (i wish i did) but they are recorded by me ever since new to date. All numbers are the real numbers, no fudgeing. 90,477 miles to date, 4,994. 3 gallons of diesel to date, 166 fillups, 18. 11 total average MPG. That is towing, solo, traffic jams, city, highway, idleing, fast driving, slow driving and everything in between.



Hand calcs.

I get a consistant 22. 0 to 22. 9 MPG solo @ 70 MPH.

I get a consistant 14. 2 MPG towing a 6,000 lb. enclosed trailer @ 62 MPH.

 

[Turbo_Bob]

After making this above post, I calculated an estimate time spent filling up at the stations, 166 fill-ups in all. I think a good number is around 10 min. for each fill-up. That comes out to 27. 6 hours spent filling-up WOW. I allways drive to empty so it takes awhile.

 

[Crunch]

I dont have the fancy excel, spreadsheet, pdf files, (i wish i did) but they are recorded by me ever since new to date.

(snip)

Hand calcs.

I get a consistant 22. 0 to 22. 9 MPG solo @ 70 MPH.

I get a consistant 14. 2 MPG towing a 6,000 lb. enclosed trailer @ 62 MPH.

I use a Word table to record all "events" such as fill ups, oil changes, filter changes, etc. But I dump all the gallons data into a crude spreadsheet that keeps a running total of total gallons, miles driven and fuel economy. With just over 85K on the clock my total MPGs are just over 16. 83MPG. That inludes all driving--highway, city, loaded and empty bed, and tows up to 12,000lbs. For those interested, I've pushed 5092. 176 gallons of fuel, 85720. 2 miles driven for an aggragate fuel economy of 16. 83370724 MPG. Yesterday I totaled up the last several months of fuel economy data and was pleased to see my "light foot" driving experiment (640 highway miles) netted me 20. 77MPG on a trip to Missouri. On the return trip I took the scenic route back through the mountains of Eastern Oklahoma and got a bit less, probably because of the hills and the small towns that have 3 or 4 stoplights in them. I don't know what else qualifies as documented or hard data, but I have no reason to lie or make any of this up. And if a leadfoot like me can get fuel economy numbers like this I have no problem believing that someone who drives a lot slower than I usually do can get 20+ MPG on a consistent basis.

 

[PRout]

Everybody is always comparing how many their miles per gallon their truck gets. I have never seen real data from real truck owners to backup their claims. So here is some real world data on my truck.

Since I bought my truck I have kept an excel file with my MPG data. I've attached a PDF file of my real world data.

The first page is the overall analysis. Then next 3 pages are a print out I keep in the truck. I use this to record my data at the pump. Page 5 had the graph displaying my MPG and page 6 is a diesel fuel price graph. The last 3 pages is the raw data where i enter the data into excel.

Some notes: I bought the truck used in Aug 04 with just under 20k on it. It is an 2003 4x4 Quadcab, 48RE transmission, 4. 10 gears, and currently on BFG AT 315/70R17 tires. There are NO modifications to this truck other than the tires.

I'm probably going to get comments on this.

Great info . . Thanks. Ive been doing about everything I can think of to increase mileage on my 2nd gen but havent been able to get past 18mpg avg yet. Shooting for 20 avg. .

 

[courierdog]

Well as a matter of interest here are my figures.

I also track my fuel to know at a glance if something has changed.

48546 Km travelled

4822. 684 Litres used in portion calculated

$0. 867 average cost/litre

$4,186. 87 Total cost

8. 18 Km/Litre Average

19. 24 MPG Average

 

[EdwinDavis]

This is what I have got on mine so far.



Year 2007-5. 9L
Make Dodge Ram
Model 2500 QC 4 X 4

Vehicle ID No. (VIN) 1D7KS28CX7J501209
License No.
Delivered 12/18/06 from Gillie Hyde Auto Mall, Glasgow, Ky. 42141


Date Total Odometer Miles Miles on Trip Gallons Cost / Gal. Cost MPG Cost
12/29/2006 1123 25. 3
1/4/2007 1321 198 13. 06 $2. 44 $31. 87 15. 16 MPG $31. 87
1/8/2007 1737 416 26. 0 $2. 44 $63. 44 16. 0 MPG $63. 44
1/22/2007 2025 288 19. 50 $2. 33 $45. 44 14. 77 MPG $45. 44
1/27/2007 2391 366 22. 15 $2. 26 $50. 06 16. 52 MPG $50. 06
2/2/2007 2810 419 24. 86 $2. 30 $57. 18 16. 85 MPG $57. 18
2/16/2007 3099 289 18. 70 $2. 36 $44. 11 15. 45 MPG $44. 11
2/19/2007 3615 516 27. 35 $2. 46 $67. 26 18. 86 MPG $67. 26
2/27/2007 4052 437 25. 75 $2. 56 $62. 55 16. 97 MPG $62. 55
3/15/2007 4417 365 22. 23 $2. 56 $57. 03 16. 42 MPG $57. 03
3/27/2007 4818 400 23. 42 $2. 60 $60. 88 17. 08 MPG $60. 88
4/3/2007 5211 393 25. 55 $2. 76 $69. 13 15. 38 MPG $69. 13
4/7/2007 5492 281 19. 57 $2. 76 $54. 00 14. 36 MPG $54. 00
4/19/2007 5861 368 25. 18 $2. 86 $72. 00 14. 64 MPG $72. 00
4/27/2007 6159 230 20. 64 $2. 69 $55. 50 11. 15 MPG $55. 50
5/1/2007 6501 341 20. 15 $2. 69 $54. 18 16. 95 MPG $54. 18
5/8/2007 6884 383 22. 47 $2. 69 $60. 42 17. 05 MPG $60. 42
5/12/2007 7080 196 16. 27 $2. 69 $43. 75 12. 05 MPG $43. 75
5/15/2007 7347 267 16. 53 $2. 66 $44. 00 16. 15 MPG $44. 00
5/16/2007 7778 431 25. 46 $2. 69 $68. 46 16. 92 MPG $68. 46
5/22/2007 8085 307 18. 65 $2. 67 $49. 60 16. 46 MPG $49. 60
5/30/2007 8393 308 22. 0 $2. 70 $59. 38 14. 0 MPG $59. 38
6/6/2007 8752 359 25 $2. 70 $67. 50 14. 36 MPG $67. 50
6/16/2007 9111 359 25. 25 $2. 70 $68. 15 14. 22 MPG $68. 15
6/26/2007 9503 392 26. 58 $2. 76 $73. 35 14. 74 MPG $73. 35
7/2/2007 9868 365 25. 37 $2. 76 $70. 00 14. 39 MPG $70. 00
7/12/2007 10290 422 23. 99 $2. 76 $62. 20 17. 6 MPG $62. 20
7/23/2007 10666 376 24. 11 $2. 76 $66. 54 15. 60 MPG $66. 54
8/1/2007 10916 250 14. 56 $2. 76 $40. 17 17. 17 MPG $40. 17
8/12/2007 11323 407 26 $2. 76 $71. 74 15. 66 MPG $71. 74
9/6/2007 11702 379 25. 74 $2. 80 $71. 01 14. 72 MPG $71. 01
9/18/2007 11950 248 17 $2. 90 $49. 28 14. 59 MPG $49. 28
9/24/2007 12385 435 24. 74 $2. 86 ULSD $70. 75 17. 59 MPG $70. 75






Total $1,880. 93

 

[KHogan]

Don't think I ever got more than 18. 5 -19MPG on "summer" fuel empty. Usually it's between 17-18MPG on straight #2 and 16-17MPG on "winter" blend EMPTY. At 3$/gal, and barely over 17MPG these days, it hurts at the pump. Oh yeah, it's 3 1/2 yrs old and has over 98k on the clock.

 

[moonranch]

Over the past year I have travelled about 20K miles(172K on truck), I have hand calculated each tank(GPS and "vent kit"), all ULSD, about 90% of the miles the trunk is empty(8200lbs) mostly commuting to work, the other 10% towing ~8K, I have used the factory 265 Michelins and 285 ATs. Lowest tank 17. 6, highest 25. 1, Overall Average is 21. 6mpg, but I also have a light foot, 68mph on the highway.

 

[mfburns]

Due to the quality fuel gague in my 94 truck I keep a notepad in my truck and record calculated milage at each fillup. I get about 19 in the winter, 20+ in hte summer and 17 towing my 18' boat. I've done this for over 150K miles so the numbers are pretty good. By the way my fuel gague is acting up again.

 

[Grizzly]

My overall mileage from Albuquerque to Pinehurst, Idaho, with empty truck was 19. 2 (hand calc). My overall mileage from Pinehurst, Idaho to Grants Pass, Oregon to Albuquerque, with our new 27' 5th wheel was 11. 5. I'm a little disappointed with the mileage while towing the 5er. That did include going over the Sierra Nevada mountains. Average speed while towing was 62 mph.

 

[Turbo Tim 1]

Took the wifes truck to Maine, up east of Bangor, we left Glens Falls and when we hit the Maine Border we were averaging 21-22 mpg by the overhead, most of this is 50-55 mph zoned, we stopped in Old Orchard and drove around a bit there and by the time we got to Bangor it was down to 18. 5 mpg. When I filled up I hand calculated it out to 18. 49 mpg. I wish it was better but that wasn't too bad for having 4. 10 gears and doing the second half of the trip at 72-75mph.

 

[jimnance]

My overall mileage from Albuquerque to Pinehurst, Idaho, with empty truck was 19. 2 (hand calc). My overall mileage from Pinehurst, Idaho to Grants Pass, Oregon to Albuquerque, with our new 27' 5th wheel was 11. 5. I'm a little disappointed with the mileage while towing the 5er. That did include going over the Sierra Nevada mountains. Average speed while towing was 62 mph.

Don't feel bad. With my '05 CTD dually 4X4 with auto I typically get right at 10 MPG pulling a toyhauler weighing 15,000 lbs. I run 65 much of the time, and up and down hills a lot here in the PNW.



Locally, I get about 16 MPG with much on country roads where speeds are moderate (55 MPH) and few stops. Some in town stop and go.



I think the dual rear wheels and heavier weight of my truck costs me about 2 MPG compared to a comparable 2500 CTD.



As you can see, I've driven a lot of CTD's. Two aren't even listed on my sig. The best MPG was my '95 2500 with auto. I'd get about 20 MPG around town and up to 22. 5 on the highway back when when speed limit was 55 MPH. My '93 is second best at 19-20 MPG no matter how I drive her.

 

[Grizzly]

Don't feel bad. With my '05 CTD dually 4X4 with auto I typically get right at 10 MPG pulling a toyhauler weighing 15,000 lbs. I run 65 much of the time, and up and down hills a lot here in the PNW.

Locally, I get about 16 MPG with much on country roads where speeds are moderate (55 MPH) and few stops. Some in town stop and go.

I think the dual rear wheels and heavier weight of my truck costs me about 2 MPG compared to a comparable 2500 CTD.

As you can see, I've driven a lot of CTD's. Two aren't even listed on my sig. The best MPG was my '95 2500 with auto. I'd get about 20 MPG around town and up to 22. 5 on the highway back when when speed limit was 55 MPH. My '93 is second best at 19-20 MPG no matter how I drive her.

Speed, weight and wind resistance are definitely the big factors. Do you think a spoiler over the cab would help to deflect wind?