Engine/Transmission (1994 - 1998) MPG's. It this about right?

[The patriot]

I seem to remember getting better MPG's.

I went to the Steelers game last week. 370 miles each way on the PA turnpike.

After getting home I fueled up. 18. 2 MPG's.

I held 2K RPM's pretty much the whole way, which translates to 69-70 MPH in my truck.

I know I got some crap in my fuel before I left, I seem to think this may have hurt my MPG's a little.

I cleaned out the primary filter screen a few times in the last week, and did a secondary filter only a month ago.

Wind was calm on the way out, and I had a good tailwind on the way home, with some snow.

Oh, I also got lost in Pgh, (#@$%! mapquest #@$%!)so I suppose I should actually be at about 18. 5 if it was all highway.

 

[Dick R]

that's about what I run , maybe a mile two or better on the interstate but the speeds have to be kept down to the limit or less , I'm no expert on this but I don't really feel that the new fuel is to good for high mpg but not much we can do about it .

 

[champspa]

winter fuel is a big drop for me about 1. 5 miles per gallon.

 

[EKlem]

That sounds about right for winter fuel and the speed that you were traveling. If you slow down to 65mph, you could probably get 20mpg.

 

[CCiatteo]

That's seems pretty good. I agree with what others have said about keeping the mph down to crest the 20 mpg mark. I usually keep the set the cruise based on RPM more so than actual speed. When around 1750 to 1800 I seem to get the best mpg, but this means barely hitting 65mpg, more like 63 probably. Slow and steady wins the mpg race.



Chris

 

[bmoeller]

Slow and steady wins the mpg race.

Not always. How the truck is setup is a big factor. Bone stock with my Ram, I got the best mileage @ 55. With the current mods, it is liking 65-70 w/ 4. 10 gears. Would do better with my dually box back on. Stock and the dually box on, I couldn't get over 16. 1 mpg. BOMBed, I got to 17. 5. W/ flatbed, 14 generally. Since I don't drive my Ram to much anymore, I'm not to worried about the mileage. Particularly with winter going on. To much warm-up time.

I drive a W900L KW. Get 1mpg better mileage @70mph than 55, unless there is a nasty headwind.

Main thing is, you need to find the sweet spot for your truck, and keep it there for the best mileage. For some, it is faster. Others, it is slower.

 

[BSMcCauley]

Your mpg is pretty close to what I get @ 2000 rpm. To prove a point to a buddy at work (get your power stoke to top this thing, you know), I set the cruise control at just under 1500 rpm (sweet spot in the lb fuel/hp-hr curve and also peak in the torque curve for the 5. 9BTA is at 1480) and drove the 300 miles or so from my house to south Louisiana to go offshore. Calculated out to 27. 87 mpg. Figured the fuel pump calibration must be off. 4x4 CAN'T do that good, can it? So I did it again on the way home the next week through a driving rain all the way that had the wheel ruts in the asphalt full of water and still beat 27. Pretty stress-free drive too @ 55 mph. However, I have never forced myself that slow on purpose since. Thinking about an aux overdrive to put the engine rpm back down to 1500 @ 70 and see what happens. Trouble is that fuel price is going to have to go up some more to make that pay out. I typically run 75-80 (yes that's the limit for a good long stretch of I-10 across west Texas and get about 17. 5 doing that. My wife gets about 16. 5 when she's driving. Never quite figured out why her turn behind the wheel is always shorter... . hhmmmm.

 

[The patriot]

Fuel....uhhhhhh well.......

The fuel I WAS running was pretty questionable.

Lets just say I really dont think it was low sulphur.

I "helped out" some friends converting over to gas. Nuff said.

The last tank was messed up. The fill line was wobbling (under ground tank) so I'm sure some moisture had gotten in there at one point.

I filter it before it goes in my truck (10 micron) but I've still been getting some algae from my primary screen.

Topped it off at Hess when I got home, so I now have my FIRST load of the new fuel.

I put in 1qt of MMO and some "marine" conditioner. I forget the brand, but it's a recognised/respected name.



Thanks for the input guys! I'm happy I'm about where I should be.

Oh yea, it's stock except the BHAF (getting pretty dirty/old) and the 370 injectors. Star screw adjusted too.

Ute bumper& a cap cant help MPG's either... ...

 

[bmoeller]

Ute bumper& a cap cant help MPG's either... ...

Never noticed a difference with my Lonestar bumper.

 

[The patriot]

I'm not familiar with the Lonestar.

The UTE sticks out a lot, and had a big bar running up the grill.

I should have some pics in my readers rigs.

Oh, and the factory one weighs about 15 lbs, the Ute is probibally 100 lbs.

I cant say for sure it's hurting my MPG's. I am assuming it does.

It does make the truck run about 15 degrees hotter in the summer though.....

 

[bmoeller]

Basically a Ranchhand style knock-off. Have pics in my old gallery. It sticks out plenty.

Tietjen's Lone Star Truck Equipment Wild West Series

 

[BSMcCauley]

It's not the weight of your bumper that hurts your highway mpg as much as the wind drag. After I finished up the bumper you see on the picture, it weighted 375#. It sticks out about 2" farther than the factory bumper did in front, but the center of gravity turned out to be directly over the attachment to the frame. Hit me with about 1 mpg penality on highway (but don't worry at all about deer now -- tested and proven) I came back and added a skirt around the bottom (25# worth of 14 guage steel) that extended down to about 1/2" below front axle centerline and forced a bunch of air around the sides instead of scooping it underneath. MPG picked back up by about 1-1/4. So basically, I've got 400 pounds of iron hanging out front and net result is slightly BETTER mpg.

 

[BigPapa]

... the factory one weighs about 15 lbs.....

The stock front bumper weighs in at 70#'s with brackets. I shipped one. Weighed almost 80# boxed up.



Scott

 

[The patriot]

The stock front bumper weighs in at 70#'s with brackets. I shipped one. Weighed almost 80# boxed up.



Scott

Guess my daily regimen is working. :-laf

After holding the UTE up to line up the bolt holes, the factory piese sure felt like 15 lbs...



#ad

 

[BigPapa]

That sure is a nice looking bumper.



As far as the weight goes, it amazes me how the mind relates size to weight. Pick up a 15# piece of steel and then pick up a 15# 2X10 and no way do they weigh the same.



Scott

 

[KennethS]

Drove from Pa. to Knoxville,Tenn. and back 900 miles

The 95 Dodge Motor Home ran super but fuel mileage was not very good. I got 12 down and back. The weather was very bad snow and ice.

 

[J.BURCHFIELD]

I put in a Gear Vendor in my 98 12v within a year after I bought the truck new. Did not change the milage per gal. Then a couple of years later I had 3:55 put in, the truck came with 4:10 and that made no difference. I am not sorry I did it, the truck runs so much quieter and I know less RPM=less engine wear.

 

[TEasley]

Patriot, I've been getting avg 21 mpg on the interstates, running 65-75 mph solo, around 1850-1950 rpm. (3. 55 gear). I can't explain the last 700 mi round trip though. 21 going, 25 coming back. Maybe differences in the fuel? This is the first time it ever got 25 mpg, though.



About 8 months ago, I started running 16 ozs of TCW-3 two cycle oil in every fillup. That's 200/1 fuel-oil ratio at 25 gal fuel. I haven't seen any measurable mpg increase from tank to tank in that time, so it's not the oil. I check my gages regularly, and haven't seen any changes.



I wish it would keep on doing it, but I bet it doesn't. I also wish I knew why it did it.



FWIW, I think adding the oil is a good deal, even in small amounts.



Tom

 

[J.BURCHFIELD]

TEasley. When you got 25 you must have had a tail wind. The Diesel Place conducted a study on additives. Interesting some stuff really works and some makes it worse. They sent Samples to an independent lab. They were concerned with protecting your engine using the new fuel when additives were not put in by the refinery. I found this in one of the TDR posts. Hope what they recommend is available in my area.

 

[The patriot]

Patriot, I've been getting avg 21 mpg on the interstates, running 65-75 mph solo, around 1850-1950 rpm. (3. 55 gear). I can't explain the last 700 mi round trip though. 21 going, 25 coming back. Maybe differences in the fuel? This is the first time it ever got 25 mpg, though.



About 8 months ago, I started running 16 ozs of TCW-3 two cycle oil in every fillup. That's 200/1 fuel-oil ratio at 25 gal fuel. I haven't seen any measurable mpg increase from tank to tank in that time, so it's not the oil. I check my gages regularly, and haven't seen any changes.



I wish it would keep on doing it, but I bet it doesn't. I also wish I knew why it did it.



FWIW, I think adding the oil is a good deal, even in small amounts.



Tom

HMMMM initersting. I have 3. 55's with a 5 speed and 265 tires.

Going by the GPS, 2000 rpm's is 69-70 MPH.

I dont remember the exact RPM's, but for my truck to go 75, it's WAY past 2000 RPM's.

I added some 2 stroke oil to my tank. A couple gallons to 550 gallons of fuel.

I dont recollect the exact amout, it's been a while since I topped off the 550 tank.

I've also been adding some select crankcase oil to it.