With everything on the truck that is in my signature my MPG is anywhere from 12.5-13. I feel like the truck should be getting better than that. The truck has about 197,000 miles and weighs somewhere in the 10,000 pound range. Looking for suggestions.

Reduce your weight and be careful with the skinny pedal.

  7diamond said:

With everything on the truck that is in my signature my MPG is anywhere from 12.5-13. I feel like the truck should be getting better than that. The truck has about 197,000 miles and weighs somewhere in the 10,000 pound range. Looking for suggestions.

There is more to MPG's than just some add-ons. Reducing your weight if possible and keeping out of the pedal is a big factor, yes. But you have alot of other things to think of as well. What is the overall condition of the truck in? Are your moving parts worn down and what about the condition of your lubricants? Tire size and wear? Truck profile size? Condition of the engine performance? Anything that can drag you down in the wind, anything that can slow you down through friction, anything that can cause poor engine performance, anything that is unnecessary like extra fuel burned that gives no gains. The less fuel you can use and the further you can travel, the better mpgs. Coast to stop lights, time them just right so you can hit each one as they turn green. Take advantage of hills, slowly go up, and coast down. All this should be real easy to do with a manual. ...I wish I had a manual... :banghead:

Read this and you should get a little bit better mileage.

I have gotten as good as 17 out of the truck before. The truck currently carries a welding skid. When the skid is off the MPGs do not increase but maybe by one MPG. All the fluids have been changed over to Amsoil. After I installed the power puck the truck increased by one to two MPG but has since come down to the current 12-13. All millage is hand calculated at every fill up. As far as the skinny pedal I have been accused of driving like a grandpa.

I can consistantly get better mpgs out of the truck than the wife... because I plan ahead. I preposition myself in the correct lane. I coast down when I'm going to stop. I let the speed drop a little climbing hills and I feather the pedal as I crest. Even coasting, get off the go pedal... truck will coast just fine unless you are running heavy. (My mpg sucked towing my monster camper because the windage kept it from coasting even on steep grades.) I'd say lightening your load & reducing windage is the frst step.

  7diamond said:

I have gotten as good as 17 out of the truck before. The truck currently carries a welding skid. When the skid is off the MPGs do not increase but maybe by one MPG. All the fluids have been changed over to Amsoil. After I installed the power puck the truck increased by one to two MPG but has since come down to the current 12-13. All millage is hand calculated at every fill up. As far as the skinny pedal I have been accused of driving like a grandpa.

Is yout vp44 going out? How about your injectors? What about valve lash clearances? Are you adding 2-stroke oil to your fuel? Are you purchasing fuel from places that continually deliver quality fuel? What about the fuel composition? Is it no. 1 or no. 2? TONS of variables that you have to take into account...

Do you have a brake dragging? I did. Any codes?

Better MPG's through Aerodynamics. Here is an article on aerodynamics for better MPg's.

What gears are you running? Also the closer you can keep it to or below 2 grand RPM will help in mileage. At 2 grand I run about 65 mph with 355 gears

Here is the 2002 Dodge 2500 Cummins...

http-~~-//www.youtube.com/watch?v=SRQdoPs_tLo

Here is the 1996 Dodge 1500 Magnum V8...

http-~~-//www.youtube.com/watch?v=8I7JOW3tFUo

[*]Speed - Keep your speed down. Going from 55 to 65 MPH your wind drag doubles!

[*]Drag - Brakes, low tire pressure, driveline damage.

[*]Rolling Resistance - Wider tread face will decrease MPG because of more rolling resistance.

[*]Rotational Mass - Smaller and lighter tires have less rotational mass. For every 4 pounds of tire mass you require 1 HP less to keep rolling. So just changing from 265's to 235's can be a huge bonus (23 HP less).

How can you be running 2000rpm @ 65? With my 4:10 gears, OEM tires per my signature, I'm almost at 65 @ 2000... call it 2100. I'm running empty and babying it, I don't know the real mpg but the lie-o-meter is climbing. I'm making short trips so not a good comparison anyway.

  flagmanruss said:

How can you be running 2000rpm @ 65? With my 4:10 gears, OEM tires per my signature, I'm almost at 65 @ 2000... call it 2100. I'm running empty and babying it, I don't know the real mpg but the lie-o-meter is climbing. I'm making short trips so not a good comparison anyway.

How are you running 2k at 65? That should be the question. I run a 265-70 R 17 street tires on 3rd gen aluminum wheels.

I really expected with your gearing that there would be more difference over my 4:10s. My GPS says my speedo is dead nuts on. I'd rather have had the stock ratio... I've never had trouble getting aload moving.

dont forget the duck tape over the hubcaps http://www.dieselpowermag.com/tech/general/0708dp_1997_dodge_ram_3500_dualie_cummins/viewall.html

  flagmanruss said:

I really expected with your gearing that there would be more difference over my 4:10s. My GPS says my speedo is dead nuts on. I'd rather have had the stock ratio... I've never had trouble getting aload moving.

I honestly did too, you made me second guess my self so I had to reconfirm in the glove box that I had 3.55. It maybe shy of 2k @ 65 but not much. Then again the speedo could be off on mine with the slightly larger tire and wheel....

I have 3.55 gears and turn 2k at 70. I weigh in around 7.5k and have been getting 19mpg after the rv275 install. This on 265 75r 16;s on the interstate. towing weighing about 23k I get 10.

  dripley said:

I have 3.55 gears and turn 2k at 70. I weigh in around 7.5k and have been getting 19mpg after the rv275 install. This on 265 75r 16;s on the interstate. towing weighing about 23k I get 10.

Maybe my speedo is off more than I thought.....

I was surprised that my speedo (on the CTD) was right on... (but I found out my OEM tires are the factory upgrade size). The latest upgrade on my Tom Tom, changes the background when over the speed limit. My wife had been complaining for years about my "speeding" when we convoyed. Most other vehicles I've owned, the speedo read 10% fast. Not sure if wifee's Subaru was one of those subject to class action suit over short calibration reducing the car's resale value.

  H.R.D said:

Maybe my speedo is off more than I thought.....

Even my truck the speedometer is off by 0.5 MPH with stoock tires... My ScanGauge II or GPS is correct for speed and distance where the stock is slightly off.

Shoot after reading all of this maybe mine is off. The only thing I have to campare it to is digital speedo's in cars that I pass or pass me. Now thats precision.