Post your MPG in Diesels.

[countrycampers3]

Hi everyone,
Looking at getting a diesel truck. Would appreciate your feedback on what you have, and what you get.
Please give me a Truck year, make, model, transmission, rear end ratio.

Empty MPG, City/Hwy.
Loaded MPG City/Hwy.

Plus were your at, Mountains, flatland, rolling hills.

Thanks Doug:C

Well thanks for all the info everyone. I see this post is not dead and it keeps on giving.
Update. I ended up getting a 2008 Ford F-350 dually Flatbed. And a New 2013 NorthStar Arrow 8.5 Love them both expecially the extra storage compartments on the outside of the camper.
Now these numbers are winter diesel and that tends to be a little less economy I would assume.
Empty 55mph - 15-19
Empty interstate 75mph - 12
T/C loaded - 9.5 any speed
Heres a photo.

[kcabpilot]

DWeikert wrote:
...Wind resistance is what eats away at our mileage.

To put it in perspective our previous truck was a '78 F250 with the 460 carbureted engine. On one trip coming back across the Mojave out of Death Valley there were some horrendous headwinds and we were getting 3 mpg. Thought I was gonna max out my credit card before we made it home.

[DWeikert]

Super_Dave wrote:
It is really hard to make any sense of these numbers with so much disparity. With the camper and boat together, I get around 10.5 mpg at between 65 - 70 mph. Wish I knew how those getting 50% more are doing it.

On my last trip across country, I left the display on average MPG and I could clearly see how just a few MPH also made a difference of a few MPG. If you want better than 10.5 mpg, slow down. I don't recall the exact figures but if wind wasn't a factor, 60 MPH would yield close to 15 MPG while 65 MPH would be closer to 13 MPG. Wind resistance is what eats away at our mileage.

[MKish]

We are still working out our numbers when loaded and we have not weighed anything yet. And our loaded driving has been different than unloaded. So this is kind of an approximation and not that useful...;)

Truck is 2012 F350 CC SWB 4wd 3.55 axle ratio.

Unloaded on flats at ~65-75 mph we get around 22 mpg.

Loaded with 8 ft popup camper (probably under 2200 lbs wet), looks like it'll be around 16 mph with most miles done at highway speeds but quite a bit of puttering around slower backroads. Typical west coast stuff including some mountains. Pretty sure we could do better if we drove slower.



We're satisfied with the economy and even more so with the passing-on-a-mountain ability.

[ejfranz]

This summer's trip to Utah and back, 4000 miles, we averaged 12.1 mpg. For some of the freeway driving we were only getting 7 mpg @ 70 - 75 mph and head winds (Edge set on tow mode).
On our cross continental trip we averaged 12.6 mpg but the truck was new (no Edge) and we did not go over 60 mph. On our Oregon trip we averaged 13.5 mpg (again Edge set on tow mode), but we did most of the trip @ 55 mph.

Empty and mountain driving 17 mpg @ 70 mph and 19 mpg @ 60 mph.

City: summer unloaded 15 mpg and winter 12 mpg

[Hey_there]

Hi Country Campers3

There used to be a member here who had a first generation Dodge Cummins, SRW, with an 8.5 TC. He made frequent trips between Atlanta and New Orleans. He called his truck the "dually's worst nightmare" for reasons I never fathomed. Anyway, he had added a throttle to his Dodge. He would set the throttle for a highway speed on level ground of about 55mph and let the truck run. He would lose speed going uphill and gain it on downhills. He claimed 45mpg on occassion. Notice that this gives exactly the opposite result of a cruise control.

Kurt

[Super_Dave]

It is really hard to make any sense of these numbers with so much disparity. With the camper and boat together, I get around 10.5 mpg at between 65 - 70 mph. Wish I knew how those getting 50% more are doing it.

[mooring_product]

03 F250 6.0. O5 intake, AirAid Intake, GT 4088 turbo, turbo back 4" exhaust and SCT custom tuning.

Loaded 13mpg if I keep it under 2000rpms.

Town I get 15-16 mpg.

Im sure if I wasn't such a hot foot I could get those numbers up..

[AhNuts]

2011 k3500 Chevrolet extended cab Duromax 6.7

on board system keeps up with my numbers

lifetime 13 MPG for 32732 miles most were with 2008 Lance 915
camper dry weight 3031 lbs (live-in full time) installed.

Firm believer in using the cruse control set to the speed limit.

As an observation with camper on highway approx 11-13 mpg depending
on conditions.

Without camper highway 17-20 depending on conditions.

Too few city miles to make a difference.

My miles were driven mostly between North Carolina and East Texas, normally 5-6 trips per year averaging approximately 2500 miles per trip.

This compares to my 1998 Chev 3/4 ton gasser which never got more than 12 mpg under any condition.

[Sir_Douglas]

2005 F 250 4x4 sc sb 3.73 automatic
Mostly flat
20 hwy
16 city


loaded weight apporx 10,000lb

flat and rolling hills
16 combined 80% hwy 20% city

[thebigtiny]

Hello and Good Luck
my 2 cents
first diesel truck 99 Dodge CTD 4X4 3.53 rear end i think, now has 130K miles been driven from Prudhoe bay to Key west and all points in between. This Truck is used for towing my 30 ft Toyhauler and hosting my many campers that I have had on it, as well as a daily driver. Love the truck and I use now it as my adventure truck with my Truck camper. AVG mpg just truck 15 Mpg in the city and 20 MPG on the highway 14mpg on the hwy with a truck camper and small trailer and 11 MPG towing the toyhauler at 18500 Gross the only down fall it is very noisy. I would get in it today and drive cross country in a min. still love the truck

second diesel truck is a 2007 Chevy Duramax Allison 4X4 crew cab Long bed WT trim 3.72 rearend i think the truck is used as my work truck/ back up trailer/camper truck. I am learning to like this truck very much 17 MPG in the city driving and very very quiet compared to the Dodge. Avg with the camper and a small canper and trailer or boat 14 to 15 mpg at 65 mph.

AND NO LIES ALL HAND CALCULATED I have all the reciepts for fuel if any one wants to challenge my calculations.

Have a great day

Chris

[kcabpilot]

97 F350 DRW with a 94 Lance 990 (4k loaded)

Many long trips calculated by actual fuel used and lessons learned.

First of all you have to learn that there is no throttle on a diesel. The gas pedal is an electronic potentiometer that adds fuel to the equation so stepping on it costs you. You have to learn how to rely on the torque - which is ample. If you do that you will increase your efficiency at least 25%.

Overall, counting headwinds and grades it's about 13 whereas the gas was about 9.

It ain't a slam dunk but once on the road and moving or in the mountains the diesel is truly in it's element. I really wouldn't give it up or change back in my situation.

[nstate]

All these replies seem reasonable. OP asks a question, folks replied, and you get people accusing others of lying. Speak for yourselves.

[devildog1971]

I sold my 05 dodge dually 2 wheel drive auto which i changed the rear gear to 373 i got 12 -14 with the camper on the truck with a predator chip, replaced it with 05 4x4 6 speed manual with a 410 (to much trouble to change the gearing) still use the predator chip 11-13 the winter creek camper is very heavy

[1800wingrider]

2012 F350 4x4 LB CC DRW 6.7 3.73 toting a 1161 lance pulling 19' skiff
70 mph on flat land 10.5 mpg Sure wish I could get better but I do have a heavy foot!

[JumboJet]

SolidAxleDurango wrote:
This is the thread that will be the lie of the century.

I have wondered about the times I really get exceptional fuel mileage if it is the fuel quality.

I do use CRC Diesel Fuel Supplement, but there are times that some fuel just seems to provide better fuel mileage.

I also use a K&N filter that was just recently cleaned and oiled.

I laugh all the way to the bank with the fuel mileage of my Cummins. 🙂