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.

[wnjj]

JumboJet wrote:

Jeepers92 wrote:
2006 Dodge Cummings 6.7, 4WD, 6 speed Auto, 50,000 miles.
Empty interstate 70mph = 20 mpg hand calculated several times.
Add Camper in my sig = 14mpg on 14k trip to Alaska and Canada anc back to GA.
Add pontoon Boat with camper..12 mpg interstate.

All around town driving...16 mpg average.

The first Dodge Cummins 6.7L was a 2007.5

But did they offer a Cummings version in 2006? 😉

[JumboJet]

Jeepers92 wrote:
2006 Dodge Cummings 6.7, 4WD, 6 speed Auto, 50,000 miles.
Empty interstate 70mph = 20 mpg hand calculated several times.
Add Camper in my sig = 14mpg on 14k trip to Alaska and Canada anc back to GA.
Add pontoon Boat with camper..12 mpg interstate.

All around town driving...16 mpg average.

The first Dodge Cummins 6.7L was a 2007.5

[Jeepers92]

2006 Dodge Cummings 6.7, 4WD, 6 speed Auto, 50,000 miles.
Empty interstate 70mph = 20 mpg hand calculated several times.
Add Camper in my sig = 14mpg on 14k trip to Alaska and Canada anc back to GA.
Add pontoon Boat with camper..12 mpg interstate.

All around town driving...16 mpg average.

[davelinde]

I do not keep the meticulous records I used to... but roughly:

Dodge 04 5.9L Cummins
16 city 20 highway unloaded - best ever highway was a little over 21
I rarely tow "city" but highway towing is varied:
last month I got 19.5 towing my Caliber 1100 miles on a dolly
I've gotten as much as 14 towing a mid profile 5th wheel and as little as 9 towing my high profile triple axle hauler

My 01 Volvo has a 12Liter Volvo straight 6
Highway bobtail I got about 11 once, but it can drop to 9 easily
Towing highway I get between 8 and 9
Bobtail city is about 9 too

[sleekcrafter]

Early torque converter lock up, helps bump up the milage too, more so in mixed city/country driving. Either by electronic switching or programing, early lock up uses the tork of the motor, rather than the slushy tq converter,that won't lock up before 45mph. Empty I can get as high as 22mpg @ 55mph, but really drops @ 70mph to 17mpg. Loaded with 4K tc, and 3K boat, I'm down to 11mpg @ 70mph.

[Capeman1]

I find the comments of this thread would be the "lie of the century" insulting...I am intelligent enough since I was 15 to accurately figure out my MPG...thank you

[wintersun]

Ford and Chevy diesel trucks have 3.73 rear ends. Gas mileage varies by model year as after 2007 pollution control devices were added that affect mileage and horsepower has been greatly increased which has also hurt mileage. My 2011 Chevy with its new engine has 20% more horsepower and torque than earlier engines.

I get 15 MPG around town, 18-20 MPG on the highway, and 14 MPG with a camper in the bed. Highway driving is at 55-65 MPH. For local freeways I drive at 55 MPG as the difference in drive time is a few minutes in getting to my destination so no point in wasting fuel.

New Ford trucks get better around town mileage than the Chevy by 2 MPG and 1 MPG better highway mileage and the Dodge diesels get the worst highway mileage of the three. But the biggest differences are going to be with highway speed, percentage of time around town driving, and time spent going up and down hills.

My Chevy on flat ground at 65 MPH with no headwind easily gets 18 MPG. Going up a grade that drops to 13-14 MPG and on flat ground at 65 MPH with a 15 MPH headwind my mileage is at 13-14 MPG.

Fuel costs are about the same with regular gas and diesel. The diesel costs more but you get 25% greater mileage so it equals out. You get more power going uphill and better engine braking going downhill and you have 25% more range per tank of fuel with the diesel engine.

Certain model years had a lot more repair problems and all the pre 201 engines have more problems with bio-diesel fuels (and even with the new engines it is not wise to use). I was looking for a used diesel truck last fall and did a lot of research on repair stats for the different makes and years. With Chevy there are very few problems with 2005 and newer engines. Same is true for Dodge except for 2007-2008 which were lemons. With Fords the 2003-2007 year diesel trucks are best avoided. Of the 2011 trucks the Fords are the most reliable by every measure.

I bought a 2011 Chevy which only had the fuel system problems with the DPF which has been corrected and to get the smoother ride with the IFS at the front. After looking at the high prices for used diesel powered trucks with less than 60K miles I ended up buying a new one instead. With a used diesel I would definitely look into buying an extended service contract.

[jimh406]

I think computers have gotten better over the years. My Ford is very accurate on my truck and also on my Mustang.

[DWeikert]

ticki2 wrote:

thebigtiny wrote:


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

Chris

Right there is one of the biggest discrepancies in reporting MPG . My computer consistently shows 2mpg more than hand calculating . Coasting down hill it shows 99mpg .

Not sure if GM fixed their computer or if I somehow just got lucky. I fill my tank so I can see the diesel at least part way up the fill tube and the gallons used on the DIC are within a few tenths of what it shows on the pump, likewise the DIC MPG numbers are always close. For example, from a trip I made last spring...

-Pump---Calc--DIC---DIC
-Gal----MPG---Gal---MPG
18.894--14.8--18.6--15
18.742--13.3--18.8--13.3
15.788--13.8--15.9--13.6
10.442--12.8--10.7--12.5
22.219--12.5--22----12.5

[av8rds]

2006 F350 6.0 dually. Lance 992

10.22-11.67 depending on terrain. Havent had the camper off in so long I cant tell you base.

Towing an additional 5500lbs(19,200lbs on the scale) I can say 9.45-10.5 from MA to VA and back twice.

edit: I have tried changing my mph from 70ish to 60ish and havent seen any difference.

[ticki2]

thebigtiny wrote:


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

Chris

Right there is one of the biggest discrepancies in reporting MPG . My computer consistently shows 2mpg more than hand calculating . Coasting down hill it shows 99mpg .

[2BLAZERS]

My mileage is horrible but I pay to play:)

2011 Ram 4*4 CC dually longbed, loaded 4*4 with 4.10 gears:
Running empty 65-70 = 14-15 will see 16/17 keeping it 55-60

With the camper on (almost 6K pounds) my mileage seems to always be around 11.

If I drag a utility trailer plus firewood, plus quad along we get upper 10s.

Enclosed trailer with quads/RZR and I figure on 10.

Please note having the heaviest fully optioned truck with the lowest gears, plus 4*4, dually, and big heavy truck plus big heavy camper equals horrible mileage.

Yes I do love the setup for the family; but I wish mileage was better.

[billtex]

jimh425 wrote:
I'm amazed how bad some of the GMs are doing loaded. Is this just the newer ones?

Our's is not "newer"...but pre-emissons...we get about what others are reporting here.
(Note; there are some mid-generation trucks that do not do well with efficiency, IIRC they are 2008-2010 years...or somewhere in there).

Our 06;
Unladen on highway can do 22-24 mpg running 71-73 mph.
In town (I usualy ride my bike in town...very few miles to report here)15-16 mpg.
TC on (~3000#), we always have a bike rack in front, and sometimes kayaks on the roof; ~ 14 mpg running 63 mph tops.
I can do better if I keep it at 59 mph...but I can't seem to go THAT slow on the highway.
Towing our 7000# Airstream I do a bit better than the TC; 15-16 mpg.

Bill
p.s agree witht those winds out on the prairie...wow! On our x-country trip last year we saw some areas where we dropped to 11 mpg. I never realised how much wind there is out on the plains...my God!
Our average for 6k miles on the trip was ~13 mpg from New England to RMNP-Tetons-YS-Rushmore...
The plains are a real killer!

[portscanner]

DWeikert wrote:

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.

My tests prove that to be true. I went to one of my camping spots (about 3.5 hours one way) at 65, then the next time I did it at 59. 10.1 vs 13.2MPG

[jimh406]

I'm amazed how bad some of the GMs are doing loaded. Is this just the newer ones?