MPG Help please
Post Fiend
Joined: Oct 2009
Posts: 12,123
Likes: 35
From: N. Fort Worth, tx
IMO the op is getting more then waht was advertised on the window sticker when it was new.
the only way to get really good milage out of a 8k+ in weight truck is to sell it and buy a little car.
as stated it well help if you go to a hwy tread tire and slow down. but it will only get so good.
the only way to get really good milage out of a 8k+ in weight truck is to sell it and buy a little car.
as stated it well help if you go to a hwy tread tire and slow down. but it will only get so good.
Senior User
Joined: Mar 2006
Posts: 437
Likes: 0
Are you going off the Lie-O-Meter or are you hand calculating the mileage? If you are going off the LOM you're likely getting even less than what it's telling you...
In summary there's a whole bunch of ways to improve your MPG, all of which have already been mentioned, but in summary...
In summary there's a whole bunch of ways to improve your MPG, all of which have already been mentioned, but in summary...
- Slow the F down!
Not sure what gears you're running (check your door sticker or the label/plate on the rear diff itself) but at highway speed anything more than 2K RPMs is gonna put a serious whoopin' on your fuel economy.
- Aggressive tires are heavy tires, heavy tires KILL gas mileage. Rotating mass has an exponential effect on lots of things, wear and tear on your drivetrain, braking performance, handling, etc. For every 1 additional pound of rotating mass you're effectively adding roughly 10 pounds of weight to the truck. Depending on the weight of your tires now versus a suitable replacement, you could put your truck on a serious diet and lose that several hundred pound toolbox you didn't even knew you had! If you want an aggressive looking tire that doesn't weigh as much as your typical one, check out Nitto's Terra Grappler...
- DPF deleting and tuning can significantly increase your real MPG is you can manage to keep your foot from burying the skinny pedal constantly to enjoy all the new found power. That can be exceptionally difficult, especially right after you tune. If you can manage though, 2-5 MPGs over what you were previously experiencing are do-able, and believe it or not the higher HP tunes (like Spartan's 275HP or Eric's Xtreme Street at 280+ RWHP) are the best for mileage.
- Doing a DPF delete and installing a tune are extremely straightforward and unless you're completely mechanically un-inclined, save yourself a whole bunch of money and do it yourself. If that's not something you're comfortable with, just have a local muffler shop install the DPF delete for you, NO ONE should pay to have someone tune their truck, it's just way too easy if you follow the instructions...
Posting Guru
Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 1,006
Likes: 0
From: San Jose, CA
Here's my hand-calculated (actually from a spreadsheet) mpgs since buying the truck new. Truck is bone stock, I drive with a light foot, rarely exceed 70mph. Most of my driving is probably 60/40 city/hwy. I haul occasionally and have never towed yet.
I never reset my LOM, and it reports 14.5~14.6mpg which looks pretty close to the running average if I'm eyeballing the mpgs...
They say mpgs get better as the engine wears in... I don't see anything improvement beyond the first 2K miles.
I use Shell or Chevron diesel whenever possible. I consistently get better mpgs with that compared to truck stop stuff.
Peaks are straight station-to-station freeway shots, low points correlate to those times I had long or longer regens. What's interesting is I seem to get a marathon regen every 5K, and it looks pretty consistent. The one time I got 20mpg+ was a straight downhill run...I can pretty much ignore that one
11B23 flash was applied at 23600 on the odo
I never reset my LOM, and it reports 14.5~14.6mpg which looks pretty close to the running average if I'm eyeballing the mpgs...
They say mpgs get better as the engine wears in... I don't see anything improvement beyond the first 2K miles.
I use Shell or Chevron diesel whenever possible. I consistently get better mpgs with that compared to truck stop stuff.
Peaks are straight station-to-station freeway shots, low points correlate to those times I had long or longer regens. What's interesting is I seem to get a marathon regen every 5K, and it looks pretty consistent. The one time I got 20mpg+ was a straight downhill run...I can pretty much ignore that one
11B23 flash was applied at 23600 on the odo
Now THAT'S what I'm talking about! That's the way you track your mileage! Nicely done...LOM be damned!!!
Super Moderator
Joined: Aug 2008
Posts: 37,384
Likes: 1,868
From: Frederick, MD
IMO the op is getting more then waht was advertised on the window sticker when it was new.
the only way to get really good milage out of a 8k+ in weight truck is to sell it and buy a little car.
as stated it well help if you go to a hwy tread tire and slow down. but it will only get so good.
the only way to get really good milage out of a 8k+ in weight truck is to sell it and buy a little car.
as stated it well help if you go to a hwy tread tire and slow down. but it will only get so good.
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