I have a duramax work truck, i gets 11.5 at best babying it.

 

Sanddemon your truck should give you better MPG # somewhere between 10% to 15% because it has the 3.73 and with the 4.10 he should consume more diesel than you anyway. Having said that everyone that had diesels before in this site said our MPG should get better as the engines gets broken in.
congrats to both of you.

 

I am sitting in my trailer, just finishing 1045 miles and averaging 7.6 mpg... that according to the on board computer. Granted, I drive fast, anywhere between 75-90, but even when I slow down to avg 70, I am still only getting about 9 at best.

This 08 F-250 is the first diesel I have owned and I love it, but the mileage is killing me. The best I have see in town, without a trailer is about 11 mpg.

I have a buddy that is ready to have Ford buy back his f-450 over the lack of power during regen and the gas mileage. I don't want to do that because I love this truck, just hate the mpg problem.
Does anyone have any suggestions on how to deal with Ford regarding this? Should I yell at the dealer, or go directly to ford?

 

7.6mpg towing at 75mph+ and 9mpg at 70mph is dang good fuel economy depending on what you are towing. I can get 9mpg if I keep it under 60mph. About the same as my old 7.3 PSD got pulling the same trailer.

 

Gee, I thought I bought a work truck not a Honda. If you want great mileage buy a civic. This truck does what a truck is supposed to do, not what a car should do. I posted my #s from my first long trip but after that, I stopped checking, it is what it is and I love the truck. I also know that if I am in an accident with a civic I win!! We shouldn't be buying this truck for mpg, but because we like it, use it, work it, or for any other reason. Enjoy it, it's a great truck, and remember, IT IS WHAT IT IS !!

 

I'd like to know how much you are towing too.

 

"Does anyone have any suggestions on how to deal with Ford regarding this? Should I yell at the dealer, or go directly to ford?"


My suggestion......... don't tell them you are towing between between 75 & 90 mph and are concerned about poor fuel mileage.

 

Pretty good my foot! These numbers are new to the diesel market. 9mpg at 60 is horrid. We have pulled overweight @70mph and got 10-11.5 on roads with hills. I would be pissed too.

Your right it isn't a Honda but, you buy a diesel for power and fuel economy. There has been a happy medium between power and economy for quite some time now. That looks to be broken with this model. It looks like the power is there but 7.6mpg is a joke. If you pull 50,000 miles or more with you truck that is a huge fuel bill. It is wonderful that you have a bottomless wallet and don't care about the money your pissing away with a fuel guzzling, overpriced, vehicle. Stopping every 250 miles for fuel would be enough to make me mad. I am shocked that some people are so brand blind that they will overlook any issue to say that their "place brand here" is the best. The 6.4 appears to have a fuel economy issue that will deture and anger many buyers. Accept the truth.

one4
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He was complaining about 7.6mpg driving 75-90mph. The only time I towed at those speeds with my 7.3 I got about 4mpg. That truck would top out at 22mpg empty and around 11mpg towing both at 55mph. As speed increased above 60mph fuel economy would drop off rapidly. Now I am talkng about towing a 12.5 foot high 5th wheel so drag plays a huge factor. If you have a truck that will get 10-11.5mpg at 70mph towing an "overweight" load I say hold onto it. I have never seen a truck first hand that can do that.

 

Getting what he should given the frontal area....of a small house...

 

Your right it isn't a Honda but, you buy a diesel for power and fuel economy. There has been a happy medium between power and economy for quite some time now. That looks to be broken with this model. It looks like the power is there but 7.6mpg is a joke. If you pull 50,000 miles or more with you truck that is a huge fuel bill. It is wonderful that you have a bottomless wallet and don't care about the money your pissing away with a fuel guzzling, overpriced, vehicle. Stopping every 250 miles for fuel would be enough to make me mad. I am shocked that some people are so brand blind that they will overlook any issue to say that their "place brand here" is the best. The 6.4 appears to have a fuel economy issue that will deture and anger many buyers. Accept the truth.

Well you are right to a point, but the reasons I bought a diesel were power and durabilty. I know that pretty much whatever I hook up to I can tow safely, and with proper maintenance it will last many years.
And I am not brand blind, I have not owned a Ford since 98, but when I purchased this truck I did so with eyes wide open, I did my research, including this site, I knew what I was buying.Once again "it is what it is" and I'm happy with it. Now that's the truth.

 

Not all true, many here are getting good MPG...you have grouped all together...keying on the negative…why do you not speak of those that are getting good MPG?

Accept the truth`~

 

MY 03 7.3 with some banks goodies got avg 11.3 from Va. to WY to Cal to Arz. and back home on I40 with 30ft camper gross truck & camper 18000 lbs on interstates when wind don't blow me off the road i un 75 all the time thst' with a/c on & cruise on hammer down. When i bought this truck it'a a one ton crew cab 3.73 gears for along time it would not get better than 13 running empty. I"ll never buy a new one unless mpg is in the 20 mpg from factory they can make those truck's do better, big rigs avg 8to9 grossing 80000 lbs ponder on that for a while!!

 

where is that coming from?

 

I haven't talked to anyone saying they are getting good mileage. Good mileage to me is 18+@75mph (the highway speed limit here). Towing mileage should be no worse than 9.5mpg at 75mph with a fifth wheel and 10+ with large low drag loads.

I have done a little more research and am baffled with a few things. Unless you are pulling HUGE loads frequently a 4.88 rear gear isn't too smart. Ford does that for big load ratings and people buy it. If you are concerned with mileage put no lower than the 4.30 gear option (I wouldn't go lower than 4.10 myself) and let the dang tranny shift down on big hills. If you have your head out of your butt and take it easy, when your working the truck really hard, that gear will yield a better average mpg safely.

I have a buddy that works in the gas compression industry. He has a new 6.4 F450, 4.88 rear gear, service box, tools, and crane mounted on or in the truck. A fellow worker has an identical truck with the 6.0 and a 3.73 rear gear (likely a tick heavier than the 6.4 but nothing drastic). The 6.0 is broke in (200,000 miles) so that helps. They fill up and leave for a job. They stop before they head down the rig road part of their trip and fill up. The 6.4 takes 22 gallons of fuel the 6.0 takes 13. The 6.0 accelerates better than the 6.4 after they get rolling 20mph. Right now the 6.4 display is reading an average of 6.2 mpg. The company is going to change the gearing in all future orders. The butt gear option needs to be well thought out. He said he thinks they will run/accelerate identical when the 6.4 is broke in. He did say the chassis feels better and rides much better than last years model. The interior is awesome in these new trucks.

I do believe that this engine is going to get better mileage when they break in. Unless it's dramatic they are still going to struggle with economy. I doubt many will care if they get the dependability issue fixed with this new power plant.

In reality we need to wait for some miles to rack up to see what the mileage really is. I hope it improves, I wouldn't mind driving one of these trucks in '09.

one4
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