pups and bucks

looking to improve my mpg on my 02 dodge diesel,how much will bigger exhaust help?and is there anything else that can be done easily?
Thanks for any input......

Numidian

Any gains you see in mpg are going to be negated by the money you spend on the mods... Do the mods for yourself or just save the extra money for fuel....

And what are you getting for mileage now? In the few tanks I've run through my truck, I've gotten 15.5 mpg for an even mix of highway/city and 17 for 90% highway.

nothingbutdarts

Great question

SIXSLUG

Free spin front hubs/$1800 for the kit, bigger injectors/$800, higher geared diffs/ $800 each, programmer $800,...etc.

How much mpg are you willing to invest in?? And then wait for a return...

pups and bucks

getting around 10 pulling a 3 horse gooseneck.......that's taking it real easy on the right pedal....55-60mph.
Around 15 mpg when I'm not dragging anything.

Thats with a 5 speed stick and full time 4x4

It would seem that a lot of people on this site aren't too worried about mpg and want to test tires and Ujoints.

SIXSLUG

Yeah, that's a good description of the members!!

tires and u-joints....

My perspective of these trucks is they are tow built better than anything from the past of the same gvw. You couldn't get the torque or reliability out of the old gasser big blocks without overheating them and blowing exhaust gaskets or warping manifolds. They also ran worse the higher you got, whereas the diesel performs well at altitudes and can run most passes without any problems and still keep 60 mph and 10-12 mpg.

Depending on how much you want to spend, you can coax better mileage out of your Cummins, actually quite a bit more, say 3-5 mpg but it'll cost ya up front!!

67HotRod

I am at 20mpg running empty hand calculated, would get 21-22mpg before the mods.

SIXSLUG

^^^^I just can't go 50 mph on the freeway....

rightwinger

smaller tires that are properly inflated, exhaust, good flowing air filter, better injectors, programmer, front hub conversion, better flowing exhaust manifold, intake horn, electric fans.....the list goes on and on, but I'm not sure how much fuel you would be saving by all of this, indeed it would be an interesting study to see done, but everything you do has a price to pay, and not just a monetary price but overall performance as well.

Danderson

RV 275 injectors and an Edge Ez should yield a dab plus make it a much better driving truck. Stock clutch should be fine.

Numidian

The money you spend modding the truck would buy you quite a bit of fuel at 2-3mpg gains... If you spend $2000 getting a 3mpg gain, you won't break even on your mods for 50,000 miles. And I personally doubt you'll actually see much improvement unless you change your driving style as well.

Silver R/T

Im getting 17.5mpg in city with my 01 that is stock (except for k&n air filter but don't think it helps much) That is with 4.10 rear end. I figure if I can get 20mpg in city with exhaust/intake/edge juice I will be happy. Tires Im running are 265/75/16s so not too wide and stock lift.