I got 19 highway and 16.8 city in my '03 3500 DRW 4x4 6 sp 3.73's after it got broken in. That was at 26k miles running empty. With the 5ver, it would get 11.5 highway. My new '05 only has 6k miles on it, and I'm getting 16.7 highway and 15.4 city running empty, with 12.8 towing the 5ver. These are hand calculated figures. The '05 isn't even broken in yet really, so I think my best mileage is yet to come. This is at 2150 RPM (70 mph). My brother's '99 2500 4x4 5 sp. gets 22 - 24 mpg highway when he goes to Yellowstone every year, running at 2000 rpm (68 mph), which is really good for a 7000 lb 4x4 truck (he doesn't smoke either).

 

Ya, why are you complaining? my 05 gets 12.5-13.8 I would kill for 20+.I would count my blessings if I was you... oh...and my driving is also on the ROAD as aposed to????????? maybe outerspace where you may get as high as 100 mpg????

 

I bought my truck from my son, who modifies everything. It's an '05 2500 4x4 quadcab, short bed, automatic, with 3:73 gears. The mods he did were opened up the exhaust, I know he took out the cat and changed mufflers. Edge 5 stage chip. He had a tighter torque converter installed, it's also built for high torque. Lastly, he put 315-70 TKO's on it. The truck's got just over 10K miles and I get 15-16 mpg. I'm trying to decide if smaller tires would improve on that.

 

i get 21.5 summer and 20 mpg winter,,that"s on a 700 mile trip,,one way,,,got this mileage since new,,best mileage i got was with fuel from a pilot station in ind.,,23 mpg,,,but not all pilot stations give me that kind of mileage,,infact,,that was the only one,,bp station gave me the worst mileage. i get 12.5 towing a 20 ft enclosed car hauler,,empty ,full it doesnT matter,,this mileage is all at 69 mph,,just under 2000 rpm,,,,,,,,my old 2001 ram gasser got 11 mpg highway empty about 6 towing same trailer. this is no bullcrap

 

Your driving habits have a big influence on your MPG.

My '04 2500 6spd 3.73 QC LWB will do 20+ MPG regularly. I get over 20 on the highway if I keep it under 65 mph. (Hand caculated! I have a spreadsheet of all fuel used for the 20k miles that I have owned the truck.)

This is not flatland either. From Portland, OR to central OR and back I average over 20mpg. This is over the Cascade Range (>4500' elevation change). I get 19-20 going from Portland and 21+mpg coming back.

My overhead is reading 21.0 mpg right now, driving back and forth to work. (The overhead is 98.5% accurate. Yes, that 98.5% is calculated from 20k miles of keeping track in the spreadsheet. Yes, I'm a nerdy engineer.)

I average 15+mpg with my 3000lb camper.
I average 14.5+ with my 3500lb boat.
I average 12.5 with both the camper and the boat.

This is driving easy. To get good mileage you shift before 2k rpm. You accelerate moderately. You anticipate stops and coast to them. This is how you get 20+ mpg. Its not magic. Accelerating hard burns extra fuel. High rpms burns extra fuel. Using your brakes takes energy in the form of momentum (that you burnt fuel to create) and converts it to heat. Jack rabbit starts and stops will use a lot more fuel than moderate acceleration and coasting to a stop.

I'm sure that the vehicles vary some but I think most of it is the driver and the configuration of the truck. That is why some of you have owned many CTDs and none of them get over 20mpg. The commonality is the driver. I have only owned one and I don't believe it is significantly different than the norm.

I'm sorry for the rant but I get tired of people saying 20+ mpg from a CTD can't be done. I do it every time I drive my truck empty. Since mine is a 4X, I believe a 2X or single cab or auto with 3.73 could get 24+ on the highway (I've seen 22 mpg many times).

FB

 

I agree FB. A lot has to do with the configuration and the driver.
Two things I keep an eye on for better fuel economy. RPMs and the boost gauge. Try to keep the rpms below 2100 and the boost under 8psi.

MikeyB

 

I see 29 MPG quite regularly. I am the guy in the right lane doin'
50 in a 70 with my mirrors folded in and my wipers removed....

and if I wax those goofy cab lights and remove the antena I get 31.....

......SORRY Y'ALL.....just feelin froggy......

 

All joking aside guys,, the cab lights, mirrors, antena and wipers do
cost you about 2 to 3 MPG. Thats also why Dodge stopped using
the ram head hood ornament and went to the emblem, they knew
fuel prices would not stay 67.9 for ever.

Superduty could calculate the resistance ratio for us.

And if you hang those fake Bull ***** off your rear bumper you are
wastin fuel too !!

Y'ALL BE SAFE OUT THERE........HOUTEX......

 

blah-blah-blah... :-)

I have every fill-up of my '03 3500 saved in an Excel spreadsheet (just entered #144 @ 73xxx miles). I have not had a tank under 18MPG for the past 23,000 miles. In fact most of them are 20.x and 21.x, with two touching 22. This includes a lot of commuting in DC and Baltimore traffic too.

SRW, 3.73, 4x4, 6speed. 100% stock, keep the air filter clean and run Delvac-1 in the engine at 10K change intervals.

 

This isn't apples to oranges since my truck is older, but my '98 12v has averaged 23.75 mpg on one tank. Here's the scenario: It's a 2wd 5 spd dually, with 4.10's. The truck was empty. I limited myself to 55 mph, including on the interstate with a 70 mph speed limit. I shifted at 1500 rpm, I would put it in neutral and coast downhill whenever possible. I would shut it off at traffic lights I knew would be red for a while. Most of the tank was interstate or 55 mph 2 lane roads (I drove 45-50 mph on them). The timing was advanced to 16.5 deg (from the stock setting of 13.5), the front tires were inflated to the max of 80 psi, and the rears to 65. The truck has a BHAF and a straight pipe, for whatever little they might help. I went 632 miles on 26.6 gallons. Yes, I got a good fill on the tank.

That is pretty extreme driving-most people won't tolerate driving like that for very long, me included. Driving more normally, my tanks now average about 19 mpg, give or take a little. A 3rd gen PROBABLY won't get that kind of mileage without a bunch of tweaking to eliminate the 3rd and maybe 1st (pilot) injection events. I won't say never, but I doubt they will. Anyway, the higher mileage figures are indeed possible under the right circumstances. The right circumstances includes towing nothing, hauling nothing, and adapting your driving style ONLY for mileage, not for making decent time.

 

I totally agree, I can get 22 MPG under those circumstances. But, thats along ways from modern days driving habits and I don't call that average MPG.

 

Well, I meant average for that one tank, as in miles traveled divided by gallons used. As a side note, can you imagine how much fuel would be saved if people slowed down somewhat, and bothered to look ahead to see when they could let off the gas? I think it would be unreal, and they wouldn't have to drive as conservatively as I did. Just eliminate the dumb stuff, like tailgating so that you have to hit the brakes for every little teeny slowdown, and limit top speeds. I'm not advocating a return to the 55 mph speed limit-that's too loaded with revenue for municipalities. I'm more talking about if everyone just decided on their own to drive intelligently. I know, it won't happen, but just imagine...

 

i hear ya v8440,,,alot of people drive like there only going to live another 8 hours,,,as I"m coasting to a stop light i have people passing me ( what the hell is that),,,I'm sure if people learned to drive just alittler more conservatively the price of gas would go down,,,,,i always drive 4 miles per hour over the speed limit,,but i don"t race to get there,,,well once in awhile i do,,but not often,,,,,,i guess folks just connect with nascar

 

Combined city/hwy: 16.8 MPG and going up

Then again I haven't broken in the engine.....only have 11,000 miles on the truck.

 

The only thinG I can say about MPG is WHO CARES! I bought this brute of an engine to haul what I want as fast as I need and to last a long time. I have power on tap compared to my 96 4x4 350 gasser. When you have sticker prices of 42 grand how could you even have a worry about a few cents more or less per tank in MPG. You should saved a few thousand dollars up front and bought an S10 with some overloads.