I have and 06 cummins with the 5.9 engine. I want to get the best milage possible. Im not to worried about adding horsepower and torque as much as adding mileage. What would be the best chip to install on my ram? Also what other products will get me better mileage? I know a cold air intake, exhaust, and injectors will add mileage but which products add the most? Thanks for helping me.

 

The mileage gain from intake and exhaust will probably be too small to notice. It seems the most gains could be had from a cam change, manual hub conversion, and something that increases timing (Smarty may be the best choice here).

Some people have also seen benefits with an overdrive box such as Gear Vendors, U.S. Gear, etc.

You'll get a lot of opinions about this subject, and a lot of big claims; however, I've tried a lot of them myself, without seeing hardly any results.

--Eric

 

Keep your RPM's under 2000, driving slower and keeping the proper air pressure in your tires will increase your fuel mileage. In the summer I can get 19-20 mpg and I have a 4 speed auto and I've done it with out any mods to the truck. Also I don't drive it like its a V8 gas engine in the Indy 500 and I use a light foot on the go pedal and if someone does not like it they can go around me.

 

My S&B airbox and filter have increased my mileage because I can hear my turbo so much better. If the turbo isn't spooling, I'm getting over 20 mpgs. My right foot loves the sound of it though, so this can be difficult for me to control. It's not my fault. Really!

Try to plan and combine trips and errands. I find my truck gets way better mileage warmed up, plus you reduce overall miles driven.

When it gets warm, throw a bike in the bed. Park the truck in town and use your bicycle for all your errands.

Proper tire inflation is good for 1-2mpg.

Coming up to a stoplight I lug at the min. speed to keep the TC locked for as long as possible (~45mph) and hope it turns green before I get there.

I don't think those are the kind of recommendations you're looking for but they are cheap and effective ways to get the most bang for your buck out of your fuel. My Lie-O-Meter says I'm getting 22.3 MPG overall. My pencil and paper say I'm getting 19.8.

edit: 2006 2500 SRW auto, S&B airbox, 11K on the odo.

 

Here is my reply to the other thread you started.

 

I just picked up the equivelent of from 2 - 4 MPG doing nothing to my truck.

80 miles a day commute = 400 miles a wk @ 20mpg = $81.00 wk ($4.05 gal)
80 miles a day commute = 400 miles a wk @ 22mpg = $73.63 wk ($4.05 gal)
80 miles a day commute = 400 miles a wk @ 24mpg = $67.48 wk ($4.05 gal)

A WOPPING DIFFERENCE OF $7.37 A WEEK for 2mpg or $13.52 for 4mpg

I am going to start brown bagging it two days a week. Now I feel a whole lot better and the best thing is I did not spend a dime for any MPG gismo or gadget. Maybe thats a bad thing though

 

the smarty jr will get you the most for the least money , nothing you do on the intake side of the turbo will ever pay for itself , see my signature we have tried many things and brands these worked the best of the ones we tested just got air tabs in do not have them on yet to test. trying to eleminate the third injection pulse and increase rail pressure some is what we working on now

 

There are a few things you can do but it probably won't be worth the investment.
The two biggest ones that come to mind from people that actually have big mpg differences are:
1. 3.42 gears (depending on how you drive can net you up to 2mpg)
2. Smarty level 3 (different trucks gain differently here, but 1-2mpg)
3. Low Stall Torque Converter (Dave Goerend told me that some people see from 3-5 mpg increases with his low stall TQs)

All of these items are very expensive and you likely wouldn't get your investment back.

Like someone else said, maybe get a smarty jr, drive 65 or below, and take it easy on the skinny pedal. Those will be your low cost solutions.

 

I hate to say it, but I slowed down from daily driving 70-75mph to a mind blowing 60-65 mph with white haired people passing me for this tank. Low and behold I am actually getting my best tank. Smarty Jr. on lvl 1.(economy) tires all the way inflated, and not passing anyone!. Oh well, it's only cost me 5 minutes or so.

Wood

 

Wood, are you running max pressure as printed on your tires?
Mine are rated 85 max.
I'm pushing the stock pressures right now,
50 in front 40 in back per the drive side door for unloaded
truck.

 

I run all my tires at 10% over the stated psi on the tire therefore if the truck tire says 80 psi, I run 88 psi cold. Why are you running 50 psi if you tires say 85 psi?

 

All the tires I've had and read said MAX pressure. To me max means max. If you are carrying the full rated load the tire can carry that's the pressure you need. Lower load, lower pressure to get a better ride or more even wear. But never higher pressure than the max.

John

 

I follow more or less what Raspy said.
If you read any truck manual it says not to run high pressures unless you're carrying a full load. For instance, for my truck under max load I would put 60 up front 70 in the back. But when it's unladen it's 50 up front 40 in the back.

Running more than max PSI is dangerous. You're never supposed to approach maximum because the air inside the tire heats with use and expands, increasing the pressure inside the tire. When you're running high pressure on an unloaded truck you are reducing the surface of the tire that contacts the road, you now have less traction than you should, which decreases your stopping distance substantially and also reduces the traction available for acceleration and in sharper turns.

As Raspy said, you also change the way the tire wears, often for the worse when over-inflating. I haven't spoken with my tire rep about the tire pressure for the 285s since they're larger than stock, but based on the amount of tread touching down I probably need to have more like 60-65 PSI in the front right now, but 40 in the rear appears to be perfect.

Keep in mind 75% of the weight of these trucks is distributed towards the front, hence the higher pressure in the front tires when unloaded.

 

The biggest gain I have seen is 2MPG when I increased my tire pressure to 80 PSI. I also picked up MPG when I began driving at 1800 RPM (about 65MPH) instead of 85 MPH. By the way, max pressure is cold inflation pressure.
It already takes heating of the air during operation into account.

 

I keep the tires on all my vehicles at max psi. After my 92 CTD the ride on my 06 CTD at max is so smooth.