dan1912

thanks guys for the answers and suggestions. that is why i was asking what people got with their 06's. maybe their is something wrong with it. i have had it in the dealership and they said it's normal and that's all people are getting. all 10 cummins we've owned have never started out this bad. i put on 40000 miles a year on average. i will keep it at least a year if it gets better yea! if it doesn't i will see what 07 brings.

moterhead

If you are concerned about fuel mileage, a hemi is NOT the way to go. In Feb, '03, I traded my '98 2500 QC 4X4 diesel in on a beautiful flame red 1500 QC with hemi, tow package, 20" wheels, leather, etc. What a dog it turned out to be! It got 14 mpg cruising 70 empty and 9 mpg pulling my open bike trailer at 60 to 65. AND it wasn't FAST! Wouldn't even spin a tire. I was debating between the '03 1500 hemi QC and a left over '02 Harley Ford F150. Bought the Ram because the Harley Ford had 4 buckets. I have three grand kids & needed the bench rear seat. Should have bought the Harley! I'd probably still own it! I kept that dog hemi for 9 months and traded it in on an '04 Ram 2500 diesel. The new 600/610s don't get the fuel mileage the old 555s get. HP/torque costs fuel. Have you considered that your poor mileage might be your driving style? How hard do you accelerate away from a light? How fast do you drive? Do you leave the truck idling? Jackrabbit starts, high speed driving (more than 2000 rpm) and leaving the truck idling all costs fuel.

sweetwaterguy

In a recent 2500 mile round trip, Wyoming to Yuma, AZ, I hand calculated 20.4 mpg for the trip in my 04.5 Cummins. I confess to driving for mileage, keeping RPM's reasonable and no speed over 70 on interstate.
When I bought the truck, I drove test drove several and did the same short route comparing MPg's on the overhead. I selected the one that did the best. This tells me there has to be something more than the same old stuff about MPG's--driving habits, tires, winter fuel, etc. That is the great mystery. Are they all set up at the factory exactly alike? Or do they meet specifications within a range of settings, such as valve adjustments, pump timing, etc. Is there a perfect setting, when the factory says close enough?
I don't have an answer, but I bet there are those out there that do.

Andy S.

You've got it better with the Cummins even with 12 mpg. My Hemi gets 8 mpg around town if I'm lucky. Just give it time.

Yellowlab

On my new '06 I've been getting 13 (city driving) on the overhead, but 14 when hand calculated. This includes a lot of idleing and driving with my foot in it pretty good. It should get a lot better when you consider I only have 4,500 miles on it so far. I'm pulling the fiver all the way from Oregon to Arizona and back in a few weeks and that should help get her broke in. Even then I think it'll take a good 20,000 miles to really get broke in.

I don't think that's too bad, but I feel the pinch too. The '03 I used to have got about 18 in the city and 21 on the freeway. But it was an SO, and completely broke in!!

04ctd

Dan,
can you try this free sensor mod, and see what your MPG does?
http://photobucket.com/albums/c154/cranksensor/

this took me longer to photo than to do, gave me a little bit of MPG
my 4:10's kill MPG...most of the good MPG you see is 3:73 gears.

there's an efficient band of RPM for these trucks, think it was ~1800 rpm, but you need almost a 3:55 to get there on these trucks.

there is a gear ratio tire size calculator on some website....do a search.

have you done any mods?

i sold my last vehicle that got crappy MPG...it's just not enjoyalbe to drive at that MPG..

Beavermike

Hey, you've probably already done this, but be sure to check the air pressure. Mine was delivered with about 40 lbs of air with the original Mich tires.

tristan21

Try the rokk. I here the most MPG increases out of that single mod for 80 bucks(?) Advance the timing that Dodge gets their better exhaust rating with.

And on a side note...if you think you want better mileage bad enough to get rid of a Dodge then you might stop by the shrinks office on the way to the Ford or Chevy dealership. Prefferably one of them where there is a DC vehicle in front. Most of the people with money to burn like shrinks will atleast have a Mercedes.

bluesurf

In my 03 I had 3.73 and I got close to 20-21 on the highway and 17 around town. I just bought an 05 with 4.10 and around town it gets 17 and highway it gets 14. I think it's already time to get some 35's under it.

WACTD

Last hand-calc, I got 16.25 mixed city/highway. That was before the tonneau cover and the RokkTech sensor, so I'm expecting the next tank to be even better.

Have you hand-calc'd your mileage? Don't trust the overhead display - mine reads 1.5-2.0 MPG low every time.

slorocco

Somewhere around 45 psi is about what's recommended on the '06 door labels for an empty or lightly loaded truck. That is defined as two people plus 200lbs cargo. I ran my truck the way it was delivered, with 65 psi in the tires, for about a month but I got tired of the ride. I run around 45psi now. It did drop my mileage from about 14.5 to about 13.5 around town. My truck is still pretty new though, right around 1K miles.

Brock

06 2500 automatic unloaded I am getting 14.7 avg in mixed city driving....and 18+ on highway empty. Just put on larger tires so my overhead and speedo is off 2 miles per hour it looks like comparing it to a GPS.

Going to get it updated today I hope. Where do you live...maybe you have a winter blend fuel? Driving habits makes a difference as well..

Only thing I have done is added the Roktech sensor to adv timing slightly...I saw about .5-1.0 mpg increase depending on if city or highway.

06Cummins

i know mine is low at 12mpg..but i also live in college station, tx which is a college town and literally once you hit 40 mph you are either at a stop sign or stop light...it really sucks...it is stop and go here to the extreme. i never really accel hard at all letting it shift at around 17-1800 rpm. But i know that this driving style, never getting over 40 or 45 is the prob for my mpg....

RamNu2

The week that I did get to drive my '06 hand calculated was about 16 in town. I had a heavy foot part of the time experiencing the power of my first diesel. Alot better than any gasser I have had in the past.

slorocco

16 in town? That's pretty good. The best I've seen with my 06 manual trans is 16.7 on the highway so far.