I'm used to being in the 1st gen forum so forgive me for asking such generic questions. However, I am in the market for a 2k3 or newer 4x4 ctd dually AT,4 door. I was wondering how well these trucks do on mpg since I will be using it mainly for work (construction) 60% of the time, and the rest of the time it will have my 5th wheel hooked up to it. I need the extra room for my wife and 2 girls and 1 lab;can't get all of that in a '93 club cab ctd! hehe!
I've seen so many of these trucks on the road I am drewling with envy! Its my turn to get one, but I do not want to purchase a brand new one because of the line of work i'm in it would just get nicks and scrapes on it daily. Also, which one pulls more weight: a dually 4x2 or a dually 4x4? I have a 30' 5th wheel. Thanks for the help!

 

From what I've read (and heard from people I've talked to) the earlier 3rd gens do the best on mileage. Just a couple of MPGs, but better nonetheless. I've squeaked 25mpg (hand calc) out of my 2003 SO once, but it was a long non-stop run at only 55mph. I average 19-ish hand calc, with a mix of city and highway. 21-22 MPG running down the interstate at 75-80mph.

 

I don't think you can pull any more with a dually than a srw but you can carry more weight in the bed. The 03 and early 04 is rated for a torque of 555 ft-lb which is plenty for all but the heaviest pulls up mountains. Mine is not lacking any power for my trailer loads on any hills but some folks pull some really heavy loads and they do everything to squeeze more ft-lb out of their CTD. My gentle highway MPG is 23 to 25 but my mixed average is about 20. I've not had enough trailer pulling to give an accurate MPG on that.

 

My 2003 rocks. Just over 50,000 miles so far.
Have just completed a 3,800 mile round trip from an altitude of about 7,000 feet to sea level and back. The going was empty and coming back to 7,000 feet was towing a 31 foot RV weighing about 5400 pounds. Going I took my time and fuel consumption (hand calculated varied from a low of 19.63 mpg to a high of 23.34 mpg. Coming back with the trailer behind me I was pushed for time so was cruising at 70-75 mph for most of the time. Also encountered a head wind and for the last part of the trip had a vicious quartering headwind. Fuel consumtion varied from a low of 11.44 mpg to a high of 13.79 mpg.