I did this past weekend. We were returning from a camping trip in KY and were bucking a severe head wind. I should have had plenty of fuel to make the stop, but when I checked the mpg it was reading around 8.5. I hadn't noticed the wind. (What a testament to the power a Cummins has) I knew it would be close because the readout said 14 miles to empty and I had 13 miles to go. When I pulled into the fuel stop it read 0 miles to go. That's a little closer than I like to cut it.

 

I've driven mine 55 miles past the "0 DTE" and fuel gauge burried on E. Dropped the tank after that and still had 2.5 inches of fuel in the tank. I think Dodge gives some padding to the gauge so that you don't run out of fuel and run the motor dry.

 

I pumped in 31.997 gallons of fuel. I'm not sure how many gallons an '04.5 short box will hold. Anyone know?

 

Pretty sure the SB's get a 34 gallon tank. I've put a little over 37 in my 35 gallon tank though.

 

I regularly take it down to "0 DTE", although I start getiing pretty uncomfortable, I never have run out. My worst was going 20 miles past "0 DTE"

 

Glad to hear I'm not the only one. I was a nervous wreck. I even turned the engine off and coasted into the pumps.

 

I'm not saying that what I do is smart - I just do it! rumor has i that in addition to taking a chance of running out, as you start running low on fuel the lift pump works harder, the fuel gets hotter, blah, blah, blah...

 

Yup... trust me, it wasn't intentional. I normally get around 12-13 mpg and was getting about 8 fighting the head wind. The 101 degree temps might have decreased my mpg a little too. I always try to stay above the 1/4 mark. I've run diesels out of fuel a couple of times in my 1,000,000 plus miles and let me tell you, it ain't fun.

 

Going to PA last year. I knew I'd be close, but due to an accident ahead of me, I had to take a detour. This made it even closer. DTE went to 0 when I hit the off ramp, near my hotel and near a Flying J. My SB only took 32 gallons, too.

 

0!? And I thought I was living on the edge when I got down to 8mi DTE!

 

Relax. You can go almost 100 miles with the DTE on zero. I routinely go 50-60 over and have gone as far as 109 but it started to chug so I shut it off, coasted to the side of the road and added 5 gallons from a can into it. With the vent mod you can get 37 to 38 in it easy. Never hurt anyting on my truck running the fuel low.

 

FWIW, I filled up tonight and my DTE was on 41. My quadcab shortbed only took 30.21 gallons. That was pretty much topping it off as I saw alot of foam. Start....stop....start....stop. You folks know how that goes.

 

Ok guys this is strait out of the owners manual:

When the low fuel warning light goes off, you are at 15% of capacity. When at Omi. to emty, gauge sitting on E, you are effectively at 10%. I almost always go to zero before fillup and have went as much a 68mi. over while unloaded. The manual states it is done for safety reasons while towing at max load to give you a reserve. However it dont work, if you know about it. Oh yeh, when I filled up after going 60mi. past E, I put in 37.4gal. After I waited awhile for the foam to settle.

 

My 03 manual state short box trucks have a 34 gallon capacity, and long box's have a 35. Streetsmoker is correct about the 15% on light and 10% on 0 DTE, so this would be 5.1 gallons at the low fuel light and 3.4 gallons on 0 DTE with a short box.
M Sandt

 

On the '06 LB, the tank is rated at 35. Install the Vent Mod and you'll spend less time filling the tank and get more into it. It used to take me >20 minutes to fill the tank to the brim, waiting for the foam to die down. And, I would only get aobut 30-32 gallons into it. After the vent mod, I fill 36-38 gallons, when the gauge reads E and DTE is <80 miles. Filling up also takes <10 minutes, including filling to the brim, at the auto pumps! When I dropped the tank to install the vent and refilled it...I emptied the tank as best I could and still had 2-3 inches of fuel in the belly of the tank. I filled with 40 gallons that time! I figure the tank now has a usable capacity of 38039 gal & ultimate capacity of ~43gal.

The vent mod should work on trucks '03 and up. Best $35 I ever spent!

HTH

Tony