1stGen545

I got 8.9 pulling this 13,700pound tractor plus the heavy built 24ft trailer and 2 Rockwell axles and lots of axle shafts to Victoria, TX from Jonesboro, TX lots of hills and towns. But thats better than my brother in law that got 8.5 towing his 22ft Blue Wave center consol boat about 5,000 pounds with the trailer with his 07 Mega Cab DRW 6spd and the over head said 11.8. I have only seen 1 that was with in 4mpg even on a stock truck He had a EDGE EZ that I put on it and it realy has helped. Cant think of what it would have been without it. It did make me feal better about mine with 33"s 5spd, 3.54, all the mods in my sig and 389,000miles VS. a almost $60,000 truck. I thought the sun roof was good for 5 MPG extra. I only paid $5,800 for mine. My 92 has got 22MPG a few times with the 5spd.

scoggins

The last 2 weeks pulling 20 - 26 4'X6' rolls weighing 800 to 1000 lbs (EACH) on my 40' flat bed I have been gettin .................................






a whapping 6mpg yes 6 mpg and half of my driving time is thru town so i know that is not helping.

if I was smart enough i would post some pics.

(some one please PM me with a how to PLEASE!)

CarBizIndio

16.4 mpg on the road ways, Ive got a lead foot =)

74dart

got 18.1 before the correction for 33" tires my last road trip. Going to West Virgina this weekend and will check it again.

RDR

I know this is an old thread, but I find it funny still because I've heard the same from people. Funny coincidence but I did get 33.5 mpg today for about... 15 minutes.. but then again I also dropped 5000 feet in elevation.. hahaha.. straight shot downhill..

Hammer

The absolute best I ever did with mine was on a trip from York,PA to Vanleek Hill,ON where I ran her dry getting back into the states and our fuel.We had to push it from the top of the ramp to the fuel stop across the interstate bridge. We ran 742 miles and it took 35 gallons of fuel for a average of 21.2mpg.I have never repeated that since and do not even try as I didn't buy my truck for fuel milage or its ride......Andy

johnzie

Ok Ok...Its not a cummins or a psd.....in fact it's a 1.5 td renault clio....wouldn't pull your hat off ....such a small car.....To be honest....I fooled the computer to get that reading.....filled up and pressed reset as soon as i started it up....hence the 83.3mpg......

To be honest tho.....I'm running about the 58-60 normal driving....with diesel prices so high over here its quite a saving.....

Please don't pull me to bits for posting.....only meant as a bit of humour......

https://www.dieseltruckresource.com/...1&d=1197892660

tslewisz

When I first got my CTD and joined this forum, there was a post about a 40MPG Dodge Cummins; whether it was a myth or not. Someone acutally posted up saying it was his truck. My assumption was that it was heavily modified and the 40 MPG properly documented. It'd be interesting to find info on the modifications, documentation, etc. Anybody remember?

cdennyb

Another thing that needs to be kept in perspective...after all the finger pointing and snickering and calling names is done, is that overhead mileage computer calculates using a fixed set of constants. When you change injectors (like was mentioned above) that constant has now been changed and the calc is in error. The pumps, timing, chips, etc. all contribute to the calculation and changing or modifying any of those will create errors in the readout. i.e. changing injectors resulted in higher MPG's just as going the other way would change the readout the other direction.

Also, the mileage is calculated using miles travelled vs fuel left in the tank...so if you idle at the stop light for 5 minutes, watch the MPG drop. If the "running average" has been over the last 600 miles then it won't drop hardly at all, but if the "running average" has been for the last 10 miles, it'll drop several miles in a very short time.

If you fill up and hit the reset, and don't touch it until the next fill up, you will find it is very accurate, BUT... if you say, "Oh, I'm showing 23 on the overhead and I'm out cruising on the highway and getting 23 and hit the reset it'll be the same"...NO it won't. The previous readout was based on many variations of load, time, miles and fuel consumed and starting the overhead over by hitting the reset will begin a new set of calcs based on the upcoming variables.

If you fill up and hit the reset. Then go thru three stop lights just getting to the freeway and then look up when you get up to 60 mph, it'll probably read in the neighborhood of 10-15 mpg, but if you hit the reset and now measure your mileage over the next 50 miles of freeway, it'll be a more accurate representation of your cruising MPG. The first MPG of say 12 was based on you travelling say 1/2 to 3/4 of amile and sitting at the stop light for the 8 minutes or so. That initial 1/2 to 3/4 of a mile will not enter into the overall 50 mile calculation even though your fuel is gone! The bottom line is clarification... If I say I get 26-28 out crusing on the freeway at 55 mph...it means I hit the reset at that speed, allowed it to accumulate over a set mileage distance and without any stops or reasons to use excessive amounts of fuel, like passing someone, I was able to use fuel in an amount that gave me those mpg figures. It DOES NOT mean my truck gets 26-28 mpg all over town, hammering the throttle when I go thru underpasses to hear the stacks snort! LoL
It is very accurate, but only based on the constants and averages it figures.

So, for the most part. We ALL get lousy mileage 'playing' with our CTD's. That's a fact of life and ego. We also ALL will get better mileage if measured the same way and in the proper manner and realize that our variables are entering into the calculation every time we step on the throttle, either in the positiove or negative direction. So, unless you go into the ECM where the MPG calculation is stored and change the constants to match your situation of changes to the truck, you will never get an accurate mileage figure based on those changes. Keep in mind the result is based on miles travelled, amount of fuel used and the time it takes to get those miles. Less time, more fuel, same miles. More time, less fuel, same miles.
yes, it is really simple math but the playing fiel and the rules seem to change quite a bit from player to player.

db

TravisDj

We had this guy come out here to work. After he saw my truck he started telling me about the mid 90's ford his grandfather gave him. It was apparently a non-turbo diesel and he claimed to get 35 mpg even when towing. He also claimed to be towing over 20k uphill and passing a duramax that was towing half that. I called him out and all he could do was start to back pedal, then attack my truck. I found it quite comical.

Big Dblue

I dont know if my truck was lying but going 80 or 85 i was getting 17 to 19 mpg. is what the overhead thing said. But i dont know if is was off or not. But if not going that fast i was pretty impressed with just that.

mcoleman

My overhead usually reads somewhere between 30 and 35. I know it's wrong but it comes in handy when the occasional enviro idiot starts berating me at walmart or lowes. I point to that and tell him I'm running 100% bean oil from American farmers. I usually do run B10 or B20 but that tale gets the goofs to go away.

getblown5.9

worse than the mileage gods, i love the guys who tell ya they got a new diesel, put "the whole banks kit" (im not saying it to pick on banks, its just the most common/well known name out there that guys throw around) and they pull 16k lbs trailers, up mountains doing 85mph without missing a beat and still get 22mpg doing it.

sadly its usually ignorant fellow cummins owners who try that claim

Rednecktastic

I know my overhead is not right only thing it tells me is if I'm doing better or worse on fuel... It's nice to see it jump up though.
Seems like I'm around 17 hand calculated but need to check it again as it's seemed to go up as it has broke in. Funny thing about the overhead is I can make a high RPM high speed run for a few miles and the thing will go up.

They seem to be close on the gassers though including my old 1500 hemi and my buddies 04 5.4L F150.

HOHN

I have no overhead, so I have hand calculated mileage and none other.

My truck routinely gets 20hwy, 16 in town. Sometimes couples tenths over or under those, but if you averaged it out, I bet it would be almost spot on 16/20.

The one time I towed and had a sound mileage sample, I got between 14.5 and 15.x towing my Nissan on a dolly with the car stuffed full as well as the truck bed-- about 5K total, so pretty light.

My Dad got 15+ with the bed stacked full of milled hardwood up to the rails. My cousin works at a sawmill and hooked him up when he went back to visit.

Best I've ever gotten was 25.4mpg. That was on a winter run doing 54 mph on glare ice with the cc set and the engine chugging along at a exactly 1500 rpm--borderline lugging it. Not bad for winter fuel, eh? It was almost all downhill though, coming back from skiing. Still, over 25mpg from A-basin to Cheyenne isn't too bad. I even had traffic at the tunnel, and had the 4wd engaged most of the way from the Aurora exit to Cheyenne.

I'm happy.