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#1
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I am somewhat disappointed in the mpg in the 98 24 valve/auto trans/4x4 - BEST numbers I have ever gotten was almost 21mpg empty driving 60 mph. With a slide-in camper doing about 60 it gets about 14.
I am considering moving "up" to a 91 5 speed/2wd - reason being is that the guy who is selling it claims that it gets almost 30 empty at 60. I believe that he will stand behind that number. What kind of mileage numbers are all of you guys getting? Thx. |
#2
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Uh 21 mpg with 24v/auto/4x4 config is pretty decent I would say. Best I can get is bout 18 mpg but with my driving habits I am happy with 10 mpg, I like to race stoplight to stoplight. And I have the 4.10 ratio so my 85 to 95mph highway speed is not very fuel efficient.
The 12v engines genarally get better MPG because they are not hampered buy EPA Regs which is why the 24v motor came about. 30 mpg seems a bit far fetched, on a regular basis. If he'll stand behind it take him up on it. |
#3
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Mileage the great debate. I have owned three diesels. 91 4x4 auto 18 mpg 94 2wd 5spd 23mpg 01 quad cab 2500 4x4 auto 4.10 best of 16 mpg only 4000 miles on it. Driving styles , conditions , fill ups, fuel type/brand, tires there are so many variables. A 2wd stick is going to have the chance of being the best for fuel economy. I would not trade my new truck for anything but I was impressed by the 91. Good luck!
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#4
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At what mileage does better mileage come in? I have close to 35k on the truck now - I have heard rumors that it is not even broken in yet.
does anyone think that that 30 mpg figure is BS? what is the diff in mpg - 2wd vs 4wd? how about stick to auto EVEN THOUGH the late model auto has a better OD number? That 21 mpg # that I gave was with NO load at 60 and all hwy with the cruise set most of the trip. BTW - it has a 3.54 gear. BTW - I NEED mpg - I am going to be doing some serious traveling and moving -- THAT is a major consideration. |
#5
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30mpg....I wish
I own a '90 Cummins/3spd auto/ 3.0 gear. I average 19 mpg empty and 16 mpg towing. It has 180 000 miles on it.
Jason |
#6
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J - isn't your auto a non od and non lockup converter? What is your rpm's at 60 or 70 mph? 3.0? what gear? are you sure? I thought that the shortest gear was a 3.54? what height/size tire?
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#7
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Ya..Mine is the 3 spd no overdrive no lockup. The gear is a 3.07 according to my owners manual. My truck will hit the governer at about 75 mph at 2500 rpm. 30 inch tire. 235 75 16 tires.
According to the Richmond Gear calculator I'm at 2000 RPM at 60 MPH. This truck pulls strong and can smoke the tires at will. Maybe some of U guys should swap to the lower gear for better mileage? If you have a 5 spd then you would have a great first gear still. Jason |
#8
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Man, I was thinking of buying a 2003 Diesel 3/4 ton to replace my '94 V-10 and get into a 4x4 this time....maybe the new Allison trans will do better mpg? I had a friend w/ a '94 Diesel 2500 4x4 that did 19mpg local and 21 on trips (empty), he turned it in several years ago. That truck impressed me, not fast but just pulled like no tomorrow. It had 3.54 gears, as does my '94, I get 12 around here, a best of 15.3 highway...thought the diesel route would blow that away next time. Any of you guys crankup the pump pressure yet, supposedly the info is on the net. I know a guy that did that , the results were phenominal, pulls thru the mountains harder, and mileage improved as well I believe (he wished he had done that 150K ago). Thanx, Dan
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#9
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24 valve fuel milage the great debate,,since I'm not the owner of one ,but, have a good friend that does and he tows a 39 ft Goldrush trailer with his superstocker,I can relate that his was not very good either,Seems like your 21 empty/14 loaded is compareable to his,,Now his truck has hit the 35,000 mile mark and with the addition of the 275 injectors and a convertor change it will flat fly loaded or empty and has picked up the fuel milage numbers some,,Now the convertor deal was done at a dealer due to us finding out SOME of the 98's (24 valve trucks)were outfitted with the incorrect convertor from the factory(seems some got out with a convertor for the V10 trucks),,My 98 12 valve 5 spd 4x4 stock got 14-17 around town and 20-23 highway empty(lower #'s more often,I have a problem keeping off the hammer),,After a new torque plate,injectors and turbo its a little better but again I seem to enjoy to terrorize the Powerpuke and Duracrap crowd so, fuel milage is out the window, hope you can get what your seeking out of your ride. HAVE YOU DRAGGED YOUR LOCAL POWERPUKE OR DURACRAP OWNER BACKWARDS LATELY!!! LONG LIVE THE THUNDER TRUCKS!!!!!!
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#10
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This is about the same as my 96 2500 4x4. 3.54/5spd.
Quote:
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#11
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Diesel Fuel Economy
Thanks, folks for the enlightenment on fuel economy. After driving my '95 Chevy turbodiesel for 40k miles and finding that it would do no better than 17 mpg unloaded (3.73 gears, O.D. automatic), and weathering a catostrophic fuel injection failure over 200 miles from home, I sold the piece of junk. Friends of mine have had Cummins powered Dodge trucks with fuel economy figures all over the board, and strange problems with various Dodge quality control issues. For what it is worth, my '97 *powerpuke*, with 3.55 gears, 4x4 hardware, and O.D. automatic is probably broken in by now; with about 128,000 miles on it. It will do 21 or so mpg around town with easy driving. Combined fuel economy is usually around 24 mpg. Best overall highway mpg has been 28.2 mpg over a 600 mile journey. So, while the Cummins guys go racing by, I just smile and appreciate my Ford. Well, I'm not here to dog the Cummins powered trucks. They seem like fine vehicles, but everytime I went to talk to a salesman about buying one, I got the "price marked up due to limited availability" treatment. The truck may be a winner in a diesel drag race, but not in the competitive price race. Those salesmen need some training on how to win customers over, rather than alienating them.
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#12
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Have A 2000 quad 2500 long bed 3.54 5spd daly driving and around town about 40 miles a day 18 mpg before I added the banks power pack kit, it now gets 21 mpg daly (and its bad) on open highway pulling 24 ft inclosed trailer with 3600 lb car in it 16.8mpg best and 16 worst. I must be one of the lucky ones, I love it!!!!!!!!
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#13
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N - a little unclear to me.........21 mpg on the flat towing all of that? What is your best mpg empty?
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#14
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16.8mpg best towing and 21mpg daly driving about 40 miles aday, have not ben on open highway empty yet to see results ,
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#15
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Those are good numbers N. That a 2wd? You should be able to get middle to high 20's.
BTW - what are those MPG number diffs- 2wd vs 4 wd? |
#16
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IT IS A 4X4, I DONT NO THE DIFERENCE IN THE 2
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#17
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hay gm - I am getting my mileage at around 60 with the 1998 driving from MI to FL with some big TN and KY mountains. BE AWARE - that I have a faily large truck camper on it that weighs probably 3000 lbs (gross) and has that over-cab overhang that HAS to affect the aerodynamics a ton.
Coming back - in November - I did drive over 70 for a tank or two - the mileage took a REAL dump! Also drove into some real hi wind - you could almost watch the fuel gauge go down. Speed KILLS fuel mileage. Do you have a 4.10 or 3.54 gear? |
#18
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I have kept track of every ounce of fuel ran through mine since it was new and to date:
16898miles totaling 824.39 gallons cost me $1246.39 and overall MPG is 18.87 that is city/highway combined, unloaded most of the time (but a few trips loaded are in there) and my per tank mileage has swung between 17.2 to 20.1 and I dont rely on the trip computer to calc this. i do it all myself using the odometer readings at each fill up. and a little help from Microsoft Excel. |
#19
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My two cents worth...
Here's the trend that I've noticed with my truck. When I drove at 70-75 mph with an occasional run up to 80 mph, the mileage was right around 18-18.5 mpg. When I slowed down to a fairly steady 65-70 mph, the mileage came up to 20-20.5 mpg. I'm experimenting right now with the drive to work at 65-70 mph, and the drive home averaging about 50-55 mph, just to see what the mileage does. I'll post back here after I get a few tanks emptied, just to get a good feel for what it does.
For comparison, my Dad has a 92 250, 2wd, regular cab, 5 spd, 3.91 gears, and 180,000 miles, the only modification being that he replaced the muffler with a straight pipe. Where he lives, the speed limit is 55, and he usually doesn't let it creep past 60 (okay, once in a while it'll get a "little" higher ). Going down the highway, unloaded, at a fairly constant 55-60 mph, he claims to get a solid 24-25, occasionally it'll get close to 26 mpg. I know this isn't exactly apples to apples, his truck is the previous body and the axle gearing isn't exactly the same, the road speeds are different, and his engine has more miles, but it's useful just for another data point. Grease Monkey, I can't offer much advice since I'm very new to the whole turbo diesel thing myself, but I can tell you that my truck actually seems to get quieter at about 65 mph and higher than it is around town. I don't know if it's just a figment of my imagination or if there is a real reason for it, but it sounds like there must be something wrong with your engine. Hope this helps. |
#20
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Ok,, Now for the life of me I'll never get this figured out ,,If you bought the truck for strictly for fuel milage you should have bought a toyota,, A 7000 or 8500 lbs truck is certainly going to vary in milages due to habits terrain and fuels available,,Now with that said if your unhappy with Diamler thats one thing but most of us have all had beefs with them and or any of the brand-x models dealers and warranty people at some time,,We all can relate to your Problems GreaseMonkey,,Just seems like your at the point where you need to decide if fixing it with other methods is a way to go or it is time to say bye bye to it,,You still have to remember th 24 valve is a emmissions monster, thats the reason it was designed,,I hope that you get to where you are seeking to go with it ,but ,24 valves and big milage is questionable? LONG LIVE THE THUNDER TRUCKS!!!!!! P.S.=JB will not dispute your powerpuke milages as I figure you certainly have the #'s to back a lofty claim up like that,BUT,every Powerpuke I know around here in our diesel circles CAN NOT support you claim to 21 around town,,Seems a little lofty to me,or government figured up numbers!!!
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#21
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Well, Big Red, for one thing, everything having to do with fuel economy in diesels is related to keeping the rpm down, which means keeping the Big Toe out of the fuel injection pump. Also, in my experience, each diesel is different due to the intricate differences in their fuel injection pumps. Mine, for one, seems to be ultra lean. It may actually be (worn?) to the point where it is no longer within design specifications, but for this fellow who likes to have his cake and eat it too, I'm not complaining. This truck does it all for me. Relatively LOW COST (take that you price gouging Dodge dealers and shove it sideways), big hauling capacity for the farm chores, decent mass just in case one of the nuts on the highway wants to carry out another impulse/momentum experiment AND good fuel economy. Don't get me wrong- if I want to scoot in a hurry, my fuel needle will plummet with some of the thirstiest of them.
With all due respect, I might turn the guidance couseling session around and say that if you guys wanted to go drag racing, why don't you go buy a viper, or some kind of race car rather than any kind of truck, Come-along powered or not. I think it is incredible that some big 6000 lb trucks can do quite well fuel economy wise and NOT be rice burners. Also-as I am out in the sticks, my 'in-town' or 'round-town' figures are not exactly stoplight to stoplight. Maybe a better description would be 'combined mileage'. Except that when I 'combine' some freeway miles with driving in town, I get more like 24 mpg. Go figure. Also- you are quoting the.....Government?????... for...... figures? My gosh man- the government can't even quote your tax figures exactly. Just ask em! hahahaha This has been a lot of fun. Keep on railing against *powerpukes* I'll keep on laughing at Comealongs with 80.8% of the displacement that are lucky to get 80% of the fuel economy. Any one can pour fuel down the injector paths. Few can gently sip it and still get the job done! Now don't get all bent out of shape. I like the Dodge trucks too. If they can ever get the numerous quality problems dealt with (One friend of mine recently turned in his second one because the factory couldn't get the paint thickness right and it went out the door right past quality control, if they have such a thing) and bring the fuel economy up where it should be and the price down out of the stratosphere, and build more rather than jerk the customers around with 'price increased due to lack of availability', then I will probably buy one someday. But man- that is an awful lot of "Ifs". Keep on smilin'. |
#22
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Well, I thought I should sound off about this mileage matter. I had a Nissan 4 wheel drive, extended cab, 4 cylinder, completely stock. It got the same mileage in it as I am now getting with my full size Dodge 3/4 ton 4X4, club cab. On a recent trip back east, fully loaded, cap on the back, stuffed to the gills, dog in the carrier, couldn't put another thing in, I got 16 MPG. That was with 2 adults and two almost grown ups in the cab. That was with me driving, the wife is better on mileage than I am.
So as for mileage, 18 MPG is the best that I have ever gotten, and from what I am told, the more miles you rack up on the odometer, the better the mileage gets. There I feel better! |
#23
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Quote:
Btw truck last dynoed at 325hp to the rear wheels...... Soon to be over 400hp...... I have a 2001 2500 4x4 auto reg cab. If ya don't like the truck then sell it, I am sure someone will buy it. |
#24
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I just checked my mileage on my 200 000 mile '90 Cummins/3 spd auto/3.07 gear.
My truck just got 20 MPG combined on blended fuel. I love this truck. This truck was worth the $9000 I paid for this truck 2 years ago. Every penny. Works hard when I need it and smokes the one tire when provoked. I'll never buy a gasser truck ever again!!!!!!! Jason. |
#25
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Greasemonkey, I sure feel for you. Here you put a boatload of money into a pretty new truck, and now you are wondering what black hole all the fuel is disappearing into. You did it right, too: Manual OD trans and 3:54 gears. After my experience with the Chebby, I began to think that there really is something to having the engine loosened up. Even so, I had a neighbor with a fairly new PowerPoke (F350 5-spd manual, 4X4, 3:55 gears) who was daily getting over 21 mpg on the highway. That's 7.3 liters worth of oil-burner. It drove me nuts, even knowing that the Chevy had 3:73 gears. (it usually got 14-16 unless I went really easy on it,then it got 17) I took the new chevy back to dealership and raised the roof. They ran around in circles and rechipped the truck and still could not get it to do any better. Finally they insinuated that I drive like a speed freak (not true, most of the time) and then quoted the EPA as saying that it would not get any better than 17. That and a breakdown clinched it. Friends of mine eagerly anticipated the new version of the Comealong, passing on to me that higher fuel economy was anticipated. So- I don't think that you are alone in this expectation or in the rumors. Horsepower and torque equate to air plus fuel, and the better the ratio, the cleaner the burn. So why aren't you getting better economy out of a so-called 'cleaner' truck? Are the brake pads dragging?
Will any Mopar dealership take a look at your injector pump diagnostics and check your fuel injectors? It might help, but probably not as much as another hundred thousand miles will. I'm on the learning curve here, but generally those factors which increase the air mass and density tend to give more power for a given amount of fuel. Intercoolers, limitations on wastegate unloading setpoints, decreased restriction in the exhaust, etc. etc. How much boost is your turbocharger really giving? What happens when you drive in the highest gear that you can with the tachometer reading at or just above the rpm where peak torque first comes in? That is where peak fuel economy is found. For my PowerPoke, it occurs in overdrive at 62 mph. Boring? turn on your favorite CD (Ok- I was just ribbing you about being able to hear inside your cab) It is worth a couple tankfuls of steady all-highway driving to find out the best that your truck will do. Document it and show the figures to your dealership. If they are not helpful, then.....then..... heck, I don't know what to think of those Chrysler dealerships. Been screwed everytime I dealt with them. Good luck, buddy. There has to be another cummins out there that will behave a little better for you, and everyone I've talked to says it is the older ones (first body style that they came in). |
#26
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My Mopar Info Man! Listen to Big Block Aspen, Greasemonkey Whad I tellya? The early cummins trucks are the ones to look at! Now- how to get that manual five speed in with that low 3's axle ratio.....?
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#27
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well red - I was looking to put together an "RV" combo that I had hoped would get 20mpg. REMEMBER this is a tall slide-in camper that weighs almost 3k net. It has a small shower/flush toilet - 110 a/c, microwave and generator-hung off the hitch in a lockable vented box.
Didn't meet that number BUT I think that I can with that 90 stick 2wd. IF you are going to be putting some big times miles on the vehicle fuel mpg is important - when figuring in cost per mile. BTW - what is the shortest gear available for that Dana? |
#28
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According to my owner's manual....the lowest Numerical gear available is the 3.07....what I have in my truck.
Jason |
#29
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Well, I can see this hornets nest will keep going like the Energizer Bunny,,Having just returned from a local TDR rally and conversing with numerous 24 valve owners they all seem to concur that your numbers are all in their ballpark also,,Now, One can understand the disgruntled attitudes with Dodge and their nasty attituded dealers,but,again If your that unhappy with it its time to say ADIOS to your problem and see if the grass is greener at the brand x camps,,I myself know of PLENTY of people out my that would take(buy) these problem trucks and give them a happy home,,Ya know you ought to try getting to one of these TDR rallies and talk to some other owners ,I'm pretty certain you'd get some ideas to get your rides on the correct path that you seek,,As for the noise part of it LONG LIVE THE THUNDER TRUCKS!!!!!!!Tell you what though,I had the chance to drive a model 24 valve that was BOMBED to the hilt (over 400hp) and all I could say was WAHOOOO!!!!!Oh,JB, Yes I will keep Powerpuke killin ,got to so I can keep the locals on their toes!! GRAB A GEAR , STOMP AND STEER, HAVE YOU DRAGGED A POWERPUKE OR DURACRAP BACKWARDS TODAY!!!!!!
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#30
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Quote:
If you think a 12v will do better, sell your truck and buy a 94 to 98 12v truck. There are plenty of people looking for a good used Cummins Ram. |
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