Ram diesel truck? need info..

[Lee Pritchard]

I'm taking a trip from FL to Ca in AUG .. My sst ram 360 gets only 9 miles to the gallon towing my Roadrunner ..
I'm looking at getting 3/4 ton Ram with a diesel.. anyone know what kind of MPG they get? What year should i look for?
I have people saying the get over 20 MPG towing with the diesel ,Is this true ?
Any info would be helpfull ....Thanks Lee...

[BillyBob]

I move this thread here as it might get the diesel owners responses.

Thanks,
BB

[fox]

A diesel should give you 50% better mileage if all things are equal.
If you can find a 94 to early 98 Dodge with a 5 speed it can be tuned to do that trip and get 20 mpg!!
I am assuming it is with a tow bar or a open car trailer. Enclosed trailers have more wind load.
I have a 02 4X4 auto truck , it will get 22 empty highway. It pulled an enclosed trailer from south Florida to Illinois this past summer and showed 14.25 Mpg. The trailer was not weighed but we suspected it to be at 8,000 to 9,000 lbs. I maintained 70-75 mph.

[Lee Pritchard]

Thanks Fox .. thats good info... here is the bad part the dealers won't tell me what MPG there trucks get! they say by law they don't have to give up MPG on trucks ...Sucky dealers.. Thanks again Lee...

[SFriend]

It's been a while since I have visited this site. I am glad I got the reminder.

I get about 15/16 around town and that is stop and go and some freeway, with about 20 in the highway on my 2001. Now, I am running a 2500 4x4 so my mileage may be less than someone with a 4x2. I also travel at 70-75 on the hiway, and I know if I slowed down, my mileage would increase.

Towing my Jeep and trailer gets me about the same as the around town mileage. Maybe in to the 14 range on a particularly long hill climb trip, like to Moab from So. Cal.

Hope this helps. There is no question that the diesel will get better than a large V8.

[nomolos1]

You can get good mpgs with a 3.55 rear end. I have a 4.10 in my 2500 CTD. Auto. I get about 14 to 16 mpg. I've been told if I go to a taller tire like a 315,because the tourc is already there, I would gain on miledge because my RPMs wouldn't be as high for typical 70 to 80 mph speeds. My advice would be, ask Big Red Machine.

[J-BODY]

I tow my 24 ft enclosed car trailer with an 01 4x4 CTD 2500 3.55 gear. I usually get around 11 mpg towing, but the two tracks I frequent have some rather challenging terrain to travel on to get there. My old truck would get 9-10, but I would have to creep up most hills in second gear at 25 mph. With the diesel the hills aren't too much of an issue though there are a couple that slow me down to 45-50 mph. On the whole the diesel is a much more pleasurable truck to drive. Empty our old truck would get 10-11 mph traveling empty at 75 mph, the diesel gets 18-19 cruising at 75-80 and if I keep the rpm around 1900 it will get 19-20.

[WFish]

My 99 24 valve diesel gets better mileage in town than on the interstate. It has 3.55 and averages 20-22 in town and 19-20 on the highway. The lowest it ever got was 14 in the mountains with a Lance 1130 cabover camper.

[Lilitchpin]

I have a 97 2500 Diesel with 4.10 rear end that I've about a year & 7000 miles and use about 60% towing and hauling stuff for our horses and about 40% other - so I'm still a newbie..

My reason for getting a 97 were the 12v diesel engine, 4x4, needing an extended cab and an 85 chevy that wasn't any of those. In 98 they changed to a 24v diesel and for the 98 & 99 years heard about various troubles with the 24v that I wanted to avoid. Although I like the 98-01 body better. (if you fin a 98 with 12v jump on it). Newer then that price was more then I could justify.

I get about 18 mpg with Leer cap on, about 19 with it off and about 16 towing Gooseneck horse trailer.

With the diesels makes big difference in how fast you drive - when I've hit 20 mpg it has been highway under 60 OR just after oil change (diesels also like clean oil), over 60 when RPMs are over 2k drops a bit. Still you can expect better mpg then gas!

[gerard]

i just got a 2500 04 2 wheel drive short bed 4-door with 325 hp engine auto trans yesterday . it had 11 miles on it and i drove it 50 miles home about 70 miles an hour .it got 22 mpg.and tons of power. very impressed with this new engine. tired of feeding the last 3 ram gas motors that average 14 mpg.

[techno_farmer]

Hey Gerad,

Which axle ratio are you running? the 4.10 or 3.73?

Brent