Fuel Mileage

[rvfirefighter]

I would like to get an honest, unbiased, answer to "What is your fuel mileage" pulling or not pulling.
I have a F-350 7.3 Diesel, Dually with a performance tuner. I get 13 to 15 MPG not towing, 9 to 11 towing. I feel my unit is in the neighborhood of 13,000 lbs.
I would like to compare all makes and models. Thanks

[rak]

I have 2005 F350 6.0 L diesel dually and get 10 to 11 pulling, 14-15 city, and 16-17 highway. My old unit weights 10500 and the new one weights 14000. I have yet to pull the new one. I only have 8000 miles on the F350 so it is not broken in yet.
Dick

[padredw]

Here is a graphic file based on my complete log from a recent trip to Georgia:
The MACON and COLUMBUS legs must be combined to get correct MPG [see bottom line]. They were without RV. All others are towing. This is with a 2955RL


Roosevelt State Park, Mississippi; Columbus, GA; Macon, GA; Ore City=HOME

[jrgwdenner]

We have a 2004 Dodge Ram dually and get 11.5 - 12.5 pulling, 16 -17 without the Monty. Our unit weighed in at 21,800 loaded. The truck weighs 7000 pounds, leaving the trailer at about 14,000 pounds.

[WildBigBill]

I have a 2005 F-350 6L diesel dually FX4 off road: 9-10 towing, 12-14 city, 16-18 highway.

[WildBigBill]

David how did you get 28 MPG towing and 8MPG not towing? Think somthing wrong with your numbers?

[richfaa]

Well now.. these are the most realistic numbers I have ever seen,,Can it be that MOC'ers tell the truth about MPG when asked. Folks on other forums get much better MPG with identical equipment. How about some gas numbers, We have not yet pulled the 3400Rl with our F-350, CC, Lb, Dually, V-10.We did pull a @ 7500LB TT last summer with @ 1000 miles on the Truck and got a average of 10MPG.The Truck now has 4700 miles on it and gets 13 to 13.5 MPG NOT towing, cruse, speed limit. The MPG is getting better as Miles increase. I expect 8 to 10 MPG towing the new improved 3400RL.. How far off am I?????

[patodonn]

99 Dodge Cummings 2500. Edge chip(low level additional HP), 3.75 rear end. San Diego to Tucson last month, 11.5 mpg towing 14K. Strong quartering headwind from the SE and lots of grades. Over the past three years, I averaged 11.5-13 Eastbound, 10.5-12 Westbound . Strong headwinds seem to be more a negative factor than general terrain rise. Overall, seasonal high winds not considered, I'd say 12 Eastbound and 11 Westbound.

I just added a 5" exhaust system to the Dodge, and it makes a big difference, especially at high power demand situations.. Lets me get considerably more power without exceeding EGT limits on hill climbs, and cruises at about 50-80 lower EGT than it used to. Not sure yet of the impact on mileage, but I think it some fairly significant difference. I'm guessing .3 to .5 mpg. With the winds we encountered from San Diego to Tucson, I had figured not more than 11 mpg. Got 11.5. Good add-on, IMHO, for Mr. Dodge.

[ken]

Our millage seems to be coming up. We have a 2005 2500HD 4x4 crewcab GMC with 6000 miles on it now. With a 3475 Montana loaded we have been averageing 12-13 mpg when heading for florida this year. Without the Montana I have seen the mpg gage go as high as 22-23 mpg driving at 60 mph. We do have a edge chip and attitude gage that I leave set on 1 or 45 more hp. It was susposed to give me better millage. So far I am well pleased with the combination. Were also carrying more fuel with a truflo 45 gal tank. That hasn't changed the computer estimates any as it used the same fuel gage as the orriginal tank.

[padredw]

Thanks, Wild Bill, I have corrected that graphic above. The error was in trying to turn spreadsheet data into a graphic file to show up correctly. I tried it as text, but the columns would not align.

I don't remember why one of these was not a 'fill up' but my notes included that last line of combined MACON-COLUMBUS and that line was cut off in my earlier graphic. Let me know if these figures check out.

I will include the corrected (I hope) graphic again here:

[Chuck and Carol]

Chuck just told me we get 13.2 towing and 14.8 not towing. Of course not towing is when he has a lead foot.

Carol

[bigbob7777]

With my 3500 auto, dually, 21000 lbs total towing; I get 11.8-12.5 if speed kept at 63-65 MPH. If I push it to 70, it drops to 9.5 MPG. Without trailer; 18-22 at 65 MPH; 16 at 73-75 MPH.

It's so much easier to tow at 60-63 MPH. Don't normally have to pass anyone and with today's fuel prices, it sure saves money.

bob

[bigbob7777]

Sorry, it's a Dodge 3500.

[dieselguy]

I have a 2000 F-350 ext-cab dually powerstroke, 2980RL fiver, and pull about another #1500 of jetskis behind that. I get 10 - 11.5 towing and 19 - 20 empty. I do have the 6 speed manual tranny and run in stage 1 on my Superchip tuner.

[kwbosch]

quote:Originally posted by richfaa

Well now.. these are the most realistic numbers I have ever seen,,Can it be that MOC'ers tell the truth about MPG when asked. Folks on other forums get much better MPG with identical equipment.

Rich,

I think the inflated MPG #'s people post are read from the trucks computer. My computer says I get 23-24 mpg but if I use a calculator and divide the miles by gallons I get an average of 19-20 mpg. I carefully fill the tank until I see fuel at the bottom of the filler neck so I don't think my hand calculations are off by much.
My old truck, a gasser (Dodge 1500 4.7litre auto-trans) said I got 15-17mpg but my calculations showed 12-14.

Ken

[rvfirefighter]

Kwbosch, I think your right on, I have a good friend with a 2006 2500 Duramax Diesel. He is telling me about this awesome mpg but it all computer figured. I check my mileage between fill-ups. This gives you the real story.

[richfaa]

Well I do not know how these MPG computers work on the trucks but I also notice that the calculated MPG is a bit less than the computer generated MPG. I have assumed the following. The truck Computer calculates "wheels tunning" MPG only. Whereas you are using fuel as long as the motor is running.Idle in the driveway stop at stop signs, stop at traffic signals. Motor is running, fuel is being used. Stop at a traffic signal for 1 minute and you could have been a mile down the road at 60MPH When you calculate MPG by hand you look at miles DRIVEN by Gallons used but you have used fuel while NOT moving. The phrase is MILES per gallon You are not doing any MILES when not moving It should be MPGWM ( miles per gallon while moving)

Any how that's what I think. Anyone got a better idea?????

[Charlie]

Rich-
On the both vehicles I have, I can fill up, reset the computer, drive down the road for a mile, catch a stop light and while sitting there I can watch the MPG go down, so the computer is doing its calculation even at idle. On the other hand I have to agree that the computer calculates the mileage a little higher than a hand calculation. I figure mine the old fashioned way miles driven by gallons put into the tank.

However, I take mine one step further. Like David, I use a spread sheet to track not only MPG, but the total fuel cost, fuel cost/mile and all this set into the final formula that gives cost/mile driven and ALL EXPENSES are figured into this equation, oil changes, repairs, tire replacements, etc.....

As far as mileage on my truck, it has a 3.73 rear gear so it will do a little better than the 4.10's and 4.55's. For the life of this truck it has averaged 14.707 MPG.

While running solo the overall average is 17.960 with the best single tank at 21.903 and the worst at 15.118.

When towing the overall average is 12.335 with the best tank at 15.266 and the worst at 8.964. The overall towing average is somewhat inflated and does not reflect a true number for pulling a 5th wheel as part of this includes pulling my boat. My best guess the average for pulling the Montana would be somewhere between 11 & 12 MPG.

Some will say this is overkill, but I have the facts and know what my truck is doing. The truck now has 88000 miles on it and the mileage is starting to fall some, but I am still pleased with its performance. Presently and this includes original cost of the truck the overall operating expense is $0.581/mile driven and fuel cost is $0.1075/mile.

[richfaa]

On my 05 Ford truck I have never seen the MPG change while stopped that is whay I assumed that it was calculating wheels tunning time only..Anyone else notice anything?? The dumbest things catch my interest..

[padredw]

No computer on my truck, so I have to use the miles driver divided by gallons used. But I have the computer with both "instant" and "average" MPG readout on my automobile. I'm glad to have it and it does what I would expect it to do, but I don't believe it was ever intended to be a precise instrument.

One interesting observation: I can "drive to the computer" and make the "average" go up. There are two sides to that: 1] I expect it really does improve my MPG because I am 'trying' to do so, and 2] I don't think it improves the actual as much as it does the readout.

Just my not-so-scientific observations