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Old 08-02-2009, 01:45 PM   #1
kcjolley
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new dodge

we are thimking of buying a new dodge diesel and would like to know actual fuel mileage. can't believe most sales people.
 
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Old 08-02-2009, 02:04 PM   #2
Delaine and Lindy
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The Cummins is awesome, and will out last the of the Truck. As for fuel mileage, it will be all over the board. There is so many variable's in drivers and conditions. I have always got less mileage than other for some reason? But remember your buying a HD Truck and its designed to do the heavy lifting and it will. I will also say now is the best time to buy cars and Trucks. Good Luck with your decision and all the Dodge Guys and Gals will give you a lot of good information. Good Luck. GBY....
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Old 08-02-2009, 03:38 PM   #3
Countryfolks
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We get about 10-11 towing and 15-18 not towing. We got about 1-2 miles better with our last Dodge with a 3.73 rearend and 2 wheel drive. These are hand calc numbers. Both 1 ton DRWs with the 5.9 motor.
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Old 08-02-2009, 04:19 PM   #4
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Same here with us we get 10.5 to 11.5 mpg towing and with a good tail wind add 1 mpg. I realy cant say that is my best yet because it is only a baby with 7 k on it. I know it will get better as it ages as my Ford did the same. the most I received not towing and driving 62 mph I got 17.6 mpg. I have a 3500 quad cab and have 410 gears and DRW, which drags the milage down compaired to the single rear wheel.
Here is some reading material that was sent to me the other day you might enjoy the read.

http://list.priceweber.com/cummins/td/mpg_shootout.html
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Old 08-02-2009, 06:11 PM   #5
kilch123
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my truck gets 17 to 18 unloaded, and 12 with the camper at 65 mph at 75 mph, make that 10 to 10.5

mods to my truck are in my sig
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Old 08-03-2009, 04:03 AM   #6
kcjolley
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i didn't post that we have an 03 dodge dually 4x4 with 4.10 gears.we get about 19mpg empty and 11 towing.i just wanted the 6 speed trans and a little more power.thanks kj
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Old 08-03-2009, 04:31 AM   #7
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I have a 3500 diesel and after 20,000 miles it did improve. You will get better milage with two wheel drive rather then 4x4 and single rr wheels rather then dually. The more junk you keep off it the lighter it will be and that helps Trailer life has a good article in their yearly rating book.
The biggest factor is keeping the speed down
bob
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Old 08-03-2009, 05:07 AM   #8
Debbie Asher
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We have a 2005 dodge 2500 2WD and average about 13 to 14 towing we use an additive when we fill. WE are towing a 2006 Montana 2950RK weight is about 12,000.
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Old 08-03-2009, 09:11 AM   #9
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We get,
10.5 towing, 12.1 in town, and 16 to 26 on the road. Note if you don't like the mileage wait for a big hill to go down and hit the recalc button(see 26 on the road above). The 6.7L is a monster of a engine but be prepaired to see ECL's and your local dealer on a regular basis. Steve
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Old 08-03-2009, 10:21 AM   #10
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2009 Dodge 3500 w/6.7L Cummins. 10.5 towing and 14 mpg not towing. I had a 2006 2500 Dodge and was getting 12-14 towing, and 18 not towing. I miss the mileage but I like my new DRW. Much better in the weight department. I hope like my other Dodge that the new pick-up will improve in mileage after it gets broke in a little. Be safe! John Daniels
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Old 08-04-2009, 07:52 AM   #11
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I'm in love with our Cummins. It is amazing. Towing very steep and long hills it will downshift and run rpm up to around 2900 for a couple of seconds, then drop down to around 2100 or 2200 depending on speed, then tow on up the hill.

As for mileage, I don't think our 6.7L Cummins (2007) gets as good mpg as the 5.9 did when towing. We get anywhere from 10 to 12 with 10.5 to 11.0 being most common. Solo town driving we get 14 to 17 with 15 to 16 being most common. At highway speeds, say 65 to 70, we get anywhere from 18 to 22, again depending on conditions. Above 70 mileage drops off but I've not run far enough at those speeds to give you a number I'm comfortable reporting.

When our Dodge was new I tracked mileage manually for several tanks and then compared my results to the computer's mpg figure. The computer mpg was higher by 1/10 mpg. So now I just use the computer mpg.

Good luck. The Dodge is an outstanding towing machine in my opinion.
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Old 08-04-2009, 09:08 AM   #12
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From most of the replys I would say that the average is 11-12 towing and a high of 13 to 17 mpg solo for most of the post, some with the earlier engin did better on MPG but they dont have the smog the new cummins models have.
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Old 08-04-2009, 02:10 PM   #13
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Don, you should be getting better highway solo mileage than that. I never get as low as 17 at highway speeds unless maybe I'm running 75 or 80. Yours is new, though, so maybe it just doesn't have enough miles to be broken in yet.
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Old 08-05-2009, 05:23 AM   #14
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I got the 08 6.7l Cumming and I can usually get 11.5 to 12 mpg while towing and about 22 without the trailer. It's got 16k on it so far so I'm thinking it can only go up since it's no where near broken in yet. We do climb allot of mountains up here though. I can't wait to get to an Interstate.
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Old 08-07-2009, 04:02 PM   #15
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I have a 2006 ram 2500 w/5.9 srw/automatic w/ 3.73 gears. I also have a 2009 2500 w/ 6.7 equiped the same. The 5.9 gets 12/13 and 20 plus with no 5er. The 6.7 is another story. I get 9/10 towing and lucky to get 18/19 without the trailer. Emissions is a big factor in performance and the axel ratio makes a difference. The 4.10's will get less mpg. I have friends with Ford/International/Navistar whatever and General Motors/Isuzu who don't get any better mpg. Each company has good products. It is just preference and sometines the deal you can get.
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Old 08-08-2009, 09:08 AM   #16
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We just got thru studying all three trucks and learned that the newer models (that burn only ULSD) get slightly lower mileage than the older trucks. Also, you mileage should increase when the truck is "broken in" which is around 30k for the D/Max. You did not mention the size of your prospective truck. Assuming it's for a Montana, FWIW, I ran the numbers, and it takes a dual rear wheel truck to handle the pin weight on almost all the Montanas.
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Old 08-08-2009, 12:15 PM   #17
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We have a 2006 Dodge 3500 SWB with 65K miles, and the Cummins 5.9 (before the smog stuff). We also had the same experience as Steve, we tested the math vs. the computer and the computer gave us about 1/10th of a mile advantage. We now only use the computer.

The fuel mileage and power have both improved with time. The other day, we got 19.6 after about 10 gallons of fuel consumptiton without towing. While towing, the averages change quite a bit because of all the variables, like wind, hills, weight, heat...etc. We have had as high as 14.7 mpg and as low as 10.9 mpg while towing.
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Old 08-10-2009, 10:25 AM   #18
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Good point about the axle ratio making a difference. I should qualify my numbers by noting we have the 3.73 axle and the six speed automatic with two overdrive gears.

Best towing mileage I ever got was on I-40 in Arizona when we got 14.2. That's mostly flat road and I think we had a small drop in overall elevation on the day. Slightly downhill, in other words!
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Old 08-13-2009, 04:34 PM   #19
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We have a 6.7, 2007.5, 2500 2 wheel drive. Just got home from week on Oregon coast and going to Grants pass area with our 3295rk. Average towing ran about 10.5-11.6 mpg. Not towing ran 19 mpg on trip up to Crater Lake. This is a awesome motor with lots of power. When you hit 4th gear you can feel the toque of the 6.7. I have 33,000 miles on it at this time. And to top it off I pulled into my parking spot at home tonight and wife is telling me the trailer tire is flat. Looking at it looks like loosing air will have to look into tomorrow.

Larry in Olympia
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Old 08-17-2009, 12:28 PM   #20
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I have a 03 5.9 in a 2500HD, auto, long bed, 2x2. Pulling a 07 3650. on our 2 month trip from Texas to Glacier NP, Yellowstone, Tetons, Rocky Mountain NP., we averaged 13.8. I love my Dodge CTD.
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