The best gas mileage I've ever gotten out of a Dodge truck, or van was from the V6 mini van years ago (which was nearly always near 20 mpg), and my current truck.
Last year my truck went from home here to the west side of St Louis (365 miles each way) The truck got 17.3 mpg on both the trip down, and the trip back up, and 14.6 while there (2 days). The sheet metal is sitting on a 96 Dakota 4x4 chassis with an EFI 318, and the OD auto trans, and 3:55 gears. The mileage on the interstate through Iowa was on the Mopar factory cruise control set at 72 mph. The gas stop on both directions was made at nearly the same mileage, from the same gas station. The truck was filled up 2 blocks from home, and the return trip was filled up 2 miles from the hotel we stayed at. All the gas stops were at the very same gas stations, and the mileage was recorded by the trucks odometer. The cruise speed matched the GPS speed. No bs here.
Pictures of the truck, probably the day before it went on the trip to ST Louis. Its a 49 Dodge pickup on a 96 Dakota 4x4 frame (yes, the 4x4 functions). The frame was unaltered except for the shortening of the wheel base by about 8" and uses all the Dakota mounting brackets, drive train, fuel tank, wiring and computer. Gene
That is a nice looking truck Gene. I had a 92 Dakota ext cab long bed 5.2 518 3.55 gear that would knock down 20mpg on the interstate. Tonneau cover, electric fan, and taller tires helped up the mileage a bit.
