I have the Edge chip, 5" Exhaust, cool air intake and K&N Air filter. Only getting 8-10 MPH with Dodge 3500 Dually, towing a 12K trailer.

Oh boy, this should be good:



Which one of you '89 to 2009 Braggers will be the first to tell us you get 15mpg while towing?

I'm all ears Boys, We got:

the chip,

the dopey exhaust,

and the pointless cold-air kit covered:

so what now?


What do you expect towing 6 tons and pushing 6 tires down the road?

All I will say is I have a 2007 2500 4wd QC with the 6.7 all stock with no mods whatsoever. I tow my 28ft trailer with car, tools, generator, 4 wheeler and all other kinds of items and I get anywhere from 10.5 to 12.5 mpg depending on speed. Over 70 is the worst and if I stay around 60/65 I get the best.


I'm quite content with these numbers and not spending any $$$$ to try and save a couple MPG. The ROI will never materialize if I did add anything.

Lots of variables when towing. Height and aerodynamics of truck/trailer, wind direction, speed, gear ratios, elevation changes, etc. My 24v has had 17mpg pulling 11,000lbs of stupidduty on a car hauler, but has had 8mpg pulling a 10,000lb holiday trailer into the wind. The farther down the throttle, the worse it's going to get.

Whats the mileage on the truck? Injector history? My 2wd 06 dually, has never gotten less than 17 mpg, even loaded and towing. No chips, just a magnaflow catback and BD transmission/converter.

I would be getting rid of that filter and replace it with one that actually filters.

How fast do you drive? If you are towing at 80 MPH Utah speed limit you're getting about what I would expect. You might tweak a little more out of it, maybe a 12ish +/-.

I have a 99 4x4 and 75 MPH = 18ish +/- MPG depending on the wind, no towing.

Have you done a valve adjustment? Another thing to check is the charge air cooler for leaks.

98 was the beginning of EPA reduced Nox standards and any diesel built after Oct '03 had to meet increased EPA NoX emission standards. Most used EGR but I don't think the 5.9 did that until later. They used a software solution.

I'd be looking into a tuner that can actually change the fuel and timing curves.

http://www.dieselpowerproducts.com/p-8618-mads-smarty-udc-software-03-07-59l-dodge-cummins.aspx

There are others I'm sure.

Kevin

I have owned half a dozen Cummins trucks and found no matter what version engine, trans, or rear gear anything over 2K RPM the mileage drops quickly! I have towed from 53' enclosed to 16' open and everything in between. I have used different filters, different injectors, and almost every box on the market, not much difference with mileage. One test I did was with my 04 quad cab 3500 single wheel 4x4 driving 50 miles at a time from 55, 65, and 75 MPH and at 55 I got 24.2 MPG, 65 19.2, and 75 16.4 mpg. That was a 305 555 Cummins. The best mileage was with my 92 12 valve followed by my 99 24 valve then the 04 above. The best mileage I ever got with my 07 6.7 6-speed was 19.8 MPG.

Not quite 15...
All stock '06 2500 4x4 QC sb automatic. 130k miles.
Tow a 9k or so '04 5th wheel camper. 13 mpg at 70-75 mph (hand-calculated). Slightly under 70 is 1900 rpms which I am told is the sweet spot for best mileage with a CTD.



Tim

I have towed at 70 for a couple hundred miles and didn't much of a difference. Honestly, I traveled with a lot of people that claimed 15-18 MPG, just not when I was riding with them. Most got better than me though. A buddy of mine in an 06 5th wheel got 12 MPG going up and down mountains. It was heavier than my aluminum trailer by 2500 lbs. I guess popular consensus is the new ones are worse. I just heard about some tuning gurus that could improve mileage by 20% and thought I would ask.

The 10-12 times a year I tow my 5th wheel just didn't justify the expense of a box (at least to me) to try and increase my mileage when towing. Maybe if I did a lot of OTR like Rhino or others I would try.
I regularly get 18 in town, have honestly hit almost 24 (empty) on the highway IF I stay at 1900 rpms and does what I need it to in stock form so I'm good with that.
Good luck in your quest.



Tim

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You bet, just me with my 2000 and 2001 Cummins and 618 guys above all got the worst trucks Dodge/Cummins ever put out.




I'd be on the lookout for Men in Black out trying to get your truck, Tim.

Not sure what to tell ya, Griz' ol' buddy. I wish I had kept a fuel log over the years to back it up. I've checked it I don't-know-how-many times just out of idle curiosity. Right after I got it, the wife and I went to Tennessee. Knew it would do better than my '03 2500 4x2 w/ V10 so stopped and topped it off when I pulled off the interstate- 23.8 (backed-up on several other trips). Checked it once on a trip to Charleston, SC from Atlanta. SIL, daughter, wife, and I plus our luggage. SIL driving (LEO) and truck constantly between 80-85. Netted 18.5 at those speeds. Drove it to Toyota school in Jax, FL from Stone Mtn., GA as we didn't have any rental cars that week. Service Manager asked why I wasn't going to drive my 4Runner. When I told him it would do better than my 4 banger '00 4Runner plus be a lot more comfortable, he laughed. I laughed when I got back and gave him the fuel receipts. Almost 21 average of highway and city (including running back roads from Macon to Jax). Best the ol 'runner would do was 18.9 on the road.
I remember reading a post not too long after I got it over at dieselbombers (IIRC) about getting the best mileage that related to driving style. I drive very easy in town and use the cruise on the highway. If I can find it after all these years, I'll post a link to the thread.




Tim

Can't find the thread I'm thinking of but here's a similar one started in '13-

http://forums.4wdmechanix.com/topic/89-driving-your-dodge-ram-cummins-for-fuel-efficiency/

I've bookmarked this one so I can read it all the way through but it seems to hit on the same basic thing- driving style. And mileage figures are very close to mine.



Tim

I would say on an average of 618 trucks that it supports his MPG claim.

An average of 15ish requires as many over as under. He claims 18ish regularly with occasional forays into the low 20's. If you totaled all the fuel into all the miles I suspect his lifetime average is in the 16-17 range.

Hardly out of range.

Kevin

Last February I installed a Hamilton 178/208 cam in my 05. I was looking for less smoke, and better mpg's. I live at 6000' and go over a mountain pass every day. When the conditions were right it would smoke like crazy until the trans would down shift and the turbo would spool back up (smarty level 3 and 60hp injectors)
Mileage wise, on trips from Reno to Elko I would average 15 to 16 mpg (not adjusted to 285 tires). After the cam swap I now get 17.5 mpg on the same trip. I took a trip to the cost and got 18 on the way back up from sea level.
The truck is more fun to drive with no turbo lag. The transmission seems to shift better as well. Smoke is down. The condition that I mentioned before now produces no smoke. When you mash the pedal smoke is the same as before the swap.