whats the best way to get MPG gains on a 04 5.7l hemi durango? im getting about 12.5 - 13 in town.
any suggestions?

 

Ck your air pressure, air filter and use cruise control when you can.

 

If you're getting 13 mpg in the city you're doing "great". Basically you're driving a gas hog and it is what it is. If you're able to increase your mileage by .5 by turning off the motor at stop lights, driving like a grandpa or whatever it won't mean much in the long run compared to the inconvenience imho. I've got a 04 Hemi D Limited and know all about fuel expenses as I pull trailers 6 month out of the year and am stuck using this vehicle as a daily driver all year long and average over 20k miles a year.

Here's a guaranteed way that I "decreased" my fuel expenses by 5% no matter what or how I drive. I've got a BPcredit card that gives me a 5% cash rebate when I fuel up at one of their stations. I've had this for several years and it's great. It also gives me a 1% rebate on all other purchases

 

Speaking of tire pressure mine came with the 18" wheels and I checked it when I got home off the dealer lot and the pressure for all 4 tires was 40 psi. The sticker in the door jam say 33 psi front and rear. What do you think? I dropped it down to 37 psi for now.

 

Tire pressure brings up a good point.Has anyone tried the nitrogen in there tires?

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tirete...e.jsp?techid=1- tire pressure


http://www.sptimes.com/2005/09/28/Ta...our_tire.shtml - nitrogen in tires

MrN

 

I've only used nitrogen for 22 years now. I've got an 06 with 17's. There is a chart you can make, it shows I need 36#'s in the front and 39#'s in the rear. My door reads 33 psi I just keep them at 39#'s all 4. You can use a calculator if you don't want to make a chart. Just take your max tire pressure @ whatever weight your tire is rated. (Mine is 44psi @ 2205#'s.)If you divide the weight by the psi (mine is 50.11 lbs per psi) then take your front gwr and divide it by 2 (mine is 3600 front so that is 1800 lbs per tire divided by50.11 lbs shows 35.92psi) and do the same with the rear gwr (mine is 3900 divided by 2. it was 38.91 psi so i keep them all at 39#s and I've done the caulk test andI rotate my tires every 5000 miles and I get a lot of miles out of my tires, I get 14.8 to 15.8 mpg around town. I also did my exhaust too though 3" cat backwith a materflow 70. Also, cut the air box and put a K&N filter in.)

 

Sell now! Buy a servo assisted something! j/k

MrN

 

Don't drive it


Seriously though. Our Durango's are gas hogs plain and simple. As others have said, keep an eye on your tire pressures, install a cold air intake, and keep it maintained. Fuel consumption is the trade off for driving this thing. It's a big heavy brick.

 

a very long read originally written for Ram trucks
but dozens of 'real' MPG improvers are covered
that will also help Durangos:

https://dodgeforum.com/m_447500/tm.htm

 

Only real thing that helps IMO is to keep the rpm's below 2000.

My truck is heavily modified, the way it drives now I get +15 mpg's in a city highway mix.
Part of that I credit to the SCT tuning I have, mileage went up instantly!

Before all that I usually got 12-13 mpg's if I was lucky.