How's it going Durango drivers?!
I'm new to the Forum. Been rumaging thru the archives for a bit now and decided to jump in. The info i've found has proved very useful. My wifes 06 is stock and averages 15 to 16 MPG in town and 18 to 20 HWY depending on if i'm driving or if she's using her NASCAR style. We're getting ready to drive Bertha to Montana and I would really like to get the best MPG as I possibly can. I have plans to replace the stock radiator fan with an ERF, probably going to replace the muffler as well. I haven't heard anyone talking about the Spintech, but I put one in my 05 Ram 1500 and it gave me immediate power gains and at least 1MPG. Gas prices these days that yields a $5 per tank savings. Doesn't sound like much but it adds up. I've heard good things about throttle body spacers and cold air intakes along with headers but I wanted to see if anyone out there have done any of these things to help out. Experience trumps Theory every time. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.

 

Do not get the throttle spacer as it is useless for fuel injected engines. Driving conservatively is the best way to achieve higher MPGs,
FF

 

Plus 2 on what FF has said!

How you drive your truck or SUV has everything to do with the MPG you will see.

That being said, these vehicles were built to haul stuff and get work done. Their weight, lack of aerodynamics, and powerful engines all add up to mediocre economy at best.

Don

 

Yeah, I get that. But that doesn't mean I'm not going to try to squeze every lil bit I can out of it. I'm just trying to get the best I can out of both worlds. You know, have my cake and eat it too. What's the use in having the cake if you don't get to eat it, right?

 

Electric fan will help, 1 or 2 MPG there maybe. Really low resistance highway tires will help. Programmer will help, maybe 1 or 2 MPG there, depending on how you drive. How many miles on your Dingo? Depending on the answer to that question, new pre-catalytic converter oxygen sensor may help, but judging by your stock numbers, that looks to be doing well (you are getting what you should be getting).

 

That's kind of what I thought JasonW. I don't expect to get 30 MPG by any means. That being said, every little bit counts. I've got just over 75K on Bertha. We're the only owners and I do all scheduled maintenance myself. I did have to replace a bolt on the passengers side exhaust manifold. Got that sputtering sound that drove me nuts for a while. I was pretty lazy on that one. Other than that the rig has been awesome. I just gotta get my wife on board with driving it with care. I think she's auditioning for NASCAR every time she drives it.

 

Speaking from experience on the "wife driving it like NASCAR" thing:
Watch what you put on for exhaust.
We put on a "DynoMax" muffler system on our old '04, and any mpg gains were quickly thown out the window because she liked the way the exhaust rumbled when she tromped on the gas.
Especially if she was running late for work

I miss that truck, and as much as I loved the sound of that rumble.. for my wife's driving habits: the quieter the better

 

I know what you mean kfcandtanq. I put a Spintech on my 05 Ram 1500 which gets a solid 15 MPG when I drive it, but when she does it drops by at least 1.5 to 2 MPG. I was like "What the Hell"! She finally admited that she gets a kick out of setting off car alarms when she drives by and gooses it while in garages and parking lots. I'm thinking about the Spintech for the D as well. I really like the sound with no "Droning" at all. Got a little over a mile per gal increase as well.

 

I just drove mine from Ohio to Florida and got 19.8 on the way home loaded for bear. Ave speed 70ish... To me a v8 getting 19-20 mpg isnt that bad, the around town numbers suck a little, we see about 14-16, but its my wifies DD so it could be her...but yes to CIA and exhaust, and no to TBS...

we have a 06 SLT 4.7(or 4.8 I dont remember what the D is) V8 with now 50k on it.

 

The best that I have ever gotten on the highway with my '04 5.7 4x4 is about 25mpg. I have only put a CAI and modified the exhaust. I did this coming across Colorado once from Salt Lake City, UT to Limon, CO. I took US highway 40 to Steamboat Springs, CO to CO 9 to I-70 and did 63 mph the whole way except when going through towns. I also took forever to get up to speed. I also used cruise control every chance I got and kept from having to slow down/speed up constantly as it was mostly two land highway the whole way. But getting 600 miles on a tank of gas felt awesome at the end.