I just got my 1997 dodge project done it has a stock 318 and its 4X4. What kind of milage should I be expecting and is there any tips on how to get better milage. Such as any cheap mods?

 

12-13 mpg and drive very slowly.

 

I get anywhere from 11.5-13. Depends on how you drive. Check the following things to improve MPG: Plenum gasket, o2 sensor, catalytic converter. I have the same exact truck as you so if you have anymore questions lemme know.

 

The answer doesnt change no matter how many times a day people ask this question or how to improve it....
I wish someone would just make a poll with truck specs and driver age and gas mileage.... so people could see what the averages are... most of the younger drivers get 8-11 mpg since more of them drive with lead foots ...light footed drivers can see up to 18mpg though its very rare and the moon and stars have to align just right for this to happen...


and of course cant forget all the blown plenums and half assed lifted trucks out there with the messed up gearing that dont help..

Get some fuzzy dice and nitrogen in the big heavy knobby tires and if your feeling really ambitious, buy some colorful plug wires and it will even everything out...

can you tell I'm tired of MPG threads... 12-14 mpg is on the good end for a stock 318 and driving slow under 65..

 

But a lot of new folks are going to come and ask since the price of fuel has gone so high and it looks like it's going to go a lot higher. I've been on this site for almost 5 years and 2/3 of my searches give answers completely unrelated to what I'm searching for. So I don't blame folks for asking the same questions. And IH, I am serious. There's really nothing more than granny driving that makes a big difference. I get phenomenal mileage compared to most Dodge owners and it is only because I seriously drive so slow, I'm worried someone's going to take a pot shot at me sometime. My last tank was a little over 19 mpg, but understand, that is NEVER driving over 55 mph and almost all open highway driving with no stoplights and I take 20-25 seconds to speed up to 45-50 mph, which is what I normally drive. These trucks are made for working and gas mileage was not a major concern when this 2nd gen was engineered. The only other thing is putting a higher gear ratio in your rear end, but the money spent would probably buy a couple years gas.

 

I understand what you are saying but on any given day there is almost always an active "MPG" thread on the main page....It doesnt take much searching for this one...Hell its hard to be a member here longer than a week and avoid coming across the topic... if their was a stickied thread on the subject it would be easier to point a member looking to the information rather than retype the same thing over and over every other day... especially something so cut and dry.

High gas prices means good deals on used rams

 

i strongly agree. i also agree with the earlier reply about having the poll with different age groups, driving habbits, an the mpg's. something like that stickied would make things much easier. it would be a good place to direct people who ask the same question over and over. they did it for the plenum, i figure they can do it for mpg's since it seems to be just as common.

 

Keep your truck for work and weekends and buy a honda civic and if you have a bissness write the fuel off on your taxes!

 

One thing I've done in the past months is to take off my air cleaner and clean my throttle body plates, I got this stuff from napa that was in an orange and yellow can. The can says its not for sale in California thats how you know its good stuff!! I was pulling 10 highway and I picked up 4 mpg highway. My Dad after doing this is pulling 18. I know you guys are all gonna rag on me for saying 18 but I'm totally honest. I'm not sure what gearing he has in the back though. That pickup has the best 5.9 gas mileage I've ever heard or seen!!

 

It seems like there should be some sort of reasonable (not extremely expensive, etc.)modification that could be done to pick up a couple or so MPG's, but apparently not. Or at least I haven't heard of one.

I don't really understand why people get upset when newer folks ask an old question. I mean it says MPG right there in the title...if you don't care to discuss that, why wouldn't you just skip that thread? I skip anything that says "cracked dash". Works for me. I mean, in reality, pretty much everything has probably already been discussed about these trucks at one point or another, since the newest ones were made 11 years ago, right?