I have a bone stock 94 Dodge Ram 6 cyl automatic with full size box. Truck is low mileage with no power options except PS and PB. Looking on the Web I found published estimates that originally these trucks should average 15 mpg highway. Can anyone confirm that this should be typical. I do not drive this truck often and do not have a lot of Highway experience with it as to mileage. Thanks

 

I will tell you up front I do not know for sure. I would guess you could get that much, likely more if you want to do a few things to it to improve mpg.

 

That's a joke, you have a heavy azz truck that's under powered with a v6, an auto tranny, and 3:55 gears. Not to mention the v6 has the same exact plenum probs as a v8. THe v6 gets the same or worse mpg than a v8 does.

 

Sorry, but I am not sure what you are referring to as to ' plenum probs as a v8'.

 

my 6-cyl gets about 15-16mpg

 

plenum is the big bubble of an intake manifold. the gasket for them tends to leak and cause problems...

 

The V8 engines are known for having leaking plenum intakes. Not all have the issue, but plenty - trust me. As for your mileage, I have a 2001 regular cab long bed V6 with 52k miles. I get about 23-25 MPG on the highway, but no better than 15 in town. Keep in mind I have stock size tires & keep everything in great shape maintenance wise. The rule of thumb here is, Take the same size truck but put a V6 in 1 & a V8 in another, and the V6 has to work harder to do the same job, so it ends up getting no or very little more MPG than a V8 powered rig. I thought I would save gas this way, but I was wrong. I rarely haul stuff, so I do alright, but in retrospect I should have saved a little more & got the V8 instead. Top Gear UK did a segment a few years ago with a BMW M series with a racey V6 & a stock toilota prius. The beemer only had to stay caught up with it but never pass it on the track, and the prius had to run flat out as best it could. At the end, the prius shows to get about 11-12 MPG when ran flat out, but the beemer with a larger engine got WAY better mileage. Not to mention the battery pack on the prius is THOUSANDS of dollars & they don't last forever at all. It all boils down to how good of condition do you keep it & how often can you keep from stomping the gas pedal down ie driving conservatively.

 

Thanks for the replies