Hi,

I just got my first truck and it is a 1998 Dodge Ram 1500 with the 5.2 L. After the first couple of weeks of driving I have noticed that I am getting really bad gas mileage. Right now I am around 8-9 mpg. I would be more content with it around 12-14, but anything would help. I am not trying to spend tons of money on fixes, but I guess I am gonna do what I have to. I am driving at least 5-10 miles a day. Any help would be appreciated, truck specs are as follows:
- 1998 Dodge ram 1500 Club cab
- 4" Pro Comp lift kit
- 35" Mud Terrain tires *
- 5.2 L
- Flow master exhaust (my mechanic said they should help the mpg though)
- Dana Posi 3.90 rear end
*the tires probably have about a year of tread left and they really don't help the mpg at all. I was planning on going to either 33" or 31" all terrain tires once these wear down, but I am not sure by how much these would better the mileage.*

I went with the 5.2 L for better mileage, but haven't seen it yet.

Any help would be appreciated, Thanks.

 

Welcome to DF. Moving you to the correct section.

For future reference:
https://dodgeforum.com/forum/dodge-r...ead-first.html

 

Welcome to Df and bad mpg

If that is city mpg and for what you have going on with your truck ie lift, big tires you are right where it is to be expected for mpg.

Give it a full tune up, fix the plenum and get used to it.

 

^^ yeah that.

 

As opposed to what? Let me remind you that you're driving a 6000lb lifted brick that's not optimally geared. If gas mileage is your game you need to ditch it ASAP and buy a civic. If you want to play you gotta pay

 

With the lift and large tires, you're getting slightly less than what I'm getting with stock height, bigger tires. I get around 12-13MPG in town and haven't gotten around to calculating highway. Get a car that you drive during the week and use the truck on weekends

 

Lifted on 35s driving 5-10 miles a day in the winter?

Sounds about right.

 

Yeah, when I said I went with the 5.2 L I meant that vs. the 5.9 L. I plan on going to 31" or 33" A/T tires (versus really knobby mud tires) once these wear down. But by how much do you think it would better the MPG. If it would do me some good I may consider getting them now and running two sets of tires (the smaller road tires for daily driving and the 35" on weekends).

Yeah, with the smaller engine I figured I'd get at least 10, but I talked to my buddy whose got the same truck but without the lift and he also gets around 9. I may as well have gotten the stronger engine since I'm still getting poor mileage.

I've hear of some guys getting cold air intake systems, but I'd think that with more air, you would burn more fuel. So i would be kind of leery to buy one and not have it help me at all.

 

Smaller tires with those gears will help. If I were to go with 35's I'd be putting 4.56's. 3.90's aren't bad, but not good for 35's, 31-33'2 will help.

For the CAI, IMO<--- Opinion: I don't see the point in them without other modifications to the engine. The intake is sufficient enough and dropping a few hundred $$ for a few tubes and a new airfilter can easily be spent elsewhere, like gas

 

Yeah, Thanks. I Think I'm just going to downgrade tire size rather than redoing any of the engine/drivetrain components (going with the 4.56).
Thanks for the help.