I'm getting 275-290 miles a tank depending on the traffic.

 

I bought the truck 9 months ago with 52k on it. I have 69k on it now. The guy I bought it from only used it to tow his camper and boat but I don't think it's ever been tuned up. It has stock plugs and wires. I guess that would be the first place to start.

 

Here's a thread to tell you to avoid ethanol blends: https://dodgeforum.com/forum/3rd-gen...ems-again.html
A tune-up can't hurt. -- The 91tune on my Superchips yields another 1.5 mpg. -- CAI doesn't help, it does sound better though.

I might get flamed for this, but a warm air intake will help. The best method I've seen would be an aluminum dryer duct covering the exhaust manifold directly feeding your filter box. No, it will not yield the absolute HP, but do you really need that every day? Some sort of fuel heating device will also help. Again, not a high HP item... Check SVO or WVO websites for diesels... Gasoline doesn't auto-ignite until over 500*, so even your 195* coolant won't vaporize it, if you could get it that hot. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flash_point And your fuel system is pressurized to about 50psi... Part of the energy an engine uses is to heat the air/fuel mix, so if they are already warmer.......

Aerodynamics: 3rd gen RAMs have a horrible drag coefficient of 0.52. It's about 0.1 above the 2nd gen RAMs. The only 3rd gen RAM that slick is the RAM SRT10 (Cd=0.42). My truck gets 20% above EPA right now==>thanks to aero mods. I have a belly panel under 2/3 of the truck, have partially blocked off the front grill (maybe 33%), some side skirts, and have smooth (clear) wheel covers.

I also run Mobil1, an E-fan, and have installed panels to direct max airflow through the radiator (to partly compensate for the grill block). I also installed a Flowmaster Y-pipe inplace of the factory squashed Y-pipe. A bed cover will also help.

A bed-topper will not help, due to the weight and drag increase. The factory 42-pound 20in wheels don't help either. Driving without the tailgate doesn't help; it increases drag.

 

MPG is all RELATIVE!
Firt, I'd start with not idling your truck. I let my car idle for a good 20minutes every morning before hopping in and taking off. That along dwindles down my mpg numbers. It's a 25mpg solid car and I'm banking right about 17.5mpg because I let it warm up everytime I get into it.
I tried one week just starting and taking off within 2 minutes and my mpg's jumped up to 23mpg! That's a 5mpg loss just for idling it 1/2 each day(10min usually before leaving work)
I don't drive my truck often so i cannot comment on the specific numbers for cold starts, but it's gotta be worse for a truck when comparing warm-ups!
I could easliy see 10mpg if I let my truck idle before getting into it everyday or letting it idle for 10min while pumping, or idling while sitting in a McDonald's eating a burger...etc...

 

I feel your pain. My daily commute is 112 miles. The pump is back to stopping at $100.00 without filling the truck yet. I fill it twice a week.

 

Thank our government for the prices at the pump. Mild winters and oil basically not going up per barrel would have you think that gas prices would at least remain stable, but our leaders sold off most of the reserves we didn't need due to the mild winter to China to put about a 1/2 of 1% dent in all the debt our government owes them so we get to pay for it at the pumps...