My 2006 Power Wagon quad cab gets dismal mileage with 9.5 mpg city, 10.5 mpg highway. From the beginning it had a distinctive right drift that the Dodge dealership was unable to correct. That dealership and others told me a "right drift" is normal. Depsite driving light footed and practicing mileage saving tips, I get awful mileage. Is this normal fmpg's for Power Wagons? Is a "right drift" normal? Any suggestions to increase mileage, such as headers, cat-back systems, intake changes, computer chip modifications, etc. Please help! Thanks.

 

My milage is a little better than that but I have absolutely no drifting problem. The PW has 4:56 gears giving it tons of torque, but it kills the MPG.

 

thats only a little better than my mpg in my two wheel drive 4.7. but i drive it hard. hopefully within a year ill be driving a power wagon and if not a power wagon then at least a 4x4.

 

It is a massive truck. Don't expect good mpg. Why would you buy a power wagon and even think about your mpg?

Don't believe the sticker either. Consumer Reports did a story last year saying sticker mpg was way off. Some by 20% when compared to real world driving.

 

3/4 ton - not rated on sticker[&:]

As far as mileage, you do sound a little low, but not a lot. I went to synthetic 4500 miles ago and mine went from 11.7mpg to 13mpg (empty) overall average, along with more break-in time, and I don't baby it at all.

Somebody, sorry I forget who, said with a CAI, superchips programmer set at 87 octane and using 87 octane, and a Banks cat back exhaust was able to improve mileage 2.1 mpg on a PW. I am considering these changes as well, for mpg improvements. Good luck, and if you make changes, please post to let us know how it did/didn't help.

 

I'd definitely recommend a CAI, along with the exhaust system. I saw very little improvement on fuel mileage after my exhaust, although I had already installed my electric fan that brought my numbers up by 2 mpg by itself. A programmer would also help you if you don't drive the truck any harder than you do now. Thats the problem with most of us. We do all these mods to get better economy, then end up driving harder cause we like the feel of more power, and more sound. Just my $.02

 

Thanks for bringing up the fan again. I would have to guess that this is the cheapest way to get mpg improvements. You said before you bought a kit from summit. Did it include everything, including belt?

 

I have a 06 2500 Slt reg cab 4x4 with a 6sp. 5.7 I can get 12 to 14 mpg city and up to 17 mpg highway ( overhead trip coumputer )

 

my 03 quad cab used to drfit to the right! i dont know how many times i took it back to have the aline ment done before they said that i needed a camber caster kit since dodge was so smart to NOT put them on these trucks. fixed it though an steering response is WAYYYY better. stays a lot flatter when hitting the turns and just feels more stable altogether. ask them to check the camber because on mine it was not adjustable from the factory! parts and labor was $260 and some change.

your gears sound like they are killing your mpg. i have the 3.92 in the rear on my hemi and get like 10-12 city and 13-14 highway if i try. oh and that big *** hunk of metal called 4 wheel drive....yea weighs another 800 pounds if not more. my jeep that has 4x4 gets 15 city and my girls (same model,year,engine) gets 20. just a little compare and contrast

 

My 06 Power Wagon's mpg was 1-2 mpg better than your numbers when it was new. Changing my tires to 35x12.50 gave me another 1 mpg.
I get 11.5 - 13.5 now. These numbers are calculated manually as the truck's computer usually (but not always) shows lower numbers.

I tried using 87 octane...it didn't seem to run as well and mileage dropped 1 mpg. I always use 89 octane now.

I have to believe that most guys that add all of the popular aftermarket goodies for the sake of saving $$ at the pump are either lying to themselves, or maybe this is how they justify spending money on performance to their wives!

The cost of a new air intake, exhaust, and programmer, will buy a whole lot of gas! If you keep the same truck for many years, the mods may pay for themselves?
I have crunched the numbers for my truck and how I use it, and I personally can't use fuel economy as an honest excuse to spend more money on it.

Will I purchase some performance enhancements for my Power Wagon?...Hell yeah!
Will I use improved fuel economy as an excuse?...Not a chance!