I am looking for advice on ways to improve the fuel efficiency of my 2010 Ram 1500 Big Horn Quad Cab with a 5.7 Hemi. I started looking at K&N intake filters, retractable bed covers, and tuners such as Diablosport, Hypertech, and Superchips. I just purchaced my truck last week so I'm just starting to learn what is out there. I am a guy who likes to analyze the numbers, so I'd love to hear the results that any of you have seen with the mods on your trucks. I'm also not looking to spend a fortune. I just want the best bang for my buck. I appreciate any help that I may get.

 

Welcome to the site. I will move this thread to the fourth generation Ram section,
FF

 

In my opinion and experience, the amount of money you would spend on a cold air intake, programmer, and exhaust to gain an extra 1-1.5 mpg would not be very beneficial on saving money at the pump. They are great for performance, but not very cost effective when it comes to saving gas. You might as well keep the money you were planning to spend on these "gas savers" and just spend it on more gas.

 

I have to agree, it's easy to make more power with these engines, but better economy just isn't there, 6000 pound truck shaped like a brick.

 

How many miles do you drive per year?

 

+1...I have aftermarket intake and exhaust plus a programmer and I only gained 1.5 to 2 mpg hand calculated. Good for the performance side but didn't see much of a gain at the pump. Also I will flat out say what most here think....if you are worried about getting extra mpg's out of this thing then trade it for a car.

 

i dont mean to come off as a dick, but... its a truck, not a prius. I wasted all the money on intake, exhaust, tuner on my old truck, it only made everything worse. I removed the tuner before selling the truck, and my mpgs went from 8/9 city to 10.5. as the other guy said, the money you waste on all the mods will outweigh the gas savings. welcome to the world of trucks, we know our gas station tendants well!

 

The Bakflip helps a little bit. It wouldn't hurt going to a lighter wheel and tire combination. But the biggest difference you can make is driving style.

 

X10!

 

I plan on keeping my truck for a long time. I figured that for every 0.5 mpg improvement, I will save $550 after 100,000 miles if gas prices stay the same (around $2.90). So if I spend $350 for an intake, $350 for tuner, and $1000 for a bed cover, that's a total of $1700. So a gain of 1.5 mpg would pay for these mods by 100,000 miles, but I plan on going past that. I have read some forums where people are seeing 2 mpg gains just by installing any single one of these mods. These numbers make sense to me. I can save money plus I get to enjoy better performance.I also have the convenience of a bed cover. I'm just trying to decide which brands are better. Thanks for your advice.