I was just wondering does the term ,gas mileage for a cummins ,sound correct or should it be fuel milage for a cummings. I'm not trying to be smart it just doesn't sound right.

 

Yes, but an even bigger difference is the torque. I pull a 2 car enclosed gooseneck trailer that weights 13-15k lbs when loaded. Before I bought my truck I borrowed a friends dodge ram V10, and man it had a hard time getting started. Once we were going, it was fine, but the torque is the biggest thing. I can get my trailer moving without touching the throttle.

But anyway, to answer your question, milage seems to deteriorate less with a diesel as it is loaded compared to a gas engine.

-Andrew

 

I've averaged right at 15 over 6000+ miles with my '05 2500 CTD 4x4 4.10s auto.

 

I saw an episode of trucks where stacey makes biodiesel. Anyone tried running it. The kit he used on the show costs like 3 grand at freedomfuelamerica.com and costs 70 cents per gallon. I have also seen other kits for 250 plus a used water heater. The only draw backs I found were gelling in the cold in which you just add regular diesel. If you are a diy type a guy it seems pretty easy.

 

in responce for Biodiesel. it does have its advantages. while it doesnt cost as much to refine, it is the initial purchace that is steep and that is what keeps quite a few diesel heads out of it.

now, there are some guys that do run Biodiesel. weither is be B5, B10, B20, B25, or B50. what that means is that if you see someone who says they are running B10, that means that 10% of the fuel they are running is Bio. I remember reading somewhere that the Cummins engine off the lot is certified to run on B25. The advantages of Biodiesel, it burns cleaner than pump diesel, it has better lubrication for the injector pump and injectors than pump, has a higher cetane rateing which equates to more power, and it also gives better fuel mileage since the higher cetane rateing. However, overall, Pump diesel is still cheaper than trying to moonshine your own Biodiesel.


something I have come across that anyone who drives a diesel should try is Power Service. this is what I am experiminting with. $5 will get you 32oz(Grey bottle at Wally world, White Bottle has anti-gelling properties). as little as 8oz into the tank will increase fuel mileage .5mpg. I'm currently running a mix of 16oz PS and 8oz of Marvels mystery oil and so far I'm getting about 2-3mpg better than without. that equates to ALOT even after just one tank. Ive even dumped in an 8oz bottle of two stoke oil into the tank just to see what would happen. injector rattle went down, engine noise also got a but quieter, but overall the mileage increase wasnt realy there.

when I get some time I'll do a writeup on this with a graph of my fuel consumption with and without addatives. but so far, adding in some power service to the tank of a Diesel does yield better fuel mileage

 

Well, without all the technicality that drew spit out. I am getting around 17.5-18mpg city and around 22 hwy. That however is after I hit 20000 miles. Before that I was averaging around 17000. I also drive the 2003 H.O. CTD. Not sure if that makes a difference compared to the 600lb torque monster that came out just after I bought mine. Oh Well, I don't guess I need all that much power anyway.

 

i average 20 highway 16 city. with the 5er on i get 11-14 depending on the wind or mountains. bullydog didn't really help with mileage actually brought it down some .5 or so.

 

How did you all measure to get these numbers? I'm looking to get a 2500 4x4 QC because I want a fullsize truck with the mileage of a V6 compact.

My current V6 T-bird and my brothers V6 Ranger get approximately the same mileage as you guys are getting.

 

My father has an 04 3500 4x4 CTD with a bullydog 100hp chip and intake with 48RE and 3.73 gears. He pulled a 28 RV trailer from Seattle WA to Sheridan WY and got 14mpg doing about 68-70mph. Total rig weight is about 20,000lbs. Empty he will see about 18mpg.

 

Mike, I have an excell spreadsheet that can calculate fuel mileage, maintenance, and even calculate the cost per mile with a bar graph for mileage.

if there are enough people interested I'll post it into a new thread. it is a nice little tool and with my experiments with fuel addatives I can see through the bar graph what is doing what.

I do use the overhead as a guage to my mileage, and I know that as long as I'm getting about 550 per tank I'm doing good