Ok as I am new here I am not intending to call anyone a liar. I realy am in search of your success. I recently bought a 2006 CTD 2500. I purchased a 9000 (loaded) travel trailer this year and was pulling it behind my 95 F150 351, and well it was not working well. I looked around at Diesels and decided on the dodge. It seemed to be a good fit all around, size, power and such. I came to the site here before I bought to do some research and look around along with others, I even asked some guys in the camp grounds with alot heavier campers than mine about there MPG and advice. Everyone was boasting numbers like 18-21, and 15-16 towing. I am no where near that I hurried to put on my first 500 so I could camp one more time here in Iowa before it got to cold and tow with my new truck. It tows great so glad i bought it, but I am still looking for the big MPG figures. I get 14 around town and 9 towing. This is a big improvement over the ford 351 at 9 around town and 5 towing. So what am I doing wrong? 1307 miles on the meter now.

 

Diesel motors get better mpg as they get broken in..... also, are you flooring it all the time? I would suggest riding at a steady speed rather then running and gunning if that is in fact what you are doing with it.

The longer you have the engine, the more the mileage will improve......Diesels can last a long time and do get better as they get older if they are properly maintained. Replacing the stock air filter with a K/N and maybe some minor chip reprogamming are something to also consider.

I would also suggest you read this thread as well as it has some good tips

https://dodgeforum.com/m_297997/tm.htm

 

I have been pretty consistent with the throttle. I have been driving real easy trying to take care of it. I have never been much of a spped racer in any of my vehicles. I would say I am more on the grandma side than others. Thanks for then post and I will check it out.

 

Have you tried complaining to the dealer you bought it from?? Mine (both) didn't get really good milage till i had 5k on it all pulling a 12k trailer--K&N is a good bet also removing the muffler --leave in the resonator tho-only 68 desibils louder and cheaper than a new exhaust to but the replacement pipe at Geno's--wait till off warrenty tho ok??--Hang in there it'll pick up unless something is wrong from the factory--last trip with my trailer (24k miles) i got 16 all the way to Baja--Glenn

 

I am getting an average of 19.3 consistantly. I have about 6000 miles on my '05 . For the longest time I was averaging about 17. Most of my trips so far are intown and less than 20 miles. Going on a trip the 11 th , can't wait to see the mileage on the road as opposed to intown driving.

 

I can tell you that i'm in new jersey and i just purchased a new 2005 2500 quad long bed with 4 speed auto tranny and 4.10 gears and i clocked my 1st full tank full and i got exactly 15.3 mpg without towing anything. that number came off of the over head console.

so me being a non believer i also ran the numbers with a calculator the tank size is 37 gallons and i tried to go as long as i braved before i filled up again and the total trip odometer was 538 miles. so if i take into account maybe i could have gone another 20-30 miles without having to call someone from the side of the road and maybe on the first fillup there could have been a few more ounces squeezed into the tank i could safely say that 14.5 to 15.5 mpg is fairly accurate for my truck.

i was also told that after the truck breaks in i should see that number go up by as much as 2 to 4 mpg? i don't know that i believe that but i also won't know for while. we'll see at that point.



hope this helps,

mark

 

My 2005 Quad Cab with automatic, 3.73's and just over 4000 miles on the odometer averages in the high 16's around town. Trips vary, depending on the load. My worst was 13.1 MPG loaded with about 7500 lbs of pickup camper, trailer and Jeep driving between 60 and 65 MPH on rolling hills. My best was 21.1 unloaded driving around 60 MPH on fairly flat highway.

I run a 4:1 mixture of Power Service Diesel Kleen and Marvel's Mystery Oil at all times. That seems to boost mileage about 10-12%.

 

I have an 05 and the mileage is best at 60 mph, cruise control, constant driving(long trips) I can get 19-20. My overhead computer is right about 10% of the time. Also calculating at the pump has been difficult. On my 05 after the pump shuts off, I wanted to top off(full to the point I could see liquid) It took a long time because of all the foaming the fuel does, but I can consistantly get in 5 additional gallons after the pump shuts off. Seems to be the same at several different pumps. Now on my brothers 01, at the same pump, his barely foams up, he can get in 1.5 gallons after shut off. I`m thinking a different design in the fill tube or something. The most miles I have put on a tank is 622 miles. It does get better with more miles. I have 9,000 miles, and I understand that 20,000 is suppose to be better.

 

Thanks all looks like I need to wait it out a little. I sure would like to get around the 20 range like some are.

 

I have 5500 on my CTD 2500. It's getting 19-20 on hwy. running 75-80 & 11.5 pulling my camper (6.5K lbs) and running 70-75. It has improved since I first bought it. I love this truck.