Draft behind semi's. I run my edge comp on the lowest setting and get about 1.5-2 miles better. If the truck never has been broken in properly, you wont see mpg gains for about another 10-15k miles. Diesels use special hardened chrome piston rings that take forever to break in. Only way to get them to seat in faster is to run her hard. (there are other ways, but they are very risky)

 

well i am using the truck as a commuter for now, and i dont have anything heavy to pull around. i hear you can also break in faster by driving it like you stole it. true or no? and i also seen that synthetic shouldent be introduced untill after the break in....well my oil change place told me dodge reccomends it so they put a semi blend in. if its just a game of patience i can handle that. i just dont want a MPG lemon truck!!! thanks for the reply jake!

 

Quit dusting the ricers at the stop lights, it will improve.

 

Dodge ram 1500 v8 5.2L 1997
5.5' Lift sittin on 35's
Gears STOCK :PPPP *thats where my gas gets owned"
auto
Stock gears
4x4 - its not a truck untill its a 4x4

 

Read up on the Drews Brew (FAQ at the top of the CTD forum) and give it a shot, most see 1~1.5 mpg improvement, others see up to 3 mpg . I would recommend staying away from any sythetics until 25~30k miles, then go full synthetic. The drive it like you stole it method is your best option right now if you have nothing to tow (like me). I use the grades heading into the mountains to beat on it as much as possible. on longer grades you should be able to get 20~30 psi of boost and hold it there, that will help. without a load to pull every once in a while, it'll take longer before the mileage settles down. I have read that some of the dualies are getting 17's & 18's on the hiway so keep that in mind (they tow alot).

I just came back from a 1500 mile trip and towed 1 way (750 miles) & averaged 14.6 mpg towing a light load (2k if even that). On the way back, I managed low 18's for 1 the 1st tank and havent filled up for the 2nd tank (probably will suck since I was doing 80~85 for a good 150 miles...)

Another option is a Rokktech timing sensor found here http://www.rokktech.com/_mgxroot/page_10437.html also good for 1~1.5 mpg...

 

well im just going to have to let the semi synthetic go for another 1000 miles then change it into somthing non synthetic. i assumed it had to be a game of patience but it just upsets me because one of the main reasons of me getting a diesel is the mpg being that i have nothing to pull. oh well.... ill look into drews mix and see what that does, i also heard good things about EnviroMax Plus, anyone hear of this?

todays fill up from empty hand calculated (all city) came out to 12.2 mpg[:@]

 

I just traded my 02 ram 1500 quad 4x2 5.9 gas pickup for a 2007 quad 4x2 5.9 CTD.. i pull an 8000lb 5th wheel and the gas engine just didnt have the ***** when the wind kicks up to 30mph (which is all the time in western kansas)..not to mention i was at the max-payload with the 1500...i drove 56 miles in town then pulled my 3000lb boat to the lake (160 miles).. went on a small road trip from there (not towing) and filled the tank at 1/4.. i had reset the comp so i had to figure by hand.. 15.4 avg mpg on its first tank.. i was very happy.. fighting wind all the way to the lake.. and all the way home.. i have no doubt i wouldnt have averaged over 11mpg with the 360.. i loved my old pushrod v8 .. but i'm 100% satisfied with my new cummins!

 

see, now after seeing people say things like that...its a brand new truck, mine is an 05 with 16-17k miles on it. it makes me think ill never get good mpg! you think that maybe the guy befor me used synthetic since day one and that made it not break it right. i know he used it to pull because i have the 5th wheel bolts in my bed

 

Bone stock 06 2500 4x4, auto. Best seen so far is barley 18mpg, and that is light on the throttle running 60-65 mph. Only 3000 miles on her, should it get any better as the time goes??

 

Trip Report....

Drove from Columbus, GA to St. Louis, MO on one tank of fuel. Managed to get 630 miles out of the tank, hand calc'd to 20.9 MPG. Could have been better but I ran into a NASTY head wind in KY. Had a tornado that was moving in and I was catching the brunt of it.

This was driving it at approx 2K RPM's, 70-72 MPH, cruise control on, T/H mode on and the Juice on Lvl 3......most of the time (unless an unlucky PSD or two pulled up). Only additive I had in was 24 oz of 2 stroke oil.

Then I went from St. Louis to Dayton, OH. Again, this was one tank of fuel, everything else the same. I managed to get 21.1 MPG on this run.

I'm gonna run back down to Columbus, GA tomorrow (630 miles). I'm gonna set the Juice on Level 1/1 and run everything else the same and see how it comes out.

EDIT:

Well...............the trip home proved to yield nothing usable. 1 - The road was mostly mountains. 2 - The traffic sucked. 3 - It poured a good portion of the way. And last, but certainly not least of the issues..........THERE WERE TOO MANY PSD's to screw with.

I spent more time on Lvl 4/5 than anything else, but I still managed to get 540 miles out of the tank.

But, here are some other numbers to rattle in your brain...........EGT's:

Running mostly on Lvl 3, EGT's were like this: 450 - 550 on slight declines, but still under power. 550 - 650 on level ground. And a max of 751, going up a 6% grade that was 4.5 miles in TN. This was at an average speed of 70-72 MPH. Now obviously, this was not throttling it, this was just strait travel w/ the cruise set.