What full size 4×4 pickup gets the best fuel economy?
I am specifically interested in diesels. I have heard dodges get the best mileage but have never seen any solid numbers.
I get anywhere between 16-18 on my 99 f-350
What full size 4×4 pickup gets the best fuel economy?
I am specifically interested in diesels. I have heard dodges get the best mileage but have never seen any solid numbers.
I get anywhere between 16-18 on my 99 f-350
Learn how to fight wood-boring beetles and prevent home infestations with expert advice from Richard D. Kramer, an authority in pest control.
"I have learned so much thanks to the searchable articles on the FHB website. I can confidently say that I expect to be a life-long subscriber." - M.K.
Get home building tips, offers, and expert advice in your inbox
Fine Homebuilding
Get home building tips, offers, and expert advice in your inbox
© 2024 Active Interest Media. All rights reserved.
Get home building tips, offers, and expert advice in your inbox
Become a member and get instant access to thousands of videos, how-tos, tool reviews, and design features.
Start Your Free TrialStart your subscription today and save up to 81%
SubscribeGet complete site access to expert advice, how-to videos, Code Check, and more, plus the print magazine.
Already a member? Log in
Replies
Mine gets around 13 mpg but it has a 410 rearend and has a ton of tools and almost always pulling a trailer.
After 5 years and diesel going from the cheapest to most expensive fuel. I will say it is not worth it unless you are towing heavy loads all the time.
Maintenance and oil changes and fuel filters are brutal on your expense side to keep operating.
ANDYSZ2
WHY DO I HAVE TO EXPLAIN TO FRIENDS AND FAMILY THAT BEING A SOLE PROPRIETOR IS A REAL JOB?
REMODELER/PUNCHOUT SPECIALIST
I paid $3.60 a gallon on Saturday for diesel, vs $2.90 for regular. Every time I fill up, I calculate how much better mileage I have to get to make it work. At this price, it is around 25%. I think I'm losing the battle.
I am specifically interested in diesels. I have heard dodges get the best mileage but have never seen any solid numbers.
Apples to apples they are all about the same. By about the same I mean within on or two MPGS.
I own a 6.0 Powerstroke with an Edge module and monitor, love it like a sumbitch. 4x4 and 3.73s will smoke the rears for as long as you can hold the pedal down. If I keep my foot out of it, I get 14-15 pulling a gooseneck dump trailer.
I have a friend with a 4x4 Duramax (that always sounded like a good name for a rubber,btw) that claims 20+ MPG but I think he's either lying or clueless about how to hand calculate mileage.
If you wanna hop a truck up, buy a Dodge. If you want a daily, around town driver, buy a Chevy. If you want a work truck buy a Ford.......just my .02
Naive but refreshing !
woody1777,
I have a '99 cummins 5-speed, and I average about 16.5 mpg. Not highway miles, and I have hi-flow injectors which makes it easy to blow more diesel out the tailpipe. When I'm pulling my 14' cargo trailer I get about 14.5-15 mpg.
A few months ago my truck was in the shop and I rented a Duramax with auto tranny. I 'bout died when I checked the mileage: 14. I had also heard the Duramax got better fuel economy.
I talked to a diesel tech right before the new cummins came out, and he said fuel mileage would decrease because of the new ULS diesel fuel, and the way the new engine was designed for environmental purposes(EGR, cat. convt.). But he said 20 mpg was possible. He also said the maintenance would be more expensive because you had to use a low sulfer engine oil. I haven't talked to anyone who has one, so I don't know what it is like in the real world.
Of all three, I don't think you could go wrong with any of them. The one thing a prospective buyer has to also take into account is the cost of maintenance...everything is expensive on a diesel(starter, clutch, injector pump, fuel pump...). And that's my .02
Mitch
don't buy any new trucks till the hydraulic hybrids are avail, amazing fuel economy ..
wane .... got any links or info on these hydraulic hybrids ?Mike Smith Rhode Island : Design / Build / Repair / Restore
sorry no, but google it, UPS has been running a truck for about 18 monthes ..
got it... looks like my next ford might be something like this ( right now we have an '03 and a an '06 )....
<<<<Hydraulic Hybrid - Ford Motor Co. and the U.S. EPA are working together to develop a unique hybrid, high-efficiency vehicle that uses hydraulic fluid to store and provide energy to power the car. The technology could be used to dramatically improve the fuel economy of sport utility vehicles and light trucks. The hybrid system uses hydraulic pumps and hydraulic storage tanks to store energy in the place of electric motors and batteries used in electric hybrid vehicles. This hydraulic power system could have cost and power advantages over electric hybrid systems, the developers believe>>>>Mike Smith Rhode Island : Design / Build / Repair / Restore
If you wanna hop a truck up, buy a Dodge. If you want a daily, around town driver, buy a Chevy. If you want a work truck buy a Ford.......just my .02I heard the something similar from a ford dealer I did some work for once.If you want comfort buy a ChevyIf you want a work truck buy a FordAnd if you don't care buy a Dodge
My Dodge 1 ton is eleven years old now. It still gets 16 mpg. It runs like it did when I first bought it. I did have to replace the ball joints at 100K for $3000, including a set of six tires and the paint is peeling off. It went through three sets of tires in the first 100K.
But... It is comfortable. I am the only who drives it. The seats are like new. I am amazed at how they hold up.
It pays me every month because I don't have a payment. The higher cost of diesel is not a big deal since I don't drive that much anymore. My plan is to take it to 500K if I live that long. The new ones are pretty, but mine can still handle the tough jobs.
Sas, Were I you, (and I'm betting you're glad I ain't...), I would take that hood off, sand it down, and paint it semigloss black.
When it rains, it snows.
I had considered it. Unfortunately, the top of the cab has the same problem. Some of the other formerly black areas are starting to show signs of peeling too.
My oldest Dodge RAM was white. It still looked like new when I sold it. I only bought this one because it was the only Dodge RAM I could find with a five-speed manual. My theory is that the black color absorbed more heat and fried the paint after about eight years of sun. Someone else told me that it was improperly primed.
Anyway, it would cost about $3K to paint the whole truck right, so it is not going to happen.
Tax has gone way down as it got older. I only carry liability insurance now. I no longer worry that someone might want to steal it. I like to park it next to new cars, because they are careful not to ding it.
The final reason I will not paint it is that I want people to see what crummy paint they put on these trucks. It is an advertisement about quality and hopefully an incentive. I am hoping someday the local Dodge dealer will offer to replace it with a new one just so I will get it off the road and stop hurting his business.
I think it implies just the opposite, that despite the crappy paint job I just keep on driving it because it is a great truck that just keeps going and going.....
ANDYSZ2 WHY DO I HAVE TO EXPLAIN TO FRIENDS AND FAMILY THAT BEING A SOLE PROPRIETOR IS A REAL JOB?
REMODELER/PUNCHOUT SPECIALIST
You are right about that. The only complaint I have is the paint. People who have seen my truck will think it is a good truck, but they may also ask the dealer about paint. That is the motivation part.
My '63 GMC dump gets 11mpg, 6700# empty weight.
Same mileage loaded or empty.
I replaced carb once with a Datsun carb and got 13 mpg, but it froze into a solid block of ice after 50 mi on the highway.
nctacoma,
The only point Diesels are less expensive to own is if you average over 65,000 miles per year towing heavy loads and keep the vehicle for more than a decade..
Since the reported maximum life of those diesels is around 500,000 miles if properly maintained and used in steady state (freeway) driving start and stop driving will decrease that life expectancy.
Exceptions.
If you have access to fuel for far less than national average costs.
If you buy a used vehicle which hasn't been abused and has been properly maintained.. Yet is sold at a deep discount..
Some of the imported medium duty diesels do get superior mileage but they are all cab over units and you might be uncomfortable with the ride and service should you tend to venture from home base much..
Have any of you guys looked at the kits that let you run your deisel on used veggie oil (french fry oil from restaurants)? The kit runs around $900 - $1000, you can install it yourself in a weekend if you have basic mech. aptitude. (extra fuel tank, heater, fuel lines, fuel filter, switches inside the cab)
You still need deisel for your 1st mile or two, to run until the veggie oil gets heated up enough, and you have to spend a minute 'purging' the veggie oil out of the fuel line every time you park the truck. You can get the oil for free from many restaurants, but you have to filter out the crumbs, etc.
It's a little hassle, to save $100 - $200 per week if you drive a lot. It probably works better in warmer climates than in the cold.
I am planning on installing one of these waste vegetable oil kits in my ford once the weather warms up and I can install it in my garage without freezing. People who are very mechanically inclined can make their own kits to fit most diesels for a very low price. I am going to take the east route and just buy a manufactured kit from a company called plantdrive.
nctacoma
MY friend simply filters the food particals out and runs his equipment on the result..
He's got a syphon that he sucks waste oil from the resturant or bar he gets it from
and when he's in the barn he reverses it and sucks it from his tank and up into his filter system.. (home made using two big semi oil filters and a solid bypass gate that drops the bigger waste food into a drum he feeds his hogs with)
The last filter is in line with the hose and is a real diesel fuel filter that also holds water etc.. out.
His hogs love the waste food even if it's burned etc.. He doesn't care what sort of mileage he gets (thinks maybe 10-20% less than buying it) because it's free and he has 800 gallons stored in the barn. He uses it for a standby generator if the clouds and lack of wind prevent the solar panels from recharging the batteries for the house etc..
He says that he spends one hour a night 5 days a week doing his collecting, filtering etc.. Some of the smaller bars/resturants also give him a sandwich or burger when he comes in addition to giving away the oil free.
So he runs his orchard, his house, (part time) and his contracting business on free used cooking oil. That's somewhere around 5 or 6 thousand dollars a year I guess.. $23 an hour tax free! Not bad!
All of his diesels smell to me like popcorn
Those WVO kits work, but they can have issues... rather, create issues in modern diesel engines with the fancy injection systems.
Anyone planning to run a WVO kit or homebrew biodiesel better do some research first... especially in high pressure common rail injection designs. Parts are expensive. Those kits will void the warranty on a new vehicle.
Older, lower pressure injection systems and pumps are much more forgiving to some (not all) of the WVO fuel inconsistencies.
My 91 dodge diesel got 17 or 18 but i found i was just taking short trips but it kept running and running, My boys 97 ford diesel gets 13 but he has a big lift, My 89 dodge 3184wd gets 12, My 86 chevy 350 gets 12, My 4cyl nissan pickup gets 28, Thats the best for gas milage but not much good for roofing. Plus my other son took it cause he goes back and forth to LA from OR, He gave me his ford explorer to use and i love it but it gets 15. I have to have a full 8foot bed.
Funny thing about how trucks are characterized. I'm still driving a Chev 4X4, 3/4 ton w/350. The Ford with extended cab that I thought would make life easier and trailer towing better (460cu) has been the worst engineered thing I have ever tried to work on--(I've dropped two engines in the Chev--more preventative than anything else).
Son just had to have a Dodge QuadCab to I loaned him the money and can't believe what I have had to do to that. Will say this. That Chev 350 (gas of course) goes nowhere fast but always goes and gets 10mpg loaded or empty. Had a Datsun 4X4 that got no more mpg and had half the cylinders so my eyes popped out when I read of 14, 16, 18, or 20mpg. Have 4:10 diffs. Shoot, my Jeep had 4:27's (way too high) so I went to 4:88's and an overdrive. Emissions is a big deal around Denver but that Chev has posted numbers better than a 1990. No cat, no computer, no pump or charcoal ####--just a Quadrajet. I wouldn't mind getting 20mpg though. Tyr
As they say, YMMV, but this is the most scientific comparison
http://www.fueleconomy.gov/
Don't know how much in a hurry you are but GMC is to be coming out with a Seirra Hybrid in early 09. http://www.gmc.com/sierra-hybrid/index.jsp?cmp=gmc_tile_sierrahybrid
40% more mpg in the city then a v6 08 serria. Don't know if this will have it but a few years back they put one out to fleet sales the cool thing was it had 110 outlets in the cab and bed.
Wllyo
Somebody told me one of the best rigs for MPG in a full size truck was a ford with a v6, Im trying to find out about this.
Bobby's
Don't you mean inline six ? Ford's long had a enviable record for their 300cu.in six b for durability, low maintinace, economy.. and cheap rebuilds/replacements..
If you look at most tugs hauling baggage around airports and most ground support equipment that is the engine of choice for them.. A lot of delievery trucks etc. used that engine
I know about the inline 6 but im sure they were talking about the V6, A few years ago i had a dodge van with the slant 6 got 17, 18 mpg in a full size van, Had to sell it as my daughter started driving and i did not want her driving a van, Well i remember i was a teenager once
I still don't understand why they did away with the slant 6.
the fellow with the dodge truck, you do know that they warrentee paint for 10 years.
Those inline 6's were absolutely fantastic engines. Haven't been made in years, and sucked gas like a v8. Mine had about 500,000 miles on it.
MarkH
Inline six cylinders are what powers all those over the road trucks that can get up to a million miles on an engine.
Inline six cylinder engines are inherately balanced and don't have the second order harmonic that V8's do.
Only thing smoother is V12's
As for mileage that was a marketing decision not anything to do with the design of an inline engine. It you note 6 cylinders always had deeper gears than their V8 counter parts so the engine was working faster which will use more fuel..
Edited 2/29/2008 9:21 am ET by frenchy
Love inlines...
got a high mileage Jeep
and a chevy (OLD boat)
and an old audi 5 cyl
all high mileage and tough as old nails.
But, they weren't made for high MPG.
Liberty = Freedom from unjust or undue governmental control.
American Heritage Dictionary
Hackinatit
Inline 6 cylinders are inheritly balanced they don't suffer from the second order harmonic that V8's do. (only thing better balanced is a V12)
The reason inline sixes tend not to get better mileage is due to marketing considerations not because it is inferior. Over the road semi's get really great mileage (condsidering the work they do) and those engines are often called million mile engines..
I've heard complaints of poor mileage from the newest generation of diesels which I think is partially due to the new particulate traps which capture the particulates and use diesel fuel to burn off the particulate matter. http://www.dieselforum.org/meet-clean-diesel/what-is-clean-diesel/new-technologies/particulate-traps/ It's new technology and it may be fine but I'm a little leery and would want to see how it plays out. That and the introduction of ultra low sulphur and biodiesel fuels wouldn't make me want to be a beta tester for this first generation of engines.
My '96 Dodge 2500 diesel w/4-wheel drive and a hydraulic dump bed (780 lbs) gives me a steady 17.8 mpg. Not complaining.