Mileage on My Dodge 2500

[Brent]

I have a 2004 1/2 Dodge 2500 with the HO Cummins and the six speed stick. I'm only getting about 14 mpg on the highway. Don't do jack rabbit starts and put the cruse control on at 65mph. Anyone out there have one I can compare mileage to? Dealer says everything is fine but I've heard they are getting up to 19 mpg on the highway. My old 93 got about 20mpg highway and 17 around town.

[beaconlight]

Got a 2003 1500 full sized bed, small 6 with a stick and only 20 in flat country 55 mph and a tail wind. Problem as i see it is the 6000 lb exemption from emissions. My 79 C10 was rated 1000 load. The Dodge is rated 2485 net. Lot bigger heavier truck, the more iron you move thel ess the milage. The mgw is 6400 +

Bill

[beaconlight]

Years ago the 2500 would have been considered 3/4 ton not 1/2.

Bill

[rondellh]

Brent,
A buddy at work just bought a Dodge 2500 with the Cummins. I will ask him what he is getting.
Rondell

[Dale51]

One of my inlaws has a 2004 3500 dodge 4wd duely with cummins turbo 6 speed std & he's getting 14 mpg with only3000 miles on it.
It's not even begun to break in yet.

[Brent]

Thanks,

Mine has 5600 on it so it is no where near broken in. Maybe things will improve with age. I know I have! Good thing is it gets about 13 mpg pulling my 10,000 lb gooseneck horse trailer so there isn't much difference under load.

[rondellh]

Brent,
I talked with my buddy and he is getting around 18.5 mpg with his '05. He is traveling 45 miles each way at 75mph and this is winter miles too. He said he gets around 19 in the summer.
He also said his 2002 ot 16mpg and his 1999 got 20 mpg. The difference between the 3 trucks was gear ratio. His '99 had 3,55 gears. The '02 had 4.10 gears and the '05 has 3.73. So maybe you should look into which gears set yours came with.
Rondell

[Brent]

Rondell,

Mine has the 373 rear end that's why I thought I should be getting better mileage. Especially since it's two wheel drive and a stick. Thanks for the info.

[rondellh]

Brent,
That is strange. My buddy's truck is 4wd and 6 spd trans. I would say you should be getting much better than that with a 2wd.
Rondell

[JackF]

I work on Chevy’s and fuel mileage on the Diesel engines are a major complaint. GM has put a much larger and more powerful engine in their light duty trucks which would explain for the complaints.

My neighbor which is a construction contractor has a fleet of mostly Dodge’s and Ford’s. I caught up to him last night and asked how they were on fuel. He said the later model trucks use a lot more fuel, but they were more powerful. He also told me he just bought a new truck with a gas engine. The reason he said , it’s going to be mostly a run around truck for the foreman.

I have a friend that has the old style one ton five speed transmission Dodge truck with a Cummins in it. It has a 4.10 differential gear ratio and he always bragged about fuel mileage. I always laughed when he said 20 mph on the highway (empty). We went on a trip one time and he was pulling a 30 foot fifth wheel trailer unloaded and he was getting 16 mph.I never laughed at that Dodge again.

[Brent]

Jack,

My old 93 Dodge with the 5 speed stick and the Cummins did the same. About 20 on the road and never less than 15 pulling my 10,000 gooseneck trailer and I live in hilly country. That is why I was wondering about my new dodge. One advantage, it has a lot more power!

[Snakeoil]

Not a real comparison, but I have a 2001 Ram 1500 with a 360 and I get 12.5 MPG, doesn't make any difference if I'm going 10 or 100 MPH. But it does have the power when you want it.

[Buggyscott]

My 96 Dodge 2500 deisel got 20+ (one time I calucalted 23+, honest) on the highway running empty and about 17 on the interstate with a 20 ft gooseneck stock trailer. Traded her off for a 2004 F-3500 dually with a power stroke. Now get right at 18 on the interstate without trailer, 13-14 on the interstate with the same trailer.

[Dave in Md]

My nephew has a 2500 thats about 6-8 yrs old, Cummins turbo, 4wd, and auto. I just used it for hauling wood this weekend, 15-17 mpg on a good day. Got 14 trailering the Cub home.

[Brent]

As I mentioned in my first post I took my truck in to the dealer because of the poor milage and they said they couldn't find anything wrong and that all the factory settings were correct. I took it on a 200 mile round trip yesterday and I got 17.5 mpg. Kind of funny that after the dealer looked at it I got the best milage so far! They must have prayed to the milage gods or something.