Diesel pickup mileage

[timswi]

I will give you all something to laugh at I have a 1993
F250, 4wd, 5 speed, 411 gears, 7.3 non turbo diesel. I can get a whopping 14mpg tops and that with less than 200 HP. Lots of torque but not a lot of HP. It gets the job done and I have towed a dump trailer with 6 tons of rock. It gets the job done but your not going to impress anybody with neck snapping take offs. The good thing is its like working on a farm tractor and the parts are more reasonable. Good thing it has dual tanks at 14MPG though.

Dex, I had a 1989 GMC Suburban non turbo 6.2 Diesel. That would get around 21-23 on the highway. Never checked it around town, but it held a ton of fuel.

I loved that thing, bought it off of my Mom's boss who bought it new. It was loaded to the gills at the time.

I could pull stumps out with it, but it certainly didn't run like the diesels of today.

I bought it for my wife when she was expecting. It turned out to be a bit too big for her, so she kept driving the 76 GMC 4x4 that we had at the time, so I drove it every day 70 miles round trip to work. Kinda silly when I think about it now.

One night a guy pulled into my driveway and begged me to sell it to him (he had six kids at the time and more on the way, better indoor hobby maybe?:confused2. I sold it to him...Man do I regret that.

 

[Diamondpilot]

My uncle has a old 1993? 3/4 ton Suburban and it will get 21mpg with its 6.5 Turbo Diesel. Its not a tow monster like the newer stuff but he pulls a 10,000# boat all over the country with it. Thing only has 80,000 miles or so. All in all its been a good truck but the AC has been out since about 1997 just after the warranty went out and he has had to have the injector pump replace 3 times now with the last job done just this spring. I have often wondered if the injector pumps have issues more on his because he drives it so little? They were know for pump failures but his is the worst.

Chris

 

[bdeboer]

'08 Chevy 2500HD Diesel, around 18-20 hand calculated on freeway trips. Depending on hills, speed, and outdoor temperature. Gets around 12 pulling our camper.

I checked onboard mileage which has never been "reset" and it shows 14.8 which seems to about right.

FWIW it has been a good truck. I did look at Ford with the 6.4, and wasn't impressed with all the plumbing under the hood. Noone around here stocked the V10. I actually decided on a Dodge diesel MegaCab but couldn't find one on my terms in Ohio.

 

[TWD]

2005 - F250 - 6.0 - 35" AT Tires - 100% Stock

11.5-13mpg around town (which means minimum 1hr 1 way to town). No towing.
Town --> My house 200ft Elevation to 3500ft with a couple dips in between.

Towing on hills or flat I get around 11-12, little more if I keep the RPMs under 2100.

I`m wondering if 11.5-13 "around my type of town" is bad, or if that's normal mountain driving MPG.

The best I've gotten was 16-17 on a trip from Northern CA to Southern CA. Coming back though I was going fast, and only get about 13.

 

[VitaBene]

I don't have a lie ometer on my old f250 and sometimes wonder how people come up with their mileage #s (are you hand calculating??).

I get 16.2-16.5 MPG hand calculated every fillup with a 60/40 highway/around town mix. I drive like a normal person. I use my GPS miles traveled because the tire size skews the miles by approx 4% or so.

Towing my 32' Enclosed aluminum v nose trailer on the highway loaded at 10K total weight I get 12 MPG. Average trip distance 1200 miles.

1999 F250 SD 7.3 6 speed with Michelin AT2 285/75-16 tires.

 

[Diamondpilot]

I don't have a lie ometer on my old f250 and sometimes wonder how people come up with their mileage #s (are you hand calculating??).

I get 16.2-16.5 MPG hand calculated every fillup with a 60/40 highway/around town mix. I drive like a normal person. I use my GPS miles traveled because the tire size skews the miles by approx 4% or so.

Towing my 32' Enclosed aluminum v nose trailer on the highway loaded at 10K total weight I get 12 MPG. Average trip distance 1200 miles.

1999 F250 SD 7.3 6 speed with Michelin AT2 285/75-16 tires.

I have the gauge in both my 04 and 06 Powerstrokes and they are accurate within 1/2 mpg, close enough for me, every fill up when compared to hand calculated numbers. I also log every drop of fuel for business purposes and average right in the 17mpg range like I stated before doing the same type of driving. So were are in the same ball park with you getting 16.5 mpg. Pure highway between my home and the in-laws I can get in the 23 mpg range. Its about 130 miles each way with only 2 stop lights from door to door and 1 stop sign.

Pulling my normal load of about 15,000# I get right at 13 mpg average. I have seen as low as 8 with bigger loads and in the 15 mpg range on the highway pulling a 7,000# load.

Again, my trucks are equipped with chips, intakes/filters, and 4" exhaust.

Chris

 

[thatguy]

I have a 2002 Dodge 2500 Cummins Quad, 4x4 and just running around (mix of local and limited highway) I get between 17 and 18 (sometimes as low as 15 or 16 though).. On a long trip I can push 20 maybe

My dad has a '97 Dodge 3500 Cummins Quad Dually - I borrowed it to pull a small popup camper (< 1,000 lbs) and we got 23 mpg on the highway.. It will get around 18 to 20 with mixed local/highway driving..

It seems that the newer the vehicles (at least Cummins) the lower the MPG..

I worked for a truck rental company and we had a fleet of International 4900's (22/24' flatbed/box trucks) with the DT466 - the late 80/early 90 models would average 12 to 14 mpgs.. The late 90's models would barely break 10mpg.. So its definately not only a cummins thing on the new models getting lower mpg

Brian

 

[newbury]

I will give you all something to laugh at I have a 1993
F250, 4wd, 5 speed, 411 gears, 7.3 non turbo diesel. I can get a whopping 14mpg tops and that with less than 200 HP. Lots of torque but not a lot of HP. It gets the job done and I have towed a dump trailer with 6 tons of rock. It gets the job done but your not going to impress anybody with neck snapping take offs. The good thing is its like working on a farm tractor and the parts are more reasonable. Good thing it has dual tanks at 14MPG though.

'88 E350 7.3 maxivan, customized, was 16mpg, but rarely drive it more than 1,000 miles per year any more. Need to change the fuel.