3/4 ton mpg empty?

[motownbrowne]

1990 F250 I6 Gasser, 2wd, 5speed, 4.10 rear end. I've gotten 20.5 empty going 55, but usually about 16.

Once you load up and drive a 3/4, half tons seem like toys.

I drive my Honda civic everywhere I can if I'm not hauling. 35mpg.

 

[motownbrowne]

1990 F250 I6 Gasser, 2wd, 5speed, 4.10 rear end. I've gotten 20.5 empty going 55, but usually about 16.

Once you load up and drive a 3/4, half tons seem like toys.

I drive my Honda civic everywhere I can if I'm not hauling. 35mpg.

 

[KiotiKowboy]

I've got 2 trucks, a 1/2 ton F150 and my new 3/4 Silverado. My "other" car is a Toyota Prius :shocked:

I am happy to report it has averaged 49.5 mpg. It may be a little b_tt ugly - but it is a super reliable car of exceptional quality.

 

[varmint]

Good to see another tractor owner also has a Prius. My wife has a Plug In Prius, and she gets about 120 mpg average- when her commute is most of her driving, which is about 17 miles/day. We took a 1400 mile road trip, averaged 53 mpg. And yes, there was a fair amount of 70-80 mph interstate travel. Love it.

 

[Diamondpilot]

So now the ecoboost 1/2 ton tows better than a 1 ton dually diesel and gets better mileage than many cars. That must be some truck. I've noticed that my truck is extremely sensitive to speed. Anything over 75 and the mileage drops considerably. Wyoming recently changed some of its' speed limits to 80 and the mileage went down to about 12 going that fast. Nearly doubles the mileage going only 60.

First off I never said it was a Dually. I had one and never again. Look at the power ratings of both motors. In its day the 7.3 was ok but today it doesn't hold a candle. Put 10,000# behind a Ecoboost and a 7.3 and the a Ecoboost will smoke it every day and twice on Sunday.

I've owned both along with 25 other vehicles in my life, 27 total, of which about 20 were 1/2 ton, 3/4 ton, and 1 ton trucks from Ford, GM, Dodge, Nissan, and Toyota and this Ecoboost is the real deal.

Chris

 

[Diamondpilot]

Thanks for all the input! I'm torn on all the new 1/2 tow capacity claims. My max trailer weight is 10-12k#s. BUT, what concerns me most is the safety factor with all the weight. I've towed ~9k with my 1/2 ton and it's downright scary how much I'm pushed around even with a weight distributing hitch... Talk about tail wagging the dog... Compare that to my BILs mega cab CTD where it's solid as a rock pulling.

What year is your current 1/2 ton. If it's older than a 2011 throw out everything you think you know and start over.

Just looking under my Ecoboost at the important stuff like brakes and U joints it's a whole new ball game.

I pull 10,500# with mine and it's comfortable. Doing a 800 mile trip in 2 weekends and I will leave my diesel parked for the heavy stuff, 12,000# plus.

Chris

 

[Complete Turf Care]

I use fuel cards in all of my trucks, and here are some of my numbers for the 30 days ending August 18, 2014.

1997 F350 with 7.3L PSD on 3 tanks of fuel
10.9 mpg
9.7
9.8
For an average cost of about 36.53 cents per mile for fuel

2010 F250 5.4 L gas on 4 tanks of fuel
9.7
9.9
10.5
12.4
for an average of about 31.2 cents per mile for fuel

2012 Dodge 2500 4x4 with 6.7L Cummins
from 9.7 mpg to 16.1 mpg on 8 tanks of fuel for an average cost of about 29.47 cents per mile for fuel

 

[Jimbrown]

I don't know about GMC and Rams but on a Ford the key is keep the boost under 30 ( I try to keep 20) as much as possible and keep the rpm under 2000. If you do that it will get 17 to 19 empty and 11 to 16 pulling.

 

[ZAR2USA]

2013 F350 6.7 Diesel 4WD CrewCab Longbed Dually 3.73 Diff Gears (Loaded toolbox at all times)
80mph 12mpg
67mph 15mpg (sweet spot)
City 12-14mpg

Pulling empty trailer 3500 #
67mph 12mpg
Pulling loaded trailer 14000 #
67 mph 8-9mpg

Plowing the gravel road to the farm
5-10mph 3mpg

 

[PoorMansCat]

Only thing I would reccomend is that you do your due diligence. No matter what manufacturer you choose, find the manufacturers official towing guide and spec out your truck based on your towning needs and that chart. Salesmen will tell you ANYTHING to make a sale and they are much more interested in selling one off the lot than ordering you one. This is a big factor in guys complaining about mileage and poor towing capabilities. They simply bought the wrong truck.
Figure out what your maximum towing weight will be and compare it to different configurations of trucks..
http://www.ramtrucks.com/assets/towing_guide/pdf/2014_RAM.3500.Towing.Specs.pdf
a good example of the differences in seemingly same trucks on the lot is mine...
If you look up a 2014 CC 4x4 Laramie DRW with diesel and Aisin(DF2) there is 8500 lbs difference in GCWR. On the lot the trucks will look identical other than the gear ratio. Get one under geared and you will be disappointed in its towing capability, too much gear and you will feel it on all your unloaded miles commuting..

 

[schmism]

5.4V8 gas E350

12-15 hwy unloaded
8-12 loaded towing (this ranges widely depending on speed, at ~60 ill get 12 or better if im not pushing wind, @70mph its 10 or below depending on wind.
12 around town (to much foot to keep up with traffic on merges etc)

my curb weight is 6310 lbs per scales the other day.

 

[ultrarunner]

My old 1985 Truck gets 10 mpg no matter how I drive...

At one time I thought about upgrading and then see all the problems my neighbor has had with his Ford and GMC Diesel Trucks and glad I still have my old dependable and soon to be 30 year old 3/4 ton.

Neighbor makes a living towing a 12k trailer up and down California and so far likes his 2 year old gas 3/4 ton suburban... time will tell.

As to mileage, he and his wife work together and they own two vehicles... the truck for work which they put a lot of miles on and a Miata that they drive when not working and they really like both and their average corporate fuel economy balances out between the Miata and Suburban...

 

[RedNeckRacin]

I have a 2012 Dodge Ram crew cab short bed 2500 with a 5.7 and 3.73 gears with a 6 speed 4x4 IIRC and I usually get 13-15 driving empty in the hills of PA and that is hand calc'd not the lie-o-meter in the dash. Has stayed pretty consistent over 114,xxx miles. I do run one size over stock tires 265/70/17 vs 245/70/17

I had a 2005 dodge ram quad cab 3500 srw 5.9 CTD with a 6 speed g-56 4x4 long bed and 3.73 gears. I consistently got around 19mpg with it. I seemed to get really good mileage around 50-55 mph and not so much at interstate speeds.

 

[Egon]

Nobody mentioned the new Dodge 1/2 ton Diesel?

 

[Diamondpilot]

Nobody mentioned the new Dodge 1/2 ton Diesel?

For a good reason. It tows less than a mid sized SUV.

Chris

 

[HHR]

Nobody mentioned the new Dodge 1/2 ton Diesel?

33 mpg at 70 going uphill with a headwind and 1000 pounds in the bed.
2014 RAM 1500 EcoDiesel Heads West - CleanMPG Forums

 

[Soundguy]

You need a tuneup Soundguy. My 350 4x4 longbed CC 7.3 averages 21 highway empty.

what rear end? and is it drw?

I also have 3 tool boxes in mine and a superchips flashpaq, but not set to fuel economy. Also 4x4 and longbed with pop up GN hitch installed.

My rear is 4.10 which doesn't help any.

 

[tcartwri]

For a good reason. It tows less than a mid sized SUV.

Chris

What mid size suv is rated for 9K

You are so full of it, it's unbelievable.

 

[QueBota]

Curious about the Ford that will push 30lbs of boost, any more details?

Thanks,
Q

I don't know about GMC and Rams but on a Ford the key is keep the boost under 30 ( I try to keep 20) as much as possible and keep the rpm under 2000. If you do that it will get 17 to 19 empty and 11 to 16 pulling.

 

[fordmantpw]

Curious about the Ford that will push 30lbs of boost, any more details?

Thanks,
Q

Sure, most any of the new diesels will. My '08 F250 will hit near 40 if I ask it to, but I'm usually not in that big of a hurry.