Diesel truck with best MPG

loudhornsrule · Feb 28, 2015

Don't know what the best is , but My 91 dodge cummins w/ auto gets 23mpg at 75 mph. No trailer. I think the new one's are getting 13, and are junk . Just my .02

jix · Feb 28, 2015

Dodge Cummins with manual 6 speed prior to 2002...best I have seen. like 25 mpg for 3/4 ton 4x4, empty.

buickanddeere · Feb 28, 2015

It's been a long way down from the 1989-2006 diesels to a 2015 diesel.

Degolyerent · Feb 28, 2015

loudhornsrule said:
Don't know what the best is , but My 91 dodge cummins w/ auto gets 23mpg at 75 mph. No trailer. I think the new one's are getting 13, and are junk . Just my .02

I love the older diesels, you couldn't give me a newer one. No longevity and way to complicated.
EPA sucks.
John

Diamondpilot · Feb 28, 2015

Degolyerent said:
I love the older diesels, you couldn't give me a newer one. No longevity and way to complicated.
EPA sucks.
John

But the Power and trucks are so much better. My 06 F350 has been 100% reliable with 128,000 miles other than a bad gas gauge.

Chris

Degolyerent · Mar 1, 2015

128,000 is just getting broke in, you have been lucky with your 6.0 so far. If you work them hard they hold up better than a grocery getter. Also keep them monitored with gauges. You don't keep a truck long enough to know if it is reliable and when you have plenty of income you don't have to.
I have a 12v cummins in a 95 Dodge 3500 that has over 350hp and is on the way to 400-450 hp. The 12v cummins has seen many of the engines do over a million miles, the new trucks will never see that. Yes the new trucks have some nice features but you pay dearly for them.
I also have a 2000 F250 w/ 7.3 that has been great so far, they also have decent longevity being that many go over 500,000 miles or more.
My trucks pull 10,000-12,000 pounds daily, I use one and keep the other as back-up and rotate between them to keep mileage down, I only put about 20,000 - 25,000 miles per year between both of them.
John

MikePA · Mar 1, 2015

Degolyerent said:
I love the older diesels, you couldn't give me a newer one. No longevity and way to complicated.
EPA sucks.

While there's no question newer diesels are more complicated, primarily due to emission regulations, what facts are there to support they have 'no longevity'?

Egon · Mar 1, 2015

My nineteen year old Dodge 4x4 used to get 25 miles a gallon empty on the highway. It's slow when working but the loads have gotten to their destinations. Never had the cab off and can't see the road between my feet when driving. Have had to replace suspension parts and u-joints. It's mostly seen back country roads for the last 15 years. These roads can be pretty rough.

newbury · Mar 1, 2015

Diamondpilot said:
But the Power and trucks are so much better. My 06 F350 has been 100% reliable with 128,000 miles other than a bad gas gauge.

Chris

Not to totally hijack this thread but what is it with Ford and gauges? My '88 E350 7.3 Maxivan got 15 MPG after I put the camper roof on but one gas guage went out about '95 and the temp gauge failed. And it seemed those on the web think that's normal. My '02 F350 7.3 dually temp gauge stopped for a while but came back. It gets 13 towing a load, 15 to 18 empty.

Degolyerent · Mar 1, 2015

MikePA said:
While there's no question newer diesels are more complicated, primarily due to emission regulations, what facts are there to support they have 'no longevity'?

Average life of injectors and injection pumps are under 200,000 miles. Have you priced either one on newer diesels? Not to mention other problems with EPA mandated devices. Diesel technology is having a hard time keeping up with constant changes mandated by EPA.
John