2006 5.9 mileage

[jayrak]

My son has a 2006 Ram 2500 4wd manual, he is replacing the turbo and as long as he has it down he is thinking about changing gears to get better mileage he currently get between 11 and 12 mpg. What are your thoughts? He would have to change the gears in the rear end and the front differential would he have to do anything with the transfer case? What would be a good ratio he does a little pulling on occasion.

Thanks

 

[MikeT]

Something seems a little wrong, I'm have same year 2500 4wd with an auto trans and towing I get 15+, average 20-22 not towing. Does he hot rod it? Run his VIN on this web site and that will tell the axle ratio when truck was stock: https://fcacommunity.force.com/RAM/s/equipment-listing Mine is 3.73 the tach reads about 1950 at 72mph. I think you need to look elsewhere to find why his mileage is so low. Post up any questions you have and I'll try to answer as best I can.

Mike

 

[tjfdesmo]

That seems low. My '05 with 48RE and 3.73s got 15-16 mixed empty, maybe 18 highway, and 11-13 towing. And I drive very conservatively. All hand calculated, as the Lie-O-Meter was amazingly inaccurate. Nevertheless, the MPG gain of a regear, if any at all, would never pay for itself.

 

[mtnrider]

What gears does he have now? Does he have it lifted or running larger tires? Seems low for a 2006 manual. My 2006 auto probably averaged around ~15 unloaded. around town and ~18 on the highway

 

[Dennis Shellito]

Control of skinny pedal determines fuel mileage in these diesels. You push it down to feel the boost and it will dig deeply into the fuel tank. The best way to determine actual fuel mileage of one of these trucks is to fill the tank and take a highway trip at a predetermined speed, and when the destination is reached refill the fuel tank and hand calculate the mileage. My son has a mega cab 4x4 with the 5.9 Cummins and I finally convinced him that he was leaning to hard on the go pedal when accelerating and driving too fast on the highway to get decent fuel mileage. He now usually drives it easier, but sometimes gets in a hurry and fuel mileage be damned.

 

[ErnieD]

I have a 2007 Dodge 2500 CTD 4X4 automatic with a decent lift. Running 315/70R17 Nittos, daily driver with tuning package that I rarely if ever use. I get 15.5 mpg city, 19-20 highway, and when towing my small toy hauler this past thanksgiving I got 8.9-9.5 mpg towing. Keep in mind I went up two passes in Colorado and towed into high country in New Mexico.

 

[CharlesinGA]

Something seems a little wrong, I'm have same year 2500 4wd with an auto trans and towing I get 15+, average 20-22 not towing. Does he hot rod it? Run his VIN on this web site and that will tell the axle ratio when truck was stock: https://fcacommunity.force.com/RAM/s/equipment-listing Mine is 3.73 the tach reads about 1950 at 72mph. I think you need to look elsewhere to find why his mileage is so low. Post up any questions you have and I'll try to answer as best I can.

Mike

Note: The ViN decoder requres UPPER CASE letters to be input, or it will return a not found message.

You also can go to the dealer parts department and get a similar printout but with option codes for every item listed.

Or you can look inside the glove box door for a sticker with the paint codes and axle ratio, ring gear diameter, transmission and codes for each item on it.

Charles