Performance Bolt On and MPG

[mtmedic]

I have a 13 Ram Laramie 1500 4x4 Crew Cab with 3.92 gears and after switching to 10 ply Cooper AT3 tires from the cheap factory 4 plies I have lost 2 mpg both in town and on the highway. My truck is a daily driver and I pull a 7500lb camper up and down the mountains here in Montana several weekends a year. I love my truck and it has power for days but I would like to get some of the mileage back. My question is who here has a similar truck that has several bolt ons and they drive it NORMALLY? I'm looking for guys with air intakes, throttle bodies, catback systems, and even tuners all installed and operational. What kind of mileage are you getting empty driving down the flat highway and driving around town at speeds from 25-45? True numbers calculated by your hand not random guesses or computer dependent answers please. I know you can buy a lot of gas for the price of these mods but I like tweaking stuff anyway.

 

[Hemi450hp]

In all honesty, if you are looking to purchase multiple upgrades for mileage alone, it is going to take a LONG time for them to pay for themselves. Having said that, if you like tweaking with stuff, you can make some great power and take the small mileage gain as an added bonus.

My daily driver is a 2011 crew cab 4wd 5.7. When I bought this truck, it had 3.92's from the factory. I was getting about 17mph on the highway in stock form. I started off by adding a Vararam intake, Moe's ported throttle body, BT catch can, and Magnaflow catback exhaust. I gained 1 whole MPG from these 4 mods...haha.

I then added a Diablo tuner with Hemifever custom tuning, and picked up an additional 2mpg and finally saw 20mpg on the highway.

Then I changed to 305/50/20 AT tires, bumped the gearing up to 4.56's, added longtube headers, 3000 stall tq converter, electric fan, and underdrive pulley. Below 70mph, I can still manage around 19-20mpg, but over 70mpg, my mileage has dropped back down to around 17 which is where I started when the truck was completely stock.

All in all, for me to be able to match the factory mileage with all the extra power and fun factor the truck has now, I'm very happy with the outcome.

 

[jbr]

I have a 13 Ram Laramie 1500 4x4 Crew Cab with 3.92 gears and after switching to 10 ply Cooper AT3 tires from the cheap factory 4 plies I have lost 2 mpg both in town and on the highway. My truck is a daily driver and I pull a 7500lb camper up and down the mountains here in Montana several weekends a year. I love my truck and it has power for days but I would like to get some of the mileage back. My question is who here has a similar truck that has several bolt ons and they drive it NORMALLY? I'm looking for guys with air intakes, throttle bodies, catback systems, and even tuners all installed and operational. What kind of mileage are you getting empty driving down the flat highway and driving around town at speeds from 25-45? True numbers calculated by your hand not random guesses or computer dependent answers please. I know you can buy a lot of gas for the price of these mods but I like tweaking stuff anyway.

I am assuming you have the 8 speed?

 

[mtmedic]

I am assuming you have the 8 speed?

I have the 6 speed in mine. I'm hopeful that by tweaking mine and making more power that I see some efficiency as well. I'm not looking to make this stuff justified but rather just have fun and see what happens I guess. I am curious as to what others who have done this already have experienced. Hemi... Those are some serious wicked mods for sure. I have the 20" rims on my truck and plan on leaving it fairly stock. other than the bolt on stuff I mentioned above. I was getting 20 mpg at 65mph-70mph prior to putting these ten plies on there. Problem is I drive 75mpg-80mpg most places I go and that was putting me around 17mpg and now 15mpg with the heavier tires. I'm just curious if I could get 2-3mpg back after bolting on some of this fun stuff.

 

[xrsman]

You will gain some mileage from bolt ons. I have a hemifever custom tune (91 octane fuel), S&B cai, MBRP cat back and a tonneau cover. I picked up between 1-2 US mpg closer to 2 hand calculated). I drive pretty mileage friendly too lol

 

[Pull Ya]

I have a 13 CC 4x4 with a 6 speed and 3.92's. I have the "standard" bolt on's, catch can, 87mm throttle body, DYI CIA, Edge TQ, and Diablo w/ Hemi fever, 18"maggie and Sonnex. I took the junk Goodyears off and put on Mich AT2's and lost 2mpg. I think the tread design and the weight of the tires are partly to blame, in addition to my right foot becoming a little heavier since the Hemifever tune. I usually get about 14-15 around town and about 17-18 on the highway, which is down about 2 mpg prior to the new tires and custom tune. Highway mileage is at 75mph with cruise set.
Jay

 

[RLJ10X]

Real simple. Put your old tires, or reasonable facsimile, back on. Save the ten plys for winter.

Or just cut out one or two unnecessary trips, a week out. Saving gas is real easy, but most people want to throw hundreds of dollars at it. Gas is $1.50 less now, than what it was a year ago. Isn't that enough savings? I've been telling Sugarpuss that gas is cheap right now. Time to burn a little of it.

Buying a big truck and then trying to get hi mpgs is silly. I quit that. Much more value in having fun with the truck, and paying a little more for gas.

 

[mtmedic]

I'm in the mountains all year round as I hunt, fish, hike, shoot, and goof off in general. Four ply tires in this state are not an option unless you drive back and forth to work. I have no problem burning up the fuel. I spent $4600 on fuel for just my pickup last year. I like to hotrod stuff as well. If I hot rod my truck with I see any improvement in mileage is what I'm getting at. I'm not gonna throw $2000 worth of upgrades into my truck just for mileage. I would do it for hp and torque increases and maybe a little mileage gain.