3/4 ton mpg empty?

[Garandman]

Not sure about Canada, but here, diesel fuel costs 10-30% higher than gasoline. So that negates a lot of the fuel savings. With mixed city and highway, you probably wouldn't pick up enough to make up the difference in fuel costs. And that doesn't count the $8k additional upfront cost, plus the $100 oil changes.

We "do the math" on diesels for our work fleet. The simplest possible summary is if you drive over 30,000 miles per year or tow a great deal, diesels pay for themselves. If not, gassers will cost less in the long run (5+ years).

That said, we have two Cruze turbodiesels and one Cruze Eco with a 1.4L turbo (gas). The Eco cost $3,000 less comparably equipped but is faster and burns regular. But everyone prefers driving the diesels.

At the moment around here diesel cost 40-50 cents per gallon more than regular.

 

[mikehaugen]

OP, fuelly.com has actual observed mpg. You can select powertrain and body style.

I use a similar site, but the problem I have with them is that of the people I know, very few actually know how to calculate their own mileage, or they just go by the computer, and even then don't really pay attention to any kind of long term average. While coasting down a hill or braking I've seen suvs hit 40 mpg, so to some people that is their best mileage. I regularly ask people what kind of mileage their various vehicles get and have gotten answers anywhere from shoulder shrugs to "well I drive it all week and it only costs ..." or "I just drove 200 miles and used a half tank."

I wish they had a site that you actually had to input miles driven and how many gallons to fill up. I have a phone app that I input my mileage and fillups and it records it all and will give me charts and different averages. Maybe there is an app that you can allow to store all of this in a database somewhere and other people can get results for the different vehicles using this app?

 

[fordmantpw]

I wish they had a site that you actually had to input miles driven and how many gallons to fill up. I have a phone app that I input my mileage and fillups and it records it all and will give me charts and different averages. Maybe there is an app that you can allow to store all of this in a database somewhere and other people can get results for the different vehicles using this app?

Ummm, that's exactly what Fuelly.com is. It's awesome, and a great idea for the OP. The only problem is you don't know the type of driving for each vehicle, so it's a good way to compare overall numbers, but not specifics.

Here is my fuelly image:

 

[mikehaugen]

Ummm, that's exactly what Fuelly.com is. It's awesome, and a great idea for the OP. The only problem is you don't know the type of driving for each vehicle, so it's a good way to compare overall numbers, but not specifics.

Here is my fuelly image:

http://www.fuelly.com/car/ford/f-250_super_duty/2008/fordmantpw/66614

Ok, I feel dumb now. The site I have seen (actually I think it was suggested here) is gasmileage.gov I think. I have heard fuelly suggested before also but was under the impression it was basically the same so never checked it out. Thanks for the heads up, I will downloading that app.

 

[fordmantpw]

Ok, I feel dumb now. The site I have seen (actually I think it was suggested here) is gasmileage.gov I think. I have heard fuelly suggested before also but was under the impression it was basically the same so never checked it out. Thanks for the heads up, I will downloading that app.

No need to feel dumb...we're all here to learn, right?

 

[DelSc]

I have a 2012 F350 diesel. I average ~16.5 mpg in everyday driving unloaded, and about 13 mpg pulling a large horse trailer. On long trips, I can coax >20 mpg out of it (unloaded) if I keep the speed down. Winter driving makes me lose about 1 mpg.

 

[westcliffe01]

I did a brake rebuild on my 2008 F250 and the mileage improved from 13mpg (unloaded) to now averaging 16mpg. I will get better driving at a constant speed on the highway (19mpg) but 90% of my driving is small back roads. If your milage has dropped, have the brakes looked at. On mine they were seized up solid from road salt and were dragging. With such a big engine it is hard to notice unless one goes to fill up...

 

[Capt Dan]

What is interesting in this thread is the lack of mention of quality of fuel. Are you buying diesel fuel or Bio-diesel? Here in eastern Iowa I only know of a few places to get 100% diesel.

Also the gasoline. I buy non-ethanol gas when I can. A new location of a chain opened by me, and since buying there gas, the computer's average has gone up almost 1 mpg. (I used to go out of my way to get my tractor fuel from them.)

The better the mileage you get the less difference it makes.

 

[OHVarmntr]

I'm buying pump diesel, and adding 2-stroke oil at 1oz per gallon. The Bosch VP44 injection pump on my truck was designed for the previous fuels that inherently had better lubrication properties. The process of removing sulfur from the fuels of nowadays also strips it of it's lubricity, so I add 2-stroke oil to help with wear.

 

[yelbike]

My 2007 Lincoln Lt just did 19mpg mostly highway and 8 mpg on the return trip, mostly flat. Tail wind going there unloaded and slight head wind. Return was towing 20' fiberglass Larson boat with 200 HP verado Mercury plus ezloader trailer, I'm guessing around 4000#.

I know its not 3/4 ton but for comparison. Speed was 110 kph or roughly 70 mph.

 

[cockeyedMFer]

Yes, and if you go back and read my original statement I said my 2012 Eco Boost will out work and out tow my 99 Power Stroke.

There is a lot of technology giving these new truck the power and performance we could have only dreamed of 15 years ago.

Chris

Sorry to quote an old post, but I wanted to ask if your EcoBoost is seeing any increased wear on suspension, steering parts, etc? Frankly with today's tow ratings a half ton would meet my towing needs, but I can't imagine an F150 would have the longevity of a SuperDuty when worked that hard.

 

[Diamondpilot]

Sorry to quote an old post, but I wanted to ask if your EcoBoost is seeing any increased wear on suspension, steering parts, etc? Frankly with today's tow ratings a half ton would meet my towing needs, but I can't imagine an F150 would have the longevity of a SuperDuty when worked that hard.

46,000 miles now and nothing. I just put new tires on it. Could have squeezed another 4,000 or so out of them but had a flat and they were on sale so just bit the bullet. With winter coming on didn't want to chance it.

Chris

 

[sparc]

What speed do you drive generally? Would you consider yourself a fuel miser type of driver or just average with no major regard for fuel consumption.

Reason I ask is I'm impressed with your mileage.

My daily driving is all back roads. Its 18.2 miles to work one way. There are 2 stops signs, a red light (always red in my direction), another stop sign, then one last traffic light. After those first two stops signs which are getting out of my development unto the state highway with a 50 mph speed limit, I have a 7.5 miles shot on pretty flat road. Nothing here in my part of South Jersey measures more than 3 deg. by the angle gauge in my truck, so its pretty flat. Its 5am when Im heading to work so very little traffic (I see maybe 8 cars during the whole trip) but you have to watch out for the deer of which I see about a half dozen evey morning, so there is probably 3x that waiting to jump out in front of me from the woods which line the roads. So I don't exceed the speed limit by more than a couple MPH, there's just too little reaction time with the tree line being less than 8 feet from the should line in most cases and deer hiding everywhere. Anyway after I get through that last traffic light I have another 6 miles to the parking lot which is dead flat and 50 mph limit. I do not have a heavy foot, I lost that driving a Hummer H1 for 86k miles over 14 years. That thing was so slow you got used to always being last off the line. So while not a fuel miser or hypermiler I guess I am easier than most on the pedal.

Even in my F-150 I got what I thought was good milage. I had a 05 FX4 with the 5.4l Triton motor and I got between 15.5 and 17 for the whole 114000 miles I drove it. No trip computer in that truck i kept a log book and recorded every drop of fuel I put in it and calculated the milage.

Our fuel prices are always lower than most of the country. Right now regular is 2.879 and road diesel is 3.399 and in some places 3.109. At 19/20 mpg on the F-350 and 15.2 on my current 2012 F-150 with the 6.2l gas motor its a toss up on the pennies per mile by the time you figure in the DEF additive.

 

[sparc]

I have a 2012 F350 diesel. I average ~16.5 mpg in everyday driving unloaded, and about 13 mpg pulling a large horse trailer. On long trips, I can coax >20 mpg out of it (unloaded) if I keep the speed down. Winter driving makes me lose about 1 mpg.

The difference between your milage and mine is probably the axle ratios. I got mine geared for max milage because I knew I would be running mostly empty and doing little towing (<5% of my miles), so 3.55 gears and I don't see any of my towing as really taxing the 6.7's power even with this axle ratio. My heaviest loads would be my 12 ft dual axle dump trailer with 3 ton of stone, so just under 9000, or the flat bed with the tractor on it which is ~2900 for the trailer and ~5600 for the tractor with loader and box blade so 8500. When I have those trailers loaded as above, the truck hardly knows they are there. And it pulls so nicely when you're going down the road you have to remember there's a trailer hanging off the back. Starting out from a dead stop it takes a bit more to get moving of course, but it does not feel like the truck is working that hard. My milage does drop to 14-15 when towing. I just did a 200 mile run last weekend with the flat bed to pick up a tower for a Ham friend of mine. it was not heavy (240#) just that folded up it was 22 feet long and he had no way to carry it. So basically I drug an empty trailer 188 miles and I used 9.8 gallons(thats filling up before I left, and filling up when we got back. the 9.8 gallons is off the fuel slip, not the trip computer). This was 60% on toll roads where we were doing 65 mph, and the rest was back roads at 50 or less.

 

[Copperhead]

Getting in late on this one and reviving the thread. My 2015 2500HD 6.0L gasser 6 speed with 4.10 diffs Z71 and snow plow prep package. It has averaged around 13 for all miles, in town, out in the country, gravel roads, two lane highways, off road, everything. On road trips, it manages 15-16 mpg for the highway. And that has been only on E15 winter fuel thus far. Things should improve a little with summer fuel. No real heavy towing with it, so don't have that perspective. I got it mostly for hauling and not towing. Kinda one of those things where i needed more than a 1500 does, but didn't need a diesel 3500 dually to pull around a 5th wheel or gooseneck trailer with some serious weight.

What shocked me, was that a 2015 2500HD setup like mine in just about every detail, knocked the socks off of a Ram 2500 with the 6.4 and 8 speed on the TFL Ike Guanlet truck pull test. It even came in only a little over 2 min behind a GMC 2500HD pickup with a Dmax in it. The older Vortex 6.0L in these 2015 pickups are pretty rock solid with a great track record for durability and longevity and can hold their own with the other newer stuff.

Video of the Ike Gauntlet pull test...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YQ8fn3PvNhQ&list=PLjXptazwnueqnqm_Y8NwotkAf1bXVTRvN&index=17

The 2015 2500 gasser won the Golden Hitch Award from these guys of all the 2015 gas powered 3/4 ton trucks.

 

[toddbailey]

I have a 2014 Silverado crew cab 2500hd duramax last 2 fill ups 17.85 mpg and 18.85 mpg hand calculated. Mixed driving no towing.