2006 Fuel Economy

D

Diesel Freak

Active member
Joined
Jun 20, 2007
Messages
1,163
I have a bone stock 2006 one ton with an automatic tranny. It has 3.73 gears. It now has about 120000 miles. Tranny is in good shape, and want to keep it as stock as possible since I do not want to become a prisoner to ANY one tranny shop.

Went on a trip this weekend. We have a little 21' toy hauler. While it does not weigh that much it is like towing a barn!!! lots of frontal area.

The truck will keep up with the posted speed limit on the flat (70 MPH in OD) so about 1900 RPM. On hills if it starts to drop off, I will kick it down into direct and run at ~ 55-60 MPH so about 2400 RPM.

The truck averaged 9.3 MPG this weekend towing!!! I need to do something!!!

I really need a good honest increase!!! I do not want any more power. It has enough (it my wife's Daily Driver) Also like I said, I dont want to become a prisoner to any tranny builder.

Thinking of possibly neutering the kitty. Stock exhaust will have to stay. Even the stock exhaust has some thump to it, and any louder will be unacceptable.

It has a S&B intake.

What can be done to the engine??? I see some timing boxes, but they add power...I do NOT want any extra power.

What about a Cam??? Heard that can help, but still dont see any real hard evidence to support the claim.
 
Efi live is the best way to go! Any reputable tuner can optimize a stock file for a small power increase and better fuel economy along with a smoother running engine
 
Exhaust and intake won't help. Building a trans won't help. Best bet is an efi tune with very little power added and even then it's a crap shot. Cam isn't guaranteed mileage.
 
BgBlDodge said:
Exhaust and intake won't help. Building a trans won't help. Best bet is an efi tune with very little power added and even then it's a crap shot. Cam isn't guaranteed mileage.
Click to expand...

That is what I thought. When BOMBing my 2001, I learned a lot!!! and well, you speak the truth...which is why I have been so hesitant to do anything...vendors will say anything to sell you something.

I really need something that has proven to work!!
 
I can testify for positive feed back with water meth injection while towing. On average when towing a ~15,000lb goose neck flat bed with a truck, two 4 wheelers, camping gear and tools, I can usually get right at 10 - 10.5mpg doing 60-70mph driving moderately.

If I ease off uphill and regain speed downhill, I can hit 11mpg.

But I'm not catching the wind like you are with that toy hauler. That wind can make or break your mileage.

I normally just run straight washer fluid for an injectable. I have not experimented with mixing pure methonal and water 50/50. There is a noticeable seat of the pants power gain, but nothing drastic. I run a 325 ml/min and 625ml/min nozzle setup.
 
Ok, water injection could help when loaded, also driving style/habits also have an impact.

What about when empty??? It gets ~16 when empty.

What really gets me is that a Ford Excursion with a V10 loaded will get the same as this truck...this is stupid!!
 
Red Sleeper said:
I normally just run straight washer fluid for an injectable. I have not experimented with mixing pure methonal and water 50/50. There is a noticeable seat of the pants power gain, but nothing drastic. I run a 325 ml/min and 625ml/min nozzle setup.
Click to expand...

WOW, that's a lot of water...I would need a 50 gallon tank to feed those nozzles while towing!!!
 
It's a two stage system. Smaller nozzle come on around 15psi and and large one around 32ish psi.
I rarely drive the truck empty anymore so I couldn't give you good feedback on those numbers.
 
Diesel Freak said:
WOW, that's a lot of water...I would need a 50 gallon tank to feed those nozzles while towing!!!
Click to expand...

Call Idaho rob at adrenaline truck performance he is one of the best with efi live, see what he has to say about what you fan do for mpgs
 
I know you are not looking for extra hp but you might end up with a little extra no matter what u do to gain milage. I have an 05 and before the smarty programmer experimented with a few things all of which helped milage not sure about hp though.

1 climb under the front and pull the ring off on the front crank pully, take it to a die grinder and oval the holes out a bit. Now when you put it back in turn it clock wise as far as you can and sintch the bolts up. This will advance the timing of your truck, its also good for a 1/2 mile to the gallon, and a little hp sorry it just is.

2 remove the silencer ring oh never mind you have an intake. Does this intake pull under hood air or cold air from under truck.

3 remove stock muffler, put something on it that flows. I removed mine with a straight pipe, just the muffler. It is really not that much louder and is good for another small gain.

4 don't use cruise I get better milage with out it in mountain terrain.

5 put a good torque converter and tranny that doesn't slip in it,

Just my experience with mine

highlimits
 
highlimits said:
I know you are not looking for extra hp but you might end up with a little extra no matter what u do to gain milage. I have an 05 and before the smarty programmer experimented with a few things all of which helped milage not sure about hp though.

1 climb under the front and pull the ring off on the front crank pully, take it to a die grinder and oval the holes out a bit. Now when you put it back in turn it clock wise as far as you can and sintch the bolts up. This will advance the timing of your truck, its also good for a 1/2 mile to the gallon, and a little hp sorry it just is.

2 remove the silencer ring oh never mind you have an intake. Does this intake pull under hood air or cold air from under truck.

3 remove stock muffler, put something on it that flows. I removed mine with a straight pipe, just the muffler. It is really not that much louder and is good for another small gain.

4 don't use cruise I get better milage with out it in mountain terrain.

5 put a good torque converter and tranny that doesn't slip in it,

Just my experience with mine

highlimits
Click to expand...

Oh. My. Lanta. Start a shop.
 
highlimits said:
1 climb under the front and pull the ring off on the front crank pully, take it to a die grinder and oval the holes out a bit. Now when you put it back in turn it clock wise as far as you can and sintch the bolts up. This will advance the timing of your truck, its also good for a 1/2 mile to the gallon, and a little hp sorry it just is.
Click to expand...

I always knew there was a way to mechanically advance the timing on a CR truck. It just requires a die grinder and half a brain. :bang
 
Its not perfect or as easy as the tuner but much cheaper, oh and it doesn't void your warrenty.

highlimits
 
highlimits said:
I know you are not looking for extra hp but you might end up with a little extra no matter what u do to gain milage. I have an 05 and before the smarty programmer experimented with a few things all of which helped milage not sure about hp though.

1 climb under the front and pull the ring off on the front crank pully, take it to a die grinder and oval the holes out a bit. Now when you put it back in turn it clock wise as far as you can and sintch the bolts up. This will advance the timing of your truck, its also good for a 1/2 mile to the gallon, and a little hp sorry it just is.

2 remove the silencer ring oh never mind you have an intake. Does this intake pull under hood air or cold air from under truck.

3 remove stock muffler, put something on it that flows. I removed mine with a straight pipe, just the muffler. It is really not that much louder and is good for another small gain.

4 don't use cruise I get better milage with out it in mountain terrain.

5 put a good torque converter and tranny that doesn't slip in it,

Just my experience with mine


highlimits
Click to expand...


Wow am I on cummingz forum? ?? :doh:
 
Fwiw, I have an 06 mega 4wd auto. Efi, intake, no cat, straight through muffler, and I was getting 14.5-15 unloaded. I put a one piece aluminum drive shaft on from dodge in place of my steel two piece, and the last two tanks hand calculated have been 16.5 and 16 respectively. Not bad for $450.
 
Without a tuner and mods your stuck at 15. With them 20 empty is easy. Try Cummins forum or one of those tornado inserts for 20% increase in fuel mileage!
 
highlimits said:
I know you are not looking for extra hp but you might end up with a little extra no matter what u do to gain milage. I have an 05 and before the smarty programmer experimented with a few things all of which helped milage not sure about hp though.

1 climb under the front and pull the ring off on the front crank pully, take it to a die grinder and oval the holes out a bit. Now when you put it back in turn it clock wise as far as you can and sintch the bolts up. This will advance the timing of your truck, its also good for a 1/2 mile to the gallon, and a little hp sorry it just is.

2 remove the silencer ring oh never mind you have an intake. Does this intake pull under hood air or cold air from under truck.

3 remove stock muffler, put something on it that flows. I removed mine with a straight pipe, just the muffler. It is really not that much louder and is good for another small gain.

4 don't use cruise I get better milage with out it in mountain terrain.

5 put a good torque converter and tranny that doesn't slip in it,

Just my experience with mine

highlimits
Click to expand...



Holy crap..is this a friggin Joke!!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top