I have a 2004.5 (600) dually 3500 with 4.10 axle with automatic that I bought about 2 months ago. I took it on its first tow trip this weekend (from san diego to Yuma and back. 320 miles round trip) and was kind of disapointed in the performance. I towed a 36ft 5th wheel that weight around 13,500. The truck had trouble holding 45 miles per hour up the big hills and even dropped down to 35 and second gear at one point. I was in tow haul mode once I hit the hills. I think theres a dent in the floor where I was pushing the gas pedal.


To top it off I got 5.5 miles per gallon.


Is this what I should expect or should I take it in.


Any suggestions on what to do.





Thanks

Something isnt right, I have had 12 full grown bucking horses loaded down on mine and averaged close to 10 mpg+ (from a normal 16) and averaged a whole lot better than 45 mph. But if the hills are bad enough that could change. But i still wouldnt imagine getting as bad as u got on your trip.And thats on a 99 with a 5 speed

I have heard that it takes a while to get that particular truck broken in. You might ask these other guys with the same ride when theres reached optimal performance and wait before u complain. There have been lots of complaints on fuel milage for the first several thousand miles. If u plan on doing a lot of hauling through the hill country i would look at having the shift points reset. ( I believe the superchip allows you do do that plus gives you up to an extra 70hp)

Wantadiesel-you must have a problem with the truck. I've been towing a smaller load (6k) and only have 3500 miles on it but started towing at 500 miles. 10 mpg the first time and around 11.5-12 now, towing that is. Power no problem and have pulled a short 2.5 mile 13% gradehttp://www.dieselplace.com/forum/smileys/hihi.gif with no problems. On interstate usually run in overdrive and it doesn't even need to shift down. My Ram is bone stockhttp://www.dieselplace.com/forum/smileys/smiley19.gif, auto, 4.10, and a 2500. BTW, about 18 on the road, 14 in town.

Most test comparisons show the Cummins powered Dodge shows it's best side on the long heavy pull. You must have something wrong.

Something is wrong. My thoughts are the calculations are wrong as it was such a short trip, only 160 miles (2 1/2 hours) each way. It's hard to do a good fill-up and mileage check like that although my computer is fairly accurate while many are not. I have seen conditions change by the mile that radically affect performance and towing mileage.


The slow speeds towing do not bother me on some of those real steep ( 6 - 8% ) western grades in high elevations. This is especially true if you were towing into a headwind. My truck is a manual that will pull those weights faster up some really steep hills but often I don't want to strain things that much and intentially slow down. Of course, yours is an automatic and that's another issue I'm not real familiar with.


Bottom line from me is give it a bit more time and do some longer tows. That should tell you if there is a problem and give the truck time to 'break in'.


Good luck with it.

I forgot to mention its a 4 wheel drive also. Mine had 600 miles on it when I started the trip. The gas milage was for a round trip of 320 miles. I also get about 9.5 mpg in the city and 12 on the hightway empty.


Has anyone else pulled this kind of load (13000 - 14000 lb) up 6 - 7% grades? What speed could you hold.





I probable will take it in anyway to have them check it out.

Here is the answer to your problem:


http://www.duramaxdiesel.com/

Just kidding!!!! I couldn't help myself.


All jokes aside though, if your truck only has 600 miles on it, it might not be broken in yet. It should do better than that.


Captainmal and Hoot, don't you guys think the same thing? If it were me, I would take it to the dealer to get checked out anyway.

dmaxfan,


Kinda thing it should have better fuel mileage than that. Dealer check won't hurt.


I can pull, stock, 13K up those Western 7-8% grades at 40 mph in 4th gear. Can also pull in 5th a bit faster but usually there are turns and traffic that retard a good start and slow you down during the pull. These are awfully steep hills and usually at higher elevations. It would be a rare Eastern situation to duplicate these conditions.

I see what you are saying, but towing with a brand new truck is not going to get real good mileage-or that is just my thinkinghttp://www.dieselplace.com/forum/smileys/smiley24.gif Has anyone towed with their truck brand new? What kind of mileage did anyone get? Edited by: dmaxfan

Captaninmal, That was the kind of speed I was seeing. It is a big trailer and with the axles flipped so it is real high profile. I can cruise at 70 in the flats without to much problem. I just read all these post saying I can pull up this hill or that hill at 60 loaded with 15000 lb and have more pedal to spare. Definatly some people exagerate. I may have my expectations to high.


But I'll take it in and have them check it out anyway.

According to TDP 2004 pulloff..



Trailer Weight 12000

Grade started at 2 and quickly increased to 6 deg

Length of pull 1 mile



Stock diesels.....



<span style="font-weight: bold;">2003 6.0 51 mph</span><br style="font-weight: bold;">
<br style="font-weight: bold;">
<span style="font-weight: bold;">2004.5 600 Cummins 49 mph</span><br style="font-weight: bold;">
<br style="font-weight: bold;">
<span style="font-weight: bold;">2005 LLY Dmax 53 mph</span><br style="font-weight: bold;">
<span style="font-weight: bold;">2004.5 LLY DMax 51 mph</span><br style="font-weight: bold;">
<br style="font-weight: bold;">
<span style="font-weight: bold;">Most times were around 1:15 to 1:30





</span>This gives you an idea how close the stock trucks run. So
captainmal's 40 mph on a 7-8 grade pulling 13000lbs is a good iteration.


Edited by: hoot

Hate to say it, but I had the Hemi with automatic and pulled an enclosed ~20ft trailer (empty) through head on winds and got about 6 mpg!!! I had all the same problems you described. Couldn't maintain speed (40 to 55mph), irregular shift patterns/points, and the Tow/Haul made no difference. I took it to Dodge and we tried to recreate the situation..even pulling some hills with no luck. No codes stored, none that showed up when I pulled. Hell, it was like I was lying, except for the gas mileage. I sold the Hemi and took my Cummins through the same area and near the same conditions and got 15.3 mpg with about 4700 lbs in the trailer!! I had about 4000/5000 miles on the trucks at the time. Kinda scary. At least I am not the only one who has experienced this kinda thing.

Towing with the trailer is the best thing he could do. Work that engine and get it seated. I have heard of low MPG's on newer Cummins'. Especially when under load. Although, your's is a little lower than I have heard of in the past. I wouldn't worry too much about it for now. My unloaded MPG when new was 14. Then it went to 19 ish (21 if I was nice). Now it's down to 16 (18 if I am nice). Yes, different trucks, I know. But give yours some time before you completely condemn it.


BTW, there have been a couple of ECM reflashes for your truck, to address the driving / shifting issues. Check out www.dodgeram.org (http://www.dodgeram.org) for TSB's pertaining to your situation. There are a couple there that may help you out.

im thinking the best thing to do is let the truck break in more, i dont think 600 miles is broken in yet

Does breaking in the truck increase performance? I haven't heard that it does. Anyway I took it in last night and had them check it out. Hopefully they find something. I hate to be the one in all of america that has the lowest gas milage, but someone has to.


BTW. I wouldn't even mind the gas milage if I could pull the hills at 60.

Wantadiesel,


I started towing with 4-500 miles. A 6K travel trailer loaded total weight. Ran interstate at 65 mph in overdrive. No shifting in and out and some long grades but not real steep, 10 mpg. Last week towed same load 60-65 on two lane roads. 11.7 mpg with computer and hand calculated. Many curvy roads so mpg would be better on the straight and narrow. So I think the mpg is getting better with load so far after towing four times it climbs a little each trip. Your mpg sounds quite low so I think you are doing the right thing getting it checked out.

I just got the call from the service department and all they did was read the codes and put in the 037 TSB. There were no code errors so they did nothing else.


Does anyone know if there are any codes that come up for lack of fuel or injector pressure? Do they have the capability to check injector/fuel pressure?


I may change my fuel filter and run some injector cleaner for a while.


Several year ago I had a diesel motorhome and was told that if you leave the diesel fuel in for to long it grows alge. Is this true with diesel #2?





Thanks