Friends father bought a 07 Classic D/A 3500 crew, and is only gettting 12 mpg. That is either city or hgwy and towing. Nothing seems to make a differance. Truck is bone stock, and he is going to trade it in on a Dodge if he cant get better economy. Thanks in advance for the help.

Run some diesel kleen through it; Then watch his driving.
I have a HORRID habit of driving this thing like a sports car, especially on the freeway...
If i use cruise control I get 16+ mpg, if i do the driving I'm at 13.9.... It's hit and miss on the LBZs.
He could take it to the dealer like I did but, they'll just tell him there's no average like they did me.

Have him look at the Dodge forums, they aren't getting good mileage either.

He had a 04 that he bought new, and averaged 18-20 or more on the hgwy. I dont get that he is getting low economy with a truck that is setup the exact as his old truck! He drives the same now as he did with his 04, I have followed behind him with both trucks. No change in habits, and I know this, cause I can keep up with him in my old 6.5TD.

Anyone have any ideas of what is going on with this truck? I sent him to one of my dealers, and they told him there was nothing that they could do. Thanks again

Tony

Huh, we have a newer dodge diesel just traded in cause the guy wanted more power and better mileage...lol, ya can;t win for tryin. They are all 7000 pound over powered towing machines, the mileage is what it is, not much you can do with it....

I noticed you really have to watch your driving habits with these trucks. Speed really kills MPG's. Was on the highway the other night and at 60=22 mpg 70=19.5 and 80 was around 17 so keeping it down really helps. Slow take offs and coasting helped my city mileage (around 14 mpg with some "playing" mixed in)

I was only gettin 11-12 when mine was new as well. Do a search as I was one of the biggest ones to complain about it.

11,000 miles later and I'mn averaging a solid 20. I've seen better or worse but 20 is normal.

He probably needs to give it time. Thats what everyone said to me and I didnt want to believe it either.

Sounds like you need to lift it now, Nick! ;)

I'm up towards 18k miles on my LBZ now, just got 19.57 mpg on the fill-up today. Lowest in the past three weeks was 18.something-or-other, but I did drive it rougher that week. I'm consistently getting 610-630 miles per tank, in 6 days of driving.

My advice, check the air filter, change the fuel filter (that is if he's got some miles on it) and keep your foot OUT of it.

Speaking of today's fill-up, the station I go to is a busy one (cheapest diesel=$2.99) but it's only 2 out of 8 pumps have a green handle on them. This farking douchebag in a teensy-tiny rental car pulls a U-Turn in the parking lot to park himself right in front of the only open pump with a green handle. His was gas too, btw. So I pull around to the other side of the pump to pakr behind the Bronco I'd seen sitting there in the first place, I figured he'd be about done...guess what, he was just sitting there...idling, not pumping gas. Double-you tee eff? I sat there behind him for about 30 seconds before he pulled forward to the next pump, I pulled up, got fuel, cleaned windows, while I was doing so, the Bronco just drives away, never pumped anything, just sat there and idled. I swear to god the Great Northern Stupidity Dam must've broke when I wasn't looking, because the town was flooded today.

The long and the short of it is, I hate inconsiderate **********s who drive a gas vehicle, have 6 pumps all to themselves and they won't use them before they block the only 2 with diesel.

Thanks for all the replies, I will pass the info on to him, and hope he holds out long enough.

Tony

He needs to get some miles on the engine before complaining. Come back when he has 20k on her. Mine 4 door dually gets 16 around town and 19-21 hwy if I'm careful. Try shuttin' the engine off when goin' down hill. LOL. Doesn't make sense to trade it in, loose all kind of money and HOPE the next truck will get 2-3 mpg better imo.

One word...emissions...are totally different then the 2004 that he had. If he had an 04.5 he would have had an EGR but earlier then that he would not have had any of the wonderful emissions that his 2007 has

I went from an 03 to an 04.5 and lost 2-3mpg's

running almost 36" tires I am getting almost 13mpg mixed city and freeway. It has been getting progessively better as the odomoter goes up. Just added the PPE Exce and it gave me another -4mpg to +4mpg depending on how I am driving. So I can get up to 16-18mpg on flat freeway.

How many miles does he have on it? I was in the same boat as Unit453 was. Brand new I was getting 14-15. Wish I would have gotten the 8.1. I would check it every 3 tanks or so and it steadly got better. 6800 miles now and 18-20 MPG. The milage did jump up after the first oil change I done at 3000 miles. Just like everybody told me GIVE IT TIME.

Mine gets right at 14mpg

He needs to get some miles on the engine before complaining. Come back when he has 20k on her. Mine 4 door dually gets 16 around town and 19-21 hwy if I'm careful. Try shuttin' the engine off when goin' down hill. LOL. Doesn't make sense to trade it in, loose all kind of money and HOPE the next truck will get 2-3 mpg better imo.I just don't see how you get that kind of MPG's. I have 19k on my truck. The best it can do is 16.7 at 65 MPH:eek:

I just don't see how you get that kind of MPG's. I have 19k on my truck. The best it can do is 16.7 at 65 MPH:eek:
X2 and also the same milage you have (19k)

i've seen the same thing with mine. put some miles on that thing and see what happens. i also have friends with newer dodge's and he will probably get worse mileage if he switches over to them. that's what i've seen.

2 vehicles ago I had a 2000 Dodge Cummins EC LB 4x4 and everyone on the Dodge forum talked about their 18-22 mpg while I consistenly got 14 in town 16.5-17 on the highway. It wasn't until I got 60K miles on it that it started to improve noticeably. When I got rid of it at 150k I consistently got 16.5 in town and 17.5+ on the highway. My dad had the same experience with a 2004 Cummins and I hope I'm having the same experience with a 2007 GMC because I haven't seen 17 mpg highway yet, but I've only got about 6k miles on the truck.

Remember guys, the fuel has changed also, the new ULSD has been proven to make less power and economy than the older fuel used to. Maybe his truck trading and fuel change came close to the same time? I agree with everyones advice about giving it some time and miles though, They get alot better after they break in!

16.25 on my first tank hand calculated......the first 200 were highway.... The other 140 or so were in town......

Originally Posted by duramex
I just don't see how you get that kind of MPG's. I have 19k on my truck. The best it can do is 16.7 at 65 MPH

X2 and also the same milage you have (19k)

That's using the DIC. Never hand calculated it. Maybe its geographical. I have no hills in southern NJ. Are there hills in Idaho and California?

Throw some miles on it and a programmer :)

At 23K and running the "Economy" tune on the Diablosport Predator, I have seen the following MPG within the last week :

70 MPH, freeway = 21 MPG
62 MPH, freeway, towing a car on an open car trailer (car + trailer = 4500 lbs) = 18.5 MPG

And heck yeah, I was shocked at that one while towing!

FWIW, when new the truck only got about 17-18 MPG empty on the freeway (100% freeway) at 70 MPH

On my 2006 GMC 3500 CC DRW with a Superchips programmer set to the Performance Mode I was able to secure 16.5 mpg (hand-calculated) on mostly city driving.

To do this, I experimented with something new and tried keeping the rpm down to 2000 or less in all driving situations. This is possible as the truck will accelerate at a decent rate and shift at 2000 rpm and run at 75 mph @ 2000 rpm but it sure was difficult to keep from getting-on-it.

Throw some miles on it and a programmer :)

At 23K and running the "Economy" tune on the Diablosport Predator, I have seen the following MPG within the last week :

70 MPH, freeway = 21 MPG
62 MPH, freeway, towing a car on an open car trailer (car + trailer = 4500 lbs) = 18.5 MPG

And heck yeah, I was shocked at that one while towing!

FWIW, when new the truck only got about 17-18 MPG empty on the freeway (100% freeway) at 70 MPH

Sounds close to what I see too,
Not sure if an additive helps but I've used Stanadyne since the first tank.
I try to keep it at about 1,800 RPMs on the freeway. Stock tires.
A free flowing exhaust always helps.

When I first brought it home I was getting 18-19 driving carefully.:D Now with 15K miles and driving "Normal" I get 15-16 pretty consistent.:cool: Hoping it goes back up after I get a few more miles on her.:o:

Any comparison to any make of older diesel is apples and oranges because of emissions, ULSD, and yes the LBZ is actually quite a bit different than the LLY (04.5, 05). Let the darn thing break in a little, my mileage went up with use. Don't drive it like a 3 day old corpse, jump on the long skinny pedal on the right every once in a while, it's fun and a motor that is made to work "likes it".

my .02