# I value everyone's opinion on this...



## Striper1263 (Nov 30, 2007)

OK here's the deal. In my signature I have an 06 Dodge 2500 HD with the 5.7Hemi. I bought the truck because well...just look at it. It's beautiful!! It gets a ton of looks, it rides nice and I never had a lifted truck before. Ok I admit it, it was an impulse buy and the dealer is a friend of mine that gave me a deal I couldn't refuse. Oh and by the way.. My wife drives it more than I do at the moment so she loves it just as much!
I bought this truck with the idea of using it as a work truck. I do a lot of driving in the summer ( I have a Sealcoating and Line Striping Business ) so I do alot of estimating and sales calls.

So here's the problem. It gets only 8.5 mpg!!! With gas possibly hitting $4.00 per gal it's gonna kill me. I know that with the larger tires and being lifted the mpg would be compromised, but 8.5??? So I am thinking if I can't increase the mpg somehow I'm going to be forced to sell or trade for something else.

What would you guys do?? 
1. Go back to original setup (OEM Tires and rims, shocks)
2. Sell and get something more in line of what I need. ie work truck, plow truck, sales truck etc.
3. Try changing gears in hopes of increasing fuel mileage?
I love this truck!! It's great for noticeability. But is it practicable... What would you do?
I need to decide before spring hits and I'm in the truck 12 -15 hrs a day.

Thanks guys. I really enjoy reading everyone's comments.

I really like the Chevy / GMC 2500 HD Diesels. I just don't want to backwards on the next purchase. Would I go wrong with a that choice? What year seems to be more reliable?


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## Striper1263 (Nov 30, 2007)

Her's better pic's of the truck.


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## ABES (Jun 10, 2007)

im in the same situation as you my truck gets 8.6 mpg with a 3" lift and 33" tires. what i plan to do is sell it and buy a newer dodge diesel leave it stock and i should be in the 20 mpg range.


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## Striper1263 (Nov 30, 2007)

another pic

http://www.plowsite.com/showthread.php?t=56913


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## BigDave12768 (Nov 17, 2006)

Sell it and get the CTD I do ok. I get 15-16mpg. Just ran truck thought the Laser dishwasher down the street. It doesnt get it as clean. But it was cold and wiondy out


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## bribrius (May 5, 2007)

i would park it and find a four cylinder ranger or nissan for a few grand to beat the hell out of with great mpg


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## OhioPlower (Jan 13, 2004)

Yeah that sounds like a good idea, a 4 cylinder ranger. It would get better fuel mileage than a diesel and it would be alot cheaper to fix when something breaks.


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## bltp203 (Nov 5, 2006)

I have a 2" lift and 35's and I am still able to get 11 mpg in the summer. Yet, I will still buy a 4 cylinder "beater" to run around in.......at $90 a fill up (once a week) I will have made up the cost in a about a year.

Your truck is awesome....take the extra cash you will lay out for new one and just get decent ride with great mileage....then take out the truck when you want.


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## Mark13 (Dec 3, 2006)

ABES;534431 said:


> im in the same situation as you my truck gets 8.6 mpg with a 3" lift and 33" tires. what i plan to do is sell it and buy a newer dodge diesel leave it stock and i should be in the 20 mpg range.


Gearing makes a huge difference. I know of guys running 35s with stock 3.73 ratio getting 7-9mpg, I also know of guys running 35s with 4.56 or 4.88 and getting 11-14mpg.

Abes, do you know what your gearing is to get 8.6? I have 285s, no body lift and 3.73s and 11 is easily possible. During the summer I can hit 15-16 with a light foot.


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## ABES (Jun 10, 2007)

I have 3.73's I am going to buy 4 new o2 sensors and see if that helps i am still getting a lean code


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## chazmanian (Oct 17, 2007)

Striper1263;534412 said:


> OK here's the deal. In my signature I have an 06 Dodge 2500 HD with the 5.7Hemi. I bought the truck because well...just look at it. It's beautiful!! It gets a ton of looks, it rides nice and I never had a lifted truck before. Ok I admit it, it was an impulse buy and the dealer is a friend of mine that gave me a deal I couldn't refuse. Oh and by the way.. My wife drives it more than I do at the moment so she loves it just as much!
> I bought this truck with the idea of using it as a work truck. I do a lot of driving in the summer ( I have a Sealcoating and Line Striping Business ) so I do alot of estimating and sales calls.
> 
> So here's the problem. It gets only 8.5 mpg!!! With gas possibly hitting $4.00 per gal it's gonna kill me. I know that with the larger tires and being lifted the mpg would be compromised, but 8.5??? So I am thinking if I can't increase the mpg somehow I'm going to be forced to sell or trade for something else.
> ...


I was in the position as you...I plow and Stripe. We stripe out of state for the retail giants though and our 2007 hemi ate more gas last year than is even fathomable! My guys drove over 22K in 3.5 months striping from Texas to Washington state. My Hemi ate so much gas pulling the trailer that I knew I had to make a move this year.

Sold the 07' Hemi truck and bought an 05' Cummins Ram. Best thing I have done in years as my avg MPG on the hwy unloaded with the cruise set at 80MPH is right at 21 MPG. Around town is a solid and consistant 16 MPG. Diesel is the way for me as the cost of doing business out of state is high enough without having to deal with $4.00 a gallon summer gas this year! I choose the Ram Cummins for the motor. It seems sim-ple and straightfoward. Its also a Medium duty truck engine in a light duty truck. You just dont hear of many of em' failing to haul the mail. The GM Duramaxes ride better and seem fast...Where as the Cummins truck feels industrial strong and tough.

I say get a Cummins powered ram and dont look back!

Started with this Lil' Pup...Striping some stores in California and Oregon. Just me and a litle Graco 3400!









Moved up to a hemi 1/2 ton 4x4 with all the goodies and added two employees and another bigger graco line lazer!









Outgrew the 1/2 ton as well as the crappy economy and now have a CTD with a bigger trail 3 machines and 3 employees to do the striping work I started in my little Toyota!









Now that I plow during the winter the Cummins truck will be outfitted with a plow to join my little Chevy!









My theory is simple. I want it to make me money all year.....


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## NoFearDeere (Nov 7, 2005)

My '05 Duramax is getting 13 mpg right now.....


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## Mark13 (Dec 3, 2006)

ABES;534699 said:


> I have 3.73's I am going to buy 4 new o2 sensors and see if that helps i am still getting a lean code


Your truck has a 350 in it right? 
If so a friend of mine also has a obs 3/4 with 4.10s and 265s and a heavy foot, he said he sees 10mpg regularly. Your 8.6 sounds like its time for a tune up or put your truck on a scanner and see what codes it has.


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## ABES (Jun 10, 2007)

mark check out my new thread in the truck repair section


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## Striper1263 (Nov 30, 2007)

Hey chazmanian,
Thanks for the reply. Do you have the auto layout on you Graco's? I have one and it's great! Alot less bending over for my guys laying out the lot. May move into the Line Driver this year. 
I have been wanting a Diesel for a long time. Mainly because when I buy something I usually use it till it dies, as you can see from my vehicle description on my signature.
Thanks again


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## chazmanian (Oct 17, 2007)

Striper1263;534823 said:


> Hey chazmanian,
> Thanks for the reply. Do you have the auto layout on you Graco's? I have one and it's great! Alot less bending over for my guys laying out the lot. May move into the Line Driver this year.
> I have been wanting a Diesel for a long time. Mainly because when I buy something I usually use it till it dies, as you can see from my vehicle description on my signature.
> Thanks again


I dont do any new layout.....4 times the work for twice the money! This is as close to new layout that I'll do. 








I will fix messed up HC areas and get em' up to code......New stuff? Nope. Restripes only and until this past year all done with a lil' Graco 3400. Now we use the 3400 just for poles and Handicapped blue.
3900's without a lazyliner!! I bought one and had some issue with my guys running over wet lines and generally acting silly once they were onboard......So I banned Lazyliners and make em' walk all night!.

I started m,y striping operation with one Graco 3400. By myself I could paint an entire T***** store in one night! It was rough and I never stopped running from stripe to stripe but these are a few locations I did by myself in one evening without any helpers! Now it takes 3 of my employees to a store in 7-8 Hours?


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## DAFFMOBILEWASH (Dec 9, 2006)

Trere is always a reason for a great deal. IMO live with the bad fuel milage. Unless you drive 30 000 miles in a year you wont see any profit from the diesel truck for at least 3 years. Save your coin and buy a CTD clone to the one you got, instant gratification is nice but $$$ is key to sucess.

If you can find a cheep fix for the bad milage go for it, but to spend thousands of dollars to gain 2-3 MPG doesn't make much sence. Have a GMC 2500HD w/6.0L gas engine whick gets 3-5MPG when plowing. In the long run as a plow truck I don't mind the fuel cost, for the truck will always start and run all night long with limited issues. During the summer the truck is plated but doesn't move very much more less it is a pplow truck and back up truck.


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## BigDave12768 (Nov 17, 2006)

DAFFMOBILEWASH;535076 said:


> Trere is always a reason for a great deal. IMO live with the bad fuel milage. Unless you drive 30 000 miles in a year you wont see any profit from the diesel truck for at least 3 years. Save your coin and buy a CTD clone to the one you got, instant gratification is nice but $$$ is key to sucess.
> 
> If you can find a cheep fix for the bad milage go for it, but to spend thousands of dollars to gain 2-3 MPG doesn't make much sence. Have a GMC 2500HD w/6.0L gas engine whick gets 3-5MPG when plowing. In the long run as a plow truck I don't mind the fuel cost, for the truck will always start and run all night long with limited issues. During the summer the truck is plated but doesn't move very much more less it is a pplow truck and back up truck.


Ok I think your estimates maybe a little bit high on returns. But I will agree it takes time. But your chevy will cost more in long run to maintain and the gasser will always be a total loss over a diesel. You have to do oil changes at 3-5k Diesel are rated at 10-15k. Diesel dont need tune ups just a fuel filter every 10-15k. And after all is said and done when you want to get rid of pick up thats is 7-8 years old the Diesel is easily selling for twice the money of a gasser. And the motor is still running strong unlike your gasser with lifter noise and other issues


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## B&B (Nov 4, 2006)

Striper if your calculating your MPG off the stock odometer calibration your going to be on the low side since the taller tires are slowing the miles shown on the odometer down. You'd actually be driving more miles than would be shown...and affecting your average MPG. 


But regardless it's still not going to be good on fuel..


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## chazmanian (Oct 17, 2007)

DAFFMOBILEWASH;535076 said:


> Trere is always a reason for a great deal. IMO live with the bad fuel milage. Unless you drive 30 000 miles in a year you wont see any profit from the diesel truck for at least 3 years. Save your coin and buy a CTD clone to the one you got, instant gratification is nice but $$$ is key to sucess.
> 
> If you can find a cheep fix for the bad milage go for it, but to spend thousands of dollars to gain 2-3 MPG doesn't make much sence. Have a GMC 2500HD w/6.0L gas engine whick gets 3-5MPG when plowing. In the long run as a plow truck I don't mind the fuel cost, for the truck will always start and run all night long with limited issues. During the summer the truck is plated but doesn't move very much more less it is a pplow truck and back up truck.


The math used above makes sense to a point....I was originally set on trading my 07' Gasser for an 08' Diesel and after doing the math it wasnt justifiable. What did work out well in my case was trading down a few years to a nice used truck. Mine has 30K on the ticker and is ready to save me a ton of fuel money this year and for several more to come. My Hemi truck was lucky to hit 10MPG on the Hwy last year. This year I expect to almost double that.

We will also drive close to 25K over the summer months so my math says 2500 Gallons of midgrade is $8,200 in fuel cost using $3.30 a gallon for my figuring.

I figure to get 18 MPG with the Diesel so 1350 gallons should cover me this year at $3.50 a gallon or $4750 in fuel cost to drive 25K miles.

Take those figures which are approximations times say 3 years and I will come out many thousands ahead....Not counting the extra money the plow capable Cummmins truck will generate during the winter months versus the hemi which essentially sat in my driveway collecting snow!

I sold my 07' for 21.5K I bought the 05' Diesel for 23.6K. Both truck had 30K on the odometer and the 05' is actually a nicer truck as it hasnt been "Worked" yet. I lost some coin on the 07' and had to pony up a check for 2.5K to pay it off.I'm glad I did it.


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## DAFFMOBILEWASH (Dec 9, 2006)

From experience it is a crap shoot. You might be miles ahead of the game and then BAM you need an injector pump or injector or something silly like that. Yes the newer stuff has some good warentees but eventually these will end. For the bigger trucks diesel is the only way to go. But as a plow truck which will sit all summer, I'll stick to the gassers. 

B&B nice catch an the tire size change. Add 10-20% fuel milage without turing a wrench!! 

DAFF


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## BlueRam2500 (Jan 15, 2005)

Nice truck, but if your not happy with it than sell it and buy a diesel. If you sell, I will buy those rims/tires from you.


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## B&B (Nov 4, 2006)

DAFFMOBILEWASH;535899 said:


> B&B nice catch an the tire size change. Add 10-20% fuel milage without turing a wrench!!
> 
> DAFF


I find it quite often when guys are calculating MPG's on a non stock vehicle.

Easily overlooked but will throw your calculations off by quite a bit depending on the error of the speedo.


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## silentfactor (Feb 12, 2009)

*Diesel*

Id say if ya could afford a diesel that is the way to go, i bought a 2006 dodge ram 2500 cummins and i am getting 20 mpg on the back roads and 25 - even 30 mpg on the highway. Its completely stock no chips no exhaust. Youll have the hp and esp. the torque needed for plowing, fuel prices have come down alot but even if they shoot back up 100 bucks at the pump equals 600 - 750 miles for me. Ill never buy another gasoline truck, not to say gasoline trucks arnt bad i just love my diesel that much.


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## Mark13 (Dec 3, 2006)

silentfactor;750459 said:


> Id say if ya could afford a diesel that is the way to go, i bought a 2006 dodge ram 2500 cummins and i am getting 20 mpg on the back roads and 25 - even 30 mpg on the highway. Its completely stock no chips no exhaust. Youll have the hp and esp. the torque needed for plowing, fuel prices have come down alot but even if they shoot back up 100 bucks at the pump equals 600 - 750 miles for me. Ill never buy another gasoline truck, not to say gasoline trucks arnt bad i just love my diesel that much.


Old thread from March of last year.

And bs on 30mpg hwy totally stock. 23 maybe. Don't believe the Digital Readout on the dash, 98% of the time they arn't right.


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## AbsoluteH&L (Jan 5, 2006)

I agree. There is no such thing as a 30 mpg Diesel truck. Modified or stock no FULL size truck is that good. Maybe for a Diesel Ranger or a VW Rabbit truck thing they made in the 80's, but again not a full size.


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## BigDave12768 (Nov 17, 2006)

AbsoluteH&L;757306 said:


> I agree. There is no such thing as a 30 mpg Diesel truck. Modified or stock no FULL size truck is that good. Maybe for a Diesel Ranger or a VW Rabbit truck thing they made in the 80's, but again not a full size.


Gota disagree with you and technology that is quickly coming upon will really prove you wrong. The 03 CTD S.O 250hp 2wd and 3.73 rear end gets 25 mpg easily on the highway, Chipped and properly tuned it can get close to the 30mpg. My buddies 03 4x4 S.O get 24 mpg on the highway. And thats stock. he is always over 20mpg. He cant come close to power and speed off the H.O's and 600 series trucks. And with the new Diesels being rated at 25+ mpg in the 1500's coming out soon. They will only be a tuner away from 30+mpg. Oh But there is now way his 06 is getting 25+. The 600 series with the 3rd injection unit pump is too much of a pig. The old S.O had a different pump and thats why they get better fuel mileage. But it cost more to get power out of them.


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## wildbl1500 (Jan 7, 2006)

I get 14.5 mpg with my stock hemi... you could always take the lift out and go back to stock tires.


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## MJD82 (Mar 4, 2009)

dont expect to get that much more out of i even if you dropped the lift and big tires my brother has an 04 1500 quad cab 2WD 4.7 stock he only gets 14-15 on the streets and 17-18 on the highway empty I have an 04 durango 4.7 w\full time awd and it only gets 9-10 on the street and 15-16 on the hwy that is also stock. The idea of the 4 banger ranger is a good one that is what I drive to work and it usually pulls down 18-23 mpg with the auto trans just dont expect to pass anyone EVER or do more than 70 mph good little trucks otherwise they run for ever.


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