For those unbelievers of excellent fuel mileage of the great 7.3

[300rman]

well, i remembered to grab a pic of the onboard mileage indicator. this is after a reset, and about 5 miles in-town and 50 down the Eway running 70MPH.
http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n313/NightBiker07/grestMPG.jpg

[LonesomeTriZ]

Amen brother. As soon as I get my turner installed I will be getting the same.

[J.D.]

I don't believe those screens, they can't compute it accurately. I only believe mileage vs. gallons used. Even that's still not 100% accurate. In my experiences those screens tend to exaggerate MPG.

[Billy Golightly]

Hand calculations? those digital fuel displays are notorious for being innacurate.

[Nick_R_23]

+1

I have a pic of our brand new 2007 Dodge 3500 Diesel Dually's onboard computer showing 60.8 mpg....hahahaha yeah I sure wish it got that, but its just not happening.

-Nick :TrikesOwn

[300rman]

calculated out on paper mileage/fuel, it is usually a few MPG greater than the avg Mpg the computer displays. last vacation, it read 25MPG, but when divided out it was getting about 32MPG

[Billy Golightly]

so off the top of your head how many miles before you gotta fill up?

[Tri-Z 250]

I'm not sure now if you're heading West; but yer gettin good miles per gallon gettin there.:lol:

[evand]

thats not bad, but it still dont pull like a cumins:w00t: 2 of my budies have cumins trucks one 4x4 with a auto OD one 2x4 with a 3 spd auto. both have the pumps cranked up as much as you can go with out going internal and there getting 25 plus and pull like raped apes. im sure if they turned the pumps down it would be in the 30's

and these truck 17 years old with 250k plus on them:beer :beer

[J.D.]

He's got some stuff done to his 7.3, I'm sure it's got more than those "pumps turned up" Cummins.

[300rman]

hey i never said it was stock. but nothing internally where the motor had to be torn apart.

as for it having a hard pull, off the line if you simply "put er to the wood" it will burn the beads off the tires. i gotta get him to run the thing using my buddies Gmeter/quarter mile time calculator. if i had to guess, i would say a mid 13 to a low 14 in a quarter. this thing takes my buddies trans am off the line, and the TA cant gain any ground up until about 110 MPH, and hes got the 5.0V8 not that crappy 6 banger. and thats without a propane injection :naughty:

as for billy's question, its not my car so im not sure. i only do mileage checks if im able to track miles between complete fill-ups, usually on vacations. last year, we drove from the outer banks NC back to toledo and didnt fill up once, cept right when we left. it was about 1200 miles, and when we got back and filled up, it took 35 gallons of fuel, so it averaged around 33-34 MPG the whole trip home, but the digital readout read about 28MPG. it was a few MPG low......

[cr480r]

obviosly your friend must not have a lift kit or big tires...

[400exguy]

as for billy's question, its not my car so im not sure. i only do mileage checks if im able to track miles between complete fill-ups, usually on vacations. last year, we drove from the outer banks NC back to toledo and didnt fill up once, cept right when we left. it was about 1200 miles, and when we got back and filled up, it took 35 gallons of fuel, so it averaged around 33-34 MPG the whole trip home, but the digital readout read about 28MPG. it was a few MPG low......


Never knew from the outer banks to toledo OH?? I take it, took 1200 miles. Round trip should be somewhere around there maybe a little more. I think someone has a little bit of a issue with distances. Checking out mapquest just to make sure...yeah thats what I thought 726 miles/35 gallons...im no math major but seems like 20.7 mpg
:crazy:

[The Goat]

lol...i knew someone was gonna bust him on that.

and I hate to break the news to you, but that v6 in that TA will eat most v8s alive with the right mods.

I think you'll get damned good mileage with that truck....and you'll do better at higher speed rather than lower. manufacturers need to start listing the most fuel efficient speed on their vehicles.

[tecat-z]

Well, one thing i know for sure is.......... This past weekend we drove my buddies 2004 f-350 to Silver Lake. We filled it up on the way out. It has only 24,000 miles on it. 6.0 turbo diesel 2 wheel drive, automatic, crew cab dually. He bought it brand new and has added a mbrp full stainless exhaust, upgraded remote intake, and small fuel curve tweaks for effieciency. All to try and improve over the trucks oem mileage. Did it work. Well if you consider the amount of money spent to save roughly 1 mile per gallon, NO!!! All we pulled up there was a trailer with 3 trikes and a banshee on it. Very little weight for that truck. In fact the same trailer i pull to TF. Ok, so your thinking tell me the mileage. 12.2 mpg. Yep, thats it. When he pulls his 38 ft camper he gets 8-9. Thats the reality. And for good measure, his brother has a 02 Dodge 1 ton dually crew cab, with a Cunmmings, 4x4 and a stick. When we drive it up there we only see 11-12 mpg. I hear lots of claims about WAY exagerated mileage from the new big turbo diesels. I have good friends that have these same trucks and we've never seen those kinds of returns. We always drive smooth and calculate miles traveled by gallons needed to fill up. The ford 7.3, a very good engine for sure. But it also has a big appetite. They all do. I don't understand why people exagerate mileage on diesels. Again i'm not talking about old clapped out trucks with 200,000 plus miles either. These trucks are in they're prime, and in perfect running condition.

[300rman]

well im done arguing. believe what you want to, but i know what it gets, and am currently in the market to buy one of these things wrecked, and rebuild it. now tell me WHY would i bother to hunt one down and spend a ton of money on something HUGE with diesel prices being what they are? i mean, my ranger suits me just dandy for everything I do ever, so i have no use for something so large.


And BTW, the 6.0 is a turd motor to work on, its a fuel hog, and BLAH. but those trucks are friggin rockets........



Never knew from the outer banks to toledo OH?? I take it, took 1200 miles. Round trip should be somewhere around there maybe a little more. I think someone has a little bit of a issue with distances. Checking out mapquest just to make sure...yeah thats what I thought 726 miles/35 gallons...im no math major but seems like 20.7 mpg
:crazy:

i dont remember saying anywhere we went straight home? i just said from the time we left our vacation spot to the time we got to the gas station around the corner from our house, we traveled 1150-1200 miles.

[deathman53]

I have a 97 7.3, I get 15mpg. Its got a bully dog exhaust, hyper tech chip, open air filter and its getting a new turbo and exhaust brake. I'm hoping the gas mileage improves with the new turbo. I did towing a 20' enclosed trailer, I got 10mpg, keep in mind, the fuel fliter housing was leaking, so it was defintely off. It was fixed not too long after noticing it leaked. I haven't done any towing with it since january, but that will change, as I plan to go to Rausch Creek(trike friendly), breeze wood proving ground(I'm told trike friendly). I used the think the same thing, 30mpg, hahaha, no way. The new ford powerstrokes, after you get the particle filter delete(in the exhaust pipe), chip and open air filter, many report 20-22 mpg. That sound more realistic.

[J.D.]

Well, one thing i know for sure is.......... This past weekend we drove my buddies 2004 f-350 to Silver Lake. We filled it up on the way out. It has only 24,000 miles on it. 6.0 turbo diesel 2 wheel drive, automatic, crew cab dually. He bought it brand new and has added a mbrp full stainless exhaust, upgraded remote intake, and small fuel curve tweaks for effieciency. All to try and improve over the trucks oem mileage. Did it work. Well if you consider the amount of money spent to save roughly 1 mile per gallon, NO!!! All we pulled up there was a trailer with 3 trikes and a banshee on it. Very little weight for that truck. In fact the same trailer i pull to TF. Ok, so your thinking tell me the mileage. 12.2 mpg. Yep, thats it. When he pulls his 38 ft camper he gets 8-9. Thats the reality. And for good measure, his brother has a 02 Dodge 1 ton dually crew cab, with a Cunmmings, 4x4 and a stick. When we drive it up there we only see 11-12 mpg. I hear lots of claims about WAY exagerated mileage from the new big turbo diesels. I have good friends that have these same trucks and we've never seen those kinds of returns. We always drive smooth and calculate miles traveled by gallons needed to fill up. The ford 7.3, a very good engine for sure. But it also has a big appetite. They all do. I don't understand why people exagerate mileage on diesels. Again i'm not talking about old clapped out trucks with 200,000 plus miles either. These trucks are in they're prime, and in perfect running condition.


Wow that's terrible. My dad is a hotshotter, he has an 03 7.3 Crewcab dually 4WD with 4.10's, routinely hauling his 40 foot gooseneck most of the time with 2 cars on it and he usually gets about 12-13. AND he's got 325+ thousand on it now.

[3Razors]

Diesel is becoming more and more of a hose job. The diesel option from Ford costs $7k from Ford, then its $4.50 at the pump, and then average 12mpg with the 6.4?! Jeez the V10 averages 12mpg and $7000 buys alot of gas.

[brapp]

on my 6.0 i had the digital display saying 99.9 goign downhill towign the excavator i woudl be a miricle if i coufl get that allthe time.

[Tri-ZNate]

on my 6.0 i had the digital display saying 99.9 goign downhill towign the excavator i woudl be a miricle if i coufl get that allthe time.

On the way to TF with the 16' trailer and I believe 7 atvs we got 20 mpg with the 'ol 6.0L.

[Razgriz-Fighter]

You will be lucky to get anything above 25MPG with any of the Diesel engines in the pick up's. I know of a few old 7.3's that got close to 30 driving at the right speed so that RPM and wind resistance are at a minimum and fuel the truck the least.

Back in the winter I was getting 23MPG highway with my 99 CTD 3500 4X4 reg cab Dually flatbed. Anything above 20's in a diesel pick up is good, especially with the new engines that are all emissions controlled.

We have a new 6.4 Navistar (Ford) at work and so far it is averaging an entire 10MPG...pretty crappy if you ask me. Specially for a 2wd reg cab.

Never trust the overhead computer on a truck, though people will say you aren't resetting it properly, etc..I still don't trust them. Especially once you start modding your truck....that just throws the overhead computer off even more.