Brake Pad Posted October 8, 2014 Share #1 Posted October 8, 2014 I have a 2002 Dodge ram pickup truck it has 200,000+ miles on it. my question is how do I get it to give me better performance and get more mileage per gallon on a 3.7 L engine. Does not burn oil, trucks runs good, but 15 highway miles is killing me at the wallet. How do I improve the gas mileage.? I'm running 265 70R 17's, never exceed 65 mph and have always ran it easy. Never hard on my equipment. Just looking for some helpful hints Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cowpuc Posted October 8, 2014 Share #2 Posted October 8, 2014 I have a favorite non-biased MPG site that shows your mileage/fuel usage pretty normal for that truck = http://fueleconomy.org/feg/PowerSearch.do?action=noform&path=1&year1=2002&year2=2002&make=Dodge&model=Ram%201500%20Pickup%202WD&srchtyp=ymm I would say, a really good tune up, making sure your plugs are gapped properly (if they havent been checked in while they are probably wide), new air filter - check the air track and make sure its all open, set of good wires, make sure tire pressures are all up to snuff, run with the tail gate down when possible, make no sudden stops (coast to a stop when ya can) easy on the throttle - use the cruise set at 65 on Hwy... At that mileage, you could drop a compression test on it and see if you have a low reading on a cylinder or two BUT,, with 15 MPG being "normal" in comparison for other trucks like yours,,, I doubt thats an issue.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CaptainJoe Posted October 8, 2014 Share #3 Posted October 8, 2014 I have a 2002 Dodge ram pickup truck it has 200,000+ miles on it. my question is how do I get it to give me better performance and get more mileage per gallon on a 3.7 L engine. Does not burn oil, trucks runs good, but 15 highway miles is killing me at the wallet. How do I improve the gas mileage.? I'm running 265 70R 17's, never exceed 65 mph and have always ran it easy. Never hard on my equipment. Just looking for some helpful hints Have a 2000 4x4 Chevy.. I'm Running all season Cooper LT245 75r16... 80 lbs. load range E Yeah I know... It rides like a brick wagon. Stay away from aggressive tires. +1 on what Puc said. I drive mine 55-60 for best gas mileage. Your not gonna get much better than 17-18 mph, IMHO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
turtle Posted October 8, 2014 Share #4 Posted October 8, 2014 Imagine what it would cost to buy a new truck that gets even if it did 10 more miles per gallon and the cost of insurance and plates . now really look at the better gas mile truck apples to apples and be glad you are driving a truck that cost so little per mile . People get hung up on gas mileage but not what it totally cost to run it down the road. How much gas can you buy with a $350.00 truck payment per month will you save that with a higher gas mile vehicle ? I drive a 3/4 ton 1989 suburban gets 11 per mile paid for I can work on everything no fancy diagnostic computers and when I pass anew 60000 new that gets 19 mpg I laugh all the way to the bank. Do regular repairs and put 200 a month away till you have to replace it my opion:stickinouttounge: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Condor Posted October 8, 2014 Share #5 Posted October 8, 2014 I have a 2002 Dodge ram pickup truck it has 200,000+ miles on it. my question is how do I get it to give me better performance and get more mileage per gallon on a 3.7 L engine. Does not burn oil, trucks runs good, but 15 highway miles is killing me at the wallet. How do I improve the gas mileage.? I'm running 265 70R 17's, never exceed 65 mph and have always ran it easy. Never hard on my equipment. Just looking for some helpful hints Don't know much about your Dodge, but if it's computer controlled you might consider reprograming for MPG. The reprogramers aren't cheap, but if it works it'll pay for itself over time... The other alternative is.... quit driving so much, and ride the scoot more... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jakester Posted October 8, 2014 Share #6 Posted October 8, 2014 The dodge rams were not known for their mpg. My opinion, do not waste your money on a gas pickup programmer. If it was a diesel, heck yea, real results. Gas not much difference. I now drive a 07 classic GMC with the 4.8, 14.5 mpg. Programmer and exhaust work done and now maybe 15.3, going down hill with a tail wind,but not all the time. Your pickup is about where they should be. Bill Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlueSky Posted October 9, 2014 Share #7 Posted October 9, 2014 I have a 2002 F150 Supercab 4x4 with the 5.4L V8. I run Michelin Energy radials(265/70x17-stock size) designed for low rolling resistance. I also loaded a tune from a Superchips tuner. I run my tires at 40 psig. Mine delivered 16.0 mpg driving from Wilmington, NC to Homestead, FL running interstates and toll roads most of the time with the cruise set at 79mph. My speedometer agrees with my GPs and the miles driven was about 15 miles less than what MapQuest said the trip was. I carefully checked the mpg on every tank. It had 119k miles on it at that time. More recently I drove it 4 1/2 hours mostly on the interstate at 79mph and it also checked 16mpg. When I was working in Homestead, FL, I drove it to Key West a couple of times (about 260 miles)carefully checking the mileage. The road is a combination on 55mph and 45 mph zones with quite a few stop lights and also included driving around Key West and some 75 mph blasts on the 4 lane between Homestead and Key Largo. The two times I checked it the mpg was 17.4 for the trip So, my recommendation is to install Michelin Energy tires and load a Superchips program. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cowpuc Posted October 9, 2014 Share #8 Posted October 9, 2014 Don't know much about your Dodge, but if it's computer controlled you might consider reprograming for MPG. The reprogramers aren't cheap, but if it works it'll pay for itself over time... The other alternative is.... quit driving so much, and ride the scoot more... Bet he didnt get much better with his bike pulling allllll those Pecan Pies across Florida than he does with his truck Jack:rotf: Thought I would have forgotten reading about that by now didnt cha Brake Pad? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Money Venture Posted October 9, 2014 Share #9 Posted October 9, 2014 Our motorhome we had for nearly 20 years, I got almost 50% better mileage by driving 58mph on the expressway. Kenworth did a study on gas mileage years ago trying to improve semi mileage and speed was the main factor on mileage. Of course how fast you stop and start counts too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djh3 Posted October 9, 2014 Share #10 Posted October 9, 2014 If I remember my days in the shop at the Dodge dealer the 3.7 like the 4.7 is a coil on Plug set up, no distributer when was the last set of plugs put in. Good place to start. Clean air filter for sure helps. Weather you go with one from autozone or a K&N. At this juncture I think I would go with the $10 OEM replacement type. Depending on how the air intake is set up you may gain a little by letting it get cold air. Highway milage you can gain some by decreasing the gear ratio. Least expensive way to do this is tire size, go with something tall. but if you have to pull a trailer with it your killing that end of the truck because it wont have enough guts to start off. 15 mpg aint terrible on that little engine in that big truck. My 96 3/4 ton cummins gets about 21 mpg last I checked if I keep it around 65, @ 70 its about 19 and goes down hill from there. But its 3.55 gear with stick shift. when I bought it it was a 4.11 and 72 mph was tops. That Had to go. LOL So Plugs, new air filter and ........... Sea Foam!!!!! Seriously sea foam or the Berrymans B12 or other injector cleaners once a month help the 4.7 in my wifes durango. She gets about 12-13 around town and best I ever got on highway was 18 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cowpuc Posted October 9, 2014 Share #11 Posted October 9, 2014 Many years ago I had a 65 Barracuda that had a Vacuum Gauge mounted on the dash.. By screwing around watching the gauge and maintaining a steady high vacuum on it I could increase my fuel economy considerably... I wonder if this same rule would apply in todays world of modern technology:confused24: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yammer Dan Posted October 9, 2014 Share #12 Posted October 9, 2014 My G6 only gets 29 to 30. My right foot and hand keep me in trouble. And I'm LEFT Handed!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djh3 Posted October 9, 2014 Share #13 Posted October 9, 2014 Puc your right. The old drive by vacuum gauge still works. I had an "economy gauge" years ago and basically all it was, is a vacuum gauge with red and green range marks to help you see where the higher vacuum was. More vacum= more mpg. Easy on the take off better mpg. http://images.jcwstatics.com/is/image/Autos/GRP-garbo54469_is?$JCW_MAIN$ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dacheedah Posted October 9, 2014 Share #14 Posted October 9, 2014 My 03 ram , I drove by the tac for best MPG's it had the 5.9l and liked 70 mph . The 12 ram gets at least 4mpg better but likes 80mph. Tires full of air and good gas, cheap gas will kill your mpg. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brake Pad Posted October 9, 2014 Author Share #15 Posted October 9, 2014 Bet he didnt get much better with his bike pulling allllll those Pecan Pies across Florida than he does with his truck Jack:rotf: Thought I would have forgotten reading about that by now didnt cha Brake Pad? Listen Puc the pie run is going be coming up the second week of November:thumbsup2: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carbon_One Posted October 9, 2014 Share #16 Posted October 9, 2014 I was faced by the same thing recently. My Nissan Titan crew cab, v-8, 4x4 averaged 15-16 mpg no matter how I drove it. Checked out a Chevy 2014 crew cab, 2 wheel drive and realized I could save a bunch of money at the pump and elsewhere. Fuel mpg on the Chevy, 1st 1k miles averaged 20.5 mpg, since then I've gotten between 21.5 & 22.5, depending on speed on the freeways. I'm actually saving $20 a month on insurance for the new truck too, but offset that with a $10/month increase in my monthly payment. For me it was worth switching. Larry Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cowpuc Posted October 9, 2014 Share #17 Posted October 9, 2014 Listen Puc the pie run is going be coming up the second week of November:thumbsup2: :rotf::rotf: "BUT Professor,, I did get half the equation right so I should have at least gotten half the points for that question",,,, and in this case I happen to have gotten the most important 1/2 of the equation correct = PECAN PIE!!!:cool10: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brake Pad Posted October 9, 2014 Author Share #18 Posted October 9, 2014 I just ran the truck out off of a full tank of gas average speed 60 to 65 miles an hour. I made 15.2 miles per gallon from a 26 gallon tank. I did not however running completely dry I figure there was approximately 2 gallons of gas left in the truck so my fuel may have gone to 15.6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sailor Posted October 9, 2014 Share #19 Posted October 9, 2014 I have an 02 dodge ram 1500 extended cab 4X4. We drove from Saltspring to Wyoming with another couple and all our luggage. My wife kept track of the milage. We got 27 mpg on the trip. I got a full tuneup before we went. added a little sea foam and I am partial to Michelin tires. I have always run them on my cars and trucks. I have michelin LT ( light truck) tires which will take up to 80 lbs. I ran them at 70 lbs. I also have a standard 5 speed shift which I think helped. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brake Pad Posted October 9, 2014 Author Share #20 Posted October 9, 2014 My 265-70R 17's only take 44 psi The tire is called an Exdura m&s Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djh3 Posted October 10, 2014 Share #21 Posted October 10, 2014 Mike I think your kinda at where your at mileage wise. you can probably pick a little up with new plugs and an air filter/tune up and some sea foam. It is a throttle body injected engine right? Or is it direct injected. With the weight of the truck and the smaller engine I think it just has to work that hard. This site I just looked at gave the average for your vehicle that most folks have reported is around 14-15. I think realistically your doing OK, even though you think its killing you. My wife since she started her job last year drives a lot. The old durango 4wd has a 4.7 v8 and around town I'm lucky she gets 12 maybe 13 mpg. Traveling she gets maybe 16, I can squeak 18. but something newer would cost me probably 18k or more. On the mog front it might gain me 3-5 mpg. My thoughts are I know what I have now, I know what maintenance has been done and @ 18k I can buy almost 5500 gallons of gas. Even if you buy say a 2012 or 13 truck of similar size, I would bet you look the milage up and you might see 19-21 highway. Like I said before least expensive way to get highway milage out of it is gearing. Go taller and it wont wind as hard. kind of like the V-max rearend deal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlueSky Posted October 10, 2014 Share #22 Posted October 10, 2014 One more thing you can do to improve mileage especially on the highway is draft the vehicle in front of you. Just be careful they don't end up as a hood ornament. On the interstate drafting can make a huge difference. If you lowered your truck a few inches that would help a lot too on the highway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sailor Posted October 10, 2014 Share #23 Posted October 10, 2014 I forgot to mention I have a hard cover for the box. That definitely helps the milage. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wrenchrob Posted October 10, 2014 Share #24 Posted October 10, 2014 Also make sure the engine is running hot enough. If not it will be in enrichment mode constantly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brake Pad Posted October 10, 2014 Author Share #25 Posted October 10, 2014 Sea foam, okay. Everything else has been done at 275,000:draming::bowdown: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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