Poor gas mileage

[Scram1500]

I just thought of something in regards to aero, so my previous truck was a 2016 GMC 2wd and those trucks sit rather low in the front, especially for the 2wd. I would get amazing MPG with that truck as I left it stock. I sold the truck to my brother in law and he promptly leveled it and now he can't get higher than 21 on the highway, while I had it, I would regularly see 25-27 mpg on the highway.

So I wonder if lowering the Ram in just the Front would improve MPG? Just a crazy thought in my head right now.

I can see it now, It'll be like the 70's all over again!

 

[HemiDude]

I just thought of something in regards to aero, so my previous truck was a 2016 GMC 2wd and those trucks sit rather low in the front, especially for the 2wd. I would get amazing MPG with that truck as I left it stock. I sold the truck to my brother in law and he promptly leveled it and now he can't get higher than 21 on the highway, while I had it, I would regularly see 25-27 mpg on the highway.

So I wonder if lowering the Ram in just the Front would improve MPG? Just a crazy thought in my head right now.

You might think that would help, my Laramie sits lower on the front than my Big Horn did, by about an inch, and I don't get any better mpg with this than it did the other. Granted this GT is heavier too, so there's that...

 

[Bigbags85]

So I just took the Ram for a 4 hr round trip and managed 21.6 overall average MPG. This was on the freeway for the most part.

A few things I noted:

1. Speed, with my setup 4x4 w/ 3.92 64-66 mph is the sweet spot for the best MPG.
2. Wind/aerodynamics these new Rams are not the most aero friendly, and this only worsens with more speed. Only way around this is reducing speed.
3. Acceleration is hard for me as I like to get up to speed swiftly, but I took my time getting speed and my MPG reflected that. *Note, this is not always practical due to traffic and such*

Side note, if you really want to see some great MPG find a truck/suv to follow and watch how much your MPG will increase. You don't need to tailgate, just a nice average distance and it makes a huge difference.

Nice! I can't dream of getting that high mpg at anything higher than 60 around here. 65+ I'll get about 18mpg.

 

[Trooper4]

Nice! I can't dream of getting that high mpg at anything higher than 60 around here. 65+ I'll get about 18mpg.

Short trip to Spokane and back. Kept it at 65 all the way home just to see how it would do on winter fuel.

 

[Dewey]

Short trip to Spokane and back. Kept it at 65 all the way home just to see how it would do on winter fuel.
View attachment 150561

What was the outside temp? I drop 4-5 mpg from 40 degrees down to sub zero temps. Anything above 40 doesn’t seem to have any affect on gas mileage whatsoever.

 

[Bigbags85]

Short trip to Spokane and back. Kept it at 65 all the way home just to see how it would do on winter fuel.
View attachment 150561

Wow! The roads here are apparently weird. If I take the one highway to work that is 55 (not that hilly but small ups and downs and runs right along the lake) I'll only get 18ish. If I take the other highway that is 65 and probably 20miles south of the 55mph road I get about the same mpg. Those are both E-W oriented roads and elevation maybe changes 20ft at one point. However, when I am on the N-S 55mph road i'll easily get 22-25 lol. I've given up on caring haha.

 

[Trooper4]

What was the outside temp? I drop 4-5 mpg from 40 degrees down to sub zero temps. Anything above 40 doesn’t seem to have any affect on gas mileage whatsoever.

I think that day it was around 45/50. I was actually running around 23, but at about halfwaw I picked up just the slightest headwind.

 

[Trooper4]

Wow! The roads here are apparently weird. If I take the one highway to work that is 55 (not that hilly but small ups and downs and runs right along the lake) I'll only get 18ish. If I take the other highway that is 65 and probably 20miles south of the 55mph road I get about the same mpg. Those are both E-W oriented roads and elevation maybe changes 20ft at one point. However, when I am on the N-S 55mph road i'll easily get 22-25 lol. I've given up on caring haha.

That make two of us. I just keep tabs on it in case it makes a big change.

 

[Bigbags85]

That make two of us. I just keep tabs on it in case it makes a big change.

Same. I think I get a lot of cross wind on both of those highways because one is right off the lake and one has farmland on one side of the road.

 

[Trooper4]

I think the best I ever got was back around 30000 miles. Did a trip from central WA over to the Olympic Peninsula, up through Forks and Sequim, back to the 5 and down to Portland. Around south side of Mt Hood and back up to Ellensburg WA. Can't remember the miles, but kept it down to 60/65 and some 55 on two lanners, and averaged a little over 25 hand calk. Just wasn't in a hurry, and enjoying the sunny weather. Usually run in the 70's and don't see anything close to that. But, MPG isn't why I bought it.

 

[Topsella40]

I'm constantly 11.3-12.1 mpg I don't really drive long runs mostly stop and go ..im a little disappointed and i do follow it try to figure out the sweet spot but i didn't buy a truck for gas mileage

 

[397STROKER]

I can't complain. With it leveled 3" and 1.5" in the back plus aftermarket rims and 34" tires an getting 16-17 with 70% highway driving at 75-80. I have 3.92 gears and I am a crew cab 6.4 bed. This gets a little better in wormer weather of course.

 

[Sportznut]

I can't complain. With it leveled 3" and 1.5" in the back plus aftermarket rims and 34" tires an getting 16-17 with 70% highway driving at 75-80. I have 3.92 gears and I am a crew cab 6.4 bed. This gets a little better in wormer weather of course.

Similar here but I'm not lifted.

I do tend to remote start and let it idle quite a bit so I'm probably doing a little better. I think the EPA rated mileage is pretty accurate if you drive it within speed limits.

It's been four years and 50,000 miles and I still love driving this truck. My only regret is not getting adaptive cruise control.


Sent from my SM-N960U using Tapatalk

 

[mscholle]

I've seen reports of others getting poor gas mileage in their 5th Generation Rams. Mine is horrible. Has anyone else gotten a dealer to figure out what's wrong with this truck?

Getting back to the O.P. question - has anyone figured this out? By "this" I mean that some 5.7s are getting 18-19mpg, and some are getting 11-12. It's NOT the gearing. I have 3.21 gears and I'm getting 12.5 all day, every day. Nothing added to the truck, no mods. Not in 4wd. This is a 2021 Laramie 1500 4wd without eTorq. It is a night edition, which comes standard with 22" wheels and 285/45/22 radials. People pulling trailers getting better mpg than me. I'm using 87 octane fuel. Have not had it to the dealer for this yet - only had it a month so far and still learning. But the O.P. said his dealer has looked at his twice and found nothing. It's really as though they're putting two different engines in the RAMS and calling them the same thing.
BTW, I have a 6.4 hemi in a challenger, and in TRACK mode it's getting about the same as the 5.7 in the RAM - 12MPG. Track mode keeps the tranny in a low gear so that the RPMs are always above 2k. Something is NOT RIGHT with some of the 5.7s in the RAMS!

 

[mscholle]

This. 3.92 axle ratio in Rams have been natorious for terrible gas mileage for the last decade. I have the Bighorn Hemi with Etorque...with 3.21 axle ratio....averaging 24 mpg (75% highway). Axle ratio makes a huge difference with Rams for some reason.

You're averaging 24mpg with the same gearing as me, and I'm at 12mpg. I don't have eTorq, but nobody says eTorq is good for an additional 12mpg.

 

[theblet]

Maybe try gas from a different station or try running 89 octane.

 

[Dewey]

When I drove Chevy’s it was the same thing. One guy could get 19-20 mpg and another couldn’t do better than 12 mpg. Heard that a lot talking to others. Somehow I always ended up with the good ones. Gotta make you wonder if occasionally one slips through with a different tune or has some type of driveline drag affecting MPG.

 

[kapinallinen2]

I can see it now, It'll be like the 70's all over again!

View attachment 150544

I wish...

 

[6of36]

Maybe try gas from a different station or try running 89 octane.

I definitely see different MPG from different stations. Sam's club by me seems to usually be the cheapest, but gets worse mileage than other stations.

 

[6of36]

I've had many trucks, and the biggest factor for the MPG is speed. As soon as your speed goes above maybe 65 to 67, MPG drops dramatically, due to wind resistance. EPA estimates started rating back when the national speed limit was 55, and still use that. At 75 the mileage drops by 3-4 MPG. I also never get rated city. Due to my lead foot, I usually get about 2 less. If I want to take it easy, I can get 21+ MPG, but I drive 5-7 over on the freeway and accept 18-19.