What years of diesel pickups got the best fuel mileage?

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Tony_Alberta

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So I've been reading occasional comments stating that recent diesel pickups get worse fuel mileage than the older ones.  So I'm curious.  What years did get the best mileage? 

I see no reason to spend the $ to buy a new pickup so will be buying used.
 
Late 80's to early 90's Dodges with the 12 valve Cummins seem to get the best mileage. 

If you are looking for something newer, Ford Powerstrokes between 1999 and 2002, Dodge Cummins up until 2006 and Chevy Duramax between 2001 and 2006.

I am a die hard Ford man but cannot endorse the 6.0 liter engine between late 2003 to 2007.  They are notorious for unreliability. 

Stay away from any diesel newer than 2006 if you want better fuel mileage.  My 2002 Ford F-350 weighs 8,400 lbs empty and I get 15-16 mpg city and 17-19 mpg highway.

I will say that you need to have a major justification for owning a diesel nowadays.  Higher initial expense, higher maintenance costs, higher fuel costs.  Technically, it's cheaper for me to own a gasser that gets 70% the fuel mileage that my truck does but diesel runs through my veins now and i'm addicted.
 
I like the better torque and engine braking in the mountains of the diese.  I plan on purchasing a 35'+ fifth wheel and living in it full time.    Here in Canada the price of gas and diesel is about the same.  Although I will likely be spending some winters in the US. 
 
lone_star_dsl said:
Stay away from any diesel newer than 2006 if you want better fuel mileage.

I will say that you need to have a major justification for owning a diesel nowadays.  Higher initial expense, higher maintenance costs, higher fuel costs.  Technically, it's cheaper for me to own a gasser that gets 70% the fuel mileage that my truck does but diesel runs through my veins now and i'm addicted.

I gotta disagree with part of that statement.  A significant part of what kind of MPG your truck gets is the configuration of the truck.  I had an 04' Dodge Cummins with a six speed, duals, and was a 4X4. The best it ever got was 14-15 MPG, but it pulled the heck out of my 30' 5ver.

I now have a 08' Dodge long bed, auto, 2 WD. It has the new 6.7 Cummins and I get 18-20 MPG highway easily.  The best reason to buy a diesel is for longevity and how hard you are going to work it.  I will hopefully one day pull a good size boat with it, and routinely load the long bed with broken concrete, or a couple yards of landscape rock at a time. Pulls it effortlessly. 

I too am a diesel guy, and would have a diesel Jeep if they sold one here in the states!
 
Happy (very) with the "Beast" and how it pulls the unit.  Still breaking-in and getting 17 without, 12 pulling.
 

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jje1960 said:
Happy (very) with the "Beast" and how it pulls the unit.  Still breaking-in and getting 17 without, 12 pulling.
That is right in the average for the 2011 Fords and I have done some research on them...
So from my foxhole, that is better than the older fords, stock anyway.  But not enought to make it cost effective to replace ol reliable.
I am seriously thinking about a 2012 or leftover 2011 Ford though....just because.. ;D ;D
 
SargeW said:
I had an 04' Dodge Cummins with a six speed, duals, and was a 4X4. The best it ever got was 14-15 MPG, but it pulled the heck out of my 30' 5ver.

I now have a 08' Dodge long bed, auto, 2 WD. It has the new 6.7 Cummins and I get 18-20 MPG highway easily. 
Are both those numbers pulling a fifth wheel?
 
My 2002 Ford F-350 weighs 8,400 lbs empty and I get 10 to 12 mpg pulling my 32' 5er 10,500 lbs.  Did much better before ULS Diesel.  My son's 2011 F350 with the 6.7L does better than my '02 F250 7.3L.
 
My 2005 Cummins  driven empty on highway gets 24.4mpg @70mph. Towing my 26' 5er gets anywhere from 13.5 to 15.5 mpg @ 65 mph. There are no mods of any kind on my truck 100% stock... Hope this helps someone.
 
Tony_Alberta said:
Are both those numbers pulling a fifth wheel?

No, no 5ver with the new truck. Those numbers with the 06 were empty.  The dually with the 4X4 really had some rolling resistance. The numbers with the 08' are still with only 7K on the clock. I don't drive it much right now.
 
I gotta speak up for the Chevy.  We have a 2007 Chevy 2500 diesel and on the highway we get 20 mpg.  We don't pull with ours, so don't know that figure; but others who have the same truck get 12-14.

Marsha~  A Chevy gal
 
SargeW said:
I gotta disagree with part of that statement.  A significant part of what kind of MPG your truck gets is the configuration of the truck.  I had an 04' Dodge Cummins with a six speed, duals, and was a 4X4. The best it ever got was 14-15 MPG, but it pulled the heck out of my 30' 5ver.

I now have a 08' Dodge long bed, auto, 2 WD. It has the new 6.7 Cummins and I get 18-20 MPG highway easily.  The best reason to buy a diesel is for longevity and how hard you are going to work it.  I will hopefully one day pull a good size boat with it, and routinely load the long bed with broken concrete, or a couple yards of landscape rock at a time. Pulls it effortlessly. 

I too am a diesel guy, and would have a diesel Jeep if they sold one here in the states!

Very true.  I was speaking more in generalities than specifics. 

I once had a 99 F-350 dually 2wd work truck.  It had a six speed and a 3.73 rear.  Between it's lighter weight, gearing and low stance, that truck constantly got 22-24 mpg's on the highway.

Configuration certainly does play a very large role in fuel economy.
 
Marsha is right on too. A buddy of mine has a 08' Chevy diesel and pulls a big 5ver. He was getting 13-14 pulling his fiver on a recent long trip.  A caveat here is that he is a steady 55 MPH driver. But he loves it to death.  The Isuzu diesel is a well proven motor.

In defense too, my 04' dually had a 4.10 rear end.  Super low, but it could pull a train. 
 
Marsha/CA said:
We have a 2007 Chevy 2500 diesel and on the highway we get 20 mpg.  We don't pull with ours, so don't know that figure;
Gotta ask...If you pull nothing why do you have a 3/4 ton Diesel truck?


SargeW said:
In defense too, my 04' dually had a 4.10 rear end.  Super low, but it could pull a train.
Yea, my Truck in my sig has 4:10's and can pull the lips off an elephant. ;D
 
Gotta ask...If you pull nothing why do you have a 3/4 ton Diesel truck?

Well ::) I should' a said......we used to pull stuff.  we have/had horses.  Then we lost (to old age..horses that is.... not us) two of the horses, so we sold the trailer.  The third horse is also old and wants to just stay home; when you have horses, ya need a truck. 

Also we had a house built and so we needed a truck to haul landscaping stuff.  And, the real reason, I love trucks!

Marsha~
 
BronekR said:
My 2005 Cummins  driven empty on highway gets 24.4mpg @70mph. Towing my 26' 5er gets anywhere from 13.5 to 15.5 mpg @ 65 mph. There are no mods of any kind on my truck 100% stock... Hope this helps someone.

I think you are watching the Lie-o-meter on the overhead.  The only way I could hope for that kind of mileage would be if I followed the guy who drove off of the south rim  of the Grand Canyon. ;D
 
I challenged my lie-o-meter with the low-tech pencil/paper recently... errrr sorry, was same as lie-o-meter....
 
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