I'll be completely honest with you. Mods for MPG will not pay for themselves in gas savings unless you keep the truck a long time. Buy mods, but do it for the fun, not the mileage.

Tonneau covers reduce drag, but add weight. I've seen thorough testing done with ideal conditions and on a dodge ram the weight of a hard top tonneau actually hurt more than it helped.

Nobody has ever proven where an intake helped mpg conclusively. Some make a few claims, but it's so negligible it's not worth spending the money on if that's all you're getting it for.

Exhaust is another red herring. It's not going to pay for itself within 2 years at a minimum. Any marginal gains you get will be adapted to by the computer. You might pick up 5-10 hp, but it all comes back to driving habits.

Superchips isn't a magic bullet either. Personal experience on that one. The first tank or two it will get slightly better mpg, but once the computer learns the new programming it's back down to the same old same old.

If money's tight and you need to save on gas, egg-shell the pedals and focus on driving. Driving habits can swing you from 10 mpg to 15 mpg alone by watching the rpms and coasting whenever possible. The best I've ever personally recorded was 22.3 mpg almost exclusively highway driving. Another mod that will actually make a difference is going with a drastically smaller diameter tire, but it's not very practical if you don't hit the tracks.

I'm not saying you shouldn't mod your truck (lord knows that's not what I'm saying!), but mod it because it's fun and makes you happy. If you can't live with the 12-15 mpg you're probably getting now, it's time to see your local dealership about trading it in. Challengers get marginally better mileage I hear.

 

If money's tight and you need to save on gas, egg-shell the pedals and focus on driving. Driving habits can swing you from 10 mpg to 15 mpg alone by watching the rpms and coasting whenever possible. The best I've ever personally recorded was 22.3 mpg almost exclusively highway driving. Another mod that will actually make a difference is going with a drastically smaller diameter tire, but it's not very practical if you don't hit the tracks.

I'm not saying you shouldn't mod your truck (lord knows that's not what I'm saying!), but mod it because it's fun and makes you happy. If you can't live with the 12-15 mpg you're probably getting now, it's time to see your local dealership about trading it in. Challengers get marginally better mileage I hear.

A big +1! The cheapest and easiest "mod" is to drive like there is an egg underneath the gas pedal. Not saying you shouldn't mod your truck, but most mods are for more power at the expense of slightly less fuel mileage. I haven't modded mine ($$$ is in short supply :bawl. My Ram (see sig below) has 3.55 gears and 17" rims and has averaged ~17.5 mpg over 119K miles (that's hand calculated, not the overhead display) with a personal best of 21.02 mpg on a 600 mile trip (light load, AC not used) with the cruise set at 65 mph. Wait, that's my second best. I did 21.8 mpg driving at 55 mph in a 100 mile run (wasn't in a real hurry and experimented with driving at 55).

I've found the real mileage "sweet spot" is to set the cruise at 61-62 mph. It's fast enough to allow the transmission to get into final OD and the MDS to kick in and air resistance is still minimal. Driving at 55 is even better but I feel like I'm crawling. Might be my next step if gas gets to $4+/gallon.

Don't expect great mileage in city type driving. The Hemi just likes to drink heavily in traffic. If you really better fuel mileage, you'll need to trade or buy a Challenger SE (V6), Avenger or something similar.

 

Yeah none of the mods are gonna make a worthwhile improvement. Ive done all but the tuner and they havent made much of a difference in performance either. Like others have said driving habits are key to gas mileage. Run your factory installed tire size as I have lost a few MPGs just going up one tire size.

 

Now that's some good advice!

 

Any mods that add power will be at the price of extra fuel consumption. It takes X amount of fuel to make X amount of HP. Waiting on the obligatory guy to come in and post "who cares abot gas milage go buy a hybrid". I agree with the advice given above driving habits will go a long way.

 

I voted "all of the above" because better fuel economy is a cumulative thing.

But IMO the best thing you can do is also the simplest. Keep the thing properly maintained to include everything from the proper fluids and fresh filters right down to proper tire pressue...

 

Hemi and fuel economy in the same sentence? Staying off the pedal is the best advice you can get. My 4.7 can get 20 but my drive is 60% highway, the 5.7 I had never got over 12 on the same drive.

 

Buy a 4cyl.

 

The best mod to get better gas mileage is to get really light 17" rims (Centerline forged wheels are extremely light) with small tires. This can reduce rotational mass in the driveline significantly. This can also be expensive and offset the increased cost of gas.

 

Thanks for the advice....prob. Will end up with it all eventually. But Atleast I have a better idea of what I'm in for...

 

Great conversation & great advice that we all can learn from but be warned....there is a chance that a barrel of oil could climb to $200.00 or more & that's just plain CREEPY!!!

 

.90cents a gallon for bio diesel. I'll be looking into it.

 

 

You May Want To Check Out Berlin Canvas As They Make Soft Tonnue Covers For Our Rams. The Plus Side Of This Company Is They Offer A Wide Range Of Colors For Being Soft Covers. Everyone Has Black, My Truck Is Bright Silver And The Cover Matches My Truck. They Even Sent Me Two Samples Before I Ordered So I Could Make Sure Which One Best Matched My Truck. A Soft Cover Is Much Lighter Than One Of Those Hard Covers. A Cover That Matches Your Truck Color Is Sooooo Much Cooler Than A Run Of The Mill Black One. Plus The Cover Will Improve Your Mpg

 

Beef up the wiring to the coils and injectors. Beef up and protective sheilding around the crank, cam and knock sensor wiring

 

I drive a hemi because it saves me gas 15-18ish mixed (my other rid is a very modded Jeep Xj that gets like 9-10mpg)

 

I voted "All the Above" but my best mod for better fuel numbers was the R&P set. That said, I would add that dropping that much money to save fuel is nuts. The same money that I put into the truck, I could've found a nice used Honda. I went from 11.5 to a little better than 18-mpg on the highway in the Dodge. The Honda would have given me a far better bang for buck. Spending money on mod’s for better fuel numbers is a waste of money.

:imo

 

I did my mods for performance, the improved fuel economy around town was simply a perk.

 

Sell it, but a tiny 4 banger car.