Drove 2000 miles this weekend...
 

...in my Dad's '07 Dodge Ram 4x4 Mega Cab Hemi pickup to go grab a 29' Airstream trailer we bought in Iowa. Folks, this is a big truck. It's branded as a 1500, but is actually built on the 3/4 ton frame and the curb weight clocks in at 6544lbs.

But amazingly, unloaded on the way up North, we averaged ~17.5mpg, with the best tank coming between Little Rock, AR and Cape Girardeau, MO, at 18.64mpg. This is the same stretch where I clocked the two best tanks ever in my car, so it must be a slight downhill stretch between the two.

On the way back, we only averaged 10.8mpg. The trailer itself isn't too terribly heavy at ~5000lbs, but we had a 30mph headwind for about 700 of the 900+ miles back. Combine that with rolling hills, and you can see why FE took such a hit. Still, I managed over 12mpg up the Ozarks and back down in AR, and after the headwinds died down, we managed over 13mpg.

One other thing: the Hemi is an absolutely amazing engine...around 12.000lbs GCW, and this thing STILL had enough sheer power to ACCELERATE up the steepest of the Ozark grades we encountered, and that without using more than ~55 TPS...not as torquey as a diesel, it just simply feels like this engine's powerband never ends.

All in all, I think the truck aqcuitted itself admirably...

Just fun food for thought.... 100+ gallons of gasoline burned produced a bit more than 1 ton of CO2 gas - about a third of the weight of that truck :p

It's just interesting to think of how much that actually is as it's not really a tangible by product :p

its kinda nice to hear stories about trucks in use sometimes. Were you driving normal or were you hypermileing it.

Do I sense a 'hater' vibe here ?;)

I'm actually very impressed with these figures !
When you consider that this thing weighs as much as it does, I think the mileage figures are just great since it is the gasoline version vs. the diesel.
Just think - you guys climbed a mountain with a huge trailer behind you .... and still got better fuel economy than a Hummer carrying a 110 lb lady and her poodle !

I think people have every right to own a truck if they use it to haul stuff.
What annoys me is to see huge trucks used to just go to the mall.
It's such a waste.
( Actually I could care less about wasted gas for the driver of the truck - that their problem. What bothers me is the pollution that it takes to move that truck around town. That becomes all of our problems ...and our kids ... and their kids and on and on. )
But then not everyone can afford to own a second car for getting around town and one as a farm truck to haul stuff.
I shouldn't judge.
Besides, people like their trucks and become attached to them emotionally.
I can understand. I happen to really like my car myself.

It would be interesting to see the difference in MPG between a truck like yours with a lift kit vs. one with a slammed lowering job.

I'll bet an easy 3-4 MPG.

Oh ... and mudders vs. regular street tires .... eeek ! ( They even sound like they are bad on gas )

a guy I cycle with is torn between spending $3000 on a sweet road bike (retail $6000 last year) or buying a new truck for work. I'm trying to persuade him the difference in performance in a truck won't be as significant as the difference he'll experience when its his own legs that have to get him up the hill, and not a matter of pushing on the gas pedal a little harder! I think he'll choose the route of reason.

Not at all, I had the very same revelation upon arriving in Oakland, CA after departing from Orlando, FL :p

No hypermiling to speak of, really, except for gaining momentum on downhills and gradually letting the next uphill scrub it off. The reason the mileage was so good in the Ozarks is also because I was able to have a long coast down the other side of them, which brought it up conseiderably despite having hit 3500-4000rpm multiple times on the uphill side.

I should add that although we do use this truck for truck things, it's also my Dad's DD, and he really does enjoy it in this role as well.

Anyway, I was impressed with the economy of this truck. Few have really ever gotten more than about 12-15mpg in these trucks - even the lighter bodystyles - but then again, I think most people are too busy having fun with the Hemi :)