39 replies to this topic

[Vic Harder]

19 mpg on the last tank! picking up the PUMA today

[EM4]

Good luck with it all Vic......You must be looking forward to it.

[Vic Harder]

Back in Calgary with the camper.  4000 miles later.  Good thing my wife and I enjoy travelling together!

Without the camper, the truck averaged 19.5 US mpg.

With the camper, we averaged 16.4 US mpg.  

In both cases, we were driving at the posted speed limit, as verified by GPS.  Which meant a goodly amount of time at 75 and 80 mph, and on the way home with the camper, we had some very strong head winds and a LOT of rain.

 

I am VERY happy with the improvement in mpg over my 2500HD, that had the 8.1L gasser and averaged 10.5 mpg and a range of only about 300 miles.

 

Only issues we've had so far is noise... the exhaust drone is super loud... about 86 db-c in the cab at 75 mph, 88 db-c at 1500 rpm.  Interestingly, the noise level appears to have gone DOWN with the camper mounted, to about 84 db-c. 

 

The other issue is that the alternator quit as we were pulling onto our driveway yesterday.  Great timing!

[buckland]

Long road trip but a successful one. That mileage is terrific for such a large engine.
Can mufflers be added to quiet the beast? Mods rule ... make it your own. Enjoy.

[Vic Harder]

I had added a muffler before the trip, it helped, but the drone was still there.  Swapping the muffler for a FTE Diesel 5"x 30" resonator tonight.

[klahanie]

Re: fuel consumption. So now you know what all those diesel guys (used) to be talking about, eh?

 

Maybe when it's on, the camper is absorbing some of the noise coming from the rear  - or the added wind noise is cancelling it out .

 

Do you have a boost gauge of sorts? Be interesting to see if the resonator reduces required boost (prob not but one can hope).

 

Good deal so far. Alternator holding up was icing...

[Vic Harder]

 

The Auto-Vox X2 looks cool.  I'd like to have one by the looks of it.

It will be interesting to hear your long term review.

 

Not exactly long-term yet, but ... 

1) The mirror is fabulous in general

2) The wide angle view takes some getting used to... stuff looks far away in the mirror, side mirrors show it isn't

3) I find it too bright at night, especially headlights which cause massive glare

[Vic Harder]

I had added a muffler before the trip, it helped, but the drone was still there.  Swapping the muffler for a FTE Diesel 5"x 30" resonator tonight.

The resonator is golden.  The 1400 RPM drone is completely gone.  Noise level at 1400 dropped from 88db down to 80 or so.

 

I've also started adding in noise suppression foams, Dynamat equivalents, etc.  Just done the area behind the back seat so far, and that has been worth another 2-3 DB.  I can hear the transmission/gear/tire whine now, and the stereo is down from "19" to 15 on the volume setting.  

 

Oh, and the alternator was toast.  New alternator, and all if good.

[Vic Harder]

17.6 Tall gears? I'm happy with 16.5

3.73 gears.  2100 RPM is 80 MPH on the GPS.  Haven't been off road with it yet, but the torque feels really good... can't imagine a need for shorter gears.

[buckland]

Hey! Still waiting on a photo of the new set up!