Dodge 1500 EcoDiesel

I found filters at KLM Performance a six pack for $155 plus shipping of $10, a little better than Geno's so I just ordered them there.

http://www.klmstore.com/2014-ecodiesel-30l-fuel-filter-6-pack.aspx

Going to change the oil, oil filter, and fuel filter tonight, truck has 9898 on it sitting at work now. Tomorrow I should be hauling a bobcat with it in the evening and then every evening after that I will be hauling 2 pallets of pavers on the trailer, so right at 9k#.

Oil change message came on at 500 miles till 10k, which shows 5% oil life left. Through the 10k miles when I checked the oil life remaining it always was fairly consistent with the mileage.

My idle hours are low, thinking like 25 or so without going out to look at them. My driving hours are probably low for what most would consider 10k miles to be, last time I checked my average MPH it was in the mid 40's for the life of the truck. When I change oil tonight I will check it and post it up.

Hauled 2 yards of topsoil in the bed on Saturday. Definitely not a 2500, but it hauled it fine and I was able to maintain highway speed. I think a set of air bags or something like that will be a purchase fairly soon.

Hauled a Gehl 4635SX skid steer last night with filled tires. According to Google it weighs 5500# with regular tires, which are about 100# vs 800# with them being filled, according to the owner. Trailer weighs 3200# empty, so total weight being towed was about 11,500#.

Truck did OK, I was able to maintain speed, but it took a while to get to there as the truck was definitely laboring with the load. Still was able to maintain 20 MPG according to the idiot box.

Today I am hauling about 9 to 12 yards of CR6 stone home on the trailer, and before the middle of the week I will be hauling the pavers, so by the middle of next week I will be able to give better towing information. As of now, if I keep using this truck to tow I am going to have to get air bags, the springs are soft and sink with just the trailer behind the truck, and is almost sitting on the stops with the skid steer yesterday.

Thanks for the Info Travis. I'm looking hard at one of these for next summer!

Well I got about 4 yards on the trailer, my side boards were too short for 9 to 12, lol.

I also moved a Cat 247B track machine this weekend, it weighs 7k#, plus the trailer puts me right at 10k#. It did it surprisingly well, the larger hills were a chore, but I could easily maintain the posted speed limit.

Yesterday I hauled two pallets of pavers, 6.25k# worth, and was able to maintain interstate speed, 70 MPH.

My idiot box said it was getting 17-18 MPG when towing with a load, towing the empty trailer said around 20 MPG.

If you plan to tow with this truck, get air bags, and flip your hitch up, not down. Overall I am very impressed with the towing capacity of this truck, but I will not get rid of my 2500. Then again, I do tow up to about 36k# with the 2500, and I know this 1500 will not even be able to move that kind of weight.

You don't need your 2500. According to a salesman I talked to they didn't stock or sell 3/4 tons because the half tons can pull and handle just as much :umno:

Poor kid, I just gave him the dumbfounded look and went along LOL

I drove Dad's truck for more than around the block finally and I was impressed, good power for what it is. You can set the cruise at 85, didn't try it at 95 since the truck did not feel real good at that speed and I felt the need to back off a bit for curves. The wind was kicking it pretty good though, so that might have had something to do with it. 80 and below it feels really solid. My only complaint is how quick it downshifts with light load, but as said earlier that could be an emissions thing. He is averaging around 25 in a crew cab short 4x4. With 64xx on the odometer the DEF tank is just below 1/2 full.

So far Dad is really tickled with it, he figured out how to pull up the radar map on it today, that really made him happy.

Billysgoat said:

and below it feels really solid. My only complaint is how quick it downshifts with light load, but as said earlier that could be an emissions thing.

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Saves the transmission.

I can see that, it tries to keep the RPM above 2k with any load to it.

Thanks for the updates. That's pretty impressive to see that economy towing. I got the wife a 14' 2500 diesel last June and we love it. When I inherit her truck she may end up with one of these.

Keep in mind that is what the idiot box is showing, not hand calculated, nor reset prior to towing with it. I would be confident to say towing up to 10k you will get about 17. The flatter the area you live in or drive in the better, I drive in a very hilly area which really hurts the mileage.

One thing I have noticed that I do not like is that there is no engine break, if you have your cruise set it will downshift to slow the truck down when going down a hill, sometimes twice, taking the RPM north of 3,000. There is a stretch of road that I drive every day that I never set cruise on because of this.

06 DIESEL said:

Keep in mind that is what the idiot box is showing, not hand calculated, nor reset prior to towing with it. I would be confident to say towing up to 10k you will get about 17. The flatter the area you live in or drive in the better, I drive in a very hilly area which really hurts the mileage.

One thing I have noticed that I do not like is that there is no engine break, if you have your cruise set it will downshift to slow the truck down when going down a hill, sometimes twice, taking the RPM north of 3,000. There is a stretch of road that I drive every day that I never set cruise on because of this.

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That's the one feature I think I'd miss. The drivetrain probably isn't quite there to support engine braking.

But one would think half the power of the larger ram trucks would not hurt drive train longevity, yet still help enough to notice.
That mileage is awesome no matter, we tow mostly in the flat, except when going to the coast.

Billysgoat said:

I drove Dad's truck for more than around the block finally and I was impressed, good power for what it is. You can set the cruise at 85, didn't try it at 95 since the truck did not feel real good at that speed and I felt the need to back off a bit for curves. The wind was kicking it pretty good though, so that might have had something to do with it. 80 and below it feels really solid. My only complaint is how quick it downshifts with light load, but as said earlier that could be an emissions thing. He is averaging around 25 in a crew cab short 4x4. With 64xx on the odometer the DEF tank is just below 1/2 full.

So far Dad is really tickled with it, he figured out how to pull up the radar map on it today, that really made him happy.

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I've gotten to drive both the truck and the jeep for work. I was less than impressed with the tuning on the truck. the jeep was much more responsive. they both drove nice and had decent power.

I have driven a few newer vehicles that do not have engine breaking anymore. All of them were 2013 or newer, gas vehicles, and the Ecodiesel.

This is some mileage results I got from towing this load this past weekend. This was in the tow/haul mode also and I did not use cruise control at all. I also drive about 5mph over the speed limit to factor that in and most of the driving was 55mph and 70mph other than the backroads and towns. I will also say the tires are not stock and height wise they measured 32" tall and the stock tires that were on the truck measured 33" tall. I'm not sure how much that will effect my results and I have not checked into it yet either. I just figured I would post my results. Also I don't remember exactly what the number was but it was like 14.3 to 14.8 at the half way point when I arrived where I was going. The way home is where it dropped and I believe it was because it was a little windy on the way home.

Whats this about radar?

Have you checked it by paper? just to see if the computer is close.

diesel_importer said:

Have you checked it by paper? just to see if the computer is close.

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I mapquested it the exact route I took and it came up with 622 miles so I would assume it is close but I did not calculate out on paper. Well now that I think about it I have a rough idea on paper what it was on the way home. I drove roughly 335 miles on 25.9 gallons of fuel which should be around 12.9 mpg.

Well just figured I would update you all on the truck. I now have just shy of 21,000 on it. I bought the truck brand new on 2-9-15 with 17 miles on it, so at 21 weeks of owning it I am at 21,000 miles, right at the 1,000 a week I figured I would be putting on it. Overall average is 27.5 MPG. Towing is lower than I thought, around 14ish. These are off of the idiot box, not hand calculated.

I am still impressed with the truck, the ride is great, the mileage is awesome, but if you tow a lot or tow heavier it is not the truck for you. With 4 yards of asphalt millings on my trailer I could not go over 50 or the trailer would begin to sway bad. I think it has to do with the suspension of the 1500 vs the 2500. If I was only keeping the 1500 I would definitely get sway bars as well as air bags, but I am almost done fixing my 2500 so the towing with this truck should cease to exist as soon as I get the 2500 back on the road.

I have changed the oil, oil filter, and fuel filter every 10k miles, so far nothing looks out of wack, and even though it suggests fuel filter changes at 30k, I definitely would not wait that long. My fuel is filtered at the pump at the station into my transfer tank, transfer tank into storage tank, storage tank into truck, and truck into motor. The filter still looks dirty after all of that filtering, and the station is known for good clean fuel that I get it from.

The oil change with oil and fuel filter cost me about $125 each time, with me doing it myself. Don't plan on saving money on oil changes, the dealer quoted me $250 for this same service, FYI.

I am going to look into transmission service, they claim lifetime oil life without service, but I doubt I trust that.

Wait till you spec the cost on the trans service , Its about $250.00 on the filter/Pan and another $150.00 for the fluid. I'm just going to drop the Filter/Pan and clean it and re-install, after that until the cost drops on the Filter/Pan ,I'm only doing fluid changes at 20K intervals.