MPG woes

[f250sd]

I have an 02,c.c.,f250 lariat, 3.73 gears,long bed ,4x4, w/ the hypertech programmer set on stage 3 ( no MPG difference in all settings, just increase in power ),free flow muffler, original pipes,removed the K n N filter ( saw no difference w/ it, just louder ) , orginal size tires,pulling an 9k fifth wheel avg. around 10 mpg towing between 60 to 65 mph and avg around 12mph empty. no jack rabbit starts. well maintained. Does a lot better than my previous 460 gas ( 6 mpg towing,8 empty ) and previous GMC 6.0 ( 6MPG towing, 10 MPG empty ). However I'll try the bb as suggested by rthimas to increase mpg. Does anyone have any other suggestions that would help? Not complaining about MPG, would jsut like to get the most bank for the bucl

 

[RenoF250]

Dirty fuel filter seems to decrease mileage.

Tires make a big difference. I think the original Steeltex tires with ~65psi do well.

Another big factor is the fuel. There is a station in Reno where the diesel seems to give me 1 mpg better than anywhere else.

I have done everything I have heard of to improve mileage and the best mine will do is 16.5 with normal driving. Now it is down to 15 something because I have 285s on it.

 

[FordGuy100]

Ive never heard someone swear to more than 21mpg out of a cummins or 22 from a d-max, my cummins buddy (96 w/4.10s) has never gotten over 17. I think most of the guys claiming over 20 are either stretching it or driving like old people f**k (45) on the freeway, I have another buddy who has a 97 psd w/3.55s and a 5spd and he drives like cold molasses, he claims 19-20. I wouldnt spend much on mileage only upgrades, it will get self defeating in a hurry- if you spend $200 to get 2mpg how many miles will it take to pay it off? Instead I would focus on maitenence issues and not speeding instead

When I drove a 97 Dodge 2500 4x4 Cummins to California (Bishop) and back, I calculated fuel economy the whole time. Low was somewhere around 18mpg, and high was right at 20mpg. That was driving 70-75mph.