school me...12 or 24 valve?

[CHOP SHOP]

I get 15mpg with stock little tires and 4.10 gears. Would be higher but I dont want 3.5s or big tires. I trust the tranny more with low gears.

I normally pull my 24 foot deckover (3500) and my wheeler (?4000) with gear (500) 8000lbs towed.

 

[ish]

I have a 1997 12v, I like it. Buy something and fix it - everyone is doing it!

 

[SASDakota]

quite a load at 15k...I got 10 with my 12v, it had a #100 fuel plate with plenty of power, pulling a single I could get 15

My best towing is 16.7mpg towing my dakota on a 7k trailer @ 70mph with 3.55s and 33" ish tires.

2001' 24v Dually 47re trans
100hp injectors, AFE intake, 4" exhaust, HX35 with a boost elbow, Edge EZ chip

Empty I can hit the 20s (these #s are hand calculated btw)

 

[SASDakota]

I get 15mpg with stock little tires and 4.10 gears. Would be higher but I dont want 3.5s or big tires. I trust the tranny more with low gears.

I normally pull my 24 foot deckover (3500) and my wheeler (?4000) with gear (500) 8000lbs towed.

Is 15mpg empty or with what load?

 

[CHOP SHOP]

Is 15mpg empty or with what load?

doesnt seem to matter.

 

[Bill]

the "best".....my 10 was with 18k pulling with 4-5 trucks all pulling doubles at 75, we all pulled over at the same time and all used close to the same amount of fuel....I get my "best" when pulling solo because I drive like a grandpa and keep it close to 2k rpm's
I am new to the area but I did notice a couple hills here....maybe the best is coming down and not pulling up?
Also....the guys spending all the money on the tow rig don't get there any faster than the guys with a stock oil burner

I have pulled across the country in both directions many times...I am a disabled vet and when folks ask me what I do I say I am a profesional Jeeper LOL

All these oil burners are so nice compared to the trucks back in the day when I pulled with a Dodge with a 440.(with dual tanks

 

[Lucky Jeff]

98s had 12v and the nicer body upgrades. 98.5 is a 24v so you are VERY limited to what 98s will have a 12v

And I am not sure the 12v does better mileage than a 24v.

the only body upgrades are the quad doors (optional, they still offered club cabs) and the mirrors.

 

[SASDakota]

the only body upgrades are the quad doors (optional, they still offered club cabs) and the mirrors.

and the steering wheel. and the gauge cluster :awesomework:

 

[Lucky Jeff]

and the steering wheel. and the gauge cluster :awesomework:

Sorry, I was assuming that since you quoted me, you actually read what I typed. My mistake...

12 valve is less maintenance, usually get better mileage, easy and cheap to mod for decent enough power for most people to be happy for a tow rig without hurting mileage. Early 98's were the only 12 valves with the new interior and optional quad doors. It's best to stick with the 96-98 trucks, but 94 and 95 are still decent.

 

[SLIPPY]

Geezus. Ive got 21.5-22.5mpg towing my wheeler across the pass. 96 12 valve NO fuel plate, 100+horse injectors, DV's 60 or 62mm turbo. Average is 17-18. Even when i had a heavy ass camper.

 

[Binder]

You've got people sending them over to the bomber board. They need to be informed adding HP/torque increases your chances of shattering #6 gear. So it's said again

Just torque. A transmission doesn't care how much HP is there.:;

 

[Lucky Jeff]

Geezus. Ive got 21.5-22.5mpg towing my wheeler across the pass. 96 12 valve NO fuel plate, 100+horse injectors, DV's 60 or 62mm turbo. Average is 17-18. Even when i had a heavy ass camper.

I'll give you 100 bucks if you can prove it. I've seen people get pretty remarkable numbers. But that is way over anything I have ever seen while towing..

 

[ImBentAgain]

BEWARE of the 5.9, 99- 01. IF it has a 53 stamped on the block above where the steering box is. If your block isn't cracked yet, it will be.

http://www.locknstitch.com/dodge_truck_cummins_block_crack.htm

I've fixed 4 of them with mine as the only fail. I had to learn how to do it on my own and it didn't go so well.
The crack looks just like this:
http://www.locknstitch.com/Repair pdf files/Series 53 Cummins 5.9 engine block.pdf

I've also learned that the early 6 speeds were not rebuildable. In order to rebuild them, you had to replace the entire gearset, The new gearset was then rebuildable.

 

[Lucky Jeff]

BEWARE of the 5.9, 99- 01. IF it has a 53 stamped on the block above where the steering box is. If your block isn't cracked yet, it will be.

http://www.locknstitch.com/dodge_truck_cummins_block_crack.htm

I've fixed 4 of them with mine as the only fail. I had to learn how to do it on my own and it didn't go so well.
The crack looks just like this:
http://www.locknstitch.com/Repair pdf files/Series 53 Cummins 5.9 engine block.pdf

I've also learned that the early 6 speeds were not rebuildable. In order to rebuild them, you had to replace the entire gearset, The new gearset was then rebuildable.

the 53 block is not the only one that cracks, and they went to 02

 

[SLIPPY]

he's a bit lost...

Adding hp/torque increases your chances of breaking something... go figure :redneck:

Increases your chances of breaking everything. Thanks bud.

 

[SLIPPY]

I'll give you 100 bucks if you can prove it. I've seen people get pretty remarkable numbers. But that is way over anything I have ever seen while towing..

I know 1 person that was there. You do to.

BUT to him, i guess it's only hear-say. As that's what i calculated while at the pumps. I'll let you keep yer 100 :haha:

 

[SLIPPY]

Well yeah, what'd he think would happen?:redneck:...Nothing's bulletproof. Period! :; What I will say is I think the op is after a reliable rig with decent power....reliably. And I can safely say that even a stock coal-blower would yield major improvements (comfort,mileage,reliability,etc....) across the board over the current tow rig!!!:redneck: I think the folks here need to see a pic of what said diesel would be replacing...:;:stirpot::corn:

These trucks have problems STOCK with a 6 speed. Doesn't matter bullet proof. Get enough weight/power back there and BOOM. Just letting the viewers know

To me, its like KDP. Must let viewers know about gear #6.

 

[zukkev]

BTW, it's still 17-18 MPG AVERAGE, with my truck.

...it's about a 12V vs 24V ('94-'02)---let's keep it that way...I agree the 6th gear is relevent, and I may have accidently deleted that as part of the whole PSD tangent the thread got off on...When I get a chance, I will read thru, and bring back pertinent info, and delete the rest. Let's keep it to relevent info for this thread.Thanks.....:awesomework:
I agree (as mentioned earlier), a 12V vs 24V sticky in Tow Rig section (all yrs) may help with folks curiousity/queries on these rigs...

 

[SASDakota]

I find it VERY hard to believe you pulled 21.5 towing... Maybe if you went up a mountain and coasted back down and then filled up. But those numbers are WAYYY outside the normal range of any 6bt that tows.

 

[Binder]

My guess is he didn't go far enough to get an accurate read on economy. Also could have overfilled at beginning/ underfilled after......That's why to be accurate you really need to take an average over a very long distance.....