Duramax Owners-Towing MPG

[crasher]

I get in the 12's in rolling terrain. In truly flat land like Texas thru Arizona, on a warm day, I'd expect a bit more - maybe 13's.

I find the weather effects mileage - winter is the worst.

[Kpinto]

Has anybody installed on of those "programs" to help out mileage?

[Helmsey]

Originally Posted by Kpinto

Has anybody installed on of those "programs" to help out mileage?

I have EFI Live on my truck, but it was not installed specifically for towing, it just happens to have a tow tune available that gives me an "exhaust brake" and some other changes specifically for towing. I like having the option of 5 different "tunes" available on the fly for whatever the situation is.
With your truck being an 08 model there are other benefits it can give you, but I won't go into that here.

[Douglasdh62]

We have a 2006 DuraMax dually, I put a chip in when we first got the truck, on a trip to florida and back to oregon we averaged about 12.8 towing a 30ft Everest 5th wheel. we now are just returning from a trip to Nebr and Colorado and are getting 11.2, lot more hills and mountains on this trip. I am not sure if the chip has helped at all after looking at this forum. we are now towing a 32 ft Wildcat Sterling that weighs about 1000pds more than our last rig. the Sterling is a much better rig than the Everest was tho!!

[Cajun Po-Boy]

Originally Posted by Kpinto

Has anybody installed on of those "programs" to help out mileage?

I've read from others on the Duramax Forum that the tuners out of the box (Hypertech/Diablo/Bullydog, etc..)were getting about 1-2mpg better.
Also, those running more sophisticated tunes like EFI Live we're getting a little better.

[Emery]

Have a 2000 Super Duty and average around 11.5 to 12.5 dependind on head wind or tail wind.
Traded my 32 Ft 5th wheel for a 26 Ft Flagstaff travel trailor. The 5er was about 11000 lbs compared to the 26 Footer which is about 6500 lbs and I still get the same milage.
I also have a Super Chip tuner which gives the same milage as the Stock tune.

Emery

[Filthy Beast]

We have a 2008 2500 HD pulling a Wildcat 282RKX Extralite, the truck is barely broke in at 37,000 miles and is bone stock. Our 3000 mile trip New Mexico to Wisconsin and back we averaged 11.8 mpg, normally running 65 mph.

[MillerTime]

Working for a gm dealer ship and knowing other techs opinions on "chips" or programers, they will in the end cause nothing but problems. The rest of the drive train is not designed to handle the extra power so failured of u joints, trans, drive shafts and axles is much higher when "chipped".These trucks are factory tuned so high as it is that there us realy no need to program one. If you think you do then you probably need a mini-rig or a class 4 or 5. The class 4 and 5 trucks may have the same engine but they are tuned to a lower hp for more reliability.

Just my opinon and many wont agree but ask a tech, they really know!

[ng2951]

My diesel mechanic really advises against them. They can do a lot of what they say but at the co$$$t of reliability and longevity.

Since I plan to keep my diesel for a very long time, I am not willing to give up either.

[Cajun Po-Boy]

X2 on no programmers...

When I bought our diesel used, it had a programmer installed, though I did enjoy the tremendous power and response out of my truck I deleted it shortly after.
When you do your research on these products and how hard they are on "stock" components on the truck, longevity is compromised. I frequently visit the diesel forums and you can see the evidence of this all day long.

I'm happy with our stock MPG and plenty of power it provides without being jacked up!

[ng2951]

Yeah, and I got an LBZ engine too. I really want that baby to work a very long time.