Originally Posted by
Bear
I read a couple years or so ago about either a new word, or a new most popular word. It was "hypermiling", which is defined as doing anything you can do to get better mileage
This is 100% good advice. Google 'hypermiling' and read up on it. The main things are: don't use your brakes, coast as much as possible, anticipate traffic stops, avoid jackrabbit starts, and keep the vehicle in top running condition.
Limit your top speed to 60MPH, anything above that and the mileage goes down really fast. You can make very small, incremental improvements in mileage (less than 1 MPG) by using synthetic oils and gear lubes. Inflate the tires to the maximum pressure listed on the tire sidewall (my father-in-law's 98 Ram's tires will hold 90PSI!) Change the air filter when it starts to get dirty, and also occasionally run some fuel injector cleaner through a tankful of fuel.
A 5.9L Ram from that era is going to be tough on gas, no matter what you do. They were not made to be as efficient as today's trucks are, and will use a lot of fuel. If you do all the things I mention above, including the hypermiling techniques, you may see as much as 1-3MPG improvement; more if you have a heavy foot, less if you don't. But before you consider getting a different, more fuel efficient vehicle, make sure you calculate how much you're gonna spend on it and how much the actual savings will be. Most of the time you're money ahead keeping your current vehicle and just using it more efficiently.
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