What Highway Mileage Do You REALLY Get in Your Full-size 4x4 Pickup?

April 23, 2018 5:53 PM

I'm considering upgrading my old pickup to a 2010-2015 Dodge Ram 1500 or Ford F150. Automatic transmission and 4x4. I see highway mpg estimates online but I want to know what people REALLY get.

I'm only interested in the above-described two truck models.

It's Montana - we drive 80 mph on the Interstate.

posted by ITravelMontana to Shopping (6 answers total)

Fuelly is a good resource for this. For example, here's user data from over 7000 Ford F150s. You can narrow it down by engine, submodel, year, etc. You can browse other models here (trucks are under "cars" for the purpose of this website).
posted by AFABulous at 6:59 PM on April 23, 2018 [4 favorites]

Response by poster: Sweet! Thank you!
posted by ITravelMontana at 7:46 PM on April 23, 2018

20.5 mpg in my 2017 F150 with the eco boost is what I average (noodling around semi rural 45mph roads and then 65+ on highways). I dont have a cover on the bed, which would help add a gallon or two. Its not great, but its not horrifying.

Not what you asked- we thought about the ram, but it has a lot of reliability issues. Everyone who leased one loved it, but were happy to give it back at the end. We bought the ford, and are 14k miles in and love it. Feel free to message me with questions if you want to chat. Also, I asked a question about pickup trucks last year and it was those answers that helped us decide on the Ford
posted by zara at 7:52 PM on April 23, 2018 [1 favorite]

I have a 2008 F150 Crew Cab extended bed. 4x4 on demand. I get 15-16 mpg highway.
posted by AugustWest at 8:47 PM on April 23, 2018

Seconding AFABulous on Fuelly, and also wanted to mention specifically that Fuelly was originally built by mathowie and pb in 2008! (More related threads at the time: MetaTalk, MeFi.) They later sold it to a new owner in 2012.
posted by rangefinder 1.4 at 3:12 AM on April 24, 2018 [3 favorites]

I know you only wanted those models but I get to a point eventually: I have a 2006 F250 with the Triton V10 and I get about 12 on the highway. However, it used to have more "street" tires (treads looked like our minivan's although they were still 'LT' tires) and I got about 15 highway; after changing to more 'truck' like tires with grippier treads my MPG dropped, so you may want to consider more than just the truck itself, tire choice has an effect too.
posted by AzraelBrown at 4:36 AM on April 24, 2018