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This is lengthy, but I tried to include everything I have done with my truck. It is a '97 Ram 1500, 5.2L, manual, regular cab, short box, 4x4, highway gearing, bought it with 104k miles, currently at 204k after 5 years. When I bought it, 15mpg highway was normal, now its around 17+mpg. I run a Tonnou cover, but have not detected a difference in fuel milage. Upgrades: BOSCH platinum +4 spark plugs - ~+0.5mpg, slight power improvement, ~$32
K&N drop in filter - ~+0.5, slight power improvement, ~$50
Air-Raid Throttle body spacer - waste of money, ~$100
Catco highflow catalytic converter - ~+0.5mpg, installed the same time as exhaust system, ~$500
Gibson SS exhaust (single tip) - ~+0.5mpg, installed with a highflow cat, definate improvement in power, ~$500 (I bought the one that specified 'quiet' in the cab, it makes a nice v8 rumble outside and hardly noticable inside) I have found that if I run 87 octane the engine pings excessively. With 89 octane it runs better and gets another mpg. Tires also make a huge difference. I run 245/75R-16 Lemans A/T's. Before these tires I had a set of Daton Timberline A/T's. The Timberlines averaged about 0.5mpg better than the Lemans. I run Winterforce snowtires, they cost about 0.5mpg more than the Lemans. Less agressive, harder rubber equals better milage. For engine oil, I run Valvoline High-Milage full synthetic, 10W-30. Not really a milage booster, but doesn't seem to degrade over 3000 miles the way conventional oil does (no power loss over time). I also consume less oil, about 1qt per 3000 miles versus 2qts with convensional oil. Thats all I can think of. Good luck.
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