Im sure this has been covered many times, but what are some of the best upgrades to improve mileage. Intake and exhaust is a given even though it doesnt make much of a difference. I have a DP tuner on 80economy with winter fuels i have not seen any better than 12.5mpg. I know im gonna see a lot of responses but lets try to keep it on a real world budget that anyone can afford that really makes a difference. Parking the truck and taking the car is the best thing but im too stubborn and i like my truck too much. I also realize my truck being lifted with big tires makes a difference too but never mind that, thats not gonna change. I dont go faster than 65 mph and baby my truck for the most part. 16mpg is the best ive seen out of my truck with summer fuels. What do you get?

I know i said real world budget but i have been curious to see if anyone has installed a gear vendor overdrive, and what difference it made in mileage.

 

Regearing for your tires is about the best thing you can do. The ROI for gear vendors makes it impractical - 1-2mpg when you drive economically...

There are no magic bullets. Your MPG is pretty good for your set-up. The intake and exhaust will make you feel better - but I bet if you try, you can get your best MPG without the chip.

Back in the day, TDS member Dave Whitman was the king of MPG. NOBODY has ever done as much as Dave to get more MPG's - seriously. The guy was/is an animal when it comes to driving conservatively. He's one of my heroes, I miss his posts - he was largely ridiculed since most of the testosterone-laden gear-heads thought it was dumb to spend time and money, but not wanna go 'faster'.

Anyway, keep good records and document your changes. Be scientific and try to see what mods do seem to help - and keep us posted!

 

When i got the truck there was the stock flat pannel intake on it which i replaced with a napa 6637, it also had a some work done to the exhaust, no cat and magnaflow muffler, i upgraded this to a 4'' stainless straight pipe turbo back exit before the rear tire. This made minimal if any difference. I bought my DP tuner shortly after, about that time they switched to winter fuels so i couldnt record the difference in with and without the tuner. i almost always drive on the 80 economy tune. i also bought the 60 economy tune for highway driving. When i went on my last 2 1/2 hour drive each way i recorded at 65 mph cc set, no warm up time because i filled up just before i got on the express way and filled up when i got off again, on the 60 economy 14.34mpg. on the way back in the 80 economy at 72mph and a few WOT passes and the hubs locked for half the trip i recorded 14.9mpg. So far more power = better mileage. Next time i have to get on the hwy for a while i will set the tuner to the stock tune to have something else to compare to. I only do my comparison on the high way because city driving varies way too much.

 

I have a 2002 350 SCLB on 35 bfg all terrains with kn intake and banks exhaust and i get around 10-11 in the city on winter fuel, just got the truck in october so havent done much testing with summer blend

 

What are the rest of you guys getting on the highway? If your at the high end what did you do to achieve the numbers?

 

Always between 19 and 19.5 MPG mixed city/hwy. However, that is with no lift, stock size tires, 2wd, stock exhaust, stock air cleaner and an easy right foot. My towing highway mileage is right around 13 consistently (5K pound camper)

 

F350 in sig weighs between 9-10k lbs on 33" tall tires has ALWAYS been about 15mpg on hwy at 65-70mph. I csn get less at 80mph and more at 60mph or less. Best ever in over 200k miles was 18.5mpg at 55mph, but it almost killed me to drive that way.

Its possible your truck is more efficient at 72 than 65. A minimal gain like that seems very subjective - especially after just a couple trips...

I dont mean to be a shmartass, but in the last 8yrs I have studied the 'mpg thing' pretty heavily. Some trucks seem to do better than others, but 15-17 is pretty average. More mods almost always means less mpg - the problem with mpg's is people tend to get what they want/think they'll get.

My comment about mpg always dropping with more HP was directed at towing, but would apply to empty trucks anywhere thats not totally flat.....

 

ok ill play.

6" lift, 6637 filter, 4" dp 6" stacks 37" Mickey Thomps radials. dp tunner on 80 econ running at about 66mph with the lift it brings my RPM down to 1700 no tonneau cover

i get 17mpg highway. although this last trip i got 150miles on a 1/4 tank of diesel...

interestered to see how much it changes with new tires and an s&B intake. i constantly got 20mpg city/highway on my old truck

 

Ok, I'll be the offensive one here... you buy an 8000lb truck with an 8" lift and big muddin' tires and are worried about mileage??

I'm like you, I enjoy driving my truck too much to drive anything else. I use it for towing around the farm, and with the cold Iowa winters and idling it to warm it up, I do as little as I can to figure mileage. I need it to do my job, and it does everything I want it to, so I don't worry about it.. too much.

I did just check a tank in the dead of winter and I was right at 15mpg. But I haven't done any towing lately. With the stuff I tow, it's normally around 10-12mpg.

 

but adam its soo pretty and all the college chicks love it...

 

Lol, I know! That's why I don't worry about mileage, these trucks look good, can pull anything and go most anywhere, who wants mileage when you can do all that??

 

Your right foot is the best mod you can do for MPG's.
I have on occasion, got 19.5 - 20 mpg's out of my dually. However that was empty/highway/62mph and probably a tail wind...
But in order to drive like that I have to listen to smooth jazz........... it usually only lasts for a few miles and I'm back to 14 - 15 mpg.

 

haha me either, but it never hurts to have a few extra bucks in your wallet!!

franko whats the deal i though for sure you would comment on the college chick part..im dissapointed..

sorry for the temp hijack

 

I understand where your coming from, i bought this truck knowing that i could do whatever i wanted in it, pulling, mudding and even race the occasional rice burnner and leave them in my smoke. What i am simply trying to find out is if or how to get better mileage. Most of us if not all of us would agree that we bought our diesel trucks because they are so versital, right? We can customize them to do what ever we want weather it be towing, looks, performance, mudding, bragging rights, etc.or a mixture of all of these things. When i look around at other diesel trucks i realize that our trucks are just as versital and more reliable, with the only down side is mileage. I figured if there are things that other people have done to there trucks to improve mileage why not share? Were all here to help each other (thanks to all that have helped me). If there is a reason that we cannot obtain semi decent mileage please fill me in on it and i will rest my case.

 

Sorry Phil, I try not to think about college chicks anymore I'm staring at 40 and I have to start looking at older woman.....