In my 49 F1 I'm running a high mileage 500ci Caddy with a TH400 trans, a 9" rear with 2.75 gears.


My mileage is pretty good. I'm getting right at 18mpg on the highway. I have a 36 gallon fuel tank. I can really cover some ground before having to stop for fuel. I can run along between 75 and 80 without any problems. The truck does seem to prefer 70 MPH better though.


Bobby

 

1952 f-1
Weight 3340#
Ford 5.0 Coyote engine 420HP
Tremec 5 speed .64 overdrive
Ford 9" 3.50
255/65/R16 tires

Around town 17 MPG

Freeway 21MPG

Highway (less than 70MPH) 25 MPG

Lifetime average on this combo 20 MPG, includes testing, adjusting and numerous occurrences of enthusiastic acceleration.

 

Aside from newer drivetrains, I notice the trucks with high mpg are also those that are lower. Undercarriage turbulence really is a factor, most new cars have belly pans to reduce the drag.

 

272 in my bigwindow runs a 4100 4V duals and I run 70 MPH and get 20 mpg. I do have a 2.72gear in the rear


My panel 292 2v duals 3 speed over drive with a 392 gear running 70 mph gets 18 MPG

 

Wow! Some great mileage on your trucks. I have only driven mine one mile so far. My 09 Dakota with a V6 and a 6 speed manual gets 14 in the city and 17 on the highway. I need to get my 52 going and save some money...

 

Some of them are getting better mileage than Ford's advertised mpg ratings 40 years later for an EFI F-150 with OD. I just dug up my old window sticker to make sure I wasn't remembering incorrectly. I will definitely change my gears over the winter. I had given up long ago as I thought it was about as good as it was gonna get with a carb. Maybe not?

 

I have a 226 with 4 speed crash box and "stump puller" 5.14 gears. No highway mileage (I don't dare) so around town I'm getting 7.7 mpg. And I did pull one tree stump.

 

56 f600 with a 94 5.9 Cummins, 3.31 gears ... 18 mpg combo city/hwy.

 

Specs
'49 F1
350 - 165hp
TH350 trans
Headers with dual Flowmasters 40's dual exhaust
9" 4:10 Locking
Rear Tire are Cooper Tire Cobra Radial GT 275/60R15


Hmmm... I get great "smiles per gallon"... I don't know about mpg though.... but it's always good to start her up and paint a smile on my face as I go for a drive... Some day I might get around to trying to figure out the mpg... would like to have a TPI in at that point too...

 

56panelford MPG is based on Imperial gallons not US gallons. There are 1.20 US gallons in an imperial gallon. So he's really getting around 18mpg - which is still very good for these bricks!

 

I have been known to succumb to some overly enthusiastic acceleration events myself.


Bobby

 

I understand that. Injection and OD make sense. Manufacturers went that direction for a good reason. I have a high performance injected car that is very efficient when I stay out of the throttle. Some of the carbed and especially carb/non-OD combos are what surprise me here. I'm pretty sure I've never owned a carbed truck that got over 15mpg, with the exception of an El Camino I specifically cammed, carbed and geared for optimum fuel mileage.

 

JRJ, you need mount a fuel drum on your bed, wow 7!

I alwAys think the 226 engine is a strong engine but it's because it has a drinking problem!

The carb is really a fuel funnel!

 

Well, it may be the carb, but I think the low mpg is partly because of the gearing. Driving at 40 mph it's winding out pretty good. I don't have a tach, but the fastest I've ever driven it is 53 mph, and I thought it might blow up. (not really) I don't imagine fuel mileage was of great concern to the farmers who used these trucks for work.

 

If we could only pay what fuel cost back when these trucks were new, today nobody would be concerned with the mpg. I can still remember my dad complaining when they raised the price per gallon to 35¢