I have a 1968 F250 2wd with a 360 2bbl.
is there anything I can do to increase the gas mileage?
I think I'm getting about 12mpg on the open road. Not good.

heck, I know you guys would think it would be criminal, but I've been toying with the idea of transplanting a SBC and a TH400 in this thing. Or maybe a TH350. At least then I could start approaching 20mpg???

If mileage wasn't a factor, I've also considered swapping in a 454. Make this baby have some grunt. I'll bet I could pull down better than 12mpg with the 454 too!

 

I have a 72 and get 14 and I have a light foot. You're getting about all you're gonna get.

 

while your at it, how bout you get a 72 chevelle and drop in a 460, a 9" rear end, A C6 tranny, and some shelby stripes (dont forget licese plates that say "FOMOSPO")

 

A very popular topic on FTE with no solution - none.

You can spend $1000.00, you can spend $10,000.00.

Forget it, there's very little you can do to improve the gas mileage.

The trucks have the aerodynamics of brick. A gallon of regular gasoline was 25 cents a gallon in 1973, and had risen to a buck a gallon by 1979.

Back then no one gave a hoot about gas mileage.

And...all the money you'll spend trying to improve the gas mileage, will buy one hell of a lot of gasoline.

LOL...Did'ja ever own one a those 1975 early 1980's Chevy 1/2 ton trucks? Those piles got 10 MPG whether you drove them in the city OR on the highway.

Even if your drove the double nickel on the highway, the gas mileage remained the same = terrible.

And those figures were based on the 350, I can just imagine what the mileage would be with a 454.

 

Plus its is sacrilege to put a chevy anything in a Ford. If ya want a chevy engine buy a chevy. Can't help the fact that Ford makes a better lookin truck

 

As NumberDummy says this has been hashed a thousand ways before...but what if you were to do a mild build on a 360, nothing radical just a clean-up, about 9.5 to 1, mild cam, stock heads with a 3a valve job, some headers and a 500ish carb, then put a 5spd behind it to a 3.08 or 3.50 rear, what do you think you could hit mpg wise?

 

I have a '68 F250 with a 360 and I get about the same mileage as you. An O/D might help a little. The FE just isn't what you'd call a "fuel-efficient engine", though I've seen people make claims of 17-18 MPG in an FE-powered F-100...

 

there are ways to bring gas mileage up, maybee not a lot and they are spendy but at $3 + per gallon they would pay for them selves eventually. i have been looking into a few options and am going to be installing an nv45oo trans with an aditional overdrive behind it. final gearing out of the tranny will be around .58 helluva lot better than the current 1.0. if you drop the rpms at speed you lessen fuel consumption. i am also looking at installing an efi system a properly tuned efi system makes great horsepower and can help with fuel mileage if you can control your right foot. i also plan on lowering my fornt and rear gears to around 3.00. i dont do a lot of off roading and with the gear splitter installed towing wont be an issue, besides that when i go offroad i will have a 2 speed transfer case if i need to crawl up anything. those are some options i am goint to be doing as soon as the Army raises my pay enough to allow me to. hope this helps with some ideas.

 

If your overdrive gear is to large for the engine to pull, you will get less gas mileage. The reason why is the power valve will be dumping fuel due to low manifold pressure. It all depends on what your diff gear ratio is. For best economy you need to stay in your high torque range (power band), which for FE start around the 1500 rpm range. So you will need to do some calculations with your current setup. My guess unless you have a low diff for pulling the .58 will be too much for the engine to handle in it's current state. A 390 with it's higher torque may beable too.

Even the newer trucks get poor gas milage unless they have the diesel and were not setup for towing or just work. My guess is that 50%+ drive a PU for Status and never hardly use them as a PU.

 

a v8 is a v8 no matter what type of fuel delivery or drivetrain you throw at it. you can squeeze 1 mpg or 2, but look at even the new 2008's, they aint much better! really the only thing you can do to save gas is drive it less. by this i mean if you are using it to commute to work you have the wrong idea. you can carpool with a friend or get a cheap commuter car to use on the side. and then you can still enjoy your quality ford truck on the weekend when you go fishing and whatnot. but everything balances out, it may be a gas hog, but in exchange you get a rock solid truck thats been on the road for 40 years and it aint quittin anytime soon. number 1 best selling truck for the past 30 years, and more still on the road with over 250,000 miles than any other brand! *facts
also its easy to work on, if it breaks you can grab a wrench and fix it.
if a 2008 computerized pile of plastic breaks you have to take it in to a shop, and thats the way they want it, a viscious money cycle.
you're also exempt from emissions testing, and its cheap on insurance.

 

The 67 F100 I had made 16mpg with 3.00 gears and a 4speed. My 67 F250 900# heaver with 4.10s and auto made 12mpg not a big change really.

 

Change the crank and rods out and put a set of 390 parts in place. The mileage should go up a little and will have a lot more power and torque than the 360. All the parts are readily available. Then you will have more grunt with out sacrificing mileage. That all holds true as long as you keep your foot out of it. If you cant do that then nothing will get good mileage.

I had a friend with a 454 in his pickup and it got 5-6 MPG no matter what he did, city driving, hwy driving, towing, it would pass everything but a gas station.

You have to find the right balance, with a small fuel-efficient engine in a big heavy truck, it has to work harder and then burns more fuel. You put a larger engine in with more power it will get better as the engine does not have to work harder. You can go to big and your mileage will be low too.

Jeff

 

The number one, cheapest way to get a little better gas mileage in these things is to toss in a taller set of rear end gears.

 

EFI, overdrives, roller cams, aluminium heads, headers, dual exhaust w/ X-style crossover, 3.00 rear gears, aluminium wheels, synthetic lubes, bed cover, some steps to lighten up the weight, maybe a diesel conversion...it all boggles the mind and strangles the wallet!

 

I believe my rear gears are 3:73???
I am running 15" radial BFG's on it now.
I do notice that it seems to tach out on the freeway at 65mph and it seems to get better mileage if I drive a little slower???

Maybe I should switch to a 17.5 on the rear?