Welcome to FTE, First Sergeant.

 

I have a 99 f250 V10 CCSB 4x4 w/ 3.73 gears and average 10mpg in town and got 13 hwy with being easy on the go pedal. When I bought it mpg was around 9mpg, I changed plugs, 1 cop, pcv and both connecting hoses, oil, oil and fuel filters, both o2 sensors, k&n filter and 4" cat back. I know I can do better than 13 since it was somewhat mixed driving.

I do have the spd y pipe to swap out as well.

 

HA! So true. Me and my friend both have a V10, the salesman told him, "It will pull the underwear off Superman, but it wont pass a gas station."

 

I've got an 01 V10 auto 4x4 with 170k miles. I count on 14 mpg on the highway, at 65 mph with the cruise set, empty. With my 32' bumper pull at about 65k lbs, anywhere from 6.6 (50 MPH head wind) to 11 mpg. at 60 mph.

A friend told me years ago, start out like you were pushing a wheelbarrow full of water across an ice skating rink with slick-soles shoes on if you want to improve your mileage. These trucks are heavy and inertia management is one trick to use.

There are some "50 mpg club" forums/posts out there, and they have some good advice for improving your mileage with the way you drive. Some of the stuff is stupid, so sort it out. Tire pressure will make quite a difference. I run 70 psi.

Good luck!

 

Ken, when I got my 2009 F250 V10 a year and a half ago it was getting 10.8 mpg. I added a Flow Master dual catback exhaust and a ram air intake set up. I didn't go with the cold air intake because you can't remove the air box without removing the coolant reservoir as they're built as one. Spectre makes a round inline filter canister that houses a conical filter, which is removable or replaceable. I fabricated the incoming 4" inlet tubing to the filter and from the filter to the engine I used the Spectre tubing. The inlet tube is positioned between the radiator and the headlight on the driver's side. The filter sits behind the top of the radiator, over the upper hose, and it looks pretty cool when you open the hood. Gas mileage is now 15.5 mpg by itself, however, when I tow my 8,000 lb. fifth wheel it's 10-11 mpg. I'm still debating on whether or not I want to do a programmer as well. Hope this helps.

 

Im going to try this, I only get 7mpg when towing our camper.

 

Ken, another thing I didn't mention is the fact that I only run pure gasoline in it, no ethanol mixtures. It makes a big difference especially when towing the camper. When we camped outside of Nashville this year I noticed it only shifts down as low as third gear when getting into the mountainous slopes on I-40 and I'm comfortable with that, however, before we returned home from the trip I ended up having to put 10% ethanol gas in it. The engine worked harder in less hilly areas and shifted down to second gear on several occasions. The engine doesn't work as hard with non-ethanol gas and will actually improve fuel mileage by 1-2 mpg. Look on the website pure-gas.org. It will show you a list of all non-ethanol gas stations by state, just pick the state. I use this when we go on long camping trips to strategically plan my fuel stops. I've also got a 40 gallon fuel transfer tank in the bed of the truck.

 

wish we had more of these gas stations in SoCal

 

Through reading 4 pages of answers to this thread with the exact question as the OP, I noticed one major thing that no one hit on until RDS250 posted.

I bought my 02' F-250 Super Crew SB V-10 in 05' with 32K on the clock. It is 2wd and I feel I stole the truck for $20,000. It is a nearly loaded Lariat. 2-tone, leather, you get the picture. When I bought it the idiot ticker in the overhead console said the truck was getting 13.6 MPG. The dealer filled the tank and I did not see with what, but during the 25 mile trip home I stopped and topped it off at my favorite Chevron station. Calculating my own mileage, as I alllllways do, I read 12.9 on the first few tanks. I put 4 new Michelins on it and a tonneau cover and then it was on the road with my all steel flat 1-car hauler to Texas from Florida. I was seeing about 10 MPG hauling the unloaded trailer, but I was high balling. Once in Texas I loaded up a 64' Dodge drop top and pointed the truck toward Florida again. The fist tank or two read just above 9 MPG and I was cruising usually around 70.

I noticed something right away when towing. The truck feels better than my old Diesel Dually. That truck got 13 MPG no matter what you were or were not hauling. My 31' 5th wheel loaded and in tow and I still got 13. Never better. Never worse. That was a GMC. The next thing I noticed was how damned comfortable that truck gets with a load. Quickly after that realization was the fact that my computer starts sending a miss to the plugs at 97 miles per hour!!!!! ****!!!!!!! Yes, 97 MPH towing with a truck I hardly know and hauling a car for a buddy. Not even mine!! OOOOPS!!! That lesson kept getting drummed into my head from about Alabama to home plate. I saw around 9 MPG through all of this paragraph.. lol..

Shortly after getting home from that trip my grandfather died and it was back on the road. This time for Upstate NY. 1250 miles 1 way. 4 adults. 1 very pregnant and all of our luggage and 2 of us driving. On the way up I got mailed for,,,, you guessed it, 97 MPH in a 65.. Hey, I was in a hurry. I damn sure did not want to miss my grandfathers funeral!! The cop was a complete ***, but not his fault. I just felt he could have given me a pass. 3Am on a completely empty highway.. Yeah, I was his excitement for the night.. South Carolina has never been good to me.

At any rate, heading up I did not keep track. I had bigger things on my mind. But on the way back I gassed up in the mountains of West Virginia and something kicked me right in the teeth. The pump said " ZERO ANYTHING BUT GOD'S GASOLINE"... I'll be damned if I didn't get 16 plus MPG on that tank and I am never easy on the peddle.. (I think you've all figured that out by now)!

So now at 102K I am getting and have always gotten 10.6 AVG with the A/C on and 11.2 - 11.5 with the A/C off.. And my trucks SWEET SPOT is right at 70 MPH. I swear I can take my foot right off the peddle and she will stay right there.. Yes, I do understand about the wind and the gearing and loaded and hills, but this truck doesn't care. At 70 it seems like someone else has taken control and I can rest. She floats along and never misses a beat.

So there you have my story. I have only ever changed a few door switches and one tail light bulb in the last 70K miles. Yes brakes all around and 2 sets of Michelin's now and 2 batteries, but no hard parts like Water pump, Starter, bearings, gaskets. Nothing!! I love this truck like no other and it is still the most comfortable truck I have ever owned in my many, many truck owning life!! What does worry me is changing the plugs as I have heard many horror stories about SPARK PLUGS playing CANNON BALL!!! But I am going to look that up here in just a minute..

Good luck with a GREAT TRUCK!!!

 

i currently own a 99 F-350 with the V10 pushing 35's on a 2" lift. I've done some upgrades that boosted my fuel economy significantly. i left all the gearing alone, due to the fact that its already a mean towing machine. i got the truck and it got around 10 mpg going 75 mph. i upgraded the headers and put a 5" exhaust, K&N cold intake, and a Banks performance chip, i'm currently getting about 18 on the highway going 75 mph. might be something to look into?

 

So you only did exhaust and intake air and a chip and picked up 8 MPG??? Nearly doubling your mileage???? I don't know how that is possible. Are you calculating your mileage over many tanks of gas or using the WRONGOMETER on the overhead console? No change in tire size or gears? Is this a single 5" exhaust? What headers?? I would like to do some more research on this..

Thanks for more info. in advance...

Steve

 

I smell something... The K&N intakes have been proven to only show gains at peak RPM which is 4250 for hp and tq. Unless you are WOT the entire time that throws that out the window.

I have a very hard time seeing a 7,500lb V10 truck getting 18 mpg, are you hand calculating or using the Lie-o-meter?

 

Only because the speedo/odometer aren't corrected.

And no. No you aren't, lol

Sent while swerving into the wrong lane...

 

Somehow I missed the 35" tires... I am not sure of the factory tire height but 35" sounds at least 3-4 inches taller than stock and unless corrected and all of your miles are highway the tire height will hurt mileage at every take off.

I get my best mileage at about 70 with cruise set. Highway driving only stopping for fuel. Meaning any time I am mixing highway and city my mileage is around 10.5 with the AC on and 11.6 with AC off. This can also have to do with summer and winter fuel as I am in Florida and my A/C is on for about 9-10 months of the year. Also on 10% crops.

 

I think the best advice I've seen here has been to lay off the pedal and use at least 87 octane. I just returned to Arvada Colorado from a Wounded Warrior trip to Moab where we were rafting in the Cataract on the overflowing Colorado river. Awesome trip with some great Warriors but that's not what I'm here for.

I'm driving a 2002 F350 Crew 4x4, Big-O Big Foot Tires & a V10. No mods except the KN air filter. Watched my foot closely and tried to keep my tac less than 2200 unless going up to the Eisenhower Tunnel and Vail Pass where it was steady at 2700. I even let the cruize take it up and down at 70 mph by only turnning off the overdrive. Sat back and relaxed while the truck passed up everything else on the road. Avoided the urge to speed or text.

I calculated my mileage on Fuelly.com at 13.2 mpg for the trip which was over 700 miles. I use 87 octane. My normal mileage is right at 10.2 with 50/50 city/hwy. Not bad for a 6400 lb truck. Huah!