Hello everyone I just joined but have learned alot from reading on here.

So heres my question. I bought my first vehicle about 6 months ago, a 1993 f350 Crew cab long bed with the 351w. Right now Im running 33's with everything stock. I want to put a 6" suspension lift and 3" body lift on and 37" tires. Right now im averaging about 9-10 mpg with mostly city driving and no compression on my #8 valve (burned valve). Im obviously going to get that fixed before lifting it but Im just wondering what kind of mpg I can expect once it is running right again with the lift. I want to make sure I can afford to drive it. Sorry for the odd question just looking to see what im getting into. Thanks for any info

 

6-7 city, maybe 9-10 highway at 55?

 

I figured it would be bad..

 

Yep, as stated, the mileage will go further down. Keep it how it is until you can actually afford to run it with bigger tires.

 

one thing that will absolutely kill the mileage is running oversized tires with the original gearing. Realize the cost of lifting your truck includes the lift, all extra bits and pieces (anything over a 4" lift will require drive shaft mod(if I remember right) as well as steering knuckle replacement), Tire and maybe wheels, Gears on both ends if 4x4 (they go $250ish on up, per end, as well as bearing replacement, alignment (attempted), and extra cost of gas. There are plenty of people out there who don't get too hurt on mileage because they re gear it, but it will be worse. Stick to 4" if you can.
I personally had a good friend lift one(sounds about the same setup you are thinking of) and he had tons of tinkering(all the time) and his truck sucked gas. Like really sucked.. I think around 5mpg on ave.
If you can afford it, more power to ya!

 

At minimum, I hope you have either 4.10 or 4.30 gears. Otherwise, you may as well name your brown truck Rover.

Jason

 

picture your truck flipped upside down and being moved down the road.what a mess all that junk is there for air flow right? we wouldn't accept such an aerodynamic mess if it were up in plain view like this.
when you lift a vehicle,your introducing even more air under this dirty aero area.this alone hurts economy.lowering the vehicle would reduce the airflow under,and increase economy.
now your jacked up in the air,so you can fit large tires.not only will it require the engine to work harder on take off (where the engine is very poorly efficient) if you don't drastically lower gear ratio's to help compensate.even still,they're much heavier no matter what.to top this all off,once you do get going,not only do you suffer from increased rolling resistance from the lift,but also wider tires.so to maintain the same speeds will require a lot more fuel.


if your asking this question,my guess is you drive the truck too often for this,or lack the funds to make such an alternation affordable for yourself.id suggest you think harder about doing it.at least for now.when the time comes that you have a few spare grand,be sure to have a small commuter car for actually driving around in,and just keep the lifted truck for play/occasional purposes only.

 

It is already regeared with 4:30's, it was done by previous owner. Thanks for all the info. All valid points. I know it wouldnt be the most practical setup but if I could keep around 8-10 mpg It would be great.

 

8 mpg isn't what most would consider "great." your talking about spending over a grand in fuel between oil changes.

what's great for some,may not be so great for others.

Tom drives his truck just 3k miles per year.
@ 8 MPG and $3.42 per gal, Tom pays $1,283 a yr in fuel.

Dick drives his truck 8k miles per yr.
@ 8 MPG and $3.42 per gal, Dick pays $3,420 a yr in fuel.

Harry drives his truck 20k miles per yr.
@ 8 MPG and $3.42 per gal, Harry pays $8,550 a yr in fuel.

If your unfortunate to be like Harry,you will spend $85,500 in fuel alone if you plan to keep your truck for 10 yrs.
and that's if fuel prices didn't go up at all in the next 10 yrs....umm.doubtful of that one right? iv got a strong feeling,Harry will be kissing around 100k or better goodbye.....just in fuel.


as you can see,your talking about the upper end of 460 truck fuel economy reports.see how expensive these trucks are in just fuel alone over just a 10 yr ownership duration for those who drive a lot is?
personally,i put the miles on that Harry does.

so i strongly encourage you to rethink what would be "great" fuel economy for your truck.especially if you drive a lot.
things are not what they used to be,when the price of fuel was just a buck a gallon.very,very careful consideration must be taken before purchasing or altering a vehicle today.
im not saying don't do it.it's your $.im simply warning you.how much it would suck to spend all kinds of $ on a truck and no one told you what to expect first.thank goodness for the net so we can research first.

 

Fix your engine and see how fuel economy and power increases. With lost compression, you're literally dumping unburnt fuel out the tailpipe, and washing down the cylinder (which can cause damage). Your oil probably smells like fuel as a result. With the engine only making power on 7 cylinders, those 7 cylinders need to work harder to get up to speed and maintain it, thereby requiring more throttle and more fuel.

Think long and hard before lifting your truck. My primary logic has always been "what's the reason"? If you're a rancher and need to cross streams and go through rough territory, then by all means do it. If you plan on driving to school, work, Subway, etc and maybe going down a dirt or gravel road....then it may not be in your best interest. Don't build a "mall crawler" for the sake of having a lifted truck on huge tires, the daily financial cost and livability isn't worth it.

FWIW, CCLB or even SCLB trucks look cool when lifted and have huge tires, but they usually aren't that great off-road. The length makes them difficult to maneuver through trees and around obstacles, and the length also lends them to becoming high centered or hung up easier.

 

I dont think that 8 is great, I guess I meant to say that I would be fine with that. In the 7 months I have owned it I have put on 3k miles. So I dont put too many miles on it mainly because school and work are close. I appreciate all the info negative and positive. Thats why I made this thread to know what to expect if I do decide to lift my truck.

 

You should get even better answers if you tell us what do you intend or want to do with the truck, we might throw some ideas for you.

 

Do you mean why I want to lift it? or what I would do to help improve fuel economy?

 

I mean, what will be the funtion of the truck, what will you be mostly using it for.

 

The reason for wanting to lift is to make it much more capapble off road. It is used for hunting, camping, and fishing. I also plan on using it for short trips in town.. So i guess it would be a semi daily driver, work is less than 2 miles and school is also close. Im not trying to build a mall crawler, just make it more useful offroad and more enjoyable.