Im looking at buying a 1995 f250 5.8l. the body is in great shape. milage = 180k. the only concern is gas mileage. i would like to hear your mpg increase success stories. im willing to change add or remove anything to see an increase.

 

Can you remove the body and frame? Not trying to burst your bubble, but a 5,000 pound brick powered by a 1960’s engine is only capable of so much MPG new, much less a leaky worn out engine.

I could see a short bed f-150 and a stick shift getting high teens, but the frame is running gear is a bit heavier on the 250.


Now in actual advice, proper tune and operating condition is the biggest factor in fuel economy. Everything working the intended way
Without losses due to friction or waste...


All synthetic fluids, wide-gapped Spark plugs, 9MM wires, quality cap and rotor. All clean air filters and fuel filters, clean injectors, good fuel. No vacuum leaks whatsoever. All sensors Functioning properly. EGR working.

no brake dragging or marginal u-joints....

anywhere you can reduce friction, do so.


I don’t think you could crack 17 mpg

 

At what speed are you wanting to know the MPG? What people get at 75-80mph is going to be almost half of what they might get at 55mph.

 

Tire size, tire type, gear ratio, two or four-wheel drive, Standard, Super, or Crew Cab, all will play a role.
Don't fall into the pit of "get rid of all that smog crap" either in my opinion. Even if you live in an area that does not test after the fact, the engine is just plain made to run at it's best with that stuff.

A '95 from what I remember "might" be a Mass Air Flow (MAF) engine, but it could still be a Speed Density (SD) engine. Do you know which yours is? If you have looked under the hood already (or better yet, have pics?) you should be able to tell.
I don't actually know if one gets better fuel economy than the other, but it might be a thing in this equation.

Depending on the answers to those questions, you could be looking at the 8-10 mpg range around town, and 12-14 on the road. Maybe squeak a teeny bit more out of it with your driving habits/techniques, but not every time.
And speaking of highway speeds like was mentioned, what is your general use for a truck like this? Do you drive the speed limit or under, or do you keep up with traffic whatever the speed?
I have not yet gotten my '93 out on the open road (it's an around town trailer hauler) but I'm kind of dying to try it out to test mileage before I swap rear end gears. It's got 3.07's (or something like that) right now, so is kind of a dog around town, but I bet it gets half-way decent mileage out on the open road with no headwind downhill.

Paul

 

It'll be speed density on a 1995 F-250 5.8L.

My all time high mileage was 21 mpg. I could count on one hand how many times its broken 18 mpg. All trips of no faster than 65 mph, no head wind, maybe tailwind, no load, and back when I had little 29" tires. Now that my truck sits higher and is ~32" tires, about the best I get is 15 mpg, but plan on 13-14mpg (all highway mileage). In town? Probably 10mpg. It's always been terrible in town. Oh and this is a 1996 supercab short bed F-150 (5.8L/E4OD/4x4/3.55 gears). Heavier F250 will likely net a little less.

I would say don't buy a 25 year old truck that's not known for good fuel economy if that's your #1 concern.

 

How big are out front/side/saddle tanks again? With a long bed super-cab, I can fill up and drive about 140 miles just around town, with maybe five minutes total on the highway, before the tank runs dry and I have to flip it over to the rear.
That does not sound stellar to me, but it's about what I would expect. If that's a 19gal tank, that's about 7mpg or so. Assuming the pickup screen can suck the tank truly dry.
Guess I'll have to pay more attention to how much it takes to fill up next time. I do check it, then I don't write it down and completely forget before I've gone through another tank.

I think old worn out tires, too-tall gearing, long time since a tune-up, seldom driven, all contribute to the around town mileage fiasco.
Really looking forward to that freeway test when I can find the time.

Paul