20 is pretty good. My 88 Ranger 4x4 2.9 x-cab gets about 18 and my 97 Dakota 4x4 318 auto gets about 13 (yuck)

 

thanks to all that responces, some good
1) i am thankfull for 20m gal,all ways looking for something new
first 4.0L owned. mostly 289,302,4.9l,351m,351c,.and if i was worried about gas i would buy a toyota.

latter

 

tune her up and take the restricter out of the air box

 

what is the end result , more air flow?

 

It isn't "illegal", i can't really think of a situation where power will get away from danger. I can only think of sticking the brake pedal to floor to save you or swerve. Flooring the gas just gets ya in more trouble. I'd rather have someone hit me, than me hit them. Saves on my insurance

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With all due respect, if your vehicle is out of gear then you are not in complete control (more reaction time required). I managed to avoid being hit by dumping the clutch (without having to devote time to shifting) and hitting the gas to get out of the path of a driver that had lost control of her vehicle.

In Louisiana it is against the law to allow the vehicle to "coast" while the transmission is in neutral. Whether or not the law is stupid it is the law. Posters are correct in that a law enforcement officer would not be able to tell unless he is riding with you, but that doesn't negate the safety aspects of the law.

The law probably hails from a time when brakes were not very good and there wasn't a thing called an automatic transmission. It used to be considered bad form to use the brakes to slow down. Long ago brakes would "fade" if used for too long a time and would be practically worthless when needed to make the "final" stop.

 

If you are getting 20, sounds like you have removed most of the lead out of your foot. free flowing exhaust and intake. regular maitnince, simple stuff like that.

 

i get about 17. my way of getting better milage is to drive the wife's car and use her fuel. but hey, 17 is great after 5 years of getting 12 with a 350 V8 3/4 ton chevy 2wd.

 

I have 94 ext cab 4.0, 5sp 2wd, get a consistent 20 mpg at avg 70 mph. I tried without the tail gate got about 1 mpg better but the truck looked like crap so I put it back on. I also have a bug deflector which will knock mpg down as do running boards, wide tires etc. I have the boards and run 235-65 15 tires/wheels.

I have also put a streetsmart design cold air intake, and a 2.5 inch exhaust from the Y pipe includes freeflow cat and magna flow muffler. Tail pipe has minimum of bends to aid in exhaust flow and still all I get is 20mpg. Also platinum plugs and premium wires, gonna try MSD wires when I get some $$ may try to upgrade the DIS but it runs about $400 so its kinda out of the question.

I have found that when I occasionally add premium (1/2 tank) to the 1/2 tank regular that I get a little better milage, but at $2+ now I dont mix.

So after all this I think 20mpg may be about the best you can expect from a 4.0 2wd man trans.

hank

 

what brand plugs do you have?

 

autolight platinums.

Hank

 

do you know what your Gear ratio is for your rear axle? If not thats ok, and how big of a difference are free flow cat's supposed to make? I was thinkin about gettin one, and since my truck has 113k on it, i figured its probably time for a new one anyway, or are they supposed to last until the rot into the ground?

 

Cheap and legal way to getting higher MPG:

I have gotten 27 MPG on my '90 Ranger 4.0L before. Nothing special about my truck, a regular, single cab truck, with a small load in the back, but not much... it even had around 150,000 miles on it. And the fuel gauge was broken... (still is) so I had to go by my odo. to know when it was time to fill up...

How did I get 27MPG???

I was driving the long trek down 395, from Bishop CA, to Palmdale, CA, in the middle of the night. Very few stops- a relatively straight old highway, slightly downhill the whole way... a great drive to make at 3AM, especially on a full moon... with snow on the mountains along the highway... (but still a desert)

Anyways I was doing 60 MPH, or less. As slow as I could, without my truck shifting back into 3rd. (it's an auto-tranny) I may have had a tail wind the whole time, but I don't remember. Oh yeah... and I only use Chevron or Shell gas. They are both good for getting higher MPG... the higher price is offset by getting more miles... Arco gas SUCKS! Even though I'm poor... I still get Shell (or Chevron) gas... because it pays off in the long run.

You need a lot of patience to do something like this. The next time I made this drive, I drove 75-80 down this highway... my MPG went down to around 21 on this section. So, as much as I know you all don't want to hear this, but slower driving does equal higher MPG, as long as you don't go TOO SLOW.

Of course, it doesn't save MUCH, but with a 1000 round trip, saving $20 is kinda nice when you don't have much $$$.

 

my 4.0 2004 only gets like 15mpg city and 19mpg highway(window sticker) and thats new so i wouldnt complain too much

 

peter I have a 3:08 final ratio. The cats will plug up so yes they will need to be R&Rd eventually. Like I said I went to an independent performance shop and the guy custom made the exhaust system from the Y pipe which he had to make an oval adapter for and he put a minimum amount of bends in the system. You would be surprised at how bent and curved the OEM is. Fewer, straighter sytem gives better flow. BTW I have 140000 on the speedo as of this Morning. The guy that did my trans recommended that I go at least 1 size up on my tires next time, will affect around town, but increase highway milage a little. I plan to cover the bed one of these days as again I have read that if you smooth the flow it will help a little. I have truck box in back and have a frame made that I need to cover that will cover the bed from the box back. Just havent gotten around to finishing it up yet. Now that the prices are up again might be reason enough.

 

I have an '02 4x4 4.0 Edge. The mileage is beyond poor. In the winter I get 9.8 to 10.2 city & 13-14 freeway. Summer isn't much better with 13 city & 14.8-15.2 freeway. I have maxed my tires to 35 PSI & have a bed cover. I have a Volant intake en route as we speak & hope (beyond hope) it will help. This summer I will try to get the JBAs too. 4.10 gears don't help, but, in short, be thankful you are getting upward of 20.