Alright guys I'm looking for some help and was referred to this site for opinions and answers.

I have a 2001 F-350 4x4 7.3 4' lift w/ 315x75-16 Toyo MT's. I've got the replacement bumper on front and back and was wandering what I can do
The truck is stock other than the bumpers,tires, and lift which were all done by the original owner by the dealer when he purchased the truck.

I'm getting 11.5 mpg right now and was looking into a chip, exhaust, and air intake system. Give me your thoughts??? Brands and performances that you've noticed.

 

oh alot of time in the truck is on the dirt or sand of the beach where 4x4 is needed.

 

welcome to FTE! them tires arent stock!

 

First off, a lifted truck with over sized tires will get worse mileage, but if you need a lifted 4WD, then you have to expect that.

A big factor on these trucks seems to be RPM range. How quickly do you get to 2000 rpm's and how often do you go over 2000? You didn't say if your MPG was city or highway driving. We also need to know what rear end you have (assuming your mileage is reported in 2wd).

Chips/tuners CAN improve fuel economy, but they also provide more power, so if you will be more tempted to lean into the throttle due to the increased power then they won't help you. DP Tuner seems to be the favorite for the 7.3 crowd is that's the direction you choose to go. A 6637 intake is cheap and should give you all the intake airflow you need. For a handy little list of mods look at this link http://7point3.com/Mods.aspx

Welcome to FTE. You've found the single best tool for your truck.

 

welcome to FTE...

with winter fuel and them big tires your MPG will suffer ..the best place to start is to look for any soot build up on the up pipes ..they connect the exhaust manifolds to the back of the turbo...then check all 6 boots going to the turbo..4 in the IC pipes and 2 under the turbo going to the heads..after them all check out you can clean the EBPS tube going from the passenger side manifold leading up to the sensor just in front of the HPOP..here is a good write up on cleaning it.. any one or all of these things can lead to poor MPG..
http://guzzle.rbmicro.com/ebps.html
playing on the beach a lot can stir up a lot of dust to be sucked into the turbo..i would pull the air intake tube off of the turbo and take a good look at the turbo wheel for any dusting or nicks in the wheel..grab the nut holding the wheel and try to wiggle the wheel side to side up and down for any play..you may feel a little play but no more then .001.(the wheel can not hit the housing)...that will fill with oil when the truck is running..then try to push the wheel in and out..there should no play at all there...

 

F-350-6 most of my trips are through town or on the main loop. I try to keep it between 60-67 cause it's like stopping a freaking train. I've got the stock 3.73 rear-end. I try to keep it at around 1900rpm and at 65 that is where it sits. go to 70 and I hit over 2000rpm in 4th. gear.The truck shifts out of 1st. at around 10 mph and it shifts usually around 1800 rpm. Going into OD at around 48mph. and than it's up with the rpm.'s.

Ron I will check on the turbo and the tubes this weekend after the rodeo if I ain't huntin. I'm sure the guy I bought it from just did routine maintenance at the dealer cause was a stickler for properchecks and what not. I was thinking of having the injectors checked as well.

 

Be careful of getting the injectors checked at the dealer. They will recommend flushing the injection system just due to the age of the vehicle.

Try the things Ron suggested and see how that does. Tightening the boots will take you less than 5 minutes, so you might even do that before this weekend.

 

welcome to the site,
a K&N FIPK air intake might be the way to go

http://motorhaven.autoanything.com/a...A1914A0A0.aspx





http://www.autoanything.com/air-inta...A1914A0A0.aspx

 

How are you figuring you fuel mileage? Don't use the Lie-O-Meter as they are far from accurate. Did you allow for the difference in tire size when figuring your mileage?

If you are using the odometer and gallons used, look at the door tag and see what the stock tire size was. They were either 265/75/16 or 235/75/16.
If they were 265's add 10% if 235's add 14%. Not a ton I know, but with the price of fuel, 1-2 mpg puts you up to 13-14mpg which with the low sulfer fuel, big tires, and using 4x4 all the time is close to about average. I know I took a big hit when I put on the bigger tires. It didn't bother me that much at the time, as diesel was $.72 gal in '01 when I bought my truck.

A good intake, exhaust and tuner will help the most if all else is well with your truck. Problem is, the tires kill the mpg the most, but that's the way it goes.

Oh yeah, welcome to FTE! Anything you need to know, you'll find it here.

good luck,

Austin

 

I was getting about 12 MPG after I got the truck lifted 4" and out 35's on. Same height as your tires, but wider. I had also done the Superchips Flashpaq tuner in the medium program.

I did the Zoodad mod and also found the rubber shield was partially blocking my snorkel opening. With just fixing that I am back to 14 MPG town, 15+ MPG highway, better than it was stock with 285's!

I have not changed the air intake, though I am planning on going with the Ford AIS next.

Darren

 

the last time I checked i used GPS and amount of diesel used. I drove the same amount and used the same amount on multiple trips to the ranch. Now I understand that traffic and other variables play in as well and figure that in too differences as well. My best calculation will come in a couple weeks when I make a good long highway trip to go fishing. I'm going to do the checks as Ron suggested later on today.

 

Fishing, cool! Let's go!

Darren

 

This was taken off the cummins MPG Guide

Introduction: Understanding Fuel Economy
The importance of fuel economy to the successful operation of a trucking company cannot
be understated. Fuel is one of the largest variable costs in a trucking venture, and, while no
trucking operation can control the cost of fuel, it has at least some control over the amount
or rate of consumption.
Rock-Solid Rules
§ Every 2% reduction in aerodynamic drag results in approximately 1% improvement
in fuel economy.
§ Above 55 mph, each 1 mph increase in vehicle speed decreases fuel economy by
0.1 mpg.
§ Worn tires provide better fuel economy than new tires, up to 7% better fuel economy.
§ Used lug drive tires can get up to 0.4 mpg better than new lug tires.
§ Ribbed tires on the drive axles provide 2–4% better fuel economy than lugged tires.
§ Every 10 psi that a tire is underinflated reduces fuel economy by 1%.
§ The break-in period for tires is between 35,000 and 50,000 miles.
§ Tires make biggest difference in mpg below around 50 mph; aerodynamics is the
most important factor over around 50 mph.
§ The most efficient drivers get about 30% better fuel economy than the least efficient
drivers.
§ Idle time is costly. Every hour of idle time in a long-haul operation can decrease fuel
efficiency by 1%.
Weather and Seasonal Conditions
You can’t control the weather or the seasons, but they definitely affect your fuel economy.
Running only on sunny days with moderate temperatures is very impractical, but you have
to take the weather and seasonal variations into account when checking fuel economy.
Ambient Temperature
Air becomes more dense as temperatures drop, which increases air resistance. For every
10° F drop in temperature, aerodynamic drag increases by 2%. Thus, fuel efficiency will
drop by 1%. Overall, fuel economy tends to be higher in the summer than the winter.
According to North American Truckload Fleet Data, driving in the summer increases fuel
mileage by 8 to 12% over driving in the winter months.
Temperature also affects the tires’ inflation pressure. Tire inflation tends to fall when the
temperature drops. Running tires low on air pressure in hot weather is more of a safety
issue than a fuel economy problem. And heat is the tire’s worst enemy. For safety and
economy, check inflation pressures frequently with an accurate tire gauge. When seasons
change and temperatures fluctuate, increase the frequency of inflation pressure checks.
Wind
Headwinds and crosswinds can significantly increase aerodynamic drag and reduce fuel
efficiency. For every 10 mph of headwind or crosswind, mpg is reduced by nearly 13%.
You cannot cheat increasing wind resistance.
Rain and Snow
Precipitation such as rain or snow increases rolling resistance because the tires must push
their way through the water, slush or snow on the pavement. Also, water is a more effective
coolant than air, so the tires, transmission lubricant and axle lubricant operate at cooler
(less efficient) temperatures. Rolling resistance and drivetrain friction in light rain increase
fuel consumption by 0.2 to 0.3 mpg, per SAE testing.
Fuel Blends
While blended fuels provide better startability and protection against fuel gelling than
standard #2 diesel, fuel efficiency decreases. “Summer” fuel improves mileage up to 3%
more than “winter” fuel.