Well with the oil companies bending us over I figgured we should all get together and share tips for better MPG.

Off the top of my head:

tire pressure is very important

Speed if you keep about 5 mph below the speed limit it will greatly improve milage from my expiriance and hardly efects arival time.

Don't be shy post your opinions.

 

well you could run used motor oil, i believe it would be fine if you filter it down there are some good posts about that on the alternative fuel page. personally i am going to try that in the near future. There was a link on a post here might still be on the first page it had a link to a guy that runs 100 percent wmo and his truck runs fine. there was also something about a mercedes diesel running a mix of 90% wmo to 10% dsl that raised his mpg by 10 (though i certainly wouldn't expect it) also add some diesel treatmnt i like the ford diesel additiv, gives my truck a little better throttle (kinda gives me worse mileage) but your truck noticably runs smoother. you could get a bigger downpipe open up the exhauste more. i would like a turbo.

 

Clean Air Filter would make a difference also.

 

I drive a 36 mpg beater Saturn when I don't need my truck. And run red diesel when I do

Jason

 

Smooth driving

Take off from stops using less throttle.
The faster you try to get 7000 pounds to 50 MPH, the more fuel you will burn doing it.
If you know you have to stop in 1/2 mile, let the truck momentum get you there.
Staying on the throttle till you have to slam on the brakes uses more fuel and more brake lining.
Make your top speed 5 MPH under the posted limit instead of 5 MPH over the posted limit.

Picture an egg between the throttle pedal and your foot.
Light throttle application while accelerating, light throttle application while cruising and lower RPM's will increase the MPG.

If you have a pyrometer, keep the EGT between 500 and 600 degrees.

Service the engine, clean oil and filters help.
Service the tires, propper inflation does increase MPG.
Align the front tires, anything that causes drag costs MPG.

 

Build the truck (differential gears or tranny swap) to run at the ideal RPM for your most common cruising speed. Usually this means 2000 RPM or less, but more RPM will be needed if you cruise or tow at higher speeds (65 MPH and up). The C6 is reliable, but it SUCKS fuel through the open torque converter.

In general I found this is best for running empty:

50 MPH 1600 RPM
60 MPH 1800 RPM
70 MPH 2000 RPM

For towing or other extra load (wind, hills):

50 MPH 1800 RPM
60 MPH 2000 RPM
70 MPH 2200-2500 RPM (depending on load)

Open up the intake, and exhaust. Don't bother with a turbo, unless you need the extra power or need to cruise above 70 MPH, it will do very little for fuel economy when running light or empty. Get a turbo if long haul towing is needed as that is where the MPG difference will be found.

Run the stock 235/85/16 tires, and DO NOT add a lift kit. If your truck came with one, take it off for better MPGs.

For urban driving, follow the posted speed limit. Most cities have an integrated traffic management network that causes green lights to form a path through traffic at a specific rate. This rate is usually the speed limit. Riding these so called "urban waves" can let you keep your speed steady and this will help MPG. Don't bother trying to beat a yellow light, this rarely gets you ahead, and always costs extra fuel (or other more serious problems).

When possible, drive at night or early morning during the summer. Cooler temperatures and mornig dew, has a positive effect on MPG. Traffic is usually less congested as well, so that will also help MPGs. Avoid driving in the rain, this increaces resistance on the tires, and aerodynamics. Same for wind.

I have found that the cruise control is best when on the highway, even if towing or on hills or windy conditions. I have since modified the cruise to have barely enough force to hold speed. By setting the speed above the limit of the system (by 5MPH), the truck will gradually bleed off speed going up a hill, and gain some speed when going downhill.

Oil changes as regular intervals will make a bigger difference than on a gasser, not sure why, but thats the way it is. Make sure the proper thermostat (NO AFTERMARKET) is working properly. Running cool increaces wear and tear, reduces combustion efficiency, and increaces friction. Can't comment on synthetic, because I never used it.

 

Some pretty big claims on this page, 25% increase in mileage, cleans the engine, if they would just figure how to make it do the laundry.........

http://www.hydrogen-boost.com/Diesel.html


Ron

 

Google search hypermilers...I could list a bunch of stuff but its already out there.....

 

No, but I am trying to build one. Not much time to tinker right now.

 

I am also looking at the HHO generators.

I ran some numbers last week that make me question how much increase would be possible though.
The 2 liter per minute generators that they say are big enough for a 7.3 would only produce enough gas to be in the .01% range as far as the air intake percentage.

A NA 7.3 with 2 liters per minute would have .084% at idle, .027% at 2000 RPM and .018% at 3000 RPM.

 

I'm also contemplating building a HHO generater but then saw you're calulations and am not sure. Would giv me something to tinker with though.

 

I am going to build one, but I think it will have to be capable of more than 2 liters per minute.

The thing to remember is about 20% of the fuel injected is not burned completely.
The hydrogen/oxygen mixture is just to help the flame spread through the entire cylinder faster, giving the extra 20% of the fuel a chance to burn at the correct time to produce power.

With ratio increases in the hundredths of a percent, it does not sound like enough gas to me.

 

I spent some time today on the Yahoo watercar forum. After you get past the kndergarten bickering the contest seems to be between a 1.0 and 1.7 LPM unit. I'm thinking that this must be the volkwagen crowd working at 4.0L and smaller engine displacement.
It is an interesting possibility though.
In Jan. of 06 Parkland started this thread:
https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/6...002-7-3-a.html
It's the thread that got me started thinking of Hydrogen.
Ron

 

Do the early power stokes get better, worse or equal mpg to the IDIs?

 

David 85 said it all with his very nice data. I'd read years ago a compilatiokn of the Shell mileage challenge from the early 60's, remember those?, well, the results showed various things that helped such as thinner lubricants, looser seals and others i don't remember but the single biggest help was higher gear ratio and over the years that has always borne out with first and second hand experience, when the diesels first started coming out in the 80's, my friends and i watched the gearing closely and we had a lot of input from camping style trippers because we worked at a camping park, i also worked construction at the time so had a lot of input from that angle. Higher gears were getting the good mpg, lower gears were not.