My ford f 150 on the highway only gets around 13.7 miles to the galoon. it is a 1995 with 148,500 miles 4x4 with the 5.0 liter and five speed transmission. the gear ratio is 3:55. the truck is great but the mileage isnt so. this is my first full size truck and my daily driver. any tips?

 

First, you might want to post in a proper forum, not the 2011 F-100 forum.

But, do you have the stock size tires on the truck? If you have larger tires, they will hurt actual mileage plus they will require you to correct your calculations for the increase in size. Also, smoother, highway tread type tires will return better MPG than all terrain tires or mudders, the latter using a bunch of power to flex and heat up rubber.

Synthetic lubes in the axles will help *very* slightly, perhaps. And the usual tuneup kind of stuff. Most important is to drive as slow as you possibly can stand (55 mph is way better for mileage than 70).

Finally, truck gas mileage usually stinks, so if you have moved to the truck from a small car, for instance, you are in a different world. I had a 1973 Ford E200 van with a 302 and an automatic, and it got 12 mpg. I had a 1986 GMC 2500 van with a 305 and an automatic, and it got 12-13 mpg in the city and also on the road.

The pickup is probably a bit lighter and has a stick, but has the additional 4WD drivetrain to drag around. A full size truck is not the best daily driver if you're driving it empty. When (not if) gas goes back up to $4 per gallon, it is really gonna hurt.

George

 

As yo George wrote, speed is of utmost importance. Anything over 60 is going to hurt so keep it under 65 mph. And tires do make a difference. You should be able to get 15 on the highway.

 

Moved from 2011 F100 forum.

Welcome and thanks for joining us at FTE!

 

welcome to fte.

get a good tuneup.

drive like a grandpa.

not really an economical combo you have there.

 

Slow down.

Accelerate like you have a full aquarium in the bed sitting on carpet that cost $5,000 a square yard. I get outpulled by semis sometimes. I upshift between 1100 and 1250 rpm.

Steady speeds.

As a philosophy, brakes are your enemy. Plan your driving to not need to use your brakes. Any time you do you are spending money on brake material to scrub off speed you spent money on fuel to get the truck up to.

Do a google search on hypermiling. There are several methods there that are unsafe in regular road use but you can adapt many and use the rest as you can, like kicking the truck into neutral and coasting when you can do it for a mile or more (it is surprising how many places like that there are). The hardcore folks shut the engines down for this but you lose power assist on steering and brakes - not safe.

Did I mention slow down? Wind resistance increases at the square of speed increase so if you double the speed you increase wind resistance by 4 times. My truck gets 17.5 or so at 75 mph, 19 or so at 65 mph and 21 or so at 55 mph, before switching to synthetic engine oil. First tank on synthetic oil I got 24.58 as reported in another thread on another site. I took my cousin's 2005 Chevy crew cab half ton to Washington DC from Cincinnati, OH, a few months back while mine was down and found the following:

Cruise 55 or 60 and get 24.5
Cruise 65 and get 21-21.5
Cruise 75 and get 18

Speed does make a difference. You have to develop patience to take advantage of that fact. Folks who say "I will get rearended at 55 or 60" are simply mistaken. Some large trucking companies are governing their trucks at 62 MPH, many (especially larger ones) are governed at 65 MPH. There are folks who run 55 in Ohio (the speed limit for trucks, at least for now) in big trucks. For the sake of traffic you simply become one of them. I do keep an eye in my mirrors and if there are issues developing behind me I either pull off at an exit/rest area and let folks by or pick up the pace for a bit.

Dave / Believer45

 

I think 13.7mpg highway with the 5.0 and 5 speed in a half ton with 3.55 gears is too low. You might be running rich. I would get a good tuneup as quicklook2 mentioned. I would also replace the O2 sensor.

 

thanks yeah i realized i posted on the wrong forum im new to computers