Hey guys as some of you might or might not know, I have a 95 F150 4x4 with a 5.8 and E4OD. I beleive 3.55 gears but I have not investigated. As you can imagine, gas mileage is not good at all...14.5-15 tops and I drive on the highway alot. Granted the alignment is off and it has 167k hard miles, but I know I cant expect much better than what I am getting now.

I used to have a 92 4x4 with the 5.0 and 5-speed...never checked the gearing...but I only got around 15 with that and about 16 on the highway. The reason I went with the 5.8 in the 95 is because the 5.0 was a gutless wonder and I got the truck planning to tow a car on a dolley once in awhile but also be my DD. The car towing idea was to be part of a side business that I wanted to start, but that idea is on hold for now.

My question now is two-fold. I do not want to give up having a full size truck all together but I'd like to get better fuel mileage. If i sold my truck and got a 2 wheel drive F150 with the I6, 5-speed and highway gears...how much improvement would I see? Anyone have this combo that can quote me some mileage numbers? I do alot of highway driving.

ALSO, with said I6, stick shift and highway gears...is towing a car or light truck still feasible? It wouldnt be more than a couple times a month and no long distances. What do you think of the capability?

I feel like it would do the job and maybe I could see 18mpg on the highway with the right gears?

Any input is appreciated!!!

 

I have the exact truck you are looking for 91 I6 5speed. I have gotten up to 20 MPG on the highway unloaded. Usually when I am driving the truck it is towing or loaded. I have 90k original miles on it and am the 2nd owner. My dad bought it new. I towed the largest U-hual from kansas to pittsburgh PA with lots of stuff in the bed. I averaged 17-18 MPG driving 70 to 75 mph.

Just this last week I have been working on my deck. Towing a 16' dual axle trailer fully loaded with wood. Also towed the trailer empty, as well with my old 52 3/4 ton truck on it as well. I burned through both tanks and I was thinking that my mileage would be really low, however i figured it and it was 16.4 mpg. The truck pulls awesome!!!! The 300 I6 is a beast, a slow pulling beast. My truck is not fast by anymeans, but you get a load behind it and it accelerates the same!!!

Too bad I will have to let it go in the near future. Once I get my 52 GMC 3/4 ton finished, I will be driving that as my truck and will need to get rid of my 91.

Hope I answered some of your questions. the 5speed really wakes up the 300 I6. Oh also I usually get around 18-20 mpg driving in town empty.

 

The auto trans really hurts milage on all the engines, the 5.8 will do a lot better with a manual too since it won't downshift on every tiny little grade. None of these truck will go far beyond 20mpg though and certainly won't do it when hauling a load, they just don't have the aerodynamics and have a low power to weight ratio. If you really want to save some money on fuel get a car for commuting, anything with a 4cyl or small 6 will get 30mpg hwy these days and that will more than pay for itself in short order.

 

Or get a motorcycle. I have a FJR1300 4 cylinder and it will get 54MPG and has SAE crank 145 horsepower(same as the factory economy cammed 4.9) and will do 10 second quarter miles. 0-60 in less than 3 seconds. MPG and FUN. Just will not pull that 16' trailer as easily.

 

Thanks for the input guys. I have thought of getting a car to use day to day but I cant afford to buy one to begin with, and I cant afford to have a third car on insurance right now. That was the idea behind using the truck as my daily driver as well as for work.

Motorcycles are WAY out of the question, for the reasons stated above and the fact that they cant be used in all weather and I commute in north Jersey traffic. If I didnt kill myself on the bike by riding too fast, one of the psychos on the road would surely run me down.

Can anyone else verify the 18-20mpg unloaded fuel mileage quote?? That would be perfect if I could have a truck getting that kind of mileage. The Bronco II that I got rid of to get this F150 got 19.5-21.5 depending on the city/highway mix which suited me just fine.

 

I'm sorry i call a big BS on 16.4 MPG towing anything. no less a 5-10k load

 

sorry not making up any of these claims, just reporting my real world mileage calculations and driving. This was just my last load that I had hauled. I would say around 60% was with a full load, 20% with the trailer empty, and 20% was with no trailer. I would estimate that the load was 6 to 7k lbs total. Like I said this was 2 weeks worth of driving and both tanks of gas burned. The time before that I was towing a 65 mustang back across kansas and I got one tank that was 10.4. Crazy strong head / side wind. But after that tank, we stopped and filled up one tank, the wind died down and I got 15.3 for the remainder of the trip. Hope this is helpful. I have been more then happy with the performance of my truck.

By the way its all stock, except I unhooked the vacuum from the egr valve due to it cutting out under light throttle.

 

My 94 F150 sb reg cab 300, 5 speed, 235/75 15 tires, 3.55 gears, and 2wd would get a max of 20mpg @ 60mph with a 500lb load in the bed. Gas mileage empty and @ 70 mph was about 18mpg. Worst was 14 when driving through a snow storm.
My 94 F150 sb Ext cab 300, 5 speed, 235/75/15 tires, 3.08 gears and 2wd averages about 16 to 18 mpg in suburban/ highway driving.
The 3.55 gears are great unless you want to travel over 75 on the highway. The 3.08s would be tough towing with the 5 speed.
regards
rikard

 

OK so does anyone want to trade their 300 I6/5-speed/2wd truck for my 5.8/auto/4x4????

 

The MPG may not be the greatest with the 5.8 auto combo-but it sure has throttle response and acceleration performance that cant be matched by the other powertrain combos available in that vintage F150. I test drove one several years ago and it gave pretty good good acceleration compared to other engines available in the F150. You won't get run down in that Jersey traffic with the 5.8 . I just wish that they offered the 5.8 with a 5 speed manual in the F150-that would have been a perfect combination.

 

They offered a 5 speed in a f150 w a 5.8. Not that common but they are out there

 

I have a 91 2wd 300 with a 4 speed auto with 3.08, I believe. I can get up to 20mpg cruising at 55mph. If I am going 70, it will drop to 17. I had a lawn care business, pulling 2000lbs, in rural stop and go driving, I would get 14-16mpg. I did not check it that often because there is not tripometer, Those are the results I have gotten when I have checked it, over 5 years of owning it. As for how it pulls, the most I have really pulled is about 3000lbs, It was easy for it.

theoretically, the weight of the trailer only effects mileage for acceleration (stop and go driving). If you are pulling a trailer on long hauls down the highway, on flat surface, the aerodynamics is what matters not weight.

 

You are right-but it was only one or two years that the 5.8/five speed manual was factory offered in the F150. I believe it was the 1988 model year only. I am sure that if this isnt correct-someone will correct me.

 

That is correct. I have never actually seen one, and only a handful of people here have reported seeing one. They are very rare.

 

I LOVE the power of the 5.8, and the sound of it (my truck has a 40 series Flowmaster on it) but the fuel mileage really is a killer for my 50 mile round trip per day commute. The AM leg is fine because its 5:30 in the morning, but the afternoon run home is usually between 4 and 6 which is when I-80 is a migrating parking lot. There is someone who wants to trade me their Honda Accord straight up for my truck which has gained some consideration from me due to the fact that I dont *need* a truck and he does, plus the fuel economy would be sweet. If I could afford a 3rd car I'd be all over it...but I hate the prospect of giving up my truck especially for such a boring sissy car.

Dilemmas dilemmas