There is always a thread going on around here about MPG improvements, I know when I started doing the Mods to my truck, that was my original reason for putting on the Hypertech.

I know I am not done working on my truck, but I thought I would list at least my experience's and what has done a true increase in MPG.

So, here is what I found

6637=.5 to 75 increase over Stock/KN
Hypertech=0
DP=0 in the city
DP=1 to 1.5 highway
4" muffler exhaust= 1.5 improvement in city (have not done the highway yet)
Amsoil 5w30 Performance diesel oil= 0
So in total, from the first Mod I did ( hypertech ) to the 4" I have increased 2 to 2.25, and I still dont stay out of it, I like the sound to much..So I dont know what I would truelly get, yet.

Has anyone else seen anything like this, or what has been your success?

 

Keeping my foot out of it. Everything I have done was either maintenance, or because others said it got better mpg. (Tuning, exhaust, intake, single shots, modified hpop, 203 stat) The ONLY thing that has made a difference so far, was pulling my foot, and setting the cruise at 58-60 ALL the time. Other people claim to have better success though.

 

I drove my truck pretty easy after i first got it. Kept around 16-18mpg or so. Since i have started modding it, my foot seemed to have gained some weight, hmmm??????? MPG went to crap, hmmm?????

 

I try (usually) to keep my foot out of it and under 2000 RPM. I keep my tires at 62psi (E-rated) unless towing (then I bring the rears up to 80psi).

I'm sure I'll get blasted for this, but not too long after I bought it I put Power Service Diesel Kleen (gray bottle, SoCal doesn't have much of a gelling problem) in my tank and it made almost 1mpg improvement, so I use it religiously. Yes, it costs money. Does the mpg improvement offset the cost: I don't know. But psychologically I think it helps (plus the added lubricity), so I'm going to keep using it!

I bought the truck and I was getting 15 mpg and now I get around 17mpg (empty) overall during daily driving.

I've heard of great gains with economy tunes.

If you wanted to take the mileage as far as you can go, I read a magazine article (I can't remember where, Diesel Power I think) where they changed all the fluids to full synthetic (engine, tranny, front/rear differentials and transfer case) and saw an increase of about 1.5 mpg.

Just my .02

 

Bed cover should bring some savings.
Tire inflated to proper level is a huge saver not to mention safer handling.

But yes stepping on the go pedal like you have an egg between it and your foot will save a lot.

I was going to add airtabs to the rear section of the roof till I was waxing it the other day and see the big bumps in the panel. (sort of like vortex generators). I still might get them as they are fairly cheap.

 

A member of this site with a 5.4L did some MPG tests with a bed cover on and off and found that the bed cover actually decreased MPG.

 

I have seen NO improvements from any of my mods except "maybe" the DP Tuner but I have not driven it enough to see anything consistent yet. But I have not been easy on the go peddle either so...

Edit: I put my topper on early so I don't have any before data but I suspect any savings from that were probably offset by its weight.

 

The numbers I listed up top, I was happy with, Dont get my wrong, the ROI isnt there for a while. A quick figure with the amount I drive lately gives me a 275.00 yearly savings in gas..And I still havent stayed off the skinny pedal. So, 4 years from now, I will have paid off my playing.. Unless I figure out how to drive more, then I can pay it off sooner.. right. "Oh dear.. I think we should take another trip in August!!!"

 

Interesting. Maybe it how the air is breaking up aroud the tail gate. As in the tail gate is really just a big spoiler that could be breaking up the ait behind the truck and reducing the parachute effect.

Air tabs on the rear of the be cover would have less drag and designed to break up the air behind the vehicle.
Or I could put my race car wing on the back. it breaks up the air really well. I gained 7 MPH top end after putting the wing on the car just because it reduced the drag sucking at the rear bumper.

Super Duties are pretty much big bricks pushing through the air. There has go to be something we can do to clean up air flow.

 

Weird. I gained .5 mpg's on the highway with my bed cover.


Gained about .5 - 1.0 mpg's on the highway with DP-Tuner, and not much around town.

Exhaust got me nothing.

Same for the intake.

Lost 2.5 mpg's with the lift and tires. (previous owner put the lift on, but I've known him for 15 years now, and I used to drive his truck back before I bought it from him).

 

Our trucks were not meant for low drag, they were meant to haul and drive over Civics . The tonneau should have reduced some of the drag, but there is still a vortex being created right behind the rear window. To fully realize the cover, you should make a tapered one that goes from the top of the cab to the tailgate.

You can lower your gear ratio (closer to 3) for another bump in mpg.

I read a write-up on a guy with a PSD that was getting 30+ mpg. He basically took a 2wd standard cab short bed, stripped it down, swapped the rear for 3.23 gears and made it as aerodynamical as possible (custom tapered tonneau made of pvc and vinyl, tiny ricer mirrors, etc.). At that point, though, why not just save all that money and get a Civic? I try to be as prudent as possible with my driving, but I didn't buy my truck to get the best mpg out there. I bought it to haul things, tow whatever I want and have the sweet smell of diesel wherever I go! If that means I can get 17mpg, great. If that means I get 15mpg, I'll have the same smile on my face, but I'll be pulling into the gas station a day earlier!

Nothing will be as bad as last summer and $5/gal ($170/tank)! If I can make it through that without selling my truck (and my wife was starting to lean on me to do it), I can make it at whatever mpg I get.

And all that is still better than the 12mpg I got in my '97 F-150. It was 2wd, stock height and had a 2V 5.4L (only mods were intake and exhaust). Unless I did all highway driving (got about 14mpg doing that), it was always right around 12mpg. By selling my 150 and buying my 250, I've increased my mpg by just over 30% AND added almost 3000 lbs in the process.

Just my .02

 

I can't remember exactly, but the member I'm referring to (redford) may have experienced the loss of mpg's with the bed cover when he was towing. Either way I found it interesting that it actually did drop mpg because that's their big claim to fame. For me it doesn't matter, I'll never put on one anyways

 

Mine came with one. I wouldn't go out and spend the $1200 or so to get a fiberglass one, but having a huge, lockable trunk sure is nice!

The tailgate up/down rivalry has been going forever. I think Mythbusters solved it by doing a test and that you got slightly better mpg's with the tailgate up. The theory is that with the gate up, you create a vortex of air swirling in the bed. That vortex then pushes up against the airflow preventing more air from entering the bed, thereby reducing the drag. With the tailgate down the vortex is closer to the rear of the cab and not reducing drag as much. Hence the lower mpg's with the gate down. Most people come at it from the obvious approach: gate up/wind hits it/acts like a sail, gate down/wind goes by/no drag.

A tonneau should accentuate the gate up by having a small vortex behind the cab and then a smooth surface for the air to roll across thereby reducing the drag even more.

Again, this is all theoretica gobbledy-goop. I'm sure somebody will come back and tell me that I'm living on Mars and that they are amazed that I even remember to breathe since my logic is all jacked up . It's okay, I can take it. I've been married for 14 years and there isn't a new way you can tell me I'm wrong that I haven't heard before...

I'm ready, let me have it...

 

Since my ICP is shot with oil inside it and out, will that effect my mpg's and performance?

 

Yes, since the PCM in the truck defaults to certain baseline parameters when the ICP goes bad or is unplugged.