im lookin to do some mods that could pick my gas mileage up ive already put a k&n drop in filter, anybody know of anything thats fairly cheap or something that could be done at home let me know.......Thanks

 

Tune up: Ignition parts, fuel filter, PCV valve, change fluids/oils, grease everything. Tires pressure. Clean out the throttle body and MAF senor wire.

Revising your driving habits can help use less fuel too.

 

Airing up your tires would be your best bet.

 

Like above , a good tune up & try advanceing the timing a few degress , that usally helps ...Lew

 

What engine? If its a 5.0 or 5.8 get the I6/460 air tube that gets air from behind the grille instead of the one on top of the radiator. I suggest dumping the KN.

What size tires and rear end gears?

Don't waste your money on CAI, chip, or throttle body spacers.

Your best bet is a good complete tune up and fresh fluids. Like was already mentioned properly aired up tires help alot.

 

its the 5.0 with 32x11.50 tires with 3.31 gears i think not sure, the kn filter has help abit, where could i find one of the 460 tubes

 

found that it has 3.55 gears

 

You may could pick up a little mileage by getting a smaller, lighter tire.

Bump the timing a couple degrees like Lew mentioned, and replace the fuel filter, and I bet it will feel a lot better. You could also gut the rear cat, depending on where you live, and run a nice Magnaflow muffler for a couple hundred dollar at an exhaust shop.

 

Since you have 32 inch tires, I would recommend going to 4.10 gears with the 5.0. The 302 trucks should have come with a minimum of 3.55 gears. That ratio is barely adequate for the 302 with OD.

I have 3.55 with 31 10.50s and wish I had 4.10. My truck started out with 3.08 and did they ever suck.

The KN filter is not helping anything. It may just be the placebo effect.

 

ive had the exhaust done wit the stock y into cats then single into another y before the rear axle into duals, its 2.5 pipe wit 4 in tips

 

Ignition system upgrade w/ gap stretch & base timing advance increase. Very noticeable performance & MPG bump! FullSizeBronco.com - 78 - 96 Ford Bronco offroad club, forums, tech, installs My 87' 302 gets 23mpg @65mph. 60K (.45ohm) coil, .056 gap @16BTDC. Brass C&R, MSD Superconductor wires.

 

what have ya all done to yours?

 

When I got this truck 4yrs. ago, it got 9 mpg & could only go 65mph on a downhill w/ a tailwind. The 900 miles I had to drive it home, took forever and cost an arm & 1/2 a leg in gas. The prev. owner had dropped $600 on brake work, so it stopped on a dime. But it drove like it had a governor installed on it!

I flushed the radiator/block, installed a 180F thermostat, went distilled/antifreeze. Transtuned tranny, drained, went Synthetic. Flushed brake fluid, went Synth. Seafoamed (full treatment) engine, flushed, went Synth. w/ 20% Lucas Synth. stabilizer. Transtuned Diff., went Synth. Transtuned P/S, flushed,drained, went Synth. K& N drop in air filter.

Then, bought a Code reader Equus Innova 3145 OBD-I Ford Scan Tool , ID'ed active error codes, Replaced ECT, ACT & o2 (replace before 60k/ I replace mine @ 30K). Replaced 2 Cat system w/ single hi-capacity Cat & full flow glass pack. Removed, cleaned, reinstalled IAC, EGR. Checked Fuel pressure & bleed down. Replaced Fuel filter. Compression tested, Dry/wet bleed down (178-182 psi).

Then Ignition sys. upgrade w/ timing bump & gap stretch (10BTDC to 16 BTDC & .044 gap to .56 gap).http://fullsizebronco.com/forum/show...ht=timing+bump ..........Then, went sidegap at .054. http://www.performanceunlimited.com/...degapping.html That is all!

Also, changed it's diet from 91 octane to 87. There is a purposeful order to how it was done. Watch tire pressure & fight temptation to increase tire size & also Lift equals Drag.

Now the truck is reliable to the point of monotony @ 89K miles. Currently, I Seafoam the Combustion chambers only, before I change oil, every 8K & toss in a bottle of Lucas injector cleaner every 4-6 tanks. I leave my code reader hooked up under the hood & press "Test" every once in a while for the heck of it. My background is as a Commercial/ industrial machine tech so my method & procedure leans that direction. "Give it what it needs & it'll do what it's supposed to, well & w/ monotonous dependability".

What ruins an engine prematurely, is infrequent an lesser quality fluid changes & temperatures below, but especially above normal operating temperatures.http://www.fordfuelinjection.com/fil...rans_temps.gif

 

yup sounds like ur on top of thing but i know someones already getting their panties in a bunch about the 180* thermostat lol

23mpg for an 87 302 sounds really good id love to get it coz thats 10 mpg more than im getting now

 

It offsets the slight temp increase from the timing bump (which isn't much w/ Copper Core plugs) . As long as i'm dropping into closed loop function in the same amount of warm up time & staying there, it work's for me. Failure to drop into closed loop was the main reason for my poor mileage originally. Just replacing the bad ECT sensor increased my MPG by 5 (that & cleaning the combustion chambers w/ Seafoam after running over rich for so long). From what I could determine w a laser temp. reader aimed at the thermostat housing & my code reader, I'm close looping around 184 F. A bad ECT senor will always tell on itself during an error code scan. Actually most all bad sensors are willing to confess when put to error code scans. Bad Valves, solenoids, pumps, ect...require a little more work to ID & they don't mind trying to pin it on a sensor. Don't know if your familiar w/ a product called "Water Wetter" (Redline product), But you can also add a bottle of that to a distilled water/ antifreeze mix w/ a 195F thermostat & obtain the same results as using a 180F thermostat. But using a 180F thermostat w/ Water Wetter, you won't reach closed loop temperature.