how to increase MPG
Post Fiend
Joined: Nov 2003
Posts: 21,285
Likes: 15
From: Nutter Fort, WV
My first step would be verify the speedo and odometer are accurate.
Second, average at least three or four tanks of fuel to get an accurate average MPG.
How the truck is sitting at the pumps can make a several gallon difference in how much fuel the tanks will take, which can have a large affect on what you see for MPG.
For the last several years I fill at the same station, sitting on the same side of the same pump every time I fuel up.
I also fill the tanks completely full.
When I do it that way, I get the most accurate MPG numbers on each tank of fuel.
Any other way, I have to average at least four tanks to get a decent average MPG numbers.
For my business use tax purposes I got in a habit of getting cash reciept's for my fuel, and then writing the odometer reading on each reciept.
Those records made it much better when doing the taxes with a side benefit of very good records of fuel MPG.
Next, are you just driving empty?
What kind of terrain do you normally drive in?
How fast do you normally drive?
What elevation are you normally operating in?
And what is your driving style?
Do you know what axle gears you have and what transmission do you have?
If I do jack rabbit starts, throttle flat on the floor as soon as I leave a stop light, run 75 or 80 MPH up and down the mountains here, I can cut my MPG numbers by 50% or more from what I can get if ease off the stop lights, coast up to stops and drive 60 MPH.
Driving style has the biggest influence on MPG numbers.
After that, gearing and cruise speeds have the second biggest influence on MPG numbers.
Third in the list is IP and injector condition, but that may actually move up to secong if they are in very bad condition.
If the exhaust smells like unburned fuel, you see white smoke while the engine is cold, you may have injectors that are leaking fuel when they should be closed.
In extreme cases, the injectors may let compression back into the injectors, which will cause the injectors to be rather hot and can also cause a knock on the compression stroke.
Looking at your signature I see a couple of my questions are answered.
4.10 gears and an E4OD should have you turning about 2100 RPM at 65 MPH.
So that is a good RPM for decent mileage.
But how much of the flat bed front sticks out past the cab catching wind?
The dually is also hurting the MPG numbers.
With a pintle hitch, how much are you towing something, how heavy is normal?
Looking at your information, I am going to guess your truck weighs about 7400 pounds empty.
So the faster you try to go from 0 to 60, the more fuel you will burn getting there.
Second, average at least three or four tanks of fuel to get an accurate average MPG.
How the truck is sitting at the pumps can make a several gallon difference in how much fuel the tanks will take, which can have a large affect on what you see for MPG.
For the last several years I fill at the same station, sitting on the same side of the same pump every time I fuel up.
I also fill the tanks completely full.
When I do it that way, I get the most accurate MPG numbers on each tank of fuel.
Any other way, I have to average at least four tanks to get a decent average MPG numbers.
For my business use tax purposes I got in a habit of getting cash reciept's for my fuel, and then writing the odometer reading on each reciept.
Those records made it much better when doing the taxes with a side benefit of very good records of fuel MPG.
Next, are you just driving empty?
What kind of terrain do you normally drive in?
How fast do you normally drive?
What elevation are you normally operating in?
And what is your driving style?
Do you know what axle gears you have and what transmission do you have?
If I do jack rabbit starts, throttle flat on the floor as soon as I leave a stop light, run 75 or 80 MPH up and down the mountains here, I can cut my MPG numbers by 50% or more from what I can get if ease off the stop lights, coast up to stops and drive 60 MPH.
Driving style has the biggest influence on MPG numbers.
After that, gearing and cruise speeds have the second biggest influence on MPG numbers.
Third in the list is IP and injector condition, but that may actually move up to secong if they are in very bad condition.
If the exhaust smells like unburned fuel, you see white smoke while the engine is cold, you may have injectors that are leaking fuel when they should be closed.
In extreme cases, the injectors may let compression back into the injectors, which will cause the injectors to be rather hot and can also cause a knock on the compression stroke.
Looking at your signature I see a couple of my questions are answered.
4.10 gears and an E4OD should have you turning about 2100 RPM at 65 MPH.
So that is a good RPM for decent mileage.
But how much of the flat bed front sticks out past the cab catching wind?
The dually is also hurting the MPG numbers.
With a pintle hitch, how much are you towing something, how heavy is normal?
Looking at your information, I am going to guess your truck weighs about 7400 pounds empty.
So the faster you try to go from 0 to 60, the more fuel you will burn getting there.
Thread Starter
|
Posting Guru
Joined: Mar 2010
Posts: 2,234
Likes: 2
From: Upstate NY
My first step would be verify the speedo and odometer are accurate.
Second, average at least three or four tanks of fuel to get an accurate average MPG.
How the truck is sitting at the pumps can make a several gallon difference in how much fuel the tanks will take, which can have a large affect on what you see for MPG.
For the last several years I fill at the same station, sitting on the same side of the same pump every time I fuel up.
I also fill the tanks completely full.
When I do it that way, I get the most accurate MPG numbers on each tank of fuel.
Any other way, I have to average at least four tanks to get a decent average MPG numbers.
For my business use tax purposes I got in a habit of getting cash reciept's for my fuel, and then writing the odometer reading on each reciept.
Those records made it much better when doing the taxes with a side benefit of very good records of fuel MPG.
Next, are you just driving empty?
What kind of terrain do you normally drive in?
How fast do you normally drive?
What elevation are you normally operating in?
And what is your driving style?
Do you know what axle gears you have and what transmission do you have?
If I do jack rabbit starts, throttle flat on the floor as soon as I leave a stop light, run 75 or 80 MPH up and down the mountains here, I can cut my MPG numbers by 50% or more from what I can get if ease off the stop lights, coast up to stops and drive 60 MPH.
Driving style has the biggest influence on MPG numbers.
After that, gearing and cruise speeds have the second biggest influence on MPG numbers.
Third in the list is IP and injector condition, but that may actually move up to secong if they are in very bad condition.
If the exhaust smells like unburned fuel, you see white smoke while the engine is cold, you may have injectors that are leaking fuel when they should be closed.
In extreme cases, the injectors may let compression back into the injectors, which will cause the injectors to be rather hot and can also cause a knock on the compression stroke.
Looking at your signature I see a couple of my questions are answered.
4.10 gears and an E4OD should have you turning about 2100 RPM at 65 MPH.
So that is a good RPM for decent mileage.
But how much of the flat bed front sticks out past the cab catching wind?
The dually is also hurting the MPG numbers.
With a pintle hitch, how much are you towing something, how heavy is normal?
Looking at your information, I am going to guess your truck weighs about 7400 pounds empty.
So the faster you try to go from 0 to 60, the more fuel you will burn getting there.
Second, average at least three or four tanks of fuel to get an accurate average MPG.
How the truck is sitting at the pumps can make a several gallon difference in how much fuel the tanks will take, which can have a large affect on what you see for MPG.
For the last several years I fill at the same station, sitting on the same side of the same pump every time I fuel up.
I also fill the tanks completely full.
When I do it that way, I get the most accurate MPG numbers on each tank of fuel.
Any other way, I have to average at least four tanks to get a decent average MPG numbers.
For my business use tax purposes I got in a habit of getting cash reciept's for my fuel, and then writing the odometer reading on each reciept.
Those records made it much better when doing the taxes with a side benefit of very good records of fuel MPG.
Next, are you just driving empty?
What kind of terrain do you normally drive in?
How fast do you normally drive?
What elevation are you normally operating in?
And what is your driving style?
Do you know what axle gears you have and what transmission do you have?
If I do jack rabbit starts, throttle flat on the floor as soon as I leave a stop light, run 75 or 80 MPH up and down the mountains here, I can cut my MPG numbers by 50% or more from what I can get if ease off the stop lights, coast up to stops and drive 60 MPH.
Driving style has the biggest influence on MPG numbers.
After that, gearing and cruise speeds have the second biggest influence on MPG numbers.
Third in the list is IP and injector condition, but that may actually move up to secong if they are in very bad condition.
If the exhaust smells like unburned fuel, you see white smoke while the engine is cold, you may have injectors that are leaking fuel when they should be closed.
In extreme cases, the injectors may let compression back into the injectors, which will cause the injectors to be rather hot and can also cause a knock on the compression stroke.
Looking at your signature I see a couple of my questions are answered.
4.10 gears and an E4OD should have you turning about 2100 RPM at 65 MPH.
So that is a good RPM for decent mileage.
But how much of the flat bed front sticks out past the cab catching wind?
The dually is also hurting the MPG numbers.
With a pintle hitch, how much are you towing something, how heavy is normal?
Looking at your information, I am going to guess your truck weighs about 7400 pounds empty.
So the faster you try to go from 0 to 60, the more fuel you will burn getting there.
Thread Starter
|
Posting Guru
Joined: Mar 2010
Posts: 2,234
Likes: 2
From: Upstate NY
My first step would be verify the speedo and odometer are accurate.
Second, average at least three or four tanks of fuel to get an accurate average MPG.
How the truck is sitting at the pumps can make a several gallon difference in how much fuel the tanks will take, which can have a large affect on what you see for MPG.
For the last several years I fill at the same station, sitting on the same side of the same pump every time I fuel up.
I also fill the tanks completely full.
When I do it that way, I get the most accurate MPG numbers on each tank of fuel.
Any other way, I have to average at least four tanks to get a decent average MPG numbers.
For my business use tax purposes I got in a habit of getting cash reciept's for my fuel, and then writing the odometer reading on each reciept.
Those records made it much better when doing the taxes with a side benefit of very good records of fuel MPG.
Next, are you just driving empty?
What kind of terrain do you normally drive in?
How fast do you normally drive?
What elevation are you normally operating in?
And what is your driving style?
Do you know what axle gears you have and what transmission do you have?
If I do jack rabbit starts, throttle flat on the floor as soon as I leave a stop light, run 75 or 80 MPH up and down the mountains here, I can cut my MPG numbers by 50% or more from what I can get if ease off the stop lights, coast up to stops and drive 60 MPH.
Driving style has the biggest influence on MPG numbers.
After that, gearing and cruise speeds have the second biggest influence on MPG numbers.
Third in the list is IP and injector condition, but that may actually move up to secong if they are in very bad condition.
If the exhaust smells like unburned fuel, you see white smoke while the engine is cold, you may have injectors that are leaking fuel when they should be closed.
In extreme cases, the injectors may let compression back into the injectors, which will cause the injectors to be rather hot and can also cause a knock on the compression stroke.
Looking at your signature I see a couple of my questions are answered.
4.10 gears and an E4OD should have you turning about 2100 RPM at 65 MPH.
So that is a good RPM for decent mileage.
But how much of the flat bed front sticks out past the cab catching wind?
The dually is also hurting the MPG numbers.
With a pintle hitch, how much are you towing something, how heavy is normal?
Looking at your information, I am going to guess your truck weighs about 7400 pounds empty.
So the faster you try to go from 0 to 60, the more fuel you will burn getting there.
Second, average at least three or four tanks of fuel to get an accurate average MPG.
How the truck is sitting at the pumps can make a several gallon difference in how much fuel the tanks will take, which can have a large affect on what you see for MPG.
For the last several years I fill at the same station, sitting on the same side of the same pump every time I fuel up.
I also fill the tanks completely full.
When I do it that way, I get the most accurate MPG numbers on each tank of fuel.
Any other way, I have to average at least four tanks to get a decent average MPG numbers.
For my business use tax purposes I got in a habit of getting cash reciept's for my fuel, and then writing the odometer reading on each reciept.
Those records made it much better when doing the taxes with a side benefit of very good records of fuel MPG.
Next, are you just driving empty?
What kind of terrain do you normally drive in?
How fast do you normally drive?
What elevation are you normally operating in?
And what is your driving style?
Do you know what axle gears you have and what transmission do you have?
If I do jack rabbit starts, throttle flat on the floor as soon as I leave a stop light, run 75 or 80 MPH up and down the mountains here, I can cut my MPG numbers by 50% or more from what I can get if ease off the stop lights, coast up to stops and drive 60 MPH.
Driving style has the biggest influence on MPG numbers.
After that, gearing and cruise speeds have the second biggest influence on MPG numbers.
Third in the list is IP and injector condition, but that may actually move up to secong if they are in very bad condition.
If the exhaust smells like unburned fuel, you see white smoke while the engine is cold, you may have injectors that are leaking fuel when they should be closed.
In extreme cases, the injectors may let compression back into the injectors, which will cause the injectors to be rather hot and can also cause a knock on the compression stroke.
Looking at your signature I see a couple of my questions are answered.
4.10 gears and an E4OD should have you turning about 2100 RPM at 65 MPH.
So that is a good RPM for decent mileage.
But how much of the flat bed front sticks out past the cab catching wind?
The dually is also hurting the MPG numbers.
With a pintle hitch, how much are you towing something, how heavy is normal?
Looking at your information, I am going to guess your truck weighs about 7400 pounds empty.
So the faster you try to go from 0 to 60, the more fuel you will burn getting there.
Post Fiend
Joined: Nov 2003
Posts: 21,285
Likes: 15
From: Nutter Fort, WV
Idle time and job site running/pulling time eat into your fuel MPG numbers rather fast.
On my 86 with a mechanical speedo, it runs backwards when I am in reverse.
There have been a few times when I was plowing snow, 1/4 mile forward and then 1/4 mile in reverse that when I figured the MPG numbers they were gallons per mile numbers.
Out there plowing for 12 hours, burn 10 gallons of fuel and have 5 miles on the speedo.
So that figured at 2 gallons per mile as an average by the odometer.
If you calculated by speed and time, say 5 MPH average speed for 12 hours would be 60 miles driven, 10 gallons of fuel, 5 miles per gallon.
You have to look at everything you did during that tank of fuel when you figure MPG's.
If you spend 3 hours a day several days a week on a job site towing a load around the site, you might as well forget that tank for figuring MPG's if you want a true number that means something.
On my 86 with a mechanical speedo, it runs backwards when I am in reverse.
There have been a few times when I was plowing snow, 1/4 mile forward and then 1/4 mile in reverse that when I figured the MPG numbers they were gallons per mile numbers.
Out there plowing for 12 hours, burn 10 gallons of fuel and have 5 miles on the speedo.
So that figured at 2 gallons per mile as an average by the odometer.
If you calculated by speed and time, say 5 MPH average speed for 12 hours would be 60 miles driven, 10 gallons of fuel, 5 miles per gallon.
You have to look at everything you did during that tank of fuel when you figure MPG's.
If you spend 3 hours a day several days a week on a job site towing a load around the site, you might as well forget that tank for figuring MPG's if you want a true number that means something.
Postmaster
Joined: Jun 2008
Posts: 2,500
Likes: 2
From: Michigan
This is very helpful thanks! terrain is flat, alot of stop and go traffic lately and I will not lie I still have powerstroke in my blood and need to remember to take it easy on red, 505ft elevation, on expressway I will do 60 tops, but most of the time its between 35-45 in stop and go, e4od transmission automatic and 4:10 gearing, I will admit that sometimes I think I'm speed racer in my truck but not very often when I calculated last I filled tank to full and counted miles on trip odometer
Thread Starter
|
Posting Guru
Joined: Mar 2010
Posts: 2,234
Likes: 2
From: Upstate NY
Idle time and job site running/pulling time eat into your fuel MPG numbers rather fast.
On my 86 with a mechanical speedo, it runs backwards when I am in reverse.
There have been a few times when I was plowing snow, 1/4 mile forward and then 1/4 mile in reverse that when I figured the MPG numbers they were gallons per mile numbers.
Out there plowing for 12 hours, burn 10 gallons of fuel and have 5 miles on the speedo.
So that figured at 2 gallons per mile as an average by the odometer.
If you calculated by speed and time, say 5 MPH average speed for 12 hours would be 60 miles driven, 10 gallons of fuel, 5 miles per gallon.
You have to look at everything you did during that tank of fuel when you figure MPG's.
If you spend 3 hours a day several days a week on a job site towing a load around the site, you might as well forget that tank for figuring MPG's if you want a true number that means something.
On my 86 with a mechanical speedo, it runs backwards when I am in reverse.
There have been a few times when I was plowing snow, 1/4 mile forward and then 1/4 mile in reverse that when I figured the MPG numbers they were gallons per mile numbers.
Out there plowing for 12 hours, burn 10 gallons of fuel and have 5 miles on the speedo.
So that figured at 2 gallons per mile as an average by the odometer.
If you calculated by speed and time, say 5 MPH average speed for 12 hours would be 60 miles driven, 10 gallons of fuel, 5 miles per gallon.
You have to look at everything you did during that tank of fuel when you figure MPG's.
If you spend 3 hours a day several days a week on a job site towing a load around the site, you might as well forget that tank for figuring MPG's if you want a true number that means something.
edit: also in short, idleing and stop and go basically annihilates fuel on these trucks? and how hard is it to install a cooler for one of these trucks I think I saw them for like $70 at napa, are these cheap ones or good? I would like to prolong my zf5 swap as long as possible for now, truck still needs alot of my attention to fix/ touch up this and that
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Junior User
Joined: Oct 2005
Posts: 77
Likes: 0
Smells like a rat, walks like one...
Methanoholic
Joined: Mar 2009
Posts: 6,442
Likes: 8
From: Maine (NorCal Native)
They are rat's ... The whole oil industry is nothing but a bunch of greedy, liars, cheats and thieves backed and supported by greedy politicians, lawyers and government.
Sooner or later the people are going to have to put their foot down on this greedy monopoly mentality.
-Enjoy
fh : )_~
Sooner or later the people are going to have to put their foot down on this greedy monopoly mentality.
-Enjoy
fh : )_~
Elder User
Joined: Mar 2010
Posts: 637
Likes: 0
They are rat's ... The whole oil industry is nothing but a bunch of greedy, liars, cheats and thieves backed and supported by greedy politicians, lawyers and government.
Sooner or later the people are going to have to put their foot down on this greedy monopoly mentality.
-Enjoy
fh : )_~
Sooner or later the people are going to have to put their foot down on this greedy monopoly mentality.
-Enjoy
fh : )_~
anyone care argue that tyson chicken is still gonna be cheep after they finish off the compitition, and get the regulations rewriten so that small scale operations can't meet the specs?
Junior User
Joined: Oct 2005
Posts: 77
Likes: 0
They are rat's ... The whole oil industry is nothing but a bunch of greedy, liars, cheats and thieves backed and supported by greedy politicians, lawyers and government.
Sooner or later the people are going to have to put their foot down on this greedy monopoly mentality.
-Enjoy
fh : )_~
Sooner or later the people are going to have to put their foot down on this greedy monopoly mentality.
-Enjoy
fh : )_~
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