Improving 76 Ford F150 fuel economy
 

I have a 76 Ford F150, 390, C6 transmission, and 3.00 gears and was wondering if there was anything I could do to Improve my fuel economy.

A good tune up, headers dual exhaust and a light foot. You might see 15

Food for thought...https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...ml#post1716267

Take tailgate off...didn't Mith Busters try that?
Do you have a tool box with a ton of stuff in it?
Tires always inflated correctly.
Some say synthetic gear oil in the axle?
Different gearing, or change tire size.

Okay, thank you all for the ideas.

I have the same set up, P.O. had some engine work done, real crazy cam. Has a lot of power but drinks a lot of gas. Comes with the territory. Not gonna get 20MPG or anything close. Never really checked the mileage on it, I would probably throw up. My 77 with a 351m gets about 14 on a good day down hill with a tail wind. I was gonna put the MSD Atom EFI set up on the 390, I already have the MSD ignition and distributor set up and that really improves things. Just need to come up with an extra $1000 if anyone wants to sponsor me....... Best thing to do is keep your foot out of the carpet.

TheExtreme Case for MPG
 

This is just for grins: If you are willing to make a few adjustments, it is possible to get something close to the 1973 world record 376 MPG gotten with this 1959 Opel P1 hardtop.

When they took the tailgate off, the mileage was worse!

Who would buy one a these trucks and then expect to get good MPG?

If you want a "daily driver" with excellent MPG, buy a kiddie car...like a 4 cylinder Fusion, Honda or Toyota.

What carb do you have? Probably the most revolutionary thing on tuning the last decade is how cheap wideband O2 sensors are now, and how much difference they make. I'd definitely recommend getting one and installing it, then using it to get a precision tune on your carb. I was pretty shocked talking to folks who had "good running" (most of which I'd seen/ridden in) mills that were WAY out of tune according to the meter. Some jetting and timing changes, and turned 'em into REALLY good running mills, and more economical to boot......

Check that your vacuum advance is working, put a hose on the vacuum advance canister on the distributor, take off distributor cap, and suck air with your mouth on the hose, make sure the distributor rotor moves. The canister should hold pressure and should not leak air.

If the vacuum advance isn't working you will get worse gas mileage at cruise speeds

This is pretty good advice. You don't even need to weld the sensors, you should be able to get ones that clamp on, all you need to do is drill a hole in the exhaust pipe to mount the sensor, and it clamps on. Only problem is O2 sensors/gauges ain't cheap!

O2 sensor bung for exhaust pipe:

Many factors come into play:

• Aerodynamics
• State of tune
• Drivetrain efficiency
• Parastic driveline losses
• Rolling resistance
• Driving technique (hypermiling)
• Road condition/terrain
• Vehicle weight

NumberDummy is right about the tailgate off or down. It creates a down-force like a wing on a sports car and pushes down the rear of the truck. Good for traction, bad for mileage. If you leave the tailgate on it makes a circular draft that the air flowing over the cab will ride and pass over the bed entirely .https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.for...685817b6e4.jpg

Correct. Mythbusters even tested it and found you get better mileage with tailgate up.

However, you can get even better mileage with a tonneau cover

That is true, I always have had the tonneau covers on every truck I've owned. But more to keep my stuff dry and then the bed does not fill with snow.

Thank you all I don't have that big of an issue with fuel economy I was just wondering what I could to make it better and more efficient.