Favorite ways to increase fuel economy
 

I am curious about the successes people have had in improving fuel economy. I have a 2005 F250 6.0 PSD Crew Cab FX4 and am just "breaking it in". I am anxious to get 18-20 mpg on the highway. My previous experiences (1997 7.3 PSD) indicated the following:

1) 1.5 MPG improvement running my E load rated tires at 75 psig instead of 50
2) 1 MPG w/ tailgate down
3) 3 MPG while towing a 6000 lb trailer at 60 mph vs. 75 mph

These "tests" were at highway speeds.

Anyone experience improvements w/ any of these (or others)?? :
1) synthetic oil
2) EGR elimination
3) Intake mods (I am using AFE on the 7.3L)

I guess if diesel prices go up much more, I will have to lay off the accelerator and drive UNDER the speed limit .............

mark in Texas

Usually, slowing down will yield the biggest improvement, period. Probably the only hard numbers I have on that are from my Mom's van which has one of those fancy on-board computers that crunches the instantaneous MPG numbers. Driving 65mph yielded about 19mpg, but at 58mph, I was getting 25mpg. Think about it, that's nearly 25%. Relaxing the go-pedal foot is the surest way to get better economy. Try avoiding quick accelerations, too, as Texan drivers are wont to do.

Another thing to do is drive further ahead. See a red signal up there? Slow down and sneak up on it. If you roll up to it doing 10mph when it turns green, that's 10mph less you have to accelerate. I've been told that can yield you 2mpg in town if you get good at it.

Synthetic oil seemed to yield me a little better economy in my last car ('68 Mustang, 302)...but it was negligible - about 1mpg at the very very very most.

Then there's the usual stuff...keep tires properly inflated, watch the a/c use and close windows on the highway, yadda yadda. I'm sure you've heard all that already.

Slower speeds have the biggest impact.

Synthetic oil helps at least two ways; less friction is power saved, less heat. Synthetic oil survives heat better than dino oil.

I've experimented with adding acetone to my gas; 3.5 ounces per 10 gallons. Better vaporization of the fuel. Should work for diesel, too.

If you can lower the truck, that will help with wind resistance.

Better gas mileage - Acetone!?
 

A byproduct of burning acetone as a fuel/additive is concentrated sulphuric acid. Unless you are running ceramics - you areasking for trouble!

That's the problem with using diesel fuel, not acetone
 

Acetone

C3H6O Three Carbons, six Hydrogens, one Oxygen

Where did you get Sulphuric Acid from Acetone? (H2SO4)

Currently, diesel fuel in the US has too much sulphur. That's a problem with the fuel, not with acetone. In 2006 the amount of sulphur in fuel is supposed to drop from 500ppm to 15ppm.

In town driving is probably the biggest place to save. I used to drive just like the folks here (accelerate hard, etc.) and got 8mpg. Now I take it easy, and have raised my mileage from 8 to 14mpg, all in town. With a little more highway time, that'll go up even more.

More reading on acetone, check this site out. May be worth investigating/

http://www.lubedev.com/smartgas/additive.htm

Ryan

Tailgate down driving has been proved time and again to DECREASE fuel economy. Tailgate down has worse aerodynamics and more drag, counter intuitive i know.

Regards, Azam.

i never ever ever ever everdrivewith my tailgate down. i just take it off. every time u hit a bump it slams itself upand down, plus it can come loose on the older models. if u remove it thats less weight and that saves mileage 2 ways- less aero resistance and lightening the truck.and how would elimninating the egr add mileage?

When driving to my local general store, the other day, there was one of the early 70s Chrysler there with a 440 engine. A classic. Met the guy inside, who was older than me, and we talked awhile about older cars when the subject of gas mileage came up.

"The biggest gas saver is "that" he said while pointing to his right toe. "Just be easy with it and you wont go wrong." He got over 18 mpg driving it that way..

My son drives a 79 Cordoba with a 360/2bbl and gets over 20 by driving the same way to work four days a week.....80 miles round trip. If it was tuned up completely, it will get 25mpg.

At 60 mpg on my rural state highway, my 82 E100 Inline Six/300 (single bbl) van gets 14 But I just bet if I brought that down to 50-55, probably add another 3-5 mpg to that.

Yep, it's all in that big toe.

Every little bit helps.

As for leaving the tailgate down. I see this alot around here with the new trucks and wondered about that. Until I listened to Dr. Bill Wattenberg on KGO one night when this question came up by a call in. The answer is ..."No, it will not save you gas" These vehicles are designed aerodynamically in windtunnel tests.... to have the best mileage with the tailgate up. Although you would think otherwise. The airflow is disrupted that acts as a drag. Thus counterproductive.

They just did this test on the cable show Mythbusters...the truck with the tailgate up went about 30 miles further on the same amount of fuel. It has to do with aerodynamics behind the cab. interesting stuff.

Can a camper shell or cover help with gas milage?

Jury's out on that one, it lost my Dad 1-2mpg on his '01 Ram 1500 5.2 auto

Bum a ride.

Get a siphon! :-X21

Seriously though, you can get a real imrovement in mileage by switching to a thinner oil! Unless your engine is knocking or has extremely low oil pressure, there is no reason to run 20w50 or 15w40 in it. It might run quieter, but you're giving up a lot of efficiency. Switch to a 10w30 or 5w30 depending on your climate, or if your vehicle is rated for it, a 5w20. You will see the difference.

Probably most of the reason synthetic has the reputation of providing better mileage, is that Mobil 1 is always toward the low end of it's viscosity grade. That's it. It's not any magic about lower friction or any of that. It's just a bit thinner than most other oils of the same rated weight.

Other than that, inflate tires to the vehicle's rated inflation pressure. Make sure your speedometer isn't out of calibration. If you're running an older engine, advance the timing to where it pings and back it off a few degrees. Set your carburetor or fuel injection to run a bit on the lean side. Run 75w90 gear oil in the differential instead of 80W140.

If you're building an engine, build for efficiency. Keep the cam small, and the compression rather high. Try to shoot for around 260 degrees adv. duration and 9.5:1 compression. Then compensate by running the piston .030" from the cylinder head at TDC. This causes turbulence in the chamber that prevents pinging. Run a intake with small runners, and small diameter tube full length headers. Then run a small carburetor.