Increasing the performance and gas mileage of my F-150
 

I have a ’02 F-150 extended cab, 6ft bed and gas prices right now are just killing me. I live about an hour out of town and commute a little under 2 hours a day to and from work. Right now I am getting around 16 to 20 miles per gallon depending on conditions but I know there have to be ways to get better mileage or I hope there are. I have always seen these modification kits you can get to increase horse power, torque, and gas mileage and I was just wondering what everyone’s opinion is on them. The main ones I was looking at were a<o =""></o> throttle body spacer and air intake kits, but I was wondering around ebay and I came across these two items:<o =""></o>
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http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/20HP-POWER-SPEED-CHIP-FORD-F-150-F150-94-96-97-01-02_W0QQitemZ7992346815QQcategoryZ33597QQrdZ1QQcmdZ ViewItem

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Exped...temZ7995743584

That chip I am not that keen on looks a little fishy but that Turbnado thing looks interesting…Does anyone have a throttle body spacer or air intake kit that has really helped the performance and gas mileage? Any thoughts on those two auction things?<o =""></o><o ="">
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As far as things like the turbonator and tornado fuel savers...dont waste your money, they make better paper weights. Do a search on here on Cold Air Intakes and air filters etc, its a huge topic right now. Be careful with cold air kits, you may be better off just putting a good filter, K@N, MAC, etc into your stock air intakes. Cold air kits are sometimes merely "hot air intakes." You will prob get a slight increase in power but may not help your MPG any at all. As far as chips go, I have a Superchips in my 02 FX4 5.4L, power difference yes, but mileage increase not really sure cause I am running 35" tires on a lift. Thats my 2 cents on the topic. Do alot of searching on here you will find good information.

I gained 2 mpg with a K&N airfilter.
If you are driving 2 hours a day, you might want to look into investing in a good used ZX2 or Focus.
Octane

Popular Mechanics just did a test on several of those Tornado type things. You lose power, and mileage. Other than that, they're great.

You're not going to see a significant difference no matter what you do. Get a small import car and drive that to work.

Well, I'm a strong believer in a well tuned motor for best performance over all, check or change your O2 sensors, use synthetic oils and lubricants and good gas and clean your fuel injectors or use fuel and fuel injector cleaning products. Other than that, Ford's hybrid Escape is looking pretty good to me too...

I sat in a hybrid Escape a few weeks back I really liked it actually ....But I don't think it is really worth the price....I am thinking I might just pick up an el cheapo Accord and drive it to death...Save my truck for hauling and camping

I love people that buy a $20k hybrid to save money on gas. I can buy a LOT of gas for my VW or my F150 for 20k.

As I stated in the "K&N update" thread.

An easy way to get better fuel mileage is to ditch the stock fan/clutch and go with an electric setup. Less engine drag = more HP and better MPG. You could even use an under drive pulley kit to reduce it even more. Also get a K&N 'drop in' filter.

Keep the tires aligned, balanced, etc., U-joints greased, run a good synthetic oil in both the engine, transmission, and diffrential. you should see an improvement.

Leave the truck at home, and have a daily 2hr streetbike ride, my opinion is Fords and Yamahas go great together..................aa

thoughted ide add this about that seafoam product. I tried it today. No smoke came out of the exhuast, so i suppose it really didnt need it. As for gas mileage , stay tuned on that one. I did noticed a better throttle response, and idle. it usually took the truck a few cranks to start up , but now it starts instantaneously. I will let you all know about the gas mileage after the 1st tank is gone.

what is the seafoam product? I have a air force one air intake, and i personally think it helped out a lot. i did put bigger wheels and tires (305/45R22) and that hurt my city gas milage. I need to put different gears on. also i have the superchips and a TB spacer. don't waste money on TB spacer, it just adds noise. Exhaust would help too. I don't know from first hand, but what about headers?

I have a 99 F150 4.6 Supercab automatic. Mods: custom front bumper, Gaylord bed cover, 245/75R16 tires, a K&N Air Filter, Hypertech power programmer, true dual exhaust. I live in Alabama where there are plenty of small steep hills and I have gotten 19mpg 75% highway/25% city driving. I am currently testing my gas mileage without going over 1500 rpm in city without exceeding 55mph. So far I have went 60 miles and the needle just has started moving. I wouldn't suggest this test for anyone else because you really have to leave earlier and not pay attention to other drivers. I will try to let you know what I come up with. It will probably be a week or two though. I don't drive much thanks to gas prices.

this is the website for seafoam. It should answer all your questions

http://www.seafoamsales.com/

Another issue with buying a second vehicle to save fuel is the cost of insurance. When I had a 2nd vehicle I paid over $600 a year for the priviledge. Again, $600 even at $3 a gallon or so will buy 200 gallons of fuel. And lets not forget about depreciation on that 2nd vehicle.

Chip

Update on gas mileage: I got about another Mile or 2 per gallon out of the truck after adding the seafoam product to it. Truck idles smoother also, guess it needed it after all