poor mileage after lift and big tires
 

I just dont understand this. I put a 10 inch lift in my crewcab longbox f250, I have 38 inch toyo tires on it and have plenty of power with the v10, but my mileage just sucks. I only drive to school and back and never haul anything with it. I thought I would get ok mileage with taller tires. Can anybody help me with this ? I just cant afford to drive this truck now. What am I going to do now ? Gas is $4.16 a gallon here and I only get 7 mpg.

I can help you buy saying if you want to play hard your going to pay hard. Did you think your going to get better fuel milage?

Yes, return the truck to stock. You messed up the aerodynamics and increased the rolling resistance. You should have done some research before hand, its a common trait on this board that the lifted trucks with aftermarket tires are getting less MPG than the unmodified ones.

As to reducing your cost of driving, dont exceed 55 MPH, you've got a cool looking truck now, better spend some time being seen in it.

Lift = more wind resistance = lower mileage

Larger tires = more rotating mass = more power required to get them & keep them turning = lower mileage

What'd you get before the lift and what gears do you have? Did you change them to compensate for the larger diameter tires?

Welcome to FTE youngpup. Unfortunately what your describing is common knowledge. I would have thought this would have come up while looking into the lift.

In case no one has told you, you're speedometer and odometer are no longer anywhere close to being accurate either. Unless you had them recalibrated for the larger tires.

If the speedo hasn't changed then you really don't know what type of mileage you're getting yet.

LOL!!!!:confused:

Don't forget that your odometer isn't correct. The 38" tires travel further per revolution than the stock 31"ish tires. So your looking at at least 15% difference in actual travel. For rough figure you can add 15% to your mileage, or you can get your speedometer corrected. Even with the 38's, you should get at least 9mpg I would think.

I can mabey help. Send me your tires and wheels and I'll trade you for the stockers.............:-missingt

It doesn't matter what you do to any lifted truck the best fuel milage will come out of a stock truck. I'm getting about 12 to the gallon when I should be getting almost 20. that is chipped up also. That is calculating the bigger tires!! I'm not complaining my truck is more of a yard ordanment than anything as much as it sits.

I'm running 35s with my 3.73s and I am getting about 13 around town and will get high 14s to 15+ on some local routes and above 16 on the highway. Oh and I have the 5.4. Live said above bigger tires mean more power to move them. Taller means your like a wall going down the road. Stay out of the skinny lever, and get the right gears

Bigger tires can lead to better MPG for highway driving. For stop and go driving like you describe it will be worse due to the extra torque needed to get the rig moving. However, the combo you have is over the top and the only way you are gonna get your mileage back is to scale back your rig a bit.

On the positive side, the under side of your truck should be much cooler! :-missingt Just kidding... If I were you, I would make sure that I have the right gears in the differentials and have the speedo recalibrated. Only then will you know how well you truck is performing. Best success!

That truck is a lot of coin for a young kid in school to handle. There's no doubt it's very cool but when you're financially strained to pay for gas then you need a lifestyle adjustment.

So here's the plan: Think "econ car". Get through college so your earning power goes up. This next step is critical. Land your first job and live at home with mom and dad. You won't be able to afford cost of living AND a cool ride until you're much older. So in the mean time you'll just have to make sure you never bring home any girl friends because if you do then won't have any girl friends. But you'll have that cool ride!!!! Vettes, trucks, muscle cars.... whatever! Because you can afford anything now! Another bonus is mom and dad might give you garage parking to keep it nice.

At some point you'll either make enough to live on your own or decide you're just going to give up expensive cars in order to get your own place. At that point girls will respect you and you will get married. When you're married you'll become poor again. So you better make sure that you carry into the marriage whatever you want to drive because you will never get to buy anything cool for another 15+ years. Unless you become a DINK (double income no kids). They drive whatever they want. Usually BMW's because no matter how they begin they always morph into yuppies.

The other option is you can quit school now to become a redneck so you can always drive a cool truck! If you need more information about red necks let me know and I can explain your options.

Note from us old folks. DON'T live with mom and dad after you get out of college. Manage your expenses properly and work your way up to the cool stuff.

The redneck option might be a possibility as long as you don't stay at home too long.:-X0A6