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Who here gets higher MPG's and what is your secret?

13K views 108 replies 34 participants last post by  JonFord 
#1 ·
I'm a newbie who just bought his first 7.3 yesterday. I'm wondering what some of your tricks are for getting the most MPG's out of your truck.

What are some of the inexpensive ways to start with?

And what are some of the other more expensive ways to improve MPG?

If this has been discussed 10 billion times already, I apologize.

John
 
#69 ·
What you described in similar to the GM cylinder cut-out system. The system they tried in the 70s didn’t work real well because it caused balance problems. A V-4 or V-6 just will not balance like a V-8. The new version seems to work much better.

What I would like to see is a camshaft that makes the PowerStroke into a Miller-cycle engine. More expansion than compression. Less power and probably harder to start, but more efficient. The Miller cycle is the supercharged version of the Atkinson cycle.
 
#70 ·
Could you explain those cycle...

You are right... What I was thinking was making that safety future into something similar to GM's. It all depends on how much of it is controllable with the ECU...
 
#71 ·
Well Guys just a some cool info... 464 miles since my last fill up and I'm still a tad under half tank. I have the long bed with the 38 gallon tank plus I did eyedrop filled the tank... Still I think that is amaizing... If it keeps going that way it will be close to 20 MPG with just the stuff I have on my sig... BTW I have only done about 10 miles or less on the 203* Thermostat.

What do you guys think about Fuel Line warmer... takes coolant and warms the incoming fuel before it gets to the engine... Would it help in any form..
 
#73 ·
I am still struggling. No matter how I drive mine I get about 14.5-15 and from what I am reading that isn't that great. I cleaned the ebv tube and sensor, should I just disconnect it. I just did a 800 mile trip, kept it under 2000 rpms on the way there, and got 15 mpg. Ran like hell coming home, about 80mph and got 14.5 pulling a 12 ft. trailer with two honda rancher quads both ways. And around town i don't think I am doing much better, I have the stuff in my sig and I am runnin 2 stroke and can't seem to do any better. Any more suggestions???
 
#78 ·
Well, I have the 3.73 gears Dave. The truck only has 105,000 miles on it. Is there anything else i should be checking. Most everyone I talk to is at least getting 16-17, but I'm also thinking they haven't checked it much since the ULSD came out?? Just wondering if there are any other components I can check, clean or replace that might be causing the low mileage.
 
#79 ·
It sounds like 99F250Smitty has done the easy/cheap things. Improvement will have to come from mods or changing his driving style.

Driving style is cheap but requires situational awareness. Rather than me telling you what to do, let me direct you to the authority. Check out www.cleanmpg.com

That site is run by a guy named Wayne Gerdes. At the site you get a big dose of his politics (which makes me wanna puke) but he has the goods. This rascal routinely can squeeze 100 MPG out of a Honda Insight or Toyota Prius. Read through his thoughts on “hypermiling” and see what parts of it you can use. I cannot bring myself to draft a semi within a truck length for miles on end but I do coast a lot and run my tires at seemingly ridiculous pressures. My truck is very sensitive to tire pressure. Read what he does and put what you can to practice on a regular basis and I’d bet you can find at least another MPG or two.

Mods that work fall into two categories: Aerodynamics and gearing.

Before you do mods, ask yourself how much you drive and what percentage is urban/suburban vs rural. Those parameters matter. I drive 25,000 miles a year over 35% urban/65% rural roads so aero mods make a lot of sense and the mileage justifies a lot of MPG mods. A low-mileage truck just doesn’t make sense to expensively mod.
 
#80 ·
I drive for the most part like a grandpa, trying to get the best mpg's i can get, but it doesn't seem to matter. I am just wondering what other factors there are, when most of the guys with the exact same truck as me are claiming 17mpg or better. Just looking for reasons from people with more knowledge of these trucks than me. Looking for anything I can do to get the better mpg.
 
#81 ·
If you go by the factors listed in the thread about best time to think about MPG, my estimating factors describe you pretty well. Figure the optimum 7.3 gets 19-20 MPG from the factory, you deduct 2 MPG for the 4x4 (whether you ever use it or not), 2 MPG for the automatic, 0.5 MPG for the extended cab and Bingo! we get 14.5-15.5 MPG.

Some guys get a couple MPG better due to (guessing) the variability in measurement, they may drive more rural roads, and possibly BS factor.
 
#82 ·
My CC dually is 2 wheel drive, the best milage unloaded has been 19mpg at about 60mph. If I up the speed to 70-75mph, the mpg goes down to 17, 80mph=15-16 mpg. The gears are 4.10, and totally stock right down to the airfilter. After I did the mods, the mileage stayed the same on the highway, but improved slightly in the city.
 
#85 ·
Unless your TC-lock is solidly in, and doesn't "hunt" every time you hit a hill, you still waste energy. Top gear with the TC unlocked is the most wasteful mode of all.

Still, you have to come off the superslab sometime and then the automatic kicks your butt.
 
#86 ·
Dave, I've read that you suggest both keeping the RPMs down below 2000 and the EGT below 600. Now which one would you say is more valuable to stay under?
Say I'm climbing a slight grade in OD, engine load is up and EGT goes up to 750-800, but RPMs are 1700 or so. Would it be better to kick it out of OD to reduce engine load and bring the EGT down? Or is the increased RPM worse on mileage than the higher EGTs? I'm sure it's situation dependant, but in general what would you guess?
thanks
 
#87 ·
As long as you aren't smoking or really loading down the engine keeping it below 2k will help out more. Now if the engine is really laboring & chugging then it's time to downshift.
 
#88 ·
I don't know about this being a secret, but my truck is giving me around 19MPG now.

I am using a WIX Air Filter, keeping my tires at 70 psi and driving it on cruise control. I don't drive the interstate above 55 MPH and do my best to not run up to a stopping situation.

My truck is a 4x4 auto crew cab long bed with dual rear wheels.

I do plan to add an exhaust to it in teh near term; either 4 or 5 inch. I would like some feedback on that, so feel free to let me know how either size is working for you.

Rick
 
#91 ·
The big rigs' air dam is a solid metal bumper that extends close to the ground, made solid enough to mash any debris it hits. It is as strong as a snow plow.

How much structure do you want to put on the front of your truck?
 
#93 ·
The higher the truck is the less stiff the air dam will be and it might get to the point where air is just moving your air dam around and it really isn't working like it should... In theory it would benefit even more the 4x4 because it is a larger area that is not being X2 (area under truck is multiply x2 for frontal area calculation...). I'm debating if I should slam my truck or not...
 
#94 ·
It is possible to put an air dam on a 4x4, but it will have to reach a lot farther than mine simply because a 4x4 sits higher than a 4x2. How much structure you put behind it is determined by the air dam material.

Race cars use a light, stiff plastic. Race cars rarely have to deal with road debris (dead deer, etc). Race cars lust after downforce but highway-speed pickup trucks have no need of downforce. Negative lift (downforce) is exactly like positive lift. If there is lift, it is causing drag. Bernoulli will not be denied. A PSD SuperDuty has a half-ton of iron (the engine) up front generating all the downforce your tires will ever need without generating negative lift. So the best highway speed air dam will not have a negative rake angle but should be completely vertical with some means to kick the air to the sides rather than trying to lift it over the truck.

Big rig air dams bulldoze debris with a sturdy metal bumper.

My first effort at an air dam used the opposite of racing practice. I used heavy, durable, flexible conveyor belting. It is completely debris-proof but it bent back under the truck in the air flow and tended to flutter along its length like a clarinet reed. This year’s effort (pix soon) will have a bit of a “snowplow” bend in it to stiffen it along its length. I have a couple of aluminum plates behind it 8” off the ground to further hold its shape in the wind. With this “snowplow” bend it should divert the air horizontally instead of piling up a huge pressure bubble in front of the truck. The “snowplow” is not radical – it bulges out 6” at the center (my garage isn’t infinitely deep) – and rejoins the stock bumper under the outside of the headlights, but it should be much more effective.

I would like to see someone do an air dam on a 4x4 but it will seriously inconvenience off-road operation – fouling everything that comes under the bumper.

INFOCUSHAULER:
DJM makes a good slam kit for 4x2s. 3” drop I-beams and variable (3”/4.5”/6”) drop shackles for the rear. I got another inch of front drop by using 225-75x16 tires up front. Nice thing about 4x2s is you don’t have to have the same size tires fore and aft.
 
#95 ·
Dave,
Do you think there'd be noticeable gain with just an air dam on a 4x4 with no side skirts like the big rigs?
If I could get my hands on some belt, it might be something I'd try. I have a plow frame that could easily pin/fasten and support a lightweight frame that would hold the belt. I see a frame wrapped in rubber pinned to the truck via plow frame for highway trips, then pull it off for everyday driving.
Sounds like a neat project anyhoo...
 
#96 ·
DzlJim:
I think your project has merit. If it works on a 4x2 it should also work on a 4x4. The big rig boys aren’t doing it on a lark.

Give it just enough structure that it doesn’t flap uselessly or bend back under your wheels.

I do have a FEA study done as part of a guy’s graduate thesis in engineering. It was of a pickup and he recommended an air dam and side skirts plus rear wheel well skirts with a sloped bed cover.

If the weather ever warms up (where’s that !@#$%^ global warming?) I should have a decent air dam effectiveness test soon.
 
#100 ·
Yeah I agree Thanks Dave
 
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