Archives

Is it even possible to increase mpg on a Ford F150 4x4 ?!:( Afraid I made a BIG mistake in its purchase. Help! with any tips

How is the truck set up? what is the rear end ?
Tires?

Doesn't matter what your driving, you have plenty of room for improvement, if it really matters to you, and I hope it does.

Obviously read this well first.

http://www.cleanmpg.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1510

The inventor of ScanGage was investigating why his F150 fuel economy was less than he wanted....ScanGage will help.

Sure,your F150 will respond very well to the usual stuff.Increase the tire pressure to what you can tolerate-max on sidewall-probably at least 42 psi,and pulse and glide. Accelerate fairly briskly to a target speed-speed limit probably-and then completely lift off the gas and glide until you have dropped about 8-10 mph.Repeat.This is what most folks do in city driving.When you come to a redlight-shut the motor off.
Keep good before after records-
With just the above very modest hypermiling I get about 205 better with my old-98,202,300 miles-Suburban.I'm fairly sure large not inherently FE vehicles respond slightly better to this stuff than more inherently FE vehicles.
Oh,slow down a bit on the highway.Many P&G on long trips, many don't.If you don't then use the CC, but turn if off when going uphill-just glide up losing 10-15 mph.Regain the speed and reset the CC once you are a on the way down.
There is more of course, but you get the idea. Glide,don't brake-anticipate when you have to stop,so you can glide to a stop(or for most of the stopping).

When you get new tires,avoid heavily lugged(tall lugs) tires.
Luck,
Charlie
PS-Take a loook at the post "newbie to forum with an F150 " he gets 27 MPG with the 4.6 V-8-guessing you have 5.4?.Now that is spectacular.so don't expect that, but they-pickups-have lots of improvement potential.Driven casually in pure city they get about 10-11 mpg and maybe 15-16 mpg hy. You can easily add 20% first time out,and maybe 50% with a lot more practice. 20% for 12000 miles per year is 200 gallons or $800 per year.

One thing to help a little or a lot is to avoid idling as much as possible. When I drive my Caddy, I get in, fasten my seatbelt, make sure every single solitary thing is in place first. Then I crank the car, put it in gear and go. I even put the windows down if needed before I crank it.

I pull up to one of those complicated four way traffic lights, the Caddy is off as soon as I bring it to a stop. I put her in neutral, hand on the key. Light turns green, the car 2 cars in front of me lets off the brakes, I crank, pop her in drive and then pull off.

Head out parking helps a lot for these vehicles. That means I find a space ususally far away from the Target or whatever and pull into the front of the two spaces so I am headed out. I got my goodies from Target, get in the car and go forward. No backing out of the space, dropping her in drive and then pulling off.

You bet it can, and you stand to gain in a big way considering that it's a big drinker. Obviously something smaller would have been better but it goes without saying. One key thing is not to get discouraged if you only see a few MPG worth of improvement vs. people in smaller cars getting 10-15mpg or even more. If you baseline is 16mpg (just guessing) and you improve by 20% (which would be very decent) that only works out to about 3mpg. But that 3mpg is a big deal!

You bet it can, and you stand to gain in a big way considering that it's a big drinker. Obviously something smaller would have been better but it goes without saying. One key thing is not to get discouraged if you only see a few MPG worth of improvement vs. people in smaller cars getting 10-15mpg or even more. If you baseline is 16mpg (just guessing) and you improve by 20% (which would be very decent) that only works out to about 3mpg. But that 3mpg is a big deal!

He's right, look at your "percent increase", not "MPG increase" when you're comparing your MPG to the EPA's MPG estimates.

You can acheive more miles per gallon than the EPA in any vehicle. You just have to work for it. Think of it like getting paid: If you work well you get paid a good amount accordingly, likewise you get paid in MPGs according to how well you drive. Do the work, you will save money.

It is certainly possible. My Dad has a fairly new Chevy 4x4 and averages 12 - 13 MPG. I have driven it several times and get 19 - 21 in town and back roads. I have not had a chance on the highway yet. It has an basic IFCD, but it really helps.

There is a lot of great information here. Learn the techniques and take a look at a ScanGauge II. It makes a huge difference. :)

yes, follow what Phobesis says - he knows big iron

Before tossing your truck, first, consider the mission.

Are you driving to work in it alone?
Do you go off roading, or haul a horse trailer?
Could someone in a Prius do the same thing without adding trips?

These are the kinds of things that you should consider first. Add your own questions.
Then work out your cost/benefit equasion. Everyones balance is different.

<story warning>
I had a HVAC service guy that told me he had a customer that kept his house at 60F in the summer in Houston. One day he had an 'efficiency' talk with the customer. The customers electric bills were HUGE!

It turned out the customer worked 10 hour days in a sub-zero freezer at a major food distributor. He has for years. When he gets home, he is stripping down to shorts and a T-shirt and still breaking a sweat at 60F. He would be MUCH more comfortable at 50F.

Consider the needs and use before assigning blame for inefficiently it the moral of this story.
</story warning>

So if you NEED the use of an F150 4x4, use it, just be judicious and as efficient as you can be about its use. They still drive big trucks in Europe a $8/gal (equivalent), but they try to do it as efficiently as possible and still get the job done.

So the real question that comes to my mind, do you NEED to do what you do with it?

Here is a great post (http://www.cleanmpg.com/forums/showthread.php?t=12366)by a new member that USES a truck day to day and his impressive numbers that he is getting.

I have a 2006 f150 supercab 4*4

with scanguage

highway 25 mpg
city best i get is 22 mpg

Without scanguage I would drive much faster and I was getting 17 mpg on highway.

Sounds like your doing a good job. What techniques are you currently using so we will have a better idea how you might improve.

My highway speed is now max 47 mph - mpg at this speed is 24.9
What i do is play with the gas pedal to max the mpg reading on scanguage.
When travelling 60mph --- 18 mpg.

But I find for a 4*4 5.4L V8 not bad.

great !


keep us informed with your progress !

There is a poster over on Ecomodder named bondo that is putting into production a new aero cap for the Ford 150. He getting 25 mpg at 69 mph on the highway with it.
He has supposedly done wind tunnel testing in both a Nascar and Ford tunnels to prove it is legit aerodynamic improvement.
Look under Aerodynamics for his post.

Also drafting an 18 wheeler going at 70 mph gets about 27mpg, not too bad

Have you tried pulse and glide? It worked wonders on my car. It should do the same for trucks I would think.

Have you tried pulse and glide? It worked wonders on my car. It should do the same for trucks I would think.

Yaaay first post....

Anyhow I have been trolling this site for 6 months now and bought a 03 150 4x4 MT with the 4.6 back in June. Descent fuel economy with the f150 is plenty possible, although upper 20s i've never done.

I seem to be averaging 18 city and near 21 highway. I have the tires about 45psi and coast where I can and shift below 2000. I have found that straight P&G in the thing is not nearly as effective as my in my buick, most likely because of the FX4 package that has a larger lift. The truck just slows down to quickly say from 65-50. I just find it annoying and not any more productive that modulating the pedal to accomidate the road conditions. At lower city speeds it does work better. A new fuel filter might be in order... mine had 81000 miles when I bought it and once I changed it the throttle response was amazing as well as mileage going up. Learn the technique DWB. momentum is key in such a heavy vehicle, that is worth as much saved fuel as higher tire pressure. Face out parking where you can as well. FAS coming to a stop usually, but only mixed results when doing it in a coast (see above P&G)

Now that the weather in Indy is finally cooling down, I'm seeing more averages around 16/19 on any given day. Still plan on getting a tonneau cover for a few different reasons, although it helped on my last truck a few years ago. These engines run so well, I may start trying to fabricate a grill block in the upcoming weeks. I doubt I'll see any abnormal temps