I am looking to buy an older truck, but I have been considering the mini-trucks for gas mileage reasons....I really would like a full size truck.

Anyway, I found a nice 93 XLT 5.0L 4x2 with 124,000 miles that runs like new.

The owner says he gets 18 mpg in mixed driving....

Is it even possible to get that much out of a full sized truck? I do mostly hiway driving and he is firm that I should get 20 mpg or more...

What does everything think about it???

Thanks in advance

 

That's a pretty high number. I'm wondering if it got that kinda mileage when it was new. My wife's Nissan minivan barely gets that with a v6. Do a search in this forum, and you'll see a couple of threads where many of the members posted their mileage.

 

That would be phenomenal mileage. He must drive like grandma? Either that or he changed the tires or gears and the calculations are way off...

I guess it is in theory *possible*, but highly improbable.

 

I've got a 95 5.0 in my 86 F-250 and i'm lucky to get 9 mpg, and its a 5 speed lol. I know its a much larger truck but still lol 20's a long shot.

 

Maybe 20 or a little over on the highway. 18 mixed is really pushing it, unless you have a 5 speed and spend most time on the highway. With an auto don't expect to crack much over 15 around town, even in a good state of tune.

 

Look at the thread in my sig.

 

yea i doubt that the best ive ever gotten around town is like 11 and 15 on the highway but im also 4x4

 

i "used" to get 22 mpg on the highway with my 95 f 150 5.0.

 

Try and find and F150 with a straight six mine gets about 21 highway and 16-18 in town but theres no way a 5.0s gunna be gettn near that mileage.

 

My Uncle swears he could get 20+ on the highway if he kept the speed at 65 or lower. He had stock tires and a soft bed cover, dual exhaust with Flowmasters.

 

I doubt even a good running 4.9 is going to get better mileage than a good running 5.0 driven the same way. I would believe 18 out of a 4x2 5.0 if it has the right tranny and gears and is driven conservatively with no load. I'd bet that most of you guys that get lousy mileage out of a 5.0 have a lead foot and/or lifts and big tires.

 

My dead stock 96 2WD 300 E4OD w 3.08s gave a best of 19.5 highway.

Swapping to 3.73s dropped highway mileage to 16.5

Adding a tonneau raised it back to 18.5

All of the above with cruise control engaged and a trip of at least 600 miles.

I would expect slightly worse out od a manual tranny with the same R&P ratio simply because of the lesser OD ratio.

Unloaded a 302 should get slightly better than a 300. Add a load or a trailer and the 300 will give better mileage.

 

Yep, a 300 was not built for fuel economy or performance. It's a TRUCK engine built to WORK.

A 302 is a car engine adapted for trucks. Years ago, F-series trucks did not use *any* small block V8's - just the inline 6 pin and the old Y-block V8.

 

My 5.0 works great on the highway. Did a test today and still getting 26 mpg.

I would like to do some tests on my '49 239ci flathead F2. Thing weighs probably twice as much as my '95. I wouldn't be surprised if the fuel efficiency was similar.

 

I'd be surprised if that '49 reached 20 mpg at any speed.