If you want to worry about gas mileage why own a truck? Even with that why a V8? I could care less about it. I drive a truck with 8.5 inches of lift with 35s. Granted I drive 24 miles daily roundtrip on flat street pavement.

 

The question is nonsensical.
What if you got 1 Mile per Gallon?
Or 1/4 mile per gallon?
Would you complain/try to fix it/try for more mileage?
No?
How about if you got .01 mile per gallon???

Say 1000 bucks to drive to work every day?

See, the whole, it's a truck, or 'who cares about gas mileage' argument is just a way of bragging about how much money you have.
The folks who bought these trucks had certain expectations of mileage and would like to meet or exceed those expectations.
When I drive a Metro, I also try to maximize the mileage. Why not?

Others just wish to maximize the mileage in the same way they might maximize the power, or the handling of their vehicles.

In my case, I don't drive enough miles for gas mileage to truly matter.
But I still wish to get the best mileage I can, out ANY vehicle I drive, while still driving it in the manner I choose.

Again, if you don't care about mileage, using imported gas, wasting fuel, that is your prerogative. No one is stopping you, no one is telling you what to do.

But why sneer at those that do care about mileage, wasting fuel, or attempting to get the most from the truck.
Chris

 

Like I said Chris, I would like better MPG, but driving like an old lady does not appeal to me. That's all, no harm intended. You have the right to tell people to drive in a certain way, and I have the right to say I would never do that.
My driving enjoyment is much more important to me than a few dollars at each fueling.
As for wealth, I work hard for my $$ and can spend it anyway I like.

Don't be so sensitive, its all in good fun. Why do people take this stuff to the next level? We are talking about automobiles, remember that.

Carry on talking about how to position your foot at a better angle in order to get .0056'th of a mpg better.

 

 

Back on topic; I get about 5 mpg better than when I started driving my truck, from learning the trucks idiosyncrasies and doing a few mods.
That adds up to lots of bucks at close to three bucks a gallon. Not important in the few miles I drive, but for someone driving 100-150 miles a day it can pay pretty well,

It is interesting that these trucks respond to minor throttle pressure, as well as 'riding the torque curve' much better than any prior vehicle I have driven. I suspect the modified torque converter and the electronic throttle make the trucks react in a very different fashion. That also seems to be the reason for the heavy brake dust that almost everyone experiences.

It’s worth learning the vehicle to save 30-300 bucks a month for most buyers. After all, money saved by technique is ‘free money’, unlike gas saved by mods.
Chris

 

yadda yadda yadda I bought a Prius when I wanted good gas mileage, but after a week of it and the cost of the car note it wasn't worth it. If you want good gas mileage on a truck don't buy a V8 plain and simple. Go get you a Nissan truck with is pocket friendly with there 4 cyclinder motors.

 

I'm with you.

If I was so worried about keeping it under 2k and driving Miss Daisy, I would have skipped the 5.4 and just went with 4.6

 

I never really pay attention to where my RPM's are during normal driving, but because of this thread I paid attention to it on the way to work today.

Keeping it under 2K is totally out of the question... I can't drive that slow. My grandpa does drive faster than that. Plus, since I have a Superchips tuner my truck doesn't shift until about 2100 or 2200ish even if I take off from a stop like a snail.

I have a nine mile commute to work and I hit 4K RPM three times and my normal shift points are all around 3K RPM.

If you were in front of me not letting your truck go over 2K RPM I'd be laying on the horn! lol

 

But if you have to have a V8 as I do to tow my camper, and still want the best possible gas mileage, the tips from Chris are great (thanks Chris)! I drive 105 miles a day, and every little bit helps. If I go from 16 to 17 MPG, that is a savings of about $300/year. It may not seem like a lot, but guess what, it means I get almost a whole truck payment free. If you don't care about it fine, but don't tell me to drive a 4-banger if I want good gas mileage, because it won't work for me. I'm not looking for 40MPG, just a couple more MPG...and a free truck payment. I work hard for my $$ too, and I can spend it any way I want...and I don't WANT to send my money to the greedy oil companies.

 

I'm not saying it's fun to drive it with the rev counter under 2K, but the point was if you really want to, you can get decent mileage with the truck.

I do anywhere from 50-200 a day, so yeah it does add up after a while.

That's all!

 

DITTO!

 

Why's everyone so worried they'd be caught driving like their grandmother?

Get some self confidence folks and stop worrying that you'll be "caught".

 

with a bunch of ford trucks on order, we are concerned with the mileage we are going to get

with the 35 fords on order, the first are due next week, the dealer may hate the deal before we are through, the dealer signed our contract, hat states, if there are problems, shakes, leaks, damage, he gets to keep the truck and he has to order a replacement, we will not take any garbage that others have taken, if not right he keeps, like I said he may hate the deal, but he really wanted the order for 35 f150's and F250's

back to the orginal issue MILEAGE

with all the vehicles in the family and used on our farm business that we have, we do care about the mileage

YES we know they are trucks and the mileage sucks, but there is no reason to just waste fuel.
BUT we are looking to find ways to stretch our fuel, I drive my truck appx. 1500 miles per month, my daily job with a government requires a minimum of 50 miles per day per round trip, the rest is either needed driving shopping or has to do with the family farm business

Yes we have a fleet of cars in addition to the trucks, these are used by the wives, and various children

With all of our trucks, we have way more than the 35 new F's, we have some 1 ton service trucks and a lot of the Dodge trucks that are being replaced will not be disposed or sold, some of the kids will get and we will keep some as farm trucks, let them get the dents on the farm until they develope a fatal repair, bum engine, bad tranny or a wreck. we do a lot of our repairs so fatal damage will be something we can not fix in our shop

We are concerned with the mileage on the supercab that we bought as an evaluation model ahead of the it is a XLT super cab, 6.5 bed, auto, 4.6l engine, chrome clad wheels with michelin (special ordered) and the oversized 35.7 gallon fuel tank. no tonneau cover, its on order to cover the bed and to protect the tools that we carry as a norm, not to mention the rest of the bed that is used as a trunk

we have been running 500 miles between the stops at the gas station or the family fuel tank on the farm, the most fuel put in the truck/tank was 29 gallons

the worst by tank was 15.1 mpg , the best was 16.9 we have figurered that the current average is 16.1 mpg. the first tank fill was 10 gallons, avg was 18 mpg, we think that was bad data, the remainder has been consistant though

We would love to see 18 mpg, yes? ideal? possible?

We have been driving the truck with the eggshell under the foot, most mileage is at 65 mph with the speed control, the trip to work is 2 miles to the interstate, 22.5 miles on the interstate at 65 and 1/2 mile interstate ramp to my parking slot the trip home is the reverse the trip is basically flat with some hills

We see the claims of 20 mpg on the highway but these people do not state what they are driving what size engine, 2wd or 4wd, what sort of speeds

With some 4.6's and 5.4's in the 35 trucks we will get a chance to see what we will get.

since these trucks are basically electronic controlled or computer controlled we are going to be cautious about modifcations until we learn about these beasts so we can fix without using a stealership's shop


We are used to older models, the f350's have 302 engines, of course some havehave the engines changed, what is in is not what the truck came with, some have larger engines

the dodge and fords have the simple engines without all the electronics, quite a difference under the hood looking at the old trucks and the new Fords

this will be an adventure

I forsee a lot of expensive sop equipment in our future

We will look for ways to save fuel, a mile per gallon is money no mater how small. In our world a economy car will not work except for some family members

In my case I go to work before any other family members do and come home the same way last. you can not guess how many times I have rescued a family member in a car or other vehicle, of course there are times that others ahe had to rescue me. all the trucks carry tow straps and tow bars to do a vehicle if someone is broken down

another change for us will be the toneau covers, we have always had camper shells or toppers so we will see the difference. currently all covers are rigger so that they can be removed to carry a load. we have a couple of relative's garages or sheds set up up remove covers so we do not make extra trips. helps to have a large family is many directions

Mileage should be important, we see savings as a way to get better stuff