My gas mileage has gotten really bad?
 

I've got 33K on my 05, 5.4 Lariat. The mpg was around 17-18 now with the same driving habits it's gone down to around 11. I'm going to change out the air filter, what else could cause the mileage to tank like that? The truck is bone stock, no mods. thanks,

Hey ,
Same problem, my truck is a 04 5.4 fx4 super crew, excellent condition, is not around 11mpg with easy driving, even high way driving. Bone stock, but has a k & n airfilter system , but that was on there when I bought it and it had decent gas mileage then?

My mileage always goes way down in winter, but this winter in particular, since we've had record snowfalls and some cold temps. I'm probably doing no better than 11 or 12 mpg, though I haven't really measured it, I'm just estimating. Definitely, though, it is worse mileage now than it is in summertime. Mine is an 04 Supercrew with 42k on it. Also bone stock.

don't know the answer, but my truck (26k miles) has rarely-never seen better than about 13.5-14.5 max on the highway- it averages about 12-13 and 10-11 city
regardless of mod status...i don't worry about it- if i wanted gas mileage i would have bought some economy soap box.
in the winter (nov thru march up here) its usually about 1 mpg less due to the increased ethanol content in the winter-blend gas

yep mines taken a dive as well from about 14mpg to 12.2mpg I assume its just the winter gas..

Join the No Mileage Club!!
 

Ummmm you do know that neither Ford nor Chevy post mpg numbers. These are derived from the Fed who tests the vehicles. Also as for your wife's Tahoe - it aint a truck. Diff aeros, Diff weight, Diff gearing. What can the Tahoe tow? I guarantee it isn't 9900 pounds.

If you want better mpg, easy on the gas, use cruise... make sure tires are properly or slightly overinflated, good air filter, spark plugs are clean, etc....:thumbsup: Prob the bigest thing and most overlooked is proper psi in tires. That alone can add 1-2 mpg.

I have always gotten 14.5-15.5 mpg mixed driving on my Screws. I get a high of 18-19 on the hwy and a low of 11-12 towing 8K pounds at 70+ mph. Or maybe 13-14 driving in 4x4 all the time in a snow or off road. I think this is very fair for a truck like this.... Look at all the other large trucks, they are similar mpg or sometimes much worse. :fyi:

ALL gasoline is worse for MPG during the winter. That will reflect some of your problem.

You may need to clean your filters in some cases.

but I can almost guarantee 9 out of 10 of you are simply changing your driving habits. When people first buy new cars and trucks they tend to take it easy on them. As time goes on, they don't baby it as much, and they pay for it at the pump.

Try making a serious effort to lower those RPMs and then check your results.

And fwiw, I get 12.3 consistently with aggressive driving. So you guys aren't far from the norm.... it;s a TRUCK, not a 4 banger car.

As far as chevy's go, i traded in my 04 chevy silverado, z71, extended cab, and it always did really good on gas mileage. They told me my ford would be about the same....not even close, its horrible. I have a tonnea cover on mine also, and i don't think that hellped either. It's insane. When a good town is just down the road (45 minutes), I don't even think about driving my ford, i take my little gas saver I bought to drive back and forth to school. The ford costs way to much.

I had the same problem. Did everything to correct with no change. Then I checked my air pressure. 24lbs all the way around. Filled to 34 and gained
1 1/2mpg. Funny how the things you think least of can be so important.
I average around 12-13 around town/to work and 15-16 freeway. I also have two speeds - fast and stop. I'm hard on throttle, hard braking, 80mph+ freeway etc. I think I'm doing prety well for a 6000 lb. truck. That said my 06 Mustang Gt gets 24mpg at 80-100mph LOL
Sam:cool:

Mine has 30,000 miles and I still average 17-18 mpg, regardless of what time of year it is.

Something must be wrong to cause that much of a decrease in mileage.

You're very lucky. I've read three tests from magazines and newspapers. They tested a 6.0 Denali on the interstate and they got 14.1 on the trip. Another tested a GMC Yukon with 5.3 (Motortrend- http://www.motortrend.com/roadtests/..._gmc_yukon_slt and overall, they have averaged 11.9) and yet another tested a new silverado with the 5.3 (USA Today- http://www.usatoday.com/money/autos/...o-sierra_x.htm ) and they averaged 11.6 in city driving.

When running my summer wheel tire combo (325/60/18 on 18X9 Helos) I average 14mpg mixed city/hwy and average 16.5 when running all hwy. But when I put my stock wheels/tires (275/65/18 AT/S's on factory FX4 wheels) back on I have been getting 15.5 mixed city/hwy and 17.5 on all hwy. I had an all time best of 18.7mpg just before christmas. For some reason the "winter fuel" doesn't seem to affect my truck at all. But my 05 Focus ZX4 that is a different story, the mileage on that has dropped from 30-31 mixed down to 25 mixed. The little Focus just hate this fuel blend....

:fyi: My wife’s Tahoe weighs more than an F150 Scab and has the 5.3 with practically the same gear ratio, no it won’t tow 9900 lbs but it comes damn close, and I’m pretty sure my spark plugs are clean being that I only have 7,500 miles on the thing, and I am running a K&N air filter and I maintain the proper psi in my tires at all times, kind of why I bought an air compressor. I maintain my vehicles extensively. I also don’t hammer down on the throttle. As for the feds and the mpg’s I know they do that but ford should give them the worst case vehicle and not a reg. cab 2wd with the 4.6L, because that is what they used to configure their analysis according to the USDMV.
Just curious, did you even read what I posted?

Where did it ever state that a reg cab 2wd with a 4.6 was used to determine all EPA MPG figures? Don't pull facts out of your ass and don't blame the companies, blame the system the EPA uses is all the previous poster is saying.

:coffee:

My apologies
 

I remember reading about that somewhere not sure where so I did some research and found that it was wrong so I apologize:o but here is the site from the EPA and what they came up with ranging from the least to the most of the f150's.:thumbsup:
just scroll down to the f150's, still doesn't explain terrible mpg's.

http://www.epa.gov/autoemissions/all_alpha_04.txt

and this is off of a 07' window sticker
Estimated Annual Fuel Cost: N/A
CITY MPG14 HIGHWAY MPG 18
Vehicle Engine Information
2007 F150 4X4 5.4 LITER ENGINE, ETHANOL FLEX FUEL, 3V, FUEL INJECTION, CATALYST, 4-SPD AUTO TRANSMISSION
Actual mileage will vary with options, driving conditions, driving habits and vehicle's condition. Results reported to EPA indicate that the majority of vehicles with these estimates will achieve between 11 and 17 mpg in the city and between 15 and 21 mpg on the highway.
For Comparison Shopping all vehicles classified as STANDARD PICKUP have been issued mileage ratings from 09 to 24 mpg city and 13 to 29 mpg highway

yup i agree.....same results here.:coffee:

is winter blend gas the same in all regions of the u.s.? i've never gotten any appreciably lower mileage in the winter:confused:

edit: what i've found indicates that summer-blend gasoline is different due to the removal of certain volatile chemicals (i don't know which ones) in order to help reduce air pollution during peak driving season...what else is different about winter gas? something else would have to be different to result in lower energy...

edit: i've read about the RVP and blending components, with butane being a larger percentage in the winter--is this the reason?

Change your fuel filter!!!!
 

A lot of times this $10 filter that takes all of 5 minutes to chage gets overlooked. I live in PHX and we get pretty crappy gas here. I change my filter every year (around 15k miles). This year when i changed mine, I dumped out the left over fuel and it looked like muddy water.
After new an oil change and new air and fuel filters it felt like a new truck.

shipley - the one major difference between your F150 and your wife's Tahoe is that you'll be able to come and get her when the cheap piece of crap breaks down. Just tell her to have a box in the back so that she can collect all the pieces that fall off of it between oil changes.

Your F150 will last longer than that cheap, import-looking Tahoe.

It's interesting - my wife's Explorer gets 18mpg. And it can almost tow 6,000 lbs on a V6 engine. I know that there are plenty of SUV's that get better. At the end of the day, however, I can justify the mpg reduction by realizing that I trusted my wife to the care of a quality built Ford vehicle and not some recall mobile that GM built. Will you ever tow 9,000 in the Tahoe? If you do, you better hope your brakes are brand new because that teenie braking system will catch those pads on fire, and then you're looking at a problem.

However, I AM absolutely amazed that GM built an SUV that has more than a 3-star frontal crash test rating. Kudos to Chevy for actually getting a 5-star on the 2007 Tahoe. Maybe there IS finally something behind the front fascia except the motor!

If you take a look at the undercarriage of your Tahoe, pay particular attention to the Japanese-sized frame. Then go look at the Expedition. OOPS! I think someone made a bad mistake!!

some reading material for you, pay particular attention to the towing capacities and payload which is listed under the specs tab.
http://www.edmunds.com/apps/nvc/edmu...tab=specs:lol:

Winter gas...I calculated 12.85 mpg when I last filled up. Computer reads 13.2, so thats fairly close. Gas mileage is not everything.....I learned that the hard way. Give me comfort and safety over 3 or 4 mpg better in a SMALLER VEHICLE. I'm back to my fullsize.:thumbsup:


LUV MY F-150!

I live in florida so i dont know if i get the so called winter gas here or not, but my truck has never averaged over 13.6 mpg since new and she has 37k on her.

i get 13 on hwy and 12 in town but i get 11 towing a 1500 pound car hauler and my toy, same with the 22 foot boat.

oh well like previosly stated if you wanted gas mileage you bought the wrong kind of vehicle.

i read an article where they tested out the 06 kingranch 4x2....they said that the 5.4l only got 14.5mpg....and that was a 4x2....i know in my kingranch 4x4...the best im pulling is 13.6mpg

bump^

anyone offer any insight to the winter gas deal?

I do a lot of highway and went from 255-70-17 to 325-60-18 in Dec. and Got a Magnaflow si/so last week and my Edge on lvl2. With all this together im getting a high of 16 mpg as of last night. I dont have an after market intake either. Before all this I was getting 260 miles out of a tank of fuel w/ my Edge on lvl 3 during the winter months.

That towing capacity in the specs comparo is rediculous. The F150 can now two 10,500 when "properly equipped" and the taho is 8200 when properly equipped. They showed a non equipped F150.:thumbsup: