Ok, I'm new to this site and just purchased a 2000 f150 4x4 swb. I am going to run this vehicle as my daily driver to work and back (66 mile total, 58 freeway the rest back roads) and I live in the mountains. The only pulling I will do with the truck might be to pull my 500 pound pop-up to the beach. What upgrades will net me the most bang for the buck as far as fuel mileage gains. I saw a show on the DIY network that took a 2004 f150 5.4L and pulled 10 more mpg out of it. I don't care about 0-60 times, how fast it run between stoplights etc. (got over that 20 years ago). So far i love the truck.

 

Dream on. You'll be lucky to get 1 or 2 with hundreds of dollars worth of mods.

 

You can only hope for 1 or 2 mpg.

 

What mods did they use to get these fantasy extra miles? They must have been smokin' some good stuff when they filmed that show.

 

What motor you got?
My '99 5.4L 4x2 shortbed has touched 18 mpg in best case highway.
Typical winter tank for me is 16 mpg.
It will creep up near 17 in the summertime.
My commute is about what you describe. Round trip is 50, (36 highway,14 stop & go)

If you throw some big ole tires on your 4x4 you'll see about 14.

That's the real world and there ain't nuthin you can do about it despite what those snake oil salesmen on the TV and in the magazines tell you.

 

Adjusting your driving habits will get you the most gains in regards to fuel mileage. No jackrabbit starts, run the speed limit or a few miles under, use your cruise control...check and keep your tire pressures at spec, keep up with your scheduled maintenance (filters, fluids, alignment, etc.)

 

[QUOTE=dwerkheiser I saw a show on the DIY network that took a 2004 f150 5.4L and pulled 10 more mpg out of it..[/QUOTE]
holy cow batman, sign me up 4 dat..

 

Yep -- driving habits will be where it's at for you. There are a lot of mods available for making things go fast, but nothing really out there for making things go far on a gallon of gas except good preventative maintenance and mild-mannered driving habits....

 

They raised the fuel mileage by 10mpg? What did they do, push it off a cliff while idling?

 

On the show they put on shorty headers, cat back system, fresh air kit, tonneau cover, throttle body spacer, and a programmer. As far as driving habits, I already do all the things listed.

 

You're not going to get 10 mpg doing that -- the tonneau cover and the tune might net you a little, but a claim of 10 mpg is heading into "snake oil" territory. With all the impetus put on fuel economy these days, the manufacturers would have already done this stuff it was that easy.

 

seems to me they just read the manufacturers numbers when they bought all this stuff. Did they do extensive testing afterwards? I can guarantee you that the TBS does absolutely nothing and may actually hurt your mileage, does make an annoying whistle though on acceleration. Shorty headers have been dyno'd to produce no performance gains, not sure about the mileage gain. Cat-back exhaust does nothing for gas, I've had a Magnaflow cat-back installed for 50,000 miles and never have I noticed any mpg gains. My Air Force 1 has made no major improvement. The Programmer and tonneau cover I'll give ya, but you're only going to see a 2-3 mpg increase. 3-4 if you install e-fans

 

I will put the link here for the DIY article,
http://www.diynetwork.com/diy/shows_..._45859,00.html

3-4 mpg with a programmer, tonneau and efan works for me. Thats why I put this out there so i could get some real feedback from people who have own their trucks a while.

 

Your going to spend $500-$800 to get 2-3 mpg?
It'll take a couple of years to get a return on your money from gas savings.
It is 46 miles from my house to my office. 40.5 miles of that is highway. I am customer service so drive ussually 100 miles one way per day ot customers.... I have crunched all the numbers. Even thought about buying a cheap beater car for about that price to use as a DD, that would get 25-30mpg and would still take about 8 months to pay for it's self at todays gas prices.

 

There are next to NO bolt on after market gadgets that will improve your fuel mileage. Mr. Bonebreaks last name should be changed to Bonehead. If there were fuel mileage gains to be had don't you think Ford would be using them to get their CAFE up? If you want to get better fuel mileage, you need to learn how to drive to get it. When accelerating from a stop, don't let the tach get over 1800 rpms. Step on the gas enough that the tach levels out at 1800 rpms and don't move it until you are at the speed you want to go or above 50 mph. Yeah, folks will be passing you by but you'll be passing the filling stations. See a red light in the distance? Do you know these rigs will coast? Get off of the gas and anticipate the light. Coast to the stop sign and use very little brakes. Keep hiway speeds at or below 65 mph and if you need to accelerate, be fluid on the gas- no quick pumps. Maintain a steady throttle position. If you have hills, anticipate the hill with a little more gas but let the truck slow down a few mph maintaining a steady throttle position. Now, look at your tires. Whatever is the max air pressure on the side- fill them to max. FWIW, I'm running 10 lbs over and no problems with wear. My 04 Supercrew,4.6 gets 19-20 town driving and 23-24 hiway with A/C running. Your 4x4 won't get that good but these trucks are fuel mileage capable if you are.