I'm not sure where exactly this should be posted, but I was curious to know what kind of gas mileage any of you were getting.

I just bought an '04 F150 Scab, 5.4L Triton V8. It's only been averaging about 12.5 mpg...which seems awfully low to me. This is the first Ford truck I've ever owned, but the Chevy trucks I've had before (2 with a 350 & 1 with a 305) all got between 15-18 mpg on average.

Is the mpg I'm getting with this truck common, or is there something I should be checking for, that may be causing the problem?

I drive a mixture of city/highway miles to work every day, but nothing too extreme or unusual...so I don't understand why it's so low.

Any assistance, info. or advice would be greatly appreciated!

 

How many miles are on it?

 

about 36,000.

 

My 06' Scab is getting 12.5 too. I have a COP going out so I don't know if that will help me out getting that fixed or not.

 

23.678996036988110964332892998679

71.7 miles divided by 3.028 gallons.

Yep. No joke.

I live in The City. My commute to work can be anywhere from 9.5 miles to 11 miles, depending on which route I take and if I make a loop around the building to find parking on the street. Of that commute, 4 to 5 miles may be on the freeway, depending on which freeway I take. With stop & go traffic, sometimes I can just sit there and idle. My commute can be from 15 minutes to an hour. I am lucky to see 8 to 14 miles to the gallon.

Today was the first day since getting the truck, that I actually got to take it on the freeway for a trip down to The South Bay. I filled up the tank at the gas station next to the freeway ramp, ran my errand, then filled it up again at the same gas station when I got back. No air conditioning, both windows down, and speeds between 55 and 70 depending upon congestion. I weigh about 205 to 210. I carry about 100 pounds worth of miscellaneous items including hand tools, heavy duty Streamlight SL-20, Wilson Bi-Directional Amplifier Nextel mobile repeater, floor jack, road flares, emergency power supply with inverter, 12 gauge Remington 870 with extra shells, wool blankets, extra jacket, medical trauma first responder kit, et cetera. On the return trip, there were 4 OEM steel wheels loaded into the bed for an extra 80 to 100 pounds. Even with a few minor stops because traffic was backed up behind a couple of collisions during the rush hour commute, I came in at just under 24.

No fancy mods. Just a K&N air filter and a Truxedo Truxport tonneau cover. And if you can believe this one: a Tornado Air. I'm not a believer in the Tornado either. But for $20, I figured that it couldn't hurt. One of my friends swears that his Tornado has added 3 mpg to his car. Maybe I can credit the K&N for 2 miles, the tonneau for 1 mile, and the Tornado for 0.678996036988110964332892998679.

 

wow - so it sounds like anything from 12.5 to the low 20's are the norm, depending on driving conditions, truck conditions, add-ons, etc.

I just assumed I'd get better than what I am. It was a Ford Certifiied used vehicle, so I figured they would have replaced all the filters, etc. before hand, but maybe I should check that out, too.

My daily drive is about 20-30 minutes, 1/2 of the time in stop & go/city traffic & the other 1/2 on the freeway (relatively free flowing traffic). I average 65-75 on the freeway...so it's not like I'm driving like a bat outta h*ll or anything.

I guess I'll just keep monitoring it & change a few things here & there when I can, to see if it improves any.

 

Try different brands of gas. There can be a surprising difference, don't ask why, but it can happen.

 

17 mpg average on my 04 SuperCrew, FX, 3:55 gears, K&N air filter. Seems to stay right at 17 regardless of highway and/or city driving. All brands of gas. No complaints.

 

That's about what I average with my '98 4X4 Supercab with a 4.6/4R70W. Mobil One engine oil/trans fluid, 93 Octane gas. And right at 140,000 well-maintained miles.

 

I have not been able to get above 13.63 MPG here lately. I cleaned the MAF a few weeks ago and got a little over 14 MPG but now back down to the standard. I get the 13.63 MPG consistent basis. I used to get 15.5 MPG all the time and now I cant get close to that. Been using the same types of gas as before. I think it is the ethanol. Some gas has more of it and some less. My fuel filter is good and the truck runs fine so that is all I can think of. Got close to 75k on the Cops and have never changed the O2 sensors so that might be an option later to see if things change.

 

Good bet that it is.

 

I agree try a different brand of gas. I was getting about 12 on mine and went to different brand and got 2 more miles per gallon. So on mainly city driving I have been getting about 14.

 

Depending where you live, looking around for different gas can help - some areas of the country mandate ethanol or other oxygen added fuel, if you are there, it won't matter. Other areas still offer pure gas but some fuels have ethanol - if you are there, using the pure gas *should* give you better mileage. I just moved from the Chicago area, which has had oxygen added across the board for about 15 years now, all 3 grades. Now I have a choice - Walmart (Murphy) has ethanol in all 3 grades, Casey's has ethanol in their "Plus" 89 (cheaper than their pure 87), and I believe Kum & Go has MTBE. I get crappy mileage on that stuff (and it runs like CRAP on Kum & Go) but I get better mileage on Conoco/66 which is still pure gas.