you have a tach in yours if you have a digital odometer(cant remember what year yours is). so you can see it. it will not mess anything up and it will reset after you shut off the truck. by reset i mean once you do it, you cant check your mileage until you shut the truck off. then the next time you turn it on or start, it is odometer again. you have to do this every time to get the tach. also has other helpful things on it.
1st-hold in trip odometer button
2nd-turn key to ON(dont start) and wait 5 seconds until the info center says test or something of that sort.
3rd- once you see "test" let go of trip button and keep pressing it as many times as it takes until it says "TACH" or "TAC" (wont be all capital letters if any at all) with numbers after it. my 04 heritage came up Tac 0000. it takes maybe 6 or 8 times for this to come up. once you see this start your truck. it will read in digital and is pretty accurate. like i said once you shut off the truck it goes back to odometer.
test mode also has a dash light bulb check, gauge check and some other stuff. no gas mileage info tho. just try it out so you can see what rpms you are at.

 

He has a 98 with mechanical odometer.

With 3.55's and stock tires, 25 to 28 in 2nd and 37 to 40 in 3rd is about 2500 rpm.

 

yeah i have mechanical odometer. and that is good info thanks...


wow 2500 is all... omg. i never really get over 45 in third unless im racing. then i have went to 60-65... what is that in third?

and just for the RECORD book. i fueled up today. and my phone calculator told me i got 15.9 mpg!!!!!!! that is the most i have seen in about 2 years. im not kiddin ya

 

80 in 3rd is about 5200 rpm - do the math. 3rd gear is the go-to gear for passing on 2 lane highways.

 

oh yeah it definitely is. my 04 topped around 90 in 3rd. i could be going 80 and throw it in third and get to 90 quicker than if i put it in 4th. in my 08 if im going 70 when it tops at 80, its quicker to leave it in 4th. seems my 04's 4.2 didnt drop the power as soon as the 08 does. but my 08 is quicker to 100 than my 04 by about 5 seconds even tho the 04 was in 3rd to 90 and my 08 is 3rd to 80. my 04 was 3600rpms at 100, my 08 is 4k both in 4th gear. i calculated once that my 04 would top out at 170ish mph if it had the power to do it. my 08 i havent tried to figure it out yet. my 08 is the same to 60 as my 04 was only because i have to shift twice before i even hit 60. my 04 was still in 2nd once 60 came but it was longer gears so it didnt pull as hard. both are 9.58 seconds at the quickest ive counted so far. i think both could be faster with better launches. i have heard someone getting to 60 with 3.31s in about 8.5 seconds but that is still in 2nd at 60 also. so mine has the shift time from 2nd to 3rd in there too. i know it doesnt take a whole second to shift but going from 2nd to 3rd is a slower shift same as 4th to 5th. i think 4th to 5th takes longer tho for some reason.

 

i just tested it out with my 08 with 3.55LS. 1st gear @ 2500 is about 13mph. it happened so fast and i couldnt get it back down without it jerking around because the gas pedal is so touchy because of 1st gear being so low. hard to do a consistant deceleration or coast. acceleration is smoothe tho. 2nd gear @ 2500rpms is 28mph, 3rd gear @ 2500 is 42mph. didnt check 4th but 5th at 65mph is about 2100rpms

 

i use 4th... dont pass them fast. but it gets the job done... so your telling me i have been lugging my pickup like this since the first day i started driving it? wow... and i still only get an ave of 13 mpg? somethin is screwed up?

 

one question a few months ago i was racing a 4.3L chevy. he beat me by one length in the quarter. but i reved it only to like
20 in first
37 in second
65 in third
and ran the rest in 4th...

i woulda beat him had i known i could go to 80 in 3rd. wow. i woulda blew him away actually. and he has .1 liter bigger then me! **** ill have to race him again and make my shift points at higher rpms

 

he has .1 liter more but you have between 2 and 7hp more than him. 4.2 is rated 202hp and i think 4.3 is 195 but culd be 200 now. i would say 195. also dont shift into 4th till 70 to 75. 75 to 80 seems to be faster in 4th because it is back aound its powerband.

 

i have the exact same truck. however the 98' 4.2l came with stock 235/70 tires. i have 255/70 tires. but that changes my gas a little bit. but i have the same exhaust and it absolutely kills ur gas mileage. you should on average be getting 19-20 city and 21-23 high way

 

That is a rare F-150 with *any* engine that will get mileage that high. Right now, using gas with no ethanol, I'm getting exactly what the EPA says I should - 16 city 20 highway.

 

umm dude, a manual is easier for it to run away from you than an auto. autos have park which is like a "lock in place" for the tranny. manuals it is in a GEAR which means if it is too much weight for it, then it will start rolling. just think of the weight being equal to the torque your engine makes to turn the gears. try putting an auto in drive or reverse and shut it off on a steep hill, leave and come back in 15minutes, it probably will be at the bottom. you are lucky yours hasnt yet!!! the rule with parking brakes tho is either never use them, or use them every time. if you dont use them they freeze or lock up. by using it every time you are keeping the parts moving which keeps them from locking up for a longer time. so once you get it in, use it every time, hill or no hill and still put it in gear the way you were because i have come across many parking brakes that dont work well at all for backward rolling but it helps. the trick is to put it in gear, then shut off the truck, then let clutch out and let foot off of brake, let the truck settle(roll until the gear catches) then put on parking brake(no need to do it as hard as you can, just till it gets kinda hard to push. do it with your hand like your doing a push-up on it and see how far down it goes(using hand and arm force only, not putting your back into it or anything). that should be stiff enough.
as for your gas mileage, an intake should add about 2-3mpg, or a K&N drop-in should add 1 if your truck was in normal operating condition. since yours is probably not, it may only add .5 or 1 for an intake and probably not much at all for the drop-in. my 04 heritage gor 18.9 average stock, then 19.9 with drop-in, then 22.5 with intake. my 08 has the same intake and is getting just under 20 with intake but i mess around a lot. both trucks it seems i cant play all day and still get over 17. messing around on the highway, hitting 100, pulling away from whoever... no matter what i have gotten over 19 with my 08 and my 04 got just over 17. making your vehicle breathe better is the best thing for it. with your exhaust being bigger, if you do get the drop-in or intake it may be a bigger gain than i got since mine's exhaust is restricted still. either way...it is worth the 60-65 for the drop-in and its worth the 305 for the intake.

 

I paid $211.23 for my K&N -77.

sounds about right. here in Florida all stations have to have that E10 crap so I'm getting about 17 mpg on most of my tanks. this weekend I'm hoping it to go up to 18 or maybe 19 when I get done with my electric fans

 

With E10, I get 14/18.

 

I'm getting 22.4 mpg with e10.

But I still granny shift... nothing over 2,000 rpms for me.