I drove a 99 4.2 SC auto with 331 gears for 49000+ miles averaged 17 sometimes a little less sometimes a little more. 1 month ago I purchased an SCrew with the 4.6 auto 355 gears and my average for the 1st 1400 miles is 17.58 driving the same roads. The difference in torque and HP make this truck a joy to drive as opposed to being acceptable to drive.

my .02

 

Dhouck how could you say that the 4.2L has more power than the 5.4L which you quoted as a "piece of junk". The 4.2L has no power. My 5.4L has *****. Not to say that the 4.2 L. is a bad engine. Don't make statements that are so farfetched and against all logic. 202hp 250 tq for 4.2L. 5.4L 260 hp 350 tq. 4.2L is ohv engine (old school). 5.4L is sohc (better breathing engine). You do that math

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2001 F-150 5.4L trition,
Regular cab with 8' bed
XLT with Black Clearcoat
4x4 3.55 limited slip
factory cab steps
class III tow package
Factory ordered: 12/5
recieved: 2/22

 

Is the concensus of guys getting poor fuel economy either:
- Living in the north where it is currently very cold?

- Driving with a lead foot?
or
- Sitting in bumper-to-bumper traffic?

I moved from Texas to Chicago, and went from warm to below zero, and wide-open highways to the bottleneck in Hillside on the Ike Xpressway. I have since dropped 4-5 MPG, but some of which I expect back come spring.


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'98 SC XLT 4.2
4x2 3.55 ls
Gibson 3" cat back
K&N filter (who doesn't?)
Cpt. chairs, and those oh so cool auto headlights.
Factory door steps to get my pants dirty

 

I just bought a 2001 Styleside Supercab, first tank of gas yielded 15 mph. I live in Calif. and drive in moderate traffic. Still i was dissapointed in the milage. (Until reading other comments). Ford gave a discount for buying the V6 under some "enviormental discount", whats the point if the V6 gets the same as the V8???
2001 Wedgewood Blue
3.55 4 spped auto/overdrive
p25570r16, 6 cd changer

 

This is just an update guys. I now have just over 13k on my 2000 F-150 SuperCab, 4.2L, Auto4Sp, tires:265r16, 3.55 rear gear and it has not improved on mileage. I drive to work and back, light on the foot and get 15-16 mpg. Like many of you, I believe with all the differences in performance and mileage wrote about in this tread, I could of had a V8. I would not be complaining about the mileage, except that Ford makes the claim on their own WEB site that this is a Green Machine getting 20MPG! You know that they sidestepped Gas Hog taxes with this truck. I would just like to know how or who they blinded to get that tax break.

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2000 F-150XL SuperCab 4.2 4SP Automatic Harvest Gold

 

i get between 400 and 442 mile per tank. some city,some highway, and some towing. as far as a v8 i rented one for a week a 4.6 and i got 12 mpg and i have good driving habits.

 

For what its worth I had a 99 XLT SC 4.2 auto with 3.31 gears that averaged 14-16 mostly city and I am heavy footed. I sold it and bought my current truck, a 2001 F150 XLT RC 4x4 with 3.55 LS and just went through my first tank of gas. I got 12.6 with the same foot and the same mostly city driving. I figure I lost some just to the new truck being a 4x4. Its still better than the 83 F150 with a 300 6 and 4 speed which averaged 10-12 under same driving conditions.

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2001 F150 XLT 4X4
Regular Cab
4.2 liter V6 auto.
towing package (why?)
3.55 LS gears
manual 4x4 shift
OEM stock (too broke to change it!!!)

 

I also have an update. I just passed 9000 miles. Granted I have bigger tires now, but I have not seen any change in gas milage. That's right, the milage acctually didn't go down when I got my tires. I have no clue what that means. I haven't really changed my driving habits too much. Although, I have been trying to keep it under 75 on the highway and that seems to help a bit. I ussually get about 15-16 on the highway, and about 12-14 on the streets. I do also have the 5-speed 2-3 gear grinding that has become sort of an issue with these trannys. I wonder if that has anything to do with it? What do you guys think. Try checking in the transmissions forum to see what I am talking about, in fact, here is the link, https://www.f150online.com/f150board...ML/000405.html and also https://www.f150online.com/f150board...ML/000864.html . Check them out. Let me know what you guys think about this possible connection? Thanks.

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2000 Silver F-150 XL Sport
Reg. Cab, Reg. Bed, 4.2L V6, 5-speed, 4x2

mods:
Tailgate lock, Generic bedliner
285/75r16 BFG AT ko (33.1x11.4)
Sony CD player, Blaunpunkt 5.25" speakers
Crimeguard alarm, Power locks
---------------------
Never let your schooling interfere with your education --Mark Twain

 

On a trip not long ago I was getting 22 on thay way there and 21 coming back loaded up with stuff. Supper chip had a lot to do with these numbers I think becuse before I couldnt get over 17 or 18 at best. DAVID

 

roland,

Did your new tires change your speedo/odo? If they did, and you are actually traveling 10.5 miles for every 10 miles it reads on your odometer (I'm guessing), then on a tank you are actually going 420 miles if your odometer reads 400. If you filled up with 23 gallons, that would be a difference between 17.39 and 18.26.

------------------
'98 SC XLT 4.2
4x2 3.55 ls
Gibson 3" cat back
K&N filter (who doesn't?)
Cpt. chairs, and those oh so cool auto headlights.
Factory door steps to get my pants dirty

 

acctually, ltmox, It is closer to 10.111 miles for each 10 miles read. But that's not much difference from your #'s. I wish I can get 400 miles out of one tank. I am getting about 250-275 regularly, in the city. I fill it up at about 21-22 gallons, not the full 25. So I guess that has a lot to do with how much I can get out of one tank. I am driving to Houston and back to Austin again this Sunday. So I will report on the highway gas millage with the bigger tires. But on runs to San Antonio and back, about 150 miles, I've been getting pretty good millage, I would say in the 15's. But I have not ever acctually tried to calculate. When I go to SA, I offroad and so that throws off the gas millage calculations. Anyway...I'll let everyone know how it goes this weekend. Again, thanks for all your replies!

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2000 Silver F-150 XL Sport
Reg. Cab, Reg. Bed, 4.2L V6, 5-speed, 4x2

mods:
Tailgate lock, Generic bedliner
285/75r16 BFG AT ko (33.1x11.4)
Sony CD player, Blaunpunkt 5.25" speakers
Crimeguard alarm, Power locks
---------------------
Never let your schooling interfere with your education --Mark Twain

 

Here's the straight goods. I spoke with my Ford dealer service rep. recently; away from the boss and prying ears he told me that when Ford calculates fuel mileage they drive at approximately 35 kph/intown and 77 kph/highway. That's about 21.7 mph/intown and 47.74mph/highway. No BS.

 

er mpg not mph...my mistake. typo's.....

 

so we basically have to crawl in order to get the ratings sent down upon us by the gods at Ford.
We all bought trucks, so when Honda starts making a truck with a V-VTEC 4-cyl that gets 31 city and 41 highway, and produces 205hp and 18ft/lbs torque @ 11000 rpms, then we will be in business.

------------------
'98 SC XLT 4.2
4x2 3.55 ls
Gibson 3" cat back
K&N filter (who doesn't?)
Cpt. chairs, and those oh so cool auto headlights.
Factory door steps to get my pants dirty

 

roland

Try putting up there, at like 65, and see if that is worth it.
For what it's worth, when I go on a long trip, and will not haul anything, I take my tailgate off. I know the debate is still open whether or not it improves drag or not, but I do know that it doesn't hurt. Besides it weighs about 60-70 pounds, and you can see behind you much better.

------------------
'98 SC XLT 4.2
4x2 3.55 ls
Gibson 3" cat back
K&N filter (who doesn't?)
Cpt. chairs, and those oh so cool auto headlights.
Factory door steps to get my pants dirty