OK, so I'm stuck in a pickle. Long story short......a buddy gave me an old '94 Toyota pickup which I (foolishly) gave to my in laws. (I will probably get it back but not for another couple or few years 'cuz I put a few hundred bucks in it to fix it up & they know this but still.......). That was a month or so ago.

Fast forward to this week. Reason I got to this point is that the old Toyota was gettin' about 23mpg (compared to my wife's 14mpg in the F150) and when I calculated the price difference between the two for the amount of driving we do was about.........$100 per month!!!!!!!!!

(Yes, ignorance is bliss)

So I've gone on rampage lookin' for either an itty bitty teeny weeny car that'll get 30-35mpg all day & night........or...........I've even considered.........

REPLACING THE TRUCK !?!?!?!? Did I just say that??????????????

Anyway, if anybody's got a way to increase the gas mileage from like 14mpg to 16mpg (no downhill, backwind, "push it" jokes, please) I'd be much appreciative!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

If you don't need the truck for hauling/towing.....sell it.

Get something 30-35mpg like you said.
Gas is only going UP in price.

 

Only prob with that (of course) is that it suuuuuuure is handy having a truck around.

I have a single Sea-Doo on a single trailer that just about anything can tow so that's not a huge factor, (maybe 1,200lbs total) but it sure is nice towin' it with the 4.6L.

I went & looked at a Hyundai Tucson (don't laugh the thing is flippin' nice) last night as a kind of "compromise" where I would have a smaller SUV type vehicle and maybe put a hitch on it and make it the tow vehicle as well.

Sticker mileage says 20/26 for the V6 model (the only one I'd buy) which ain't too shabby. Hopefully it wouldn't be a case like my truck where it got 18 instead of 20 in the city. (Remember our '98 F150's said 15/18??.....yeah right.......with me driving it gets TWELVE!!!!!!!)

So there's not really anything to bump the mileage a couple mpg????????

 

Well, that is a 'pickle'..... Getting a free truck, putting a couple hundered into it and then 'giving' it to your in laws!! I'm sure there is more to that story, but anyway....

So, you've done some math already and came up with a $100/month difference driving a 23 mpg rig compared to a 14 mpg rig. Now you are looking for a rig that will get 30+ mpg. Ok, on the surface that will obvioulsy save on the gas bill each month..... But, what's it gonna cost you get buy that 30+ mpg rig and insure it too.....

If you go cheap on the car, repairs might nickle and dime you to death. Newer, and it'll cost you several grand just to buy it....

Now, if you are just concerned about the planet and "feel better" driving an econo box then great...... If you are solely looking to save a few bucks for gas a month then you it'll have to be a "long term investment" because it'll take a while to recoup the cost of the new econo box in gas savings.

Same thing with throwing a bunch of bolt on parts on a rig to get better mpg.... It'll take a long time to recoup the cost of the parts compared to just buying a bit more gas...... And besides, there is no gizmo, or combo of gizmos that will increase mpg enough to make any dent in that gas bill.... Some electric fans are said to help, as is an intake and exhaust, but the cost of all that will buy a lot of gas!

The cheapest things to do are make sure the truck is tuned and running the best it can. Lighten up the truck as much as possible. Run the pressure in the tires just a tad bit higher. Keep a very light foot on the gas pedal. Pretend you have an egg between your foot and the pedal. While stuck in traffic, or rolling along really slow, let the truck idle it's way forward as much as possible... I know it's a hard to do, but try to keep some distance between the car ahead and yourself... While he is trying to stay on the rear bumper of the car in front of him, he his having to hit the gas, then the brake and gas again.... For what?? Just so another car does not pull in front of him..... No jack rabbit starts from intersections.... Sure, it's fun to be the first one across the intersection, but it'll cost you mpg.... Keep the hwy speed between 60-65 mph and that'll increase that hwy mpg by a couple right there....

I drive about 40 miles a day to and from work. Most of it is hwy, but in the afternoon, that ride home is usually a crawl.... I'm getting an average of 16 mpg with a 5.4 super cab 4x4 #5400 truck! Straight hwy I can manage 18 mpg for the most part.

Good luck!

Mitch

 

Mitch........thanks for the excellent pointers. I agree on your points.

As for the Toyota......well, it had 175,000 miles on it and was pretty rough around the edges. At first I was thinking...."What do I need another vehicle for?"..........until I drove it & saw the mileage I was getting. It was only a single cab so between my wife, my 2 daughters and mysefl we could never all ride in it at the same time and (last but not least)....I didn't know the truck was actually in as good of condition as it was.."mechanically". (But who knows, the timing chain could break on the thing tomorrow & it'll be the in-laws $500 and not mine).

So anyway, that's the story on the truck. And, they did offer to give it back when they're *done* with it......(whatever that means) but they were a single-car family so they could ceratinly use it more than us.

Now if I could just get a Toyota Tacoma Super Crew that'd get 30mpg.....I'd go trade this F150 in to the dealer in a heartbeat!!!!!!!!!!

 

OK, I'm gonna babble some more here 'cuz I forgot how I had wormed *justification* into the equation over the last couple weeks........

Theory: As gas prices go up.......the vehicle getting the better gas mileage will actually help pay itself off (faster/more?) because it won't be a straight 1:1 ratio in savings.

(Is that bullsh*t enough for everybody?? LMAO!!!!)

Ah.......I dunno. Well, one thing I *can* say I'm happy about is I A-L-M-O-S-T bought an '04 F150 a year ago & somehow managed to come out of that alive, so maybe I can survive and decline on my current psychological debacle too?????? Doh!!!

 

Your trying to compare an apple with a watermellon.
There not the same size, the same weight, same color.
If you can't go with the fuel the 150 truck takes, get a small car and a little trailer to go with it.

 

Something with some 8" wheels & double bearing buddies to keep 'em from smokin'??????? LOL!!!

Well, I just got a call from my buddy who spent $40K on a loaded Avalanche and he said he's gettin' about 14mpg too. He traded in his '03 Silverado 1500 Scab so he won't tell me how badly he got raped on that deal, but assuming they even gave him $18K for it, he's still financing over $20K.......so that puts me about $20K ahead of where he's sittin' right now with that payment book.

Ahhh well........maybe I'll need to take the ole '98 w/ me to the grave??

 

When I got my 4x8 utility trailer I had a '86 5.0 GT. I put on a little class 1 hitch and wired up a flat four harness and that was my "truck" for a number of years right after I moved into my house.

The trailer is a "lil' Tex" and has a #2000 axle. The tires are only 12" jobs and only have a cap of #1500 combined, but I've had more weight in there then that at times! And towed it with the GT!! (5.0, 5 speed, 3.08 geared LS with 235/60/15 Toyo's on it)

After a couple of raises at work, I was finally able to pop for the 'used' F150 I'm driving now... (still making pmts on it too!!) Wish I would have kept the 'Stang, but no place to keep it and I didn't want it outside or the truck outside either... (I can still fit two cars in my garage!) Oh well......

I've still got the trailer and combined with the truck, I can actually carry a lot of stuff! I have about the same amount of combined payload with the F150 and the Lil' Tex as most 3/4 ton trucks have!

I'm spending about $200+ a month for gas on the F150. I put on about 20k miles a year, so it gets driven A LOT! I don't mind anymore, as I figure, it's only money and it's only gas....... Might as well use up as much as I'm willing to pay for because what's the point of "saving it for future generations...." That's cr@p..... Let them figure out what to use!! ha, ha!! If you believed all the hype of the 70's gas crisis, we were supposed to be out of gas by now anyway!!

I will someday get the 1 ton diesel that I've always wanted... Even thou diesel costs more per gallon then gas and diesels cost about 5 grand more then it's gas engined brothers...... Who cares!! It'll be a big, bad, smokey beast and that's what it's all about anyway!!

Mitch

 

I was driving my 97 4.6l 4x4 atm to work and using a tank every 4 days at $45.00 a tank. I purchased a toyota corolla ce manual xm that gets 40mpg, yes 40mpg and can drive it for 6 days for $22.50 a tank. Half the cost and 2 additional days! What I paid for the corolla compaired to my f150 seemed like a steal.

I use my 97 f150 for local "big jobs" around the house, and bad weather days,etc. and now use a tank a month in it. I got a reduction in my insurance by limiting the miles no more than 7500 a year. Saves $100.00 a year.

My toyota payment, insurance, taxes eat up any savings, but I have a backup vehicle which is easy to get around in tight places, and is fun to drive. I can leave trash in the truck, or a trailer hitched, etc. and use the car at times.

If gas goes down, I will drive the f150 more and if it goes up I can drive it less. Selling is not a good option. New trucks are going for less than some used!