5.0L mileage with 20's and 3.31s
12-11-2012, 09:05 AM
#11
I reset my trip every time I fill up (around13.1-13.6) but the avg. that is displayed all the time sits at 13.1-13.3... So I guess I'm gonna go for some 3.73 with my 20's to bring up my city... I don't drive for mpgs but I know this thing shouldn't get this kind of mileage... 3.73 it is.... Now time to save up
12-11-2012, 11:08 AM
#13
No one gear ratio can yield best mileage .... Like all these people have said there are tons of variables.... For my instance I believe a 3.73 will help my situation most to bring up my mpg... I do 80% stop and go and 20 % freeway ... Occasionally a trip to the lake on the freeway which the 6 speed trans should bring down the rpms to allow for a reasonable hwy mpg cruising around 70-75
12-11-2012, 04:30 PM
#14
if all he did was hwy, then yes. however considering he has said almost all of his driving is city/stop & go, a lower (higher numerically) gear ratio will get him off the line easier and therefore require less power (aka less fuel burned) to get up to speed. so with said lower gears his around town mpg could very well improve. but his hwy mpg could drop a bit.
12-11-2012, 07:45 PM
#15
I just did the math ... And if I get 15.3 mpgs avg I'll go from 350 to around 418 a tank and get around 60 more miles per tank and every 7 tanks I'll save one and and in a little over a year my gear swap will pay for itself, in fuel savings .... Lol
12-11-2012, 08:08 PM
#16
Senior Member
What's killing your MPG is your lower gears (technically and numerically higher gears) combined with larger tires. I also assume that you recalibrated your computer for larger tires? If not, that can throw your MPG off on your computer unless you are calculating by hand. I have the 3.73 and get awesome mileage. 18 avg per tank. 20+ hwy.
12-12-2012, 09:01 AM
#18
Better OUT then IN
Join Date: Feb 2011
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Ok but focusing on one variable isn't going to give an answer. Look at the things you just said that could affect mpg. Tune, throttle body, intake, and wheels.
Lets look at one simple variable, the wheels. Stock 20's? or aftermarket. Wheels weigh different weights. More wheel and tire weight is a very easy way to kill mileage. You could have kept 18s, but gone with heavier ones and lowered your mileage.
There is no way with everything on your truck to compare it to a stock truck and see if there is a problem. You need to eliminate a single variable at a time and test.
All that said I am in Houston and I will say three things that are opinion. People saying 18-20 in the city are full of it and/or the test range, data input to achieve that was so limited it is of no meaning. Two I can drive my truck in such a way to get 13 to 15 mpg and it is stock. So I don't think you have a problem.
Back to the facts. More info would be needed from you to figure anything out. Even then it would be dificult to determine. The bigger question is why do you and so many others think there are issues that mpg are showing? Do you have rough idle, slipping gears or any other indication of mechanical issues. That in addition to so many other variables would put you in a better direction of thinking other than to think the 20s are immediately the problem.
Heck start simple. Take the truck as is and run at 60mph out and back to Beaumont or the like. Use cruise. Fill the tank before and after and calculate by hand, because surprise surprise another variable is mpg estimations by the truck can be wrong.
Good luck
Lets look at one simple variable, the wheels. Stock 20's? or aftermarket. Wheels weigh different weights. More wheel and tire weight is a very easy way to kill mileage. You could have kept 18s, but gone with heavier ones and lowered your mileage.
There is no way with everything on your truck to compare it to a stock truck and see if there is a problem. You need to eliminate a single variable at a time and test.
All that said I am in Houston and I will say three things that are opinion. People saying 18-20 in the city are full of it and/or the test range, data input to achieve that was so limited it is of no meaning. Two I can drive my truck in such a way to get 13 to 15 mpg and it is stock. So I don't think you have a problem.
Back to the facts. More info would be needed from you to figure anything out. Even then it would be dificult to determine. The bigger question is why do you and so many others think there are issues that mpg are showing? Do you have rough idle, slipping gears or any other indication of mechanical issues. That in addition to so many other variables would put you in a better direction of thinking other than to think the 20s are immediately the problem.
Heck start simple. Take the truck as is and run at 60mph out and back to Beaumont or the like. Use cruise. Fill the tank before and after and calculate by hand, because surprise surprise another variable is mpg estimations by the truck can be wrong.
Good luck
however; you did nail it.
12-12-2012, 11:20 AM
#19
Thanks, lol. Just suprising in this place, every other thread is about mileage. In 2010 we didn't talk about mileage for a 5.4 or 4.6.
I have a diesel VW, and those forums are all about mileage and it's effects and damn they should be cause thats why you buy a diesel Vdub.
I come back here after getting a 13 and the world has turned upside down and people ask questions without thinking through how many variables there are to mpg calculations. Anyways,
