4.9 mpg
01-31-2016, 07:33 PM
#1
4.9 mpg
I have a 94 f150 flareside with a 4.9, e4od, and 3.08 rear gear. I have the orginal window sticker that says 15 city and 20 highway. It seems like I'm only getting an average of 12 to 14. I do mostly city driving but I drive the highway too. It's only a 2wd and doesn't have a hitch on it. It's only used for a daily driver and occasional heavy load in the bed. I want to know if there is any things I can do to improve my mpg.
I have thought about doing a megasquirt efi. I also have a fiberglass bed cover that I could put on.
Would swapping the tranny to say a 5 speed manual help?
What about changing the rear gear?
I have thought about doing a megasquirt efi. I also have a fiberglass bed cover that I could put on.
Would swapping the tranny to say a 5 speed manual help?
What about changing the rear gear?
02-01-2016, 01:38 PM
#2
3:08 gears are more of a highway mileage gear so the truck does have to work harder at every stopsign and traffic light. That's going to burn a lot more fuel in town. Lower (higher number) gears will save gas in town but use more on the highway. 3:55 is a pretty good compromise.
02-01-2016, 05:14 PM
#3
first start with your driving technique, if you are trying to drive like john force in one of his race cars, you are going to get terrible fuel economy. you want to roll on the throttle, and roll off it, and maintain your momentum as much as possible. the inline six in the responds to that mileage wise.
swapping to a 3.55 rear gear might help around town, but better would be to go over the vehicle and make sure it rolls easily. check the tire pressures and make sure they are properly inflated. switch to synthetic fluids to reduce parasitic losses. a bed cover isnt really going to help much in town, but it will help on the highway. however a bed cover has other benefits, get a hard cover, and a tailgate lock, and you can use the bed as a huge trunk.
i believe your engine is already EFI, thus going to a megasquirt system is spending money you dont need to.
you might pick up an earlier 300 head, say from an early 80s truck, and rebuild it and pump up the compression to about 9.5:1, run the numbers carefully so oyu know how much to have your machinist mill the head to get the right combustion chamber size, as well as get larger ports, i believe ford reduced the size of the ports in the late heads which restricts airflow into the cylinders, and thus reduces power, which hurts fuel economy.
invest in a good header and exhaust system. you need to reduce the stock back pressure to improve fuel economy as well.
going back to tires, check the style tires you have on the truck right now. if they are an off road style tire, then replace them with something designed for the street. big self cleaning lugs, and aggressive tread patterns are not conducive to good fuel economy.
also make sure that your odometer is in fact correct. if you are going five miles, and the odometer reads only four, for instance, you are not going to be getting accurate numbers.
swapping to a 3.55 rear gear might help around town, but better would be to go over the vehicle and make sure it rolls easily. check the tire pressures and make sure they are properly inflated. switch to synthetic fluids to reduce parasitic losses. a bed cover isnt really going to help much in town, but it will help on the highway. however a bed cover has other benefits, get a hard cover, and a tailgate lock, and you can use the bed as a huge trunk.
i believe your engine is already EFI, thus going to a megasquirt system is spending money you dont need to.
you might pick up an earlier 300 head, say from an early 80s truck, and rebuild it and pump up the compression to about 9.5:1, run the numbers carefully so oyu know how much to have your machinist mill the head to get the right combustion chamber size, as well as get larger ports, i believe ford reduced the size of the ports in the late heads which restricts airflow into the cylinders, and thus reduces power, which hurts fuel economy.
invest in a good header and exhaust system. you need to reduce the stock back pressure to improve fuel economy as well.
going back to tires, check the style tires you have on the truck right now. if they are an off road style tire, then replace them with something designed for the street. big self cleaning lugs, and aggressive tread patterns are not conducive to good fuel economy.
also make sure that your odometer is in fact correct. if you are going five miles, and the odometer reads only four, for instance, you are not going to be getting accurate numbers.