it absolutely baffles me that people on an f150 site are so concerned about 1 mpg. you buy a truck rated for 18 mpg as a commuter vehicle that really gets 14 mpg, then try to squeak every bit out of it as if you have these go green thoughts rattling around. or to save a mere 20 bucks a month from the difference. or whatever it is based on your commute.
its hypocritical that someone that buys a truck rated at 18 mpg max can be so concerned about 1mpg that their willing to buy a 500 dollar tuner to hopefully gain 1-2 mpg., or whatever other "performance" based add ons that they are hoping to increase mpg. stop kidding yourself. < lets buy a tuner hoping it will get us more mpg, but then lets try to beat our 0-60 times with it at every stop sign because its fun, then lets get on this thread and say "how to i get more mpg " its ridiculous>.its tiring to read all these threads over and over again about everyone wanting 1 more mpg in their f150 truck. cmon people if your that concerned you should be driving a civic.
if you justified buying it because you use it once every few months to go to home depot and get fertilizer than i would think if mpgs were that important to you then you wouldnt have bought a truck in the first place and youd rent one for the times you need it.
ive looked at countless tuner threads to research buying one for its intended purpose. MORE POWER SO THE TRUCK CAN "WORK" BETTER. i actually want the power that im paying for. im tired of reading through the useless questions from people hoping to get 1 or 2 more mpg. you bought a truck, its designed for working. if you want more mpg to get to your office job, get a car. but please stop posting about mpg concerns unless your engine has an issue.

 

And if you had bothered to read any of the aforementioned threads, you'd realize that everything you said has been stated in those threads, making this thread just as needlessly repetitive.

 

im pretty sure i read all the threads, because im posting a statement based on all the threads i have read.
and at the end im also asking for people to please stop doing it.
it has an intended purpose other than just a rant.

 

I agree with you 100%. It is silly, but there are some people who don't have the means to acquire a different method of transportation. These people got into this situation either directly through poor financial decisions, or through no fault of their own (loss of job etc.). I don't fault them for wanting to squeak a few more mpg out of their truck no matter which category they fall into. For the most part, the modifications will takes years to pay for themselves if they ever produce any gains at all. We have the choice of explaining this or letting them dig further into the hole. FWIW, that $500 in mods would go a heck of a lot further if you just put it in the gas tank instead.

I suggest you do what I do when I see those threads: don't click on it.

 

Some of these threads are people trying to maintain the origional performance of older high mileage trucks. There's nothing wrong with trying to keep your gear working at it's optimum level. But after reading your post I couldn't help think of the guy I saw the other day in a the civic with the 2x4 hanging out the window. Thanks for the laugh.

 

I agree and disagree with your post. I do think to some extent it is silly people are so worried about 1 mpg and buy tuners to gain the extra mileage especially when the problem is usually their right foot. However the day the consumer stops caring about how many mpg the truck is rated for, Horsepower, frame strength, quietness of the cab, torque, Tow/payload capacity is the day the manufacturers completely take advantage of us. If we don't care they wont either (within reason they still have to be competitive). What i mean by that is...

5.0 L V8 1992–93 185 hp (138 kW) 270 lb·ft (370 N·m)
5.0 L V8 1994–96 205 hp (153 kW) 275 lb·ft (373 N·m)

^We could still be here^
Not to mention, My friend has one of these trucks and it gets roughly 10-14mpg regardless. (14mpg at 55mph) AND it doesn't even tow as much...

Just a thought, but yes it is funny how people try to cure their mpg problem.

 

i agree with you 100% but its the poor choices that get them to think 1mpg will save the day. people dont want to make any sacrifices anymore. i look at it like this. if your making payments on a vehicle and lose a job either downgrade to a less expensive vehicle and save a little, because if you can afford to still make payemts on the truck after the job loss you can afford to trade it in for something less costly and expensive. <hence a sacrifice>, or if you have a vehicle paid off already then great no matter what it is its better than paying for fuel and a payment. but like you said, poor desicions, money isnt that tigth if they can buy a 500 tuner to "hopefully" save 1mpg. its stepping over a dollar to pick up a penny.
i just get tired of spending twice as much time weeding through the stupid mpg posts to find the real info.

 

i understand what you mean but its not all those specs you really see people asking how to improve, unless it involves airbags or super springs.
the reality is those improvements are givin to us to keep us enticed.
the same way the i phone comes out with a new upgrade once a year. you know they can give us a 1/2 ton that can produce 25 or more mpg but the industries limit the amount of upgraded technology the consumer receives because if they make that truck get 25mpg now where do they go from there. people will buy less cars because the mpg gap would be too small etc. you dont think gates is walking around with the iphone 5 do you.
i bet hes using the i phone 42 prototype already or whatever number their up to. they could have produce those power ratings in 95 but think where we would be now with the technology. <god forbid>.
they know we expect to see more hp with less power produced and fuel consumed but unfortunately they limit how much offered each year to keep the impulsive people upgrading.

a good example is the documentary "who killed the electric car".
they had the technology back in the 90s for a fully electric car and started to distribute them. then magically the cars were pulled off the roads because it was too fast a jump for the technological progression. now we have half assed electrics and are slowly adding full electrics. < but thats a whole diff topic.> the fully electric in the 90s was called the volt too. now we have a new volt that is half of what the old one was. just looks nicer. but backwards in tech.

 

The same could be said for almost every topic on here. Lifts, gears, HIDs, wheels, tires, brakes.

Depends on what's important to you, and obviously, regardless of the futility of the endeavor, MPG is a prime concern for many posters.

As an aside, the EV-1 was GM's electric car in the '90s, it sucked, it's real world performance killed it, nothing more.

 

i hear what you are saying but anyone that buys a 35k - 40k then spends 2500 bucks on rims and tires they dont need, then says i need to save money and gaining 1mpg is my ticket, cmon its lunacy. i understand they might like the truck and want to make it look good but if they cant afford a 1mpg fluctuation then they need to drive something more practical until they can afford it. they need to save that mpg but waste 2500 on tires so it looks good. put the 2500 in the truck and take what you need out to offset the mpg difference. if you have the money to do all the mods, then you have the money for the fuel thats all im saying. i would love a million dollar house. i can make the payments but i cant afford any other bills. so i bought a 325k house and can live with any fluctuations i come across. its the same concept, i know i started a similar post and it frustrates you, but im trying to make a point as well and not just bicker.