I think this is true for all engines. If I keep it under 70, I get 22-24 mpg out of my stock SCab 5.0. If I'm doing 75, that drops to 17-18

 

The Bridgestone Alenza is an excellent tire. You will get great service in all weather conditions from them as well as good mileage.

 

As luck would have, mine came with Pirelli's. Would someone update me on the drawback to Pirelli's? As much surfing as I have done on this forum, I don't recall reading about the issues with Pirelli.

 

How does leveling increase milage? Going by basic physics that does not compute. The higher you raise the front end, allowing more air to run under the un-aerodynamic undercarriage the lower you mpgs will be.

This is why modern truck come with so much rake from the factory. Also why it seems every year they put a larger valance under the bumper to deflect air away from the chassis and suspension.

I'm not against leveling, I love the look too! But it would be mis-information to state it will improve MPG's

Also, I don't know if I buy the story of the guy who said he's running 34 or 35 inch rubber and getting 21 mpg hwy.

I have a 2wd, Scab with 3.55 rear and 5.0. When I got the truck new it had those silly roller skate tires 265, 60, 18 Michelin LTX. It would get 21-22 Hwy fairly easy, providing you didn't go much over 70.

A few months ago I got new tires, OEM 4x4 sized 275,65,18 Michelin MS/2's I love this tire on my truck, unbelievable wet and dry traction. But they raised my truck about 1" over stock and I have not seen anything over 18.4 mpgs hwy since I changed tires, and that's trying.

 

Ok, so I won't level the truck. Rake make sense, NASCAR is running big air dams to keep the air out from under the car. Has anybody had any luck (Increased MPG) with cold air boxes or programmers?

 

After driving a few 100 miles hwy and city after my 2.5" level on stock tires I noticed no difference in MPG. Huge difference after 10 ply tires that way 70 some lbs a piece. Now I get 16 mpg everywhere at any speed.

 

bigrun, here ya go. Mine is 4x2 with the 5.0L, and standard 3.31 gear's. I would rather drive this truck on a trip than anything I have. Smooth, quiet, roomy, and great mpg's for the size. I'm already planning a road trip for next year that includes driving Big Red.

 

Hardcore never said that leveling increases your fuel economy. Yes it does change the aerodynamics of the truck, but simply leveling will make such a small difference in MPG I doubt you'll notice. Wind direction and speed, the speed at which you travel, whether you try to draft with other cars all have bigger effects than simply leveling your truck. As stated before, the MPGs take a major hit by adding tires that are wider, have a higher rolling resistance (more aggressive), and are heavier than what come on the truck from the factory.

 

google hypermiling for tips on how to maximize MPG. It has as much to do with HOW you drive as WHAT you drive. Having said that, leveling and aftermarket wheels and tires will hurt mileage. Adding a tonneau cover helps 1 MPG.

I've done many road trips including two 2,000 mile trips to Canada in the current gen F150 and they are very comfortable on the highway. The massive amounts of personal space makes a big difference. They do not however get good mileage and wouldn't be my first choice for cross country tripping unless money were not an issue or I needed a lot of space for family and luggage. My lifetime mileage after 9k miles on my EB is less than 15 MPG.

 

Lifting will decrease mileage not increase.

And it goes beyond basic physics. Turbulent flow cross sectional area is inversely related to flow velocity. So the bigger the area, the slower the flow velocity. Slower velocity, the more friction it causes. Which decreases mileage.

Thermodynamics


But like I said and others have said it is such a small difference, you wouldn't notice.