Ok - it's time to talk about this - - - I filled up my tank on the way home last night and paid $4.039 per gallon. My '92 b2600i pickup with 4wd has never gotten real good mileage anyway - - - about 15 in the summer and dropping to 12 or 13 in winter weather - - - mechanic friend says "it's a heavy truck with the 4wd - just get used to it". I'm trying to do what I can to improve mileage, keep the tires inflated properly, keep it tuned up and running right, I even found another way to work that is downhill and a mile shorter than my usual route. I'm still getting about the same mileage. Does anybody out there have suggestions, ideas, solutions, prayers, or other things that might help all of us? I don't think the gas price is going to get any better - - - only worse. Damn - I don't want to have to ride my old Honda trail 90 to work. how about some discussion on this.

Rolomac

 

Gas prices won't go down in the near future...87 will be $4.00 per gallon everywhere soon enough. I'm just going to grit my teeth and bear it for now...at least until I get another car, whenever that is.

 

You may get slighlty better mileage if you change your air filter (or get a cold air intake, perhaps), and check to see if your EGR valve or O2 sensor need replacing. I know a guy who saw a slight improvment in mileage after replacing said parts (compact car - not a p/u. You may not see the same improvments in your truck).I'm not an expert or anything by any means, so don't grill me if I am off the mark. Good luck with it.

Oh, and I am paying about $1.37/L for gas (about $5.19/US Gal), so it could be worse I suppose.

 

If its legal you could try going for road tyres rather than 4 wheel drive off road tyres next time you change them. Also don't use air con, keep the windows wound up, and do everything smoothly, so anticipate stopping and ease off early, and don't accelarate fast. The idea is not to have to use the brakes, as this is a waste of energy. I drive a 91 1800cc subaru legacy and managed to get the fuel consumption down from 9 litres per 100kms to 7.8 litres per hundred kilometres. The downside is people behind you get annoyed, and you get bored.

 

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, though I always seem to be.Good fuel mileage and that truck are not likely to happen.
My son-in-law had that same truck w/a Ford Ranger badge. It got terrible mileage... the same as you describe and it was in remarkable shape.

I have to disagree w/drifter28 here too.
A better way to improve your fuel mileage is to accelerate a bit harder... 2/3rds/3/4's of the thin pedal, stay in the lower gears less time and shift into a higher gear ASAP. You will go further on a gallon of gas if you do it w/the truck in 4th or 5th gear as much as possible, but not to the point of lugging the engine, say below 2k on the tach.
If you are going primarily for mileage/tankful, anything else you do (short of good and proper maintenance) is a waste of $$$ IMO.

 

Many of the responses have valid points here. Four wheel drive trucks are not your typical "mileage" vehicle. Without changing anything mechanically there are only a few things that you can do to improve your mileage. As stated in previous responses, you can change your own driving habits and you can keep the vehicle in a good state of tune. If you have never changed the O2 sensor for instance, that can improve the mileage noticeably.
Mileage is still a function of rpm, displacement, and load. In the case of your truck, the load at highway speed is determined by frictional losses due to aerodynamics, tires, and mechanical losses. You can run narrower road tires to help reduce friction for instance. You can leave the truck in 2wd mode as well to reduce frictional losses in the drivetrain. When idleing in traffic, put it neutral. Aerodynamics is a big problem with pickups. Strangely enough, trucks may actually be the most aerodynamic with the tailgate up. This is counter to common belief but it has to do with vortexes.
What is left? Reducing RPM. You can test the theory by simply running taller tires. Remember though that your speedometer will no longer be accurate. If you could afford to change the gearing or install a big overdrive and have the speedometer re-calibrated you will see very noticeable gains. The question is of course, is it worth the expense. I would probably just drive it easier and less often myself or buy a newer vehicle that is already more efficient. Good luck and let us know how you fare.

 

I too have read that leaving the tailgateup is better.
On that subject I can only say that when I hadmy old Datsun using the bed tarp or leaving the tail down seemed to improve power, which it had very little of to begin with. I can't saywhether doing these things improved mileage though.
Could that have all been psychological?

Quote: Mileage is still a function of rpm, displacement, and load.

Agreed. However what I was saying about harder acceleration and getting to the next gear in less time traveled is something I had read the BMW engineers had come up with as a mileage saver.
According to their findings, medium to hard acceleration ("2/3rds pedal",) followed by a change to the next highest gear as soon as you are able can improve mileage by 1-3mpg.Certainly when you are able to change gears is a function of conditions. The traffic patterns in your area may also hinder this method.
i.e. Accelerating up a hill may require that you rev to a higher rpm (4k?) before up-shifting, while accelerating down a hill may allow you to up-shift much sooner (say 2.5k.)
We have one auto trans equipped Mazda3 sedanmember here that I know of that tried this method and reported approx 1-2mpg increases. He also reported that driving the car like this is more fun than trying to drive it "like granny."

 

When will Ford/Mazda start using some adaptation of variable cylinder management on their V6's?

 

Good advice for improving fuel mileage generally. I've found driving slower burns less fuel, also saves your brakes in stop-start city driving. Of course, it helps to have a car with a smaller engine.