MPG questions.

[BOSS350]

I m only getting 11 to 11.5 MPG on my present vehicle (listed). [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img]

One of the reasons I purchased this vehicle was to improve MPG over my previous vehicle (2004 5.4L gas) that was getting 14-16 MPG.

Is my MPG normal for the breakin period, or should I suspect a problem? When can/should I expect better MPG.

BOSS~

[nomoford]

14 to 16 with old vehicle, You probably wont se much better than that with the 6.0

[manixt]

That does sound normal for a lower millage truck. How many miles do you have on it so far?

I have a 2004 6L with 109,000mi on it and currently get between 14.5-18mpg depending on how hard I drive the thing.

[BOSS350]

1100 miles on it know when I picked it up it had 12 miles on it

[sergeantnic]

[ QUOTE ]
...One of the reasons I purchased this vehicle was to improve MPG over my previous vehicle (2004 5.4L gas) that was getting 14-16 MPG......

[/ QUOTE ]

You're joking right? I'm not trying to sound ridiculous but how can anybody justify the thousands of dollars extra a diesel costs with better gas mileage.

Even if you got 19 MPG with the DIESEL you would have to drive it for a long time just to make up the difference in the cost of the more expensive motor.

This is just ballpark and I may be off on some numbers but here's an idea.

If the gas vehicle was getting 14mpg and gas cost $2.10 a gallon it costs .15 cents a mile to operate.

If your diesel was to magically get 19mpg all the time and diesel only cost $2.40 a gallon it costs .126 cents a mile to operate.

Now, the diesel motor truck probably costs $5000 more than the gasser. I'm probably way off there so you plug in whatever number you want.

The difference in operating costs is 2.4 cents. So you save 3 cents a mile driving the diesel best case scenario.

Now take $5,000 and divide it by anything from 2.4 - 5 cents and you'll see how long you'll have to drive your truck to just break even. So to make any kind of "savings" you'd have to drive it for 150,000 - 250,000 miles.

Not really a good way to "justify" buying the diesel.

Just my jaded .02 cents.

I bought the truck because it's freakin bad ass!!!

[Black05]

Not to mention the additional maintenance costs: 14 qts. of oil v. 6 qts, transmission oil at $5.00/qt. rather than $2.50, oil filters at $20.00 rather than $3.50, etc. The point is the diesel costs more to purchase and operate -- you can only logically justify it if you need the truck to tow with. Otherwise, there is no economic justification, just the desire to have a diesel.

[BOSS350]

Sorry I needed it to tow my boat 11000 lbs 32' baja thats way I was looking to better MPG when I tow. My F250 just did not have the ba__s to do a good job thats why I got the F350 PSD

[montanafan]

My PSD (see sig) gets better mileage anywhere than the F-150 gasser. (see sig). I easily get 15.5 in town (empty) if I leave the Tow-Haul alone. I usually keep the tow haul engaged in town to keep the revs up, so I get less mileage than that. I get 16.5-18 on thefreeway at 75 or so MPH. My mileage did not change much as the miles piled up.
It does change DRASTICALLY depending on the weight of my right foot.

[idevries]

Keep the tires filled up with air. I loose 1 to 2 mpg when my tires have lost some psi. But I fill them back up to 65 psi and I'm back to 17-18 mpg.

[BOSS350]

I see all of you are getting better MPG then me. My tire PSI is 65. drive to work is 25 miles (empty) I am only getting at best 11.5 is it the break in priod to why I am getting what I am or does anyone think that something is wrong.

[HoustonPerson]

The two things I like best about my truck are its ability to “tow” and the “mileage”. The boat I pull is 8,600 pounds plus about 1,300 of people and equipment in the truck.

When the truck was new, it got about 12 mpg and on the first day I drove it to Dallas and back, and traveled at different speeds to break it in. 50,60,70,80,40 etc. By the time it had 5,000 miles on the meter. The all around mileage figure was about 14-15mpg. Now at 24,000 miles it is 16 average (and that includes pulling the boat).

Add the boat only decreases my mileage by about 1.5mpg.

The F150 was a joke, it could not tow at all, and is way way way way over rated for towing. Without the boat I would get about 17 to 18, but put the boat on it, and I would be lucky to get 6 mpg, and most trips only got 4mpg. It was basically impossible to get the thing over 60mph. The “real” tow rating on the F150 should be 5,000 lbs not 8,200.

If I were to drive the Super Duty at just 60-70mph on the freeway, and not let it change gears I can get about 20 mpg………but that is not how I drive. I stop and go, tow the boat at 80mph or more, hence my overall average of 16. Oh yes, about 1/3 of my mileage is towing that boat all over the state.

That’s my 2 cents

[CbraPwr]

I agree, we all drive what we drive, because they are what we want to drive, right? MPG, costs or whatever. My wife does the eye roll when I get my "I can justify this motor or that accessory, or this trade because" talk going.

On the other hand, I've been a used truck buyer for some time now. The last 7.3 I had (before someone pulled out in front of me for a nice totalled impact) was 160k and just running soo well. Insurance gave me $20k for it (that was 3/06 on a 2002 truck). I was thinking it was worth $18500. Point is, I can still get a dealer or someone else looking for a good experienced truck to bite fairly quick on a high milage diesel vs. any gassers I've run over the years. Right or wrong, it's the way it is. So, one must consider resale pretty heavy in that equation, along with mpg. If I'm going to continue driving a super duty, it must be a diesel in order to get anything close to 16+ mpg and in order to get a decent trade when I'm through with it. My $.02.

[OMCUSNR]

OK, there are so many varibles to economy that no one answer is right, and with what you've told us, we still don't have enough information to really give you a good answer.

Here's the best way to maximize the milage:

Tire properly aired.
Open road - stay outta traffic.
No ideling. Get in start it, put it in gear & run it.
Shift points at 2k or less.
Overdrive, overdrive, overdrive.
No faster than 70 - period.

[hpprose]

There are quite a few different things that can affect mileage.
Height of the vehicle -- You have a 2” lift
2wd vs 4wd -- I’m assuming you have a 4wd
gear and tires -- your gears and tires look good for mpg
speed at which you drive ? are you staying out of the turbo (less than 2,000rpm?)
rate of acceleration (are you a lead foot) – Briskly accelerating will yield the best fuel economy according to a couple manufactures. Problem is, what does “briskly” mean? To me, its ¾ pedal.

Your truck might not be broke in yet.

Another thing, when the fuel stations switched to Ultra Low Sulfur, our mileage dropped. Some people droped a couple miles and others dropped only tenths. Varies by vehicle.

There are a few different things you can do to improve your fuel economy.
Adding a chip. Quadzilla’s chips will improve your mpg by 2 to 4
Adding a tonneau cover. Should also yield about 20% increase
Switching to a quality synthetic like Royal Purple will also help. I switched the engine, transfer case, and both differentials and gain 2 mpg
Also driving 65 or less should yield a much higher mpg. Unlike a gasoline engine, our diesels are very sensitive about what rpm they run at. Lower is better.

[Dave Whitmer]

Your tire pressure is way low for E rated tires. I run 80 psi and my truck is very sensitive to that.

A lot of it is your configuration.

Crew cabs are heavy and that costs you some MPG.
4x4 costs you 2 MPG over 4x2.
The automatic robs you of 2 MPG.

If MPG is important to you, don't put bigger tires on it and lift it.