Mileage Monster Build

[darkranger]

Gas eats most silicones.

 

[mountaineergreen]

I used ultra copper- I don't know if it will hold, but it's worth a shot I suppose.

 

[red2003xlt]

What's you city mileage with the pulleys before and after?

BTW:I seem to remember a company called DKY Pulleys...still in business?

 

[MrE_Powers]

Humm.... I may give that a whirl for my next mod- any specific ones I should get?

Got my filler neck patched today with silicone, another piece of hose and two clamps. It holds and beats the crap out of $100+ for Ford hoses.

the ones from the same place you got your pullies are easiest to install. but your truck will be down for an extra day. some one might be selling a set in the parts for sale section. also.
many more mods for the 3.0

http://rogueperformance.com/WelcometoFredland.html

 

[mountaineergreen]

What's you city mileage with the pulleys before and after?

BTW:I seem to remember a company called DKY Pulleys...still in business?

Averaged ~21 MPG before, short trips to and from work 28 miles a day.

Since I installed the pulleys, I haven't had a week where I only drove that route to directly compare mileage.

I also had the filler neck issue, which I have now fixed.

I made a round trip in one day to and from my sister's house and got nearly 25 MPG not driving any too easy.

I will see what mileage I get on my work and back trips soon. After I get a mileage rating for that, I will install my AirHog panel filter and see what it does.

 

[mountaineergreen]

Oh, and the pulleys were easy to install, I am pretty mechanically minded and it only took me an hour and a half to install them. The belt I got was almost too short, it took a while to get worked over the alternator pulley or else it would have been faster.

I'm on the lookout for some roller rockers- I'd like to find a gently used set- can't bear to spend the $$ on a new set for a V8.

 

[Wicked_Sludge]

dont expect much out of the air filter change. re-usable filters like the fram and K&N's and whatnot dont improve anything.

they do save money in the long run though in the form of not having to buy a new paper filter all the time. ive got a K&N on mine.

 

[mountaineergreen]

Just filled up tonight- an all city tank- meaning no longer trips: all in town or my 14 mile trip to and from work with some trailer towing. 19.7 MPG, I'm pretty happy with that.

If I can keep my foot out of it and drive a little easier, I could probably do better than that.

The AirHog will go in soon, I suspect I may gain a little from it, maybe .5 or so. Can't hurt I don't think.

 

[red2003xlt]

Just filled up tonight- an all city tank- meaning no longer trips: all in town or my 14 mile trip to and from work with some trailer towing. 19.7 MPG, I'm pretty happy with that.

If I can keep my foot out of it and drive a little easier, I could probably do better than that.

The AirHog will go in soon, I suspect I may gain a little from it, maybe .5 or so. Can't hurt I don't think.

I wish I could get 19.7 mpg. I average 15.5 intown. Highway speed 24.5 cruising at 75.

 

[mountaineergreen]

I have a theory that the "older" vehicles can operate more efficiently because the emissions standards were more lax then.

My 93 is nearly perfect in that regard, it's a Mass Air system, not speed density, multiport fuel injection monitored by an o2 sensor. There is no sensor after my cat to monitor its effectiveness. I believe efficiency goes as emissions get stricter, hence the newer models don't get better mileage.

I truly believe that if given fuel injection technology to its fullest extent and disregard emissions, tune the engine for optimum efficiency, the mileage for any engine would be amazing.

My 2001 5.0 gets decent mileage, but only after extensive modifications to improve the engines efficiency.

 

[Kirk]

I wish I could get 19.7 mpg. I average 15.5 intown. Highway speed 24.5 cruising at 75.

I'm with you. I've got a '02 extended cab auto and I think I'm only getting maybe 16 city and I drive like a old lady! Mountaineer, you said you got 19.7 city, I'd give my left organ for that!

 

[cabletech]

MPG battle with my work truck.

Mountaineer,

I hope you don't mind the thousand or so people keeping tabs on your mods. I sense that I'm not the only one waitning with baited breath for the next update.

I'm looking at doing some upgrades to my work truck for MPG boosts/pulling power/longevity/reliability improvements also. My issue is weight. I have an extended cab four door with a 80 lbs shell, 100 lbs of ladders, 50 lbs of tools, 60 lbs of equipment, 200 lbs of cable, and 60 lbs of fittings and such. for a total of 550 lbs of added weight. say 600 to be conservative.
I put about 120 miles per day or more on this truck. and on the highway I see the downshifting that many people have mentioned here. I do turn the O/D off on the hilly part of the highway but as some have said it feels like the engine is racing. I thought that was never a good thing. so I turn it on for flat ground and city driving, of which I do a lot.
On my best tank I got 16.02 MPG! Something's gotta give! I am stuck with this truck for a few years or so, so I want to make the most of it before looking into the 4.3 or something that can pull without killing the MPG like this.



Here's what I have in mind so far:

K&N drop in filter (done, long life benefit.)

Iridium plugs 0.6 or so diameter (still gathering advice on benefits there. read some stuff about platinum on this site, but not iridium. I beleive that they would improve longevity and keep a hotter spark for longer. thereby improving MPG.)

Underdrive pulleys (will do after reading your post. never thought of them as a MPG booster.)

Performance chip or obdII flash (need more info on that.)

8mm plug wires. (seems like the right thing to do.)

Electric fan. (I've heard mixed reviews, but I'll give it a shot.)

A friend reminded me of the old dryer hose from the air box down to the front valance trick (sort of a ram air thing could help get colder air in there. cheap mod so worth trying.)

K&N full system (PRICEY, but 9 more HP may help get the weight moving.)

Any other suggestions would be greatly appreciated. I will also start a thread to monitor my progress with the MPG mods. Perhaps a section dedicated to just this sort of thing would be a nice addition to the site. I see alot of MPG questions on this forum.

Corey the cable guy

 

[Big Jim M]

Howdy Cabletec Think about how much money you will spend and then think about how much it costed you to get maybe 1 mile per gallon.. Then think how many gallons it will take at one mile per to get back even again.
As for the sparks and the wires.. If yours are sparking right now there can't be better than that. A spark is just a spark as long as the mixture is concerned. ANY little spark will do the same as ANY other spark..
A hotter coil and wires are needed under extreme high pressure.. Which our little guys don't have.
A different spark plug than factory MAY be the wrong choice and make your engine run WORSE.. Changing sparks is a crap-shoot at best.
Performance chip...more horses eat more grocerys.
K&N full system... Won't show a thing till you hit bout maybe seven grand... done that lately?
Old dryer hose... Just adding to the intake FRICTION..
I'm thinking you have them ladders poking up in the slip stream and they are possibly your biggest obsticle.
16 really ain't too bad for a work truck.. MY work truck gets 12 or less EVERY DAY.
Big Jim

 

[cabletech]

Jim,

That's a lot of the things I hear and what I've thought.

Here are some of the things I'm thinking:

Spark: No I probably won't get an improvement in MPG by putting in iridium but what about longevity? Of course I'll be using factory spec iridium plugs.

K&N says 9 more HP at around 4000 rpm. would that not make any difference in pulling the weight?

PULLEYS: Mountaineer reported good results. could I expect the same?

PLUG WIRES: The ones on there now are from the ford dealer. (I bought the truck used.) they are mismatched. (boots different colors.) could be losing some spark through leakage. if I'm gonna replace them might as well get the best right?

also roller rockers were mentioned at the beginning of this thread. what about those?

 

[Big Jim M]

Jim,

That's a lot of the things I hear and what I've thought.

Here are some of the things I'm thinking:

Spark: No I probably won't get an improvement in MPG by putting in iridium but what about longevity? Of course I'll be using factory spec iridium plugs.

K&N says 9 more HP at around 4000 rpm. would that not make any difference in pulling the weight?

PULLEYS: Mountaineer reported good results. could I expect the same?

PLUG WIRES: The ones on there now are from the ford dealer. (I bought the truck used.) they are mismatched. (boots different colors.) could be losing some spark through leakage. if I'm gonna replace them might as well get the best right?

also roller rockers were mentioned at the beginning of this thread. what about those?

Cabletec I'm not argueing against you spending money on your ride.. If it pleases you to monkey around under the hood...by all means..go ahead, have some fun.
I am simply attempting to make some sense of the aftermarket addons.

For example the K&N at 4,000 rpm 9 horsepower.. That is assuming you are running up a hill with the engine wide open and holding it there for minutes. It isn't simply a normal running thru the gears and shifting at 4,000 (which I NEVER do). AND I highly doubt the 9 HP.
AND also do you see a warranty that says YOU will get that 9 horses anywhere? I've never seen any K&K advertisement that warranted ANYTHING.

Pulleys: Only if you followed Mountineer around with your LOAD on the same roads would you know if you had the same results or more or less.

Plugs: When you say factory spec... If the factory don't put them in there they ain't factory spec. They are what another manufactorer SAYS are factory spec.. which is way off on many aftermarket plugs.

Wires: We already know what the factory wires can do and how many miles we can get out of them.. If red or blue wires are your fancy...go for em! BUT if your ride is running without missing don't expect anything to be any better.

Just attempting to say I have seen guys throw many hundreds of dollars under the hood only to have the power or milage be worse after all good intentions.

I enjoy working on my rides too. I only use exact replacement parts in most cases. I am comfortable in knowing the factory wires, sparks, coils and many other parts last 100K or longer, and that is good enough for me.
Big JIm