MAB3L, the most reasonable truck on the road!

[racsan]

If anything id go 4:10’s. but 3:73 is a pretty good ratio. With stock tires anyways

 

[bhgl]

I found that the 3.0 is not responsive to most "reasonable" attempts to modify. Perhaps, however, an Efan, a K&N filter, and some sort of dual exhaust might help to increase mileage.. Perhaps.

There's a few other tricks. Run on all synthetic oil. Replace all the spark plug wires. Degunk the engine.

That's what I've been able to discern as well, that's why I'm trying to steer away from larger mods and focus on reducing the amount of work the engine has to do overall by eliminating drag.

Given the low miles on the engine, I really don't want to start stressing it out with tunes and other stuff. So quality oil, spark, and clean filters is the way it's going to be for now.

My new welder is coming in later in March so maybe the exhaust will be done sooner rather than later.

 

[bhgl]

If anything id go 4:10’s. but 3:73 is a pretty good ratio. With stock tires anyways

Unfortunately 4.10 gears would send my RPMs through the roof at high speed, and frankly I basically never tow.

I'm able to cruise well at top speed at the highest edge of the power band, so I think 3.55 or .45 will drop the rpms a few hundred, still within the powerband but a good bit lower overall.

 

[Lefty]

Maybe you do not need to lower the ride to improve handling. Maybe stiffer sway bars would be all you need.

 

[bhgl]

Maybe you do not need to lower the ride to improve handling. Maybe stiffer sway bars would be all you need.

I would like to lower the vehicle overall a few inches, if not for the lower center of gravity, but also for the ease of taking things in and out of the bed.

I'm reading mixed reports on how minor 2-3 inch drops affect fuel economy overall, but if it helps it helps.

 

[Curious Hound]

I'll be sure to do some math to see exactly what rpms I would be sitting around given my tire selection and a few other things.

This should help.

Gear Ratio & RPM Guide For Larger Tires - The Ranger Station

This Gear Ratio & RPM Guide will enable you to see how many RPM's your engine will turn based on gear ratio and tire size.

www.therangerstation.com

 

[pjtoledo]

here is an equation for number crunching. use 5th/high for cruising data, can insert lower gears ( 1st-2nd etc ) to find out what slower speeds & gears do.

RPM x tire diameter (inches)
________________________________________________ =MPH
transmission ratio x rearend ratio x 336

 

[Blmpkn]

I would like to lower the vehicle overall a few inches, if not for the lower center of gravity, but also for the ease of taking things in and out of the bed.

I'm reading mixed reports on how minor 2-3 inch drops affect fuel economy overall, but if it helps it helps.

Probably won't be a huge difference.. but it would make some difference. When I bought my 5k lb pedestrian smashing bronco it got 23mpg.. lifting it 2", adding 100lbs of rotating mass, increasing tire height by 3" and width by 1.5" only dragged it down to 21mpg. More rolling resistance too as I went from an all-season to a R/T tread pattern AND different wheels with enough offset to have the tires poke out to the edge of the tread would further decrease any amount of aerodynamics it had..

 

[Lefty]

I would agree with @Blmpkn. There may be some gains in mileage, but not enough to make the cost worth the while. That 3.0 v6 will still yield 20 mpg no matter what you do.

Then again, it's your truck. Do whatever you want. Enjoy it!

 

[bhgl]

Probably won't be a huge difference.. but it would make some difference. When I bought my 5k lb pedestrian smashing bronco it got 23mpg.. lifting it 2", adding 100lbs of rotating mass, increasing tire height by 3" and width by 1.5" only dragged it down to 21mpg. More rolling resistance too as I went from an all-season to a R/T tread pattern AND different wheels with enough offset to have the tires poke out to the edge of the tread would further decrease any amount of aerodynamics it had..

I would agree with @Blmpkn. There may be some gains in mileage, but not enough to make the cost worth the while. That 3.0 v6 will still yield 20 mpg no matter what you do.

Then again, it's your truck. Do whatever you want. Enjoy it!

I'm not expecting huge overall leaps and bounds in fuel economy, like you've mentioned before, it all comes down to it being a fun project for me.

What I will say however, is the truck is already achieving a little over it's EPA estimate with simply some thinner winter tires, and a bed cap. At speeds greater than 65 MPH for prolonged distances. Getting 21 MPG over 550KMS with a high cruising speed, all with an additional 600 ish pounds of cargo and passenger is quite impressive.

It's important to note too that a jump from 21-23 MPG reflects an 8% boost in fuel economy. That's huge savings over a year, and a vehicle's lifetime.

 

[Lefty]

I'm not expecting huge overall leaps and bounds in fuel economy, like you've mentioned before, it all comes down to it being a fun project for me.

What I will say however, is the truck is already achieving a little over it's EPA estimate with simply some thinner winter tires, and a bed cap. At speeds greater than 65 MPH for prolonged distances. Getting 21 MPG over 550KMS with a high cruising speed, all with an additional 600 ish pounds of cargo and passenger is quite impressive.

It's important to note too that a jump from 21-23 MPG reflects an 8% boost in fuel economy. That's huge savings over a year, and a vehicle's lifetime.

Indeed! I get about 19-20 in the city and maybe 21-22 hwy, slightly better than average for a reg cab with a 419 axle.

 

[sgtsandman]

When I lifted the 2011 from the factory ride height to the pre-2008 ride height (about 1.5 inches), there was no dicernable difference in fuel economy.

 

[bhgl]

Indeed! I get about 19-20 in the city and maybe 21-22 hwy, slightly better than average for a reg cab with a 419 axle.

I think these trucks are actually capable of better mileage than most give them credit for, the trouble is that they're of course trucks after all! Most folks have 4WD, and larger tires to do their offroad business, so I get the cynicism, but I think this little guy can surprise.

My very very lofty goal with all this is to get this truck to do 30 MPG recorded, with some basic ecomods, and hypermiler driving. (not driving 90 MPH at least lol)

 

[sgtsandman]

I think these trucks are actually capable of better mileage than most give them credit for, the trouble is that they're of course trucks after all! Most folks have 4WD, and larger tires to do their offroad business, so I get the cynicism, but I think this little guy can surprise.

My very very lofty goal with all this is to get this truck to do 30 MPG recorded, with some basic ecomods, and hypermiler driving. (not driving 90 MPH at least lol)

I've heard of the 4-cylinder Rangers getting 30. It will be interesting to see if you can do it with a V6.

 

[bhgl]

Update on cutting and programming a new key:

Having one key sucks, it means my partner can’t get into the vehicle if it’s locked and I’m away with the key, when I inevitably lose my key, lock it in the car, e.t.c. It’s a call to the locksmith. Other folks have better guides on all this fun stuff so I’ll be sure to provide links vs. me trying to regurgitate it all.

So I called the local Ford dealership and was quoted 275$ (probably not including tax) for a cut and programmed key, to be done at some indeterminate date, I actually agreed just to save myself the time and the headache of doing it myself. After 2 cancellations however, I got tired of waiting and started figuring it out.

For my 2003 Mazda B3000, I referenced THIS guide and made sure to purchase an 80 Bit Transponder key, compatible with the following protocols H92, H84. I bought THIS one, totalling 13.99+tax. A local locksmith was able to cut the key for a REASONABLE 4.57$, tax included.

Frankly that guide ought to be in the tech library for easy reference, as finding it is a bit of a pain in the ass. It is in the tech article section of the forum, but hasn’t been added.

Now comes programming via Forscan, luckily there’s a lot of information out there, particularly as to which OBD2 adapter you should buy in order to have the best chance of success with Forscan. So I bought THIS one from VGate, because it was the cheapest one on the recommended list, and may prove useful later when I start digging into the airbag system. At a cost of 37.59 + tax.

Getting an activation/license for ForScan was pretty easy, if weird.

Adding the new key was as simple as booting up ForScan, opening the PATS tool, and bingo bango bongo new key programmed and starts the car.

In total, I spent 58.34$, for a new key, OBD2 diagnostic tool, and key cutting services, taxes and shipping included and was able to get it done with shipping times in just under 3 days, vs. the weeks it took for the Ford Dealership to tell me they can’t do it, again.

We’re looking at a whopping savings of at least 216.66$, which sounds very REASONABLE to me.