2.5l gas miles question

[Melt]

i have a 99 b2500 xcab with the 2.5l 4 banger. The truck has 91k on it

my question is this thing is epa rated to do 20 city, 27 highway.

this weekend i did a 630 mile round trip ride on flat interstate, with the back loaded up with a propane bbq grill that was slightly taller than the roof of the cab, a mountain bike, various other camping equip covered with a blanket ac on 2 notches, and 70 mph average speed.

my question is shouldnt i get better than 21 - 22 mpg?

my friend had a 96 xcab ranger with the 2.3l and no ac and fully loaded he got 26 mpg

just was wondering if this is reasonable or if i need a tune up ... this is my first long trip in this truck, and i plan to drive it to wisconsin in 2 weeks, so if i can get more mileage out of it i would like to. I am already planning on running some fuel injector cleaner thru it.

 

[Simple_serf]

My 2.5 single cab 2wd generally gets about 25mpg with me watching the vac guage and keeping the motor wound up a little so that it is in it's power band.
Worst was on the trip to seattle, I had a 30MPH headwind, was towing the camper and trying to stay at 70 so we could get camp setup while tehre was still light out. I got 11 for two tanks worth that day, then the wind died down.

Something to remember is that these 4 bangers go back a long ways. The milage figures on the newer ones are higher. The older ones aren't so great. If you shift too low, your milage will go down. The limas are like the Vulcans...they have to be wound up to get good milage. Also, I loose milage when I run overdrive... IT drops the engine RPM's too low.

 

[Kenneth S]

21-22 mpg with all that stuff in the bed, a/c on, and towing a BBQ pit thats slightly taller than the cab (I bet it not light either) is pretty damn good IMHO, your friends truck is doing damn good also, my ranger get's that kind of gas mileage completely empty and no a/c. Mine gets 18-20 mpg on the hwy pulling a 16' trailer with a small car on it (and yes I have my truck rigged up with a electric brake controller because the trailer has electric brakes on all 4 wheels).

 

[rickcdewitt]

whats the gear ratio on the bottom left of the dif tag.gearing makes a big difference on towing mpg

 

[Melt]

. If you shift too low, your milage will go down. The limas are like the Vulcans...they have to be wound up to get good milage. Also, I loose milage when I run overdrive... IT drops the engine RPM's too low.

ive been shifting at 3k, should i go higher?

anyways, an update, towed a 5x8 uhaul trailer 300 mi round trip yesterday and got 17 mpg which i figure isnt too bad for doing 65 mph in 4th gear (heard its bad to tow in overdrive)

 

[Kenneth S]

I shift mine at 3000, as far as the towing in overdrive is only bad for automatics, I tow a trailer on occasion and I use overdrive as much as possible, if you were traveling on flat or down hills you could have used overdrive, it's going up hills is when you have to use 4th or even 3rd gear depending on how steep the hill is.

 

[Melt]

yea it was mostly flat ... oh well.

 

[Simple_serf]

3000 is good, I go a bit higher, but I am usually hauling something. OD causes me to loose milage at just about anything under 70, and at 70 you are already loosing enough milage as it is.

All too oftern, when I tow, I should have a 4.0, or a fullsize. With my 2.5, I use 3rd and 4th most of the time.

 

[Melt]

well when i roll to wisconsin i dont plan to have much in the bed, a few tote boxes and 2 mtn bikes.

 

[Derek The Great]

My 2.5 single cab 2wd generally gets about 25mpg...
...Something to remember is that these 4 bangers go back a long ways. The milage figures on the newer ones are higher. The older ones aren't so great. If you shift too low, your milage will go down. The limas are like the Vulcans...they have to be wound up to get good milage. Also, I loose milage when I run overdrive... IT drops the engine RPM's too low.

I can testify to this... When i bought my truck i would shift into 5th gear at 45 mph or higher (3.73 rear end), i got terrible gas mileage, like 18-21 averager per tank of 20 gallons.. Then i started winding out the motor before shifting (so the motor is back in it's power band for the next gear) and leaving it in 4th for anything between 35 and 55. Gas mileage went up to about 23.5-25.0 on average. Then i finally put an exhaust on the thing.. now im gettin close to 27 mpg with it! I think it does awesome at 55 mph in 5th gear, my foot is barely on the gas (which tells me it's hardly workin..). i think it sucks at like 70 mph in 5th gear (my foot is halfway to the floor), i want to do fuel economy readings on it when its left in 4th but it sounds like it's really wingin at 70 so i havent done it yet.

 

[Melt]

is your exhasut a full catback or just a new muffer and custom piping from there

about how much was it and do you have maybe a youtube clip on how it sounds