Looking to gain mpg. Who knows what to do?

stimo

stimo

cnc machinist/programmer
Joined
May 1, 2008
Messages
279
I have purchased a 01 that is completly stock and I'm looking to gain some mpg. It has 3.55 gears and also is a auto. Tires size right now is 265's. I hand calculated mileage so far and averaging between 15.77-16.95. It is my daily driver and I'm looking to see if I can get it up to 20mpg or better. All driving is basically 50/50 for city and highway. So where do I start and what do I buy? Air Filter? Exhaust? Chip? More? Will Just one item make a difference or will you need a combo of items to achieve more?
 
A more efficient aftermarket torque converter will yield better mileage because more of the power is transferred to the wheels taking less effort and time to reach desired speeds. If youre just going for fuel mileage I would start with the basics. Intake, Exhaust, and you can find Edge EZs for sale for around $200.
 
A timing box will help, but like teddybear said, a tighter converter will do wonders.
 
My truck is 02 that started out bone stock and 16 mpg. I now have a custom intake ,comp box,100hp jammers and 4" strait piped exhaust, runnin 35" tires with 3.55 gears and get 19.5 mpg around town[figured on paper 19.5]. My truck is also a 5 speed manuel. I DON'T KNOW IF THE TRANNY MAKES A DIFFERENCE OR NOT??? I'm sure someone can tell you yes it does or no it don't, but i don't know.
 
yes the trans makes a difference stock to stock an auto will average about 10% lower fuel mileage. Make sure your tires are inflated to spec, have a clean air filter, and a clean fuel filter. Those are about the easiest and cheapest things you can do. A timing box and a free flowing exhaust will also help you out.
 
Here is a list to get started

1. BHAF (NAPA 2790)
2. Mach 1.2 injectors (F1 diesel)
3. Edge EZ or Smarty (as others have suggested)
4. 4" exhaust (or just get rid of the cat and resonator)
5. Little taller tire (dont run lower tire pressure for comfort will loose little mpg)
6. Good TC and Vb (if money permits)
7. Flex-Lite Cooling Fans (if money permits)
8. Amsoil in the engine and diffs
9. Put some Power Service in the tank during every fill up (I do, and it's good for the VP)
10. Most import of all, find your engine's sweet spot


JM.02

Dan
 
Alright so I plan on picking up a few items but is there certain one's to go for. Like air filter is bhaf the way to go or is there better one's for mileage? Also on exhaust do I bump up to a 4 inch and do I keep a muffler on it or go with no muffler? I also see alot of mileage chips and programmers out there. Is there really a big difference between them?

Hope you all are patient with me on this one but I plan on doing things slowly and updating my results as I go. Hopefully I can help others out as I do this.
 
02fuelhog-
I noticed you said you had a custom air intake, is it one you made or something you bought?
 
01cummins said:
02fuelhog-
I noticed you said you had a custom air intake, is it one you made or something you bought?
Click to expand...
I kinda built it. All i did was picked up a AEM dryflow filter[4"] and a piece of
4" exhuast pipe[i had left over from exhuast install]. The piece is about 5 inches long. Have one end expanded to about 4.5" to fit in the stock intake tube. Removed the stock air box and layed the filter on the fender.
It's not really custom but ain't stock either.
 
I picked up a homemade BHAF heat shield off craigslist but havent gotten around to gettin an air filter
 
Texas Cowboy said:
Here is a list to get started

1. BHAF (NAPA 2790)
2. Mach 1.2 injectors (F1 diesel)
3. Edge EZ or Smarty (as others have suggested)
4. 4" exhaust (or just get rid of the cat and resonator)
5. Little taller tire (dont run lower tire pressure for comfort will loose little mpg)
6. Good TC and Vb (if money permits)
7. Flex-Lite Cooling Fans (if money permits)
8. Amsoil in the engine and diffs
9. Put some Power Service in the tank during every fill up (I do, and it's good for the VP)
10. Most import of all, find your engine's sweet spot


JM.02

Dan
Click to expand...

All good, electric fans can be done cheap though.

You can run 245's. AC delete. Lower your truck. 3.31's gears if you are on the interstate mostly. Center the intake and even tube headers would be huge to increase MPG and Power and lower EGTS.

MPG gains can be found everywhere on these trucks, it's really a matter of how much work you want to do figuring out all the free stuff to do, and how much money you want to spend on the expensive stuff. Done right you can have a great daily driver that knocks on 30MPG and can even get down the drag strip in a good amount of time. Alot of the these MPG mods also increase the power.
 
Phily 911 said:
All good, electric fans can be done cheap though.

You can run 245's. AC delete. Lower your truck. 3.31's gears if you are on the interstate mostly. Center the intake and even tube headers would be huge to increase MPG and Power and lower EGTS.

MPG gains can be found everywhere on these trucks, it's really a matter of how much work you want to do figuring out all the free stuff to do, and how much money you want to spend on the expensive stuff. Done right you can have a great daily driver that knocks on 30MPG and can even get down the drag strip in a good amount of time. Alot of the these MPG mods also increase the power.
Click to expand...

So you think I should run a smaller tire? I have some 285's I was gonna put on it for now and get rid of the 265's. I have recently put on a 4 inch exhaust and have a amsoil 4510 air filter coming for it and possibly a smarty also.
 
stimo said:
So you think I should run a smaller tire? I have some 285's I was gonna put on it for now and get rid of the 265's. I have recently put on a 4 inch exhaust and have a amsoil 4510 air filter coming for it and possibly a smarty also.
Click to expand...

Yes smaller tires, not mudders. I switched from AT to MT tires (of the same size) and lost about 1.2 MPG. I prefer a BHAF just because it's easier to maintain and cheaper, but anything works as long as it's not letting dirt in. 4 inch, straight pipe exhaust is good.

The name of the game is:
*Letting your truck breath in and out as easy as possible.
*Using as little fuel as possible.
*Using that fuel as efficiently as possible.
*Reducing rolling resistance as much as possible.
*Achieving the best aerodynamics and keep your truck as light as possible.

All these catergories obviously interweave, but they are all areas where attention to detail is critical. The bad news is; depending on how far you want to take your quest for fuel mileage, you may get to a point where your own opinion becomes the best one.
 
So I've done a few things now to the truck but have not gained anyting. I put on a 4 inch exhaust, amsoil air filter, filled axles and engine with synthetics, tire pressure was a little off so I fixed that. I have only averaged 16.1-16.7 now with those mods and once I added 2-stroke oil to one tank and averaged 16.3. Next steps now are putting on a slightly taller tire and running a belt with no a/c. Then I'm guessing get a smarty maybe then I will see some change.
 
Well I have ran a few tanks through with my smarty now and have averaged between 15.8-17.1. So still really now change and that was with smarty on fuel saver mode. Should I possibly try another setting? I would really like to see some improvement someway but so far I'm getting nothing. :bang
 
That 19.5 mpg i posted before must have been pure luck on a couple of tanks. I've been figuring every tank and it varies from 18-18.5 being soft on the pedal 98% of the time with stop and go traffic and some interstate everyday to work. If i play a good bit or tow/hual something it may drop to 16-17.
 
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