*Better fuel economy tips - A

From the guys at Powerstroke.org

Tips and Tricks for Better Fuel Economy

1. Air up your tires.
Keeping your tires aired up to manufacturers specs can help your fuel economy up.


2. Leave your tailgate up!
The tailgate up creates a vortex behind the cab which pushes air up over the tailgate. The tailgate down allows the air to push down on the bed creating drag.

3. Be easy on the Throttle!
Now, chip or no chip, try to keep your foot out of it. Be easy on the throttle. If you have just purchased a chip, your tendency will be to floor it at every light. You will NOT see better fuel economy this way. Another recommendation is the ease up to the lights and try to keep your momentum up so that your still rolling when the light turns green.

4. Keep your RPM's low.
If you are really trying to get all you can get, its a good idea to keep your RPM's low. Try to keep them under 2000 and see how that works for you. Of course, if you are on the freeway, have to make time and have a low gear ratio, this may be out of the question.

5. Products that may help with fuel economy
You will have to weigh the difference in possible fuel economy gained and the cost of the product, but some of these products may help your fuel economy.

Performance Chips.
Do the research and find a good chip for your diesel. See what others are saying about chips for your year make and model vehicle for some added fuel economy. You may ask the chip manufacturer but you will probably find the best fuel economy in one of the mid settings if it has multiple settings.

Air Intakes
Some Intakes will supply your engine with more, cold air. Which in turn will help your engine by not having to work so hard and possibly give you better economy.

Tonneau Covers.
Most people see another 1 MPG after adding a tonneau cover to their truck bed.
Propane Injection
Most Propane kits claim to give you another 25% fuel economy and much greater HP. Plus the propane helps keep your injectors clean and such. However, you have to figure the cost of propane and the cost of the kit, which to do a good job can be a fairly large initial cost.
Fuel Air/Water Seperators
Fuel Air seperator systems can get you better fuel economy by getting rid of the air in your fuel.
I'm sure there are many more things out there that can help and we will keep adding to this list, but keep in mind that you will be saving fuel economy by reducing friction, and reducing the workload on your engine.


I would like to thank Rodslinger, jwiger, cebulmer1, erlong, purduefarmboy460, Ramsmoker, tyrfryer, Worm Drowner, Mike OB, strokemaster and Oreo for their help in putting this information together.

I would like to add that your boost gauge can be considered a work or load gauge, the less boost you are showing the better fuel economy you will achieve.

A clip from Ed Fitzgerald, Research Assistant, Dept. of Aero/Mechanical Engineering, U. of Notre Dame

I'm an aerodynamics engineer. When I was in the U.S. Air Force a few years back, I worked with folks from the Lockheed low-speed wind tunnel. In the 1970s, aircraft production went into a slump, and Lockheed started looking for other customers for its wind-tunnel services. Prime candidates were the auto makers, and Lockheed was successful in convincing Ford, among others, that the wind tunnel would help them reduce drag and wind noise on their vehicles. Needless to say, in the past 15-20 years, Lockheed has learned a lot about car and truck aerodynamics. Anyway, they actually performed drag tests on pickups with the tailgate both up and down, and found that drag was actually LOWER with the tailgate CLOSED! This ran counter to their intuition (and yours). The reason is that a closed tailgate sets up a large "bubble" of stagnant air that slowly circulates around the bed of the truck (we aero types call this a "separated bubble"). When air approaches the truck, it "sees" the bubble as part of the truck. So to the air, the truck looks like it has a nice, flat covering over the bed, and the air doesn't "slam" into the vertical tailgate. If the tailgate is open, or replaced by one of those "air gate" nets, however, that nice, separate bubble in the truck bed does not form (it "bursts"). Then the air approaching the truck "sees" a truck with a flat bed on the back of a tall cab. This is a very nonaerodynamic shape with a very LARGE drag. So, believe it or not, it's best for gas mileage to keep the tailgate CLOSED. Hope this information is helpful.

[JCStr329]

keep in mind that just like anything more is not always better, ie. air pressure to much air pressure will cause the tread face to crown and you will not get a good even foot print causing the center of the tread to wear prematurely and you will not get the maximum traction that the tire is capable of. generaly speaking the manufacture is assuming that you will be using the vehicle for towing/hauling a lot of weight so the recomend 80 psi (rear tires)in a 10ply rated tire. that is way to much for an unloaded pickup or even partially loaded. There is a formula to figure out the proper air presssure to run in your tires based upon how much wieght you have on each axle, I have been using it for quite sometime now and have had great results, ie. good even wear across the tread face, great traction and have not seen any decrease in fuel economy. Sorry Whit, did not mean to stray so far from the topic of you thread.

[Paccool]

This one would apply to me today-

To get better mileage, quit leaving twin 150' long black marks in peoples neigborhoods!

[JCStr329]

that does no good for the tire life either LOL

[AZBLACKSMOKE]

I might add that synthetic lube in all the compartments help reduce drag and friction, therefore helping fuel mileage.

[Tucker]

Originally Posted by AZBLACKSMOKE

I might add that synthetic lube in all the compartments help reduce drag and friction, therefore helping fuel mileage.

I agree with that statement synthetics will help greatly with fuel economy!!

[Mopar1973Man]

Originally Posted by Whitmore

I would like to add that your boost gauge can be considered a work or load gauge, the less boost you are showing the better fuel economy you will achieve.

A good number to use for limiting your boost is about 10 PSI of boost.. It still fairly flexable for power and MPG numbers...

BUT...

If you really want to pull more MPG out of it try staying below 5 PSI... It can be done. You'll find that you must accel lightly and may push the boost as far as 7.5 PSI to get to your target speed but be able to drop back down to 5 and lower and maintain you speed either by foot ot cruise control.

DON'T...

Dont let the cruise do the accelerating for you... You'll find that it will use full span of the throttle to maintain the set speed (ie. full boost). So you might have to cancel it and figure you own plan... Like slowing down is a good start if its safe to do so...

[Duluth Diesel]

Yes, running synthetic lube in all your drivetrain components and engine will improve mileage and reduce wear and tear on your rig.

[millco]

Originally Posted by JCStr329

There is a formula to figure out the proper air presssure to run in your tires based upon how much wieght you have on each axle, I have been using it for quite sometime now and have had great results, ie. good even wear across the tread face, great traction and have not seen any decrease in fuel economy. Sorry Whit, did not mean to stray so far from the topic of you thread.

Could you share that formula with us please, I'm curious about it.
Dan

[JCStr329]

weigh each axle individually, then figure out what percentage of the maximum wieght rating of the tires on that axle you are running, then run that percentage of your maximum air pressure in the tires
example
Front axle=4400lbs.
Maximum weight rating per tire=3100lbs.
Maximum air pressure=80psi.

4400/(3100x2)=percentage of maximum weight
take that percentage x 80psi.
I have always rounded up to the nearest 5psi incase I need to haul a small load or something
let me know if I did not explain that well it is getting kind of late