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Electric fans are fine for everyday use, electric water pumps are not. Frank is exactly right, they are made for perfomance applications that are not sitting in traffic, getting used everyday etc. One thing that hasn't been mentioned is underdrive pulleys for the accesory belt. If you want to experiment with how your alternator/power steering/water pump etc effect your FE, check your local craigslist for a set of 5.0L Mustang underdrive pulleys, they should be about $20 for a used set. I would wager that a set of pulleys would make more difference than an air pump delete.-war wagon
I was thinking that same thing the whole time reading this post. They do free up horsepower I've run them on 2 different mustangs basically forever. Make sure you don't get full race pulleys. Is there an air silencer on the truck? try bypassing it to see the effect.
I understand this is your project and your passionate about it but frank lee made some good points. This vehicle is never going to be an FE allstar. I had to make a choice awhile ago between my beloved mustang and something that got good FE with little effort. My mustang has the same engine as your truck and weights 3100 lbs. Stop and go driving FE is definitely not it's strong suit. As a matter of fact I used roughly the same amount of gas per week living 8 mile further away from work because I had a freeway route to get there. I get 3 to 4 times better FE in the civic with worse driving habits.
Believe me I understand the tight money thing I had to bum rides to work for a month and half because I could afford fixing stuff to pass state inspection.
Okay so you say biking is out because of sweat. What about building an e- bike? Google Eric Peltzer's Electric Bicycle. There's several different designs for homemade e-bikes online or you can buy a kit. Have the motor do the work. Gas kits are cheaper but they're in a legal gray area. Maybe ask local law enforcement how they handle them. There's a sweet 50cc 4 stroke honda engine set up that goes for $300.
How about a cheap chinese scooter or an older scooter like a hobbit you can fix up? I've seen both of these go very cheap on craigslist.
older motorcycle? These also sell cheap on CL as long as they're not a really desirable model.
If you absolutely have to drive the truck IMO introduce it to jenny craig. How much does the bed weigh? Big steel fenders and hood? jack spare tire ect. If your mostly stop an go city driving aero is going to have much less effect then weight reduction. Also weight reduction improves every aspect of a vehicle.-GW
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