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Old 09-18-2012, 04:56 PM   #30 (permalink)
metromizer
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Join Date: Jun 2008
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What is likely killing your FE is the dual rear wheels, gears, and weight in the bed. Probably in that order.

Back when, I added dual rear wheels to my new (back then) 1990 Nissan 1/2 ton 4cyl truck. FE went down by at least 3mpg from the extra 2 tires, alone. I latter did a gear swap to a lower set, to better haul the 6 pack camper and tow the trailer, which dropped my FE even further.

Reduce the junk in the trunk: My pipe line welding neighbor would be on a jobsite for a few weeks, then work as an inspector only for months. He felt he was wearing out trucks by constantly carrying 800lbs of gear everywhere he went, but only used it 20% of the time. He's a bright guy, and devised a way to free up the bed space for other things, but be able to quickly and easily convert back to 'welding mode' when duty called. He built a well thought out 'skid' that contains his generator and welder, and locking boxes for grinders and other gear. This skid has both a set of 4 lifting eyes, and fork lift pockets. He built also built a companion A frame hoist that he keeps at home, in his side yard, so he can lift out and drop in the skid at a moment's notice. The fork pockets are used to drop the skid at a long-term job site, so he isn't lugging that stuff back and forth everyday.

Not a bad system, something to consider.
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