[slowmover]

Drive fewer miles while accomplishing the same work. Fewer cold starts by combining errands and plannng the route for best mpg.

Drive the remaining miles at a higher skill level. Be willing to take on changes -- comfortable ones, but changes to driving style nonetheless -- and make them permanent.

Here is where you spend money to make money:

1] Records. All gallons & all miles with notes for year-to-year comparison. Average mpg and average mph are what count.

2] Start with a mechanical baseline to the truck. All book maintenance and taking nothing for granted (alignment, brake drag, steering wander) to see where time & miles call for replacement on schedule or ahead. Re-set the clock as much as possible.

Safety and FE tend to go hand-in-hand. Yellowed/opaqe headlight assemblies, fpr example, are completely unacceptable from the standpoint of light output, thus safety & FE (as one cannot see far enough ahead to make good decisions about time/distance). Wipers/washers are another. Broken down seat cushions. Pitted windshield. Etc.

Longevity and reliability are the "economy" of vehicle expected to do work. PM Big Dave and ask his opinion of aftermarket "fixes" that work toward this end before you start reading Ford Truck enthusiast sites. A bulletproof transmission (what company, what parts, etc) is highly important, for example.

How long you will keep it, and how many miles it will cover is central to what one ought to do (past safety). Make that decision and much else falls into place.

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