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Old 10-06-2017, 01:12 PM   #4 (permalink)
elhigh
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Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: SE USA - East Tennessee
Posts: 2,314

Josie - '87 Toyota Pickup
90 day: 40.02 mpg (US)

Felicia - '09 Toyota Prius Base
90 day: 49.01 mpg (US)
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Howdy,

As a member with a pickup similar to yours, there's a lot of improvement to be had.

As to whether a tonneau or cap is the way to go for you, that's difficult to say without some testing. I've had a full cap on the bed of my truck since it was new and it has delivered mid-30s fuel economy on many occasions.

You could rig up a quick and dirty tonneau of sorts with a simple lumber framework in the bed to support a coroplast lid. Run your truck a few tankfuls without a lid, then a few with, then a few without for A-B-A testing.

I guarantee the underside of your truck is an aero disaster and there's no end of improvements to be had under there that, in addition to serving you well at the pump, won't detract from the vehicle's appearance. If you don't want to go to the full belly pan, a deeper air dam may suffice to give you significant improvements.

I think your truck's generation still had an engine-driven fan. Replacing that with a thermostat-controlled electric one will take a lot of load off the engine. An electric will only run when necessary, leaving a lot more power than you ever imagined at the crank for moving the vehicle. Generally the electric fan will drop out when you're moving, and only fire up when the vehicle is paused or at very low speeds.

Like the other guys said, there are some stickies at the tops of these categories: Aerodynamics, Hypermiling / EcoDriver's Ed, and EcoModding Central. As you already mentioned, adjusting how you drive is the first step, and in terms of return on investment nothing else will come close: there's no money involved. Even now that's pretty much all I've ever done with my truck, and the results speak for themselves.

Welcome, and have fun with it.
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