01' F150 XL 4x4 w/ Triton V8-What can you do?
 

I recently obtained a 2001 model F150 XL 4x4 with a triton V8 in it. It is necessary for my work. I need to haul a tractor weighing between 2500 and 3500lbs on a 1500lb trailer. Just like half the country, gas prices are killing me but I also want to do a little just to save gas in general aside from cost concerns. So, where do I start on a truck like this?

http://img291.imageshack.us/img291/2429/0002208ks5.jpg -side view.

http://img291.imageshack.us/img291/7985/0002210uw4.jpg -front view.

The engine runs nicely. There is a sensor malfunction causing the check engine light to stay on which is a non-issue. It has 173,000 miles on it but was owned by a company which had every one of their trucks serviced correctly and at the appropriate time. Aside from a tiny ding in the left front quarter panel and a cracked/broken panel under the bumper, there is no body damage.

I'm wondering if a fuel warmer and HAI will even be worth the money since I live in GA. For 7+ months a year it is 85-105 degrees outside.

I know the bed needs to be closed up and several places have bed covers for sale. I also know that I need fender well modifications, especially to the HUGE ones in the rear. The cracked front panel, which is some sort of plastic can also be replaced by a fabricated piece without the three holes in it and that kind of "slicks" back a little more.

The gap between the bed and the body is larger than it looks. It's actually about 1.25" wide and I can hear the wind biting at it as I drive. How could I close this up without attaching the bed to the body?

The mirrors cannot be disposed of since I haul a trailer but if there are any ideas as to how I can modify the existing mirrors, I'm very open to that. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Is there anything obvious that I'm missing here? I think the biggest gains are going to be aerodynamic but I don't know a lot about chopping up vehicles and fabricating parts. Any and all advice is welcome.. well, except for "sell it and go Isuzu". lol

I'd lower it, pull the front shaft if its a 4WD. You might want to check into getting that CEL fixed since on some ECUs if the light is lite, it switches to a richer fuel map to prevent engine damage.

Duck tape and cardboard could close off the bed gap

Fuel warmer is not going to do due much, if the lines run over the exhaust manifolds they are already getting headed some.

WAI could help

Hows the gearing? Since you actually tow, deep gears are fine, else running a numerically lower ratio would help but it could take you out of your power band.

Then the usual trick of airing up to the max psi on the sidewall

I forgot to mention it has an automatic transmission.

How many miles per year will you put on this vehicle?

What what percentage of those miles will you tow ~5000 lb tractor trailer combo?

As to the gap between the cab and bed, start by asking a body shop if the bed is properly mounted on the frame. Closing some of the gap may be as simple as: loosen a few bolts; slide bed forward; resecure previously loosened bolts.

That depends on some things so there's no accurate number I could give. Right now, I have next to no work, so hauling the trailer only happens once or twice per month and the furthest I've had to drive for a job so far is only 25 miles one way. Town is only 5 miles away and we only go if we have to. Groceries, mail, electric payments...etc... (no mail box out here-vandals) and we try and take care of all those things at once if possible.

As an estimate I would say I drive twice as far hauling the trailer as I do not hauling it. so, at this time 65% hauling/35% not and that also seems accurate at the moment as far as mileage is concerned. Approx. 100 miles per month, 1200 per year.

This will change in late winter/early spring and the percentage will be reversed as I intend to start tech school (at 39 yoa. lol). Mileage will also increase at that time to approx. 280-300 miles per month.

That's a good idea concerning the bed. Most of the trucks from that company have been used to carry various things in the beds since the day they purchase them. I would think that things sliding back into the tailgate and toolboxes filled to the brim could have caused the gap to widen over time to begin with. This happened for seven years. Maybe I'll crawl up under there and see what I can see. Never know, I may be able to do it myself.

As I was searching the net this morning, I saw a plastic/foam like material with a sticky side that appeared to be about an inch think. It's possible this could be a nice, lightweight filler if I can't move the bed forward. It was designed as a seal for the base of a tailgate although I don't know why one would need that.

Lowering it doesn't sound like a bad idea since I saw an ad of the Eibach Pro-Kit for the new f-150 and it helped Fuel Economy by something like 1.5 mpg. I don't know how much of that is true, but since it sits so high up this might help. Also if/after you lower it, you might want to get rid of those step rails. This might help aerodynamics, since from the picture they look like they stick out a bit.

Also you might want to look into this: http://ecomodder.com/forum/showthrea...d-cap-583.html

Even though I don't think they are for sale yet.

Lowering a 4x4 probably is not in the cards.

My recommendations:

Get a flat tonneau cover. Hard or soft. Both work.

Get some low rolling resistance tires. Goodrich Long Trails are excellent in that size. air them up to the sidewall max. I overinflate by 25% but that's for me.

Covering the cab/bed gap is good. Covering the wheel wells, even partially is better.

Towing a heavy load with an automatic probably forecloses any gearing benefits.

Slow down. Drive the limit and no more.

You can probably snug the bed up yourself. Haven't worked on any newer pickups, was pretty straight forward on older models. Maybe Ford has had a better idea (special tool required) in the mean time. If you've got doubt's, ask for free advice at a body shop.

300 miles per mo or 3,600 miles per year.
10 mpg means 360 gallons @ $4 per = $1,440 per year in fuel
12 mpg means 300 gallons @ $4 per = $1,200 per year in fuel
15 mpg means 240 gallons @ $4 per = $960 per year in fuel
20 mpg means 180 gallons @ $4 per = $720 per year in fuel
Definitely best to concentrate on low hanging (least expensive) fruit

I agree with red, you want to find out exactly what's keeping the check engine light on. Various auto parts will scan the codes and turn the light off for you for free. Just be aware the codes don't tell you which part is broken, they only tell you which readings are out of spec. The codes are just a starting point to help decide what to test first.

If you can live without 4 wheel drive, I'd pull the front differential and front drive axles if possible (was doable on older Fords, should still be unless something has drastically changed). Once that's done, the combined 5,000 lb tractor and trailer really isn't all that much so put taller gears in the rear if you can get away with it. What's the current gear ratio anyway?

If you must have 4 wheel drive, badly mismatched front and rear gear ratios are not a good idea - lots of excess wear and tear!

Wow, that's an awesome bed mod! I see that guy's posts were made in january. I hope he found some funding and a market. What a nice piece of workmanship that was. A lot of truck owners like me are going to be either looking for these things or trying to build them themselves just out of necessity pretty soon. 4mpg savings on the highway. That's nice, very nice. My hat goes off to Brett Herndon.

You guys are right about the height of the truck too. It doesn't need to be that high. Next time I load up, I guess I should see how much the load sinks the tail end. I'm thinking somewhere around 4 inches but can't be quoted on that yet.

Good ideas guys. If you have anymore, I'm listening.

I don't know the current gear ratio. I'm not sure how I would find that out either. I can say this though. I can do without 4WD AND air conditioning. The only problem with no air is the windows will be rolled down- it's hot here. I'm not sure if the drag from open windows will negate the savings from getting rid of the A/C or not.

Pulling axles and stuff is pretty new territory for me but our mechanic charges us very reasonable rates.

The engine light: No sooner had I posted the post stating it was a non-issue, my wife returned from town and was mentioning something about an idling problem. She said acceleration was "ify" and that it was having a noticeable idling abnormality. It didn't do this with me but then again, I didn't drive it far. We'll see how it does with a mechanics checkup in a week or two. The truck is new to us, only a week old on this end.

Why?

If you put a serious gear in it (like a 3.08) it slows the torque converter down and reduces the amount of fluid pumped to the cooler. Heat buildup causes spectacular failures, scattering parts down the road. It is a common problem with diesels where the engine is capable of high torque/low RPM operation for hours on end. Heat buildup cooks car-based automatics like the one in a F-150. Check out Ford diesel sites like thedieselstop.com and read the tales of woe among automatic guys who tow a lot.

There is bound to be a slam kit for an F-150 and if he pulled the front diff, the geometry won't kill anything. It's an IFS truck, as long as the A arms don't bolt directly to the diff but rather its girdle it shouldn't be a problem. The only catch is if the unit bearings are designed to run without a shaft installed. One thing you could do is find a guy with a 2WD truck and just swap parts with him, makes life easier and you could do a "true" conversion.

I do practice a form of hypermiling even though I never knew what it was called before I came here (to EM). It's a somewhat hilly area here so slight acceleration in the middle of two hills to reach the top of the second and coasting down hills with no more in front of me is the usual. I don't speed unless I'm coasting downhill and don't want to hit the brakes due to a flat spot or hill coming up after the grade has pushed me over 55mph. With the trailer on, it's actually easier because the trailer will push me quite a long way. My normal speed is between 45 and 55. I try to maintain 55 for the sake of those behind me but if it puts me into OD, I don't worry with it. They can pass me if it bothers them that much.

I tried looking for some premade fender covers online but got a bunch of nonsense... fender flares and whatnot so maybe I should start learning how to bend plastics. Fiberglass would be ok too. I do have a very, VERY small amount of exp with fiberglass. I also have the aluminum stock for structure.

I saw comments about diesels. This is a gasoline powered engine. I had mentioned driving a diesel but it belonged to my dad who lives next door. Until now, that was the only vehicle I had that would pull the trailer. Very inconvenient for both of us. I would schedule jobs and he would take off in his truck. lol. I guess since it was his, that was just my tough luck.

If you want a slam kit for a Ford 4x4, you'll have to fab it yourself. Ford uses a rather unique front suspension - the "Twin I-Beam" for 4x2 and a driven analog for 4x4.

Not saying it can't be done but fasten your seat belt for a real engineering project.

Ok, I have a noob question: If I never run it in 4WD, why do I need to do all this? It's seems to me that whenever I'm not in 4WD, none of those axles are spinning. Is this true? I really don't ever see the need to use 4WD. While I do live in an area with lots of clay roads, I rarely use them. The county grades and maintain these roads and after it rains, they develop a pattern of small ridges perpendicular to the road's direction. It's kinda like riding on rumble strips for long periods of time. I bring up the clay roads because when they're wet that is the only time I would need the 4WD unit operational. They're slick as baby **** and one could end up in a ditch very easily. Even when dry, the bumpiness you get going more than 30mph will cause the truck to float off to one side. I try and stay off them in larger vehicles.

I don't have the knowledge to do these things but IF it's guaranteed to bring sizable gains (2-5mpg) on the highway, I would seriously consider it.

The axles will only be engaged when 4WD is used. If newer trucks are similar to older ones, they use a one way clutch in the wheel hub to engage the axles to the wheel; put it in reverse in 2WD disengages it. You should never see your axles rotating in 2WD. If you are, you've got some serious savings to be had just be disengaging them.

I assume your truck has the 5.4L, 2 valve head? My Dad has pretty much the same truck and I've only driven it a couple times using my scangauge so I can't say I know how to drive it perfectly for mileage. The 5.4L with the 3 valve head is about 20% better for mileage. Maybe you can trade in your truck for a 2wd 3 valve, with a manual transmission?

In any case, first I would get a scangauge, then you can tell if what you are doing is helping. Things like coasting in neutral show up instantly on the gauge so you are inclined to do it more. You'll also see how important it is to get into OD with the torque converter locked quickly, accelerating slowly for a mile before you get into OD will use more gas than getting up to speed in a 1/2 mile.
Ian

wow.....a lot of bad info.


first, the suspension up front is not twin I beam. Ford quit using that in 96.
The front uses torsion bars, you can raise and lower the vehicle(the front) slightly without screwing the geometry up.(I lifted the front of mine up....hey its 4x4, people usually want theirs higher when off roading).
You can try and pull the front shaft, but it might cause a CEL to come on.

I would highly NOT suggest lowering the 4x4.
get rid of it, and get a 2wd.

also, you don't have to go in reverse to get 4wd to disengage....at least on mine I don't.


lemme ask you, what do you get for gas mileage now?

I went from an average of 13mpg, to an average of 17 mpg, just by changing the way I drive.


and, when putting around town, with or without a load, a lower gear would help....say going from 3.55's to 4.10's.

If you want to know the gear ratio you have now, you can check by two ways:
first, get under the truck, and see what the diff tag says on it....or, look when you open the driver's side door, their is a sticker in the door jamb that has info about the truck....their will be a place on it that says AXLE, it will have a code of something like H9 on it. write that down and post back, and I can see if its in my Ford shop manual.

According to this article Ford Modular engine - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia , the 3 valve didn't come out until 2003. Since it's a stock 2001' model, it's most likely a 2 valve head. A 20% increase would be awesome sooo...

Since this is a modular engine, how compatible are the blocks? Can a 3 or 4 valve bolt up directly to the 2001' block? With the low population here it is doubtful (not impossible, just doubtful) that anyone would want to arrange a trade like that, especially since the mileage is a little high for it's age. Plus, the 3 valve is only available on a newer truck and would be worth the trade to anyone. We got this truck for $1500 at the company auction and unfortunately, $1500 was the entire budget for another truck.

I did a search on scanguages and most of what I found was the scanguage II 3 in 1 with prices ranging between $139 and $170. It'll take me a couple months to be able to do that at this rate but it's at least doable. As an interesting sidenote, it appears eBay motors has been commandeered by thieves with the average price for the exact same scanguage being $180. *Note to self*- stop going to eBay motors.

My dad's truck has one of these built into it and I'm somewhat envious of it. lol. Interesting to see that most all stations carry diesel that allows that truck around 11mpg but one station here has fuel that gives him 18+mpg. Nice to be seeing that stuff in a readout. It's geared strictly for pulling and gets the exact same mpg whether it's hauling the tractor or not.

Anyone know of a cheaper scanguage? Also, anyone know of one that works on a 1987 toyota pickup? I could REALLY use one on that. Once it's fixed, all in-town and non-hauling driving will be done in that. That would also be a nice target for some mods as well, with the F150 being just a necessary evil for work.

If it is fuel injected, you can build a mpguino for it.

That's not an option. This truck was a gift from my dad and was purchased from a company auction for $1500. I was disabled by cancer in 2001 and my total income is $697 a month. While we have lots of trees here, I haven't the one fruiting money yet. If it wasn't for THIS truck, I wouldn't have any opportunity to make any money with my backhoe.


I have no idea what the truck is getting at the moment. We've only had it a week and haven't driven it to the point of being able to get any idea of the mileage it's getting.

I crawled under it and didn't see anything on either case. The door sticker, under "axle" just says "19". I don't have any experience here but the whole thing looked kind weird. The front wheel axle is set off to the passengers side of the underbody and the rear wheel axle is centered. No numbers on either casing.

I still think the aerodynamic mods have a great deal of merit since I am forced to use this vehicle and need to make some kind of progress in the FE arena. I just have to work with what I have at the moment.

Nope, No fuel injection in this one.

I didn't really mean for you to get rid of it.....I was just saying, if you were to actually lower it, it would be silly to do that to a 4 wheel drive truck.

And thats a great deal on that truck.


The place where I'm talking about on the axle, will be on the very top bolt, that holds the diff cover on....it will look like a thin piece of flimsy metal that will have a code stamped into it.....

When I get home, I'll see what the 19 is for, and let you know what gears you have.

Blister, check out this link....it has the axle ratio codes in it...

F150online Forums - View Single Post - How to identify rearend?

Removing the front axles, differential and drive line would have reduced weight for a slight increase in fuel economy. Probably worth while if you could have done it yourself. Quite a long term payout if you pay someone else to do it for you. With your low miles per year, really not worth while.

Part of the reason for suggesting removal was to eliminate concerns about mismatched front and rear differentials if you swapped in a numerically lower gear ratio in the rear. But I wasn't taking the automatic transmission into account. I now think Big Dave is correct, you don't want to mess with a taller gears.

Another reason for suggesting removal - on older ford 4x4s with manually locking hubs, hi-mileage, worn parts would eventually lead to the passenger side hub locking itself simply by virtue of the wheel spinning at highway speeds. (And the driver's side hub would unlock itself while you were using 4 wheel drive). I'm told, more modern 4x4s such as yours lock the hubs automatically. I'm presuming they're subject to the same sort of worn parts and may also become engaged at unintended times? This would be a large parasitic loss. Fairly easy to test for this. With front wheels off the ground, turn each wheel several turns by hand and watch front drive line to see if axle is engaged.

At highway speeds AC on is better than windows all the way down. Below 35 mph or so, windows down wins. AC comes on automatically with defroster to help dry the air blown on fogged windows. Depending on humidity and how often you must defrost, you might want to add a toggle switch and relay so you can prevent AC compressor clutch from being engaged.

Blister:
If you need 4x4 then you need 4x4. When 4x4 is not needed, be sure your hubs are disengaged. Automatic hubs are not as reliable as some people think.

Even when you have them disengaged, 4x4 costs your MPG in a couple of ways.

First you are dragging around a half-ton of unused machinery. That would have its effect even on my big truck operating in flat terrain. This also shows up as reduced towing capacity.

Second a 4x4 sits higher and has greater aero frontal area than a 4x2.

I would be surprised if you can't find somebody who would trade you straight across for an equivalent 2WD. I have a Ranger 4WD, and it gets somewhere around 16 mpg; I think the 4WD system is contributing to that. You'll also find parts to be more expensive and harder to find.

Your other option once business picks up is to buy another vehicle. My dad was getting killed by $4 gas in his GMC 2500HD with the utility bed, so he bought a used little 2WD Sonoma and put a toolbox in the back. Even with wider "sport" tires, he gets 23 mpg at 70-80 mph, or more than double the 2500HD. It paid for itself the first year, and now he only drives the 2500HD when he needs to tow something or carry stuff that needs the utility bed. You may not be able to do that now, but it's something to think about for the future.

I'd say a Scangauge or MPGuino should be your first choice. You're going to have to figure out the best gear and speed for both running empty and towing the trailer. With an auto, you may find that your torque converter can lock up in 3rd at a lower speed and give better mileage, or in 4th at a _higher_ speed and get better mileage. You won't be able to tell any other way.

Aero mods should be next. Sealing up bumper gaps, the bed-to-cab gap (maybe with a heavy metal tape, or that tailgate sealing tape), maybe a coroplast belly pan to clean up the huge cavern under the bed. I wouldn't tow with any kind of grill block without getting an accurate aftermarket tranny temp gauge and engine temp gauge. (A lot of Fords have an "idiot light gauge", so don't trust them.) When you replace tires, buy the stiffest highest-weight-rated tires you can. (I see a lot of trailers with car tires that bulge out the sides; not good for FE.)

well since it's late for me and all these posts are huge i'll say this.
Your truck has a torsion bar front suspension. This means that you can pull the front driveshaft and the torsion bars have adjusters, you can back the bolts out for them as far as they need to be for the torsion bar key to bottom out. most people do the opposite, and crank the bolts in to raise the front end.

Just a comment. You can't makle a princess out of a pig. You don't use the truck enough to justify putting money into it for eco mods. Get an economy car and occasionally use the truck for what it was made for. If you must use the truck, air up the tires to sidewall max and drive 50 mph in high gear. You most likely have a lock-up tranny in a 2001 so accelerate very slowly into high and stay there. (Use the same technique for a non-lockup.) Don't let it kick down pulling grades - back off the throttle and keep it in lock-up high as long as you can. Some models require you to reach a base rpm for lock-up. You'll have to figure out where this is.

That is the number one thing you can do. It's free and easy.

If this is the engine you have
5.4-liter, 3-valve Triton™ V-8 Engine
it reaches a torque rating of 90% at 2250 rpm
which means your best economy is probably around 1400 - 1600 rpm and you will never have a good reason to exceed 2250 rpm pulling heavy loads aside from time constraints and traffic.

If you don't have a tachometer, borrow a hand unit and write down your rpms at speed. Then, on your regular run, determine your optimum economy driving speed. A vacuum gauge hooked up to the intake manifold will really help. You'll figure out what it is telling you about your economy technique real fast.

When pulling a trailer load, make sure the trailer tires are at max sidewall pressure. Accelerate as slowly as traffic will allow. I mean, take a mile to get up to speed if you can. Smoothly and steadily. Really. This is the big method to minimizing fuel use in hauling.

On the road, use constant throttle technique. Find your foot position for say 50 mph and hold it steady in that position (or less) for the entire trip. Let your vehicle determine the speed on grades. Use this technique for both loaded and unloaded, truck, car or motorcycle, and you will see a dramatic difference in fuel use.