2004 Navigator Get 19.5 MPG !!!
 

I'm flying high. After an oil change, new air filter, removing my roof rack, max tire pressure and folding in the mirrors on the highway -- I just got 19.5 on the highway between cleveland and dayton. I also turned the A/C off on the uphill and didn't exceed 68 MPH. Before this past weekend -- the "gator" never averaged above 17.5 MPG. Over a 10% savings ! Thanks for all the tips I found here at ECO MOD. :thumbup:

So how do I get to 20 MPG ????

Tape the grille!

Not bad at all! I would definitely agree with Z Man, block up that grille!

Wow, that's actually quite good for your vehicle! Do you know if you had a headwind or not?

If you knock it back to 65 this next time (I know it's tough -- especially on the 4-lane sections of I-71 and I-70 with heavy traffic) you'll cut that wind resistance even more.

I'd say get a ScanGauge or possibly lower it -- block the grille. On the larger hills between Columbus and Lodi, maybe bleed off some speed uphill (pick a throttle position and hold it -- then the next downhill will allow the speed to pick back up). There's lots you can do!

...and they all can be found right here, at Ecomodder.com :thumbup:

OK, that was cheesy -- but the 104+ Ecomods link has a bunch of stuff to try.

RH77

x2 on lowering it and going with a grille block. Depending on what you are in to you could get one of those full sized chrome replacement grilles that'll completely block you off.

So do I lower the front more than the back? has anyone studied that?

I'll block up the grill too.

I did not have a tail wind -- I was travelling south and then west when I got 19.5 on my return to dayton. I got 18.9 going east then north on my way up -but still had the rack on and didn't shut off the AC.

I actually had to use my headlights & the wipers on my 19.5 MPG treck -- I was getting 19.9 before the rain.

Lowering these trucks isn't that feasible. It's very costly. LRR tires would be a better mod IMO. A grill block and lowering speed below 60 will get you there!

why not feasible Honda Guy 72 ? can you point to some data.

What will wheel skirts get me ? I can make them out of clear plexi.

Through some searching I'm unable to find any manufacturer of a lowering kit for your truck. I'm sure it's been done, but it's not a common vehicle to lower. Most 4wd truck owners want to have full ground clearance.

Google maps says 215 miles.

At 65 MPH average, thats 3.5 hours. At 55 MPH average you would still be under 4 hours and at 52 MPH you would still be under 4.25 hours.

A ScanGauge would really help. Your sweet spot for economy is probably gonna be close to 40 or 50 MPH. Then it's a matter of how much speed you want to gain and how much mileage you're will to trade off for that.

The worst thing is carrying speed over hills with anything this large.

I don't doubt that with a lower average and letting speed bleed up the hills and picking it back up after you're downhilling that you couldn't exceed 20 by a good chunk.

Lowering shouldn't really be all too difficult, but you'll be dealing with air-ride... LRR tires, IMO, still aren't worth what you pay for them, especially in larger sizes, especially when you compared them to any "perma-mod"... LRR tires are great, but they only last until the tire is dead, then you're out another $1000. Not exactly economical, when you can get a good, hard, standard tire w/ a 50k mile warranty for like $125 (for larger sizes), then use the extra $400 per set of tires to pay for things like fuel, and other mods.

Driver modding is by far the best thing you can do... anything you can do to just drive more efficiently will help the most of anything, and will show greater returns on other things you do.

I recommend a full belly pan along w/ the grille block.

I'm late to the game, but will support the comment that lowering a vehicle with an air-ride is not that hard. In fact, Ford has a factory kit for this. It includes 4 new dampers, 1 pair of springs (front) and a sensor relocation bracket that causes the rear to lower. I can't recall the price now (700ish), but it was well under 1000. If you wait until you need new shocks anyway, it's effectively pretty inexpensive. Haven't done mine yet, because the stock shocks are working remarkably well at 105,000miles, and because >95% of my use is for towing, where lowering and roofracks would affect little. Just fyi

Btw, I've got (non towing app) up to about 19.5mpg with careful towing too, but there was a bit of drafting involved. 18 is as good as I can get truly solo.