Hey guys, newb here, need advice
 

Hey guys, I'm a newb here on ecomodder. I was dicussing economy with a friend and he referenced this site. Hopefully some of you guys may be able to help with my predicament....

I have a 2004 F250 Super Duty Supercab long bed FX4 off road package. It has a 5.4L in it an 4R100 automatic transmission.

This is my truck: it takes me to the hardest to reach of all fishing holes, pulls whatever trailer I need, takes me around with 16-25 inches of snow on the ground to pull my little lady out of the ditch. I have 305/70/16 10 ply tires because I need beefy tires for the trails and holding up this truck when I have 2 harleys in the bed and am pulling a trailer. I have a gooseneck for the fifth wheel, and yeah, I use it.

When I'm not using all of my trucks capabilities I have a tonneau cover. I drive moderately but I am not sacrificing my need to move to save gas (I'm sure some of you can relate).

What I want to do is find a way to make my truck get better fuel economy while cruising on the expressway. I currently average about 13.5mpg, and put on around 15-25K per year depending on if the harley is running or not.

I have been thinking about putting a blower on for more power (instead of getting a V10) and buying a gear vendors overdrive for my cross-MI adventures. Aside from that, anyone have any ideas how to improve economy?

But at the same time, here's what I am not willing to compromise to get improvements:

Tire size/ type. Off road tread and big tires are mandatory
Final gear ratio
Skid plates
ride height
Performance


I just really think there is a way to get all the way up to 15mpg average, I need to be resourceful. The steps I already have taken to getting better economy are as follows:

Cut out catalytic converter (picked up about 2mpg avg)
performance exhaust
iridium spark plugs
low restriction cold air intake
Good wax job
tonneau cover (picked up a about 1 mpg average)
never put on my cab visor :'(

Hope yall have some ideas on this big old truck! I need all the help I can get with 4wd season and the amount I drive!

Thanks in advance yall

The cat should stay, it wasn't hurting your econo one bit.

The only effective things I see on the list are the failure to install the visor and the tonneau.

Look at the page header and check out the lists of tips.

If the truck has some of those rubber balls hanging off the back, I'm sure they are hurting econo too.

*facepalm* Frank...

Judging on what you are not willing to compromise on about the best thing you could do is adjust how you drive. One thing that may help is trading the thing in for one with a manual.

One thing I would think about is a cheap car to take care of the light duties, and using the truck for when real work needs to be done. I have always liked handy tools like a truck that can do most any job asked of it but I can definitely appreciate a specialized tool when it is more appropriate for the job at hand. My wife gets around all wenter with a ford escort, if we need to get off the beaten path we use my rig. If I had much of a drive for work I would park the zuki (and start making it more specialized for off road) and buy a miserly car.

Well thats the thing, the manual transmission for my truck is expensive as all get out (in the range of $2300 for the whole setup). In the spring, summer, and fall I ride my Harley every time I can. But literally right now I have 14 inches of snow on the ground and I cant get anywhere without 4x4 in my truck, so i dont think the bike or a smaller car is an option (I cant put all my tools and equipment in a small car) now that the winter is here i'd like to save fuel

But my Cat removal really helped the MPG's in all seriousness. Maybe it was just plugged, or the lack of rear 02 sensors (not required on a vehicle thats does not have a fuel economy rating), or the cooler egt's??? When I bought my truck I averaged about 9.5mpg according to the overhead display and hand calculation. Now I am up to 13-15 depending on the trip/ job at hand. I've got 155K on this beast and there has been the best economy ever since I pulled that hunk of junk outta there.

Also, I think I'm gonna go pick me up a pair of those big chrome nuts to hang off the little hitch... I knew my truck needed something!