New DD...... and it's a truck..
 

Well, the transmission was going out on my AE82 Corolla. I was going to replace it when I got a offer for the car too good to turn down. So now I drive this.

A '95 F150, reg. cap, short bed, 4.9 straight 6 4 spd auto. My grandfather owned it and took good care of it, but is too elderly to drive now and gave it too me. Right now I get around 20mpg hw with windows down (A/C dosn't work yet), and 12's in town.

My plans are a front air dam, smaller mirrors, lower it a bit (body lower and Ford Lighting springs), and electric fans. It already has a 3.08 rear end in it, which I think is the highest gearing available for this truck. It's MAP and OBD-1 so I can't really tune it. It's also going to be getting a mild exhaust, so that might also help with the MPG.

My first and only mod (as of now) was putting a couple of filters right on the throttle body in hopes of getting warmer air into the engine.

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Good luck being efficient; you will need it.

Does the fact that you last car was a Corolla (And you only gave it up because it was in bad shape) mean that you don't actually need to "haul" anything?

A 5sp stick would help slightly

You might also want to
- cover the bed , if possible by an aerodynamic cover ;
- (partially) cover the grille
- delete the mudflaps

If you're really determined - or deterred by fuel costs - you could add a belly pan, side skirts, ... the works really ;)


Changing your driving style will also have a lot of effect.
100+ Hypermiling / ecodriving tips & tactics for better mpg - EcoModder.com

Air Gate = fail.
Intake delete = fail.
Noisy exhaust = fail.

Doesn't matter what he does short of a diesel and m/t swap, it ain't gonna average more than 21; more likely it will rarely bust through 20. So here we are, 2011, still solo, empty DDing sub 20 vehicles. Well, you're in good- I mean, lots of company.

Mine is A 92 4.9 With the Mazda 5 speed (.80 OD) with a 2.73 rear. Tachs 1550 at 60 MPH. I am averaging about 18 around town and got 20 on an 860 mile trip to get my 2011 CBR 250R at 70 MPH.
Wish I could get it to idle lower. I think it will do 25 in 5th with my foot off the gas.

I only drive it 50 miles a week to mow the grass and keep up the yard in the house I am selling after a restoration.

regards
Mech

My Corolla had a plate welded over the spare tire area and the rear seat deleted just to make room for all the stuff I usually have to carry. I do part-time small engine repair and have to haul parts and tools around, the truck has really came in handy.

And I was tired buying a new part every week to keep the 26 year old Corolla on the road. I liked it, but it was turning into a project car, and I don't need ANOTHER one of those.

I wanted to do a bed cover, but it would hinder the use of the bed. Winters coming up so I will be making a grille cover of some kind, but it would have to go in the summer as this engine doesn't like sitting in 110* traffic. A belly pan isn't out of the question also.

I didn't even think about the mudflaps, those are going tomorrow.

And I try to drive the best I can for mileage (coasting every chance I get, eta)

The "air gate" as you call it was custom made for my grandfather. It was put on as the truck had no gate to began with. It may not help MPG, but visibility is a whole lot better when backing up (there's alot of kids that play in my neighborhood, so the extra visibility more then outweighs what ever MPG I might lose with it).

So warmer air is bad for MPG?? Testing a warm air intake (WAI) - MetroMPG.com Plus, the short filters give alot better throttle response, and the racer in me likes that.

Even if it didn't help, I can't stand a quiet exhaust. A Borla muffler will be going on next week along with the cats deleted.


And lets not forget this is the south, trucks (especially loud trucks) get the girls :p

That noise is for getting laid? I thought it was from little man syndrome.

Geeez... all the big guys around here have big loud trucks. The two who came and bought my Jeep had big Silverado's with 38" tall tires and about 8"lifts. When I noticed they were both 2WD and asked "why", they said IT was for the "LOOK". They also left them sit running for about 1/2 hour while we did the transaction. I wanted to throw up. I'm surprised they didn't have the accessories... a... devices that hang town from the receiver hitch, you know, for the "manly" look?