Good Read [increasing truck MPG]

[ChopStix]

Here's a good write up on getting MPG by a truck parts shop.

LINK

[Joggernot]

I'm not sure about this statement in the second bullet.

• Minimize idling: Keep the idling to a minimum by watching the traffic ahead and timing your momentum. The vehicle burns less fuel accelerating from a dead stop than it does accelerating from a very low speed. If you’re stuck in a traffic jam, turn your engine off.

[Frank Lee]

^Clearly an editing mistake!

You should also remember to remove any gear you don’t need. If you’re just driving to work, for example, unload your off-road equipment and leave it in the garage.

I'd say leave your entire off-roading toy in the garage and commute in something intelligent. But for the most part it looked like a good list.

Exhaust upgrades - Depending on what’s on your vehicle currently, you can sometimes achieve sizeable fuel economy increases by switching out the exhaust. Low-restriction mufflers, cat-back exhaust systems with mandrel bent pipes, and long-tube headers can all be effective. Your gains might range from 1% to 10%. If you have a very inefficient factory manifold, you might also see a nice improvement from installing shorty headers.

Except for this. Very suspicious that most everything else was only good for 1% gain while screwing with the pipes was worth up to 10%. I don't think anyone here has proven +10% from exhaust mods. As if boys needed another excuse to do a muffler delete. :/

[Joggernot]

Originally Posted by Frank Lee

I'd say leave your entire off-roading toy in the garage and commute in something intelligent. But for the most part it looked like a good list.

I admit to using https://www.marlincrawler.com/ for replacement truck parts. The parts they sell seem to be a bit more robust than OEM parts. No, I don't have brush guards, etc. on the truck. It's stock, almost.

[oil pan 4]

Exhaust upgrades - Depending on what’s on your vehicle currently, you can sometimes achieve sizeable fuel economy increases by switching out the exhaust. Low-restriction mufflers, cat-back exhaust systems with mandrel bent pipes, and long-tube headers can all be effective. Your gains might range from 1% to 10%. If you have a very inefficient factory manifold, you might also see a nice improvement from installing shorty headers.

I think they did this to appease advertisers.

When my friend gutted the converter and put on long tube headers on his 2.7L manual taco he noticed no change in MPGs that he could attribute to those changes. The cast manifold was cracked and his catalyst material was rattling around inside the converter, both cause you to fail Virginia state vehicle inspection. The header was substantially cheaper than even a used cast iron manifold.

Before I chopped and redid the exhaust in my non-turbo diesel I measured the back pressure and found that the exhaust back pressure was very low, almost non existent under almost all operating conditions so I put off doing the exhaust for like 3 years.
Then when I chopped the exhaust, there was no change in fuel economy. Surprise, surprise.