What can I do?

[shatto]

Play around with your cruising speed.
A V8 ought to be at 2,000 RPM somewhere around 62 to 65 MPH.
Somewhere around 65 MPH seems to be where vehicles are made to cruise.

Set the cruise control, plant your feet on the floor and enjoy all those frantic folks roaring past on your left. As you get your best mileage.

AND
*Disconnect the front hubs.
*And, get highway tires. Keep the knobby ones for actual off-road driving.
*Switch all your lubricants to synthetic.

[Greeen]

Originally Posted by shatto

Play around with your cruising speed.
A V8 ought to be at 2,000 RPM somewhere around 62 to 65 MPH.
Somewhere around 65 MPH seems to be where vehicles are made to cruise.

Set the cruise control, plant your feet on the floor and enjoy all those frantic folks roaring past on your left. As you get your best mileage.

AND
*Disconnect the front hubs.
*And, get highway tires. Keep the knobby ones for actual off-road driving.
*Switch all your lubricants to synthetic.

That is one thing I do already have is synthetic fluids, I put Ams Oil in everything I own. What do you mean by disconnect my front hubs? It has electronic hubs for the 4x4.

Maybe I should just drive my vette more often, I drove it from Wisconsin to Texas and averaged 27.5 mpg with the cruise at 74, which I think is not bad for a 400hp car.

[shatto]

Originally Posted by Greeen

That is one thing I do already have is synthetic fluids, I put Ams Oil in everything I own. What do you mean by disconnect my front hubs? It has electronic hubs for the 4x4.

Maybe I should just drive my vette more often, I drove it from Wisconsin to Texas and averaged 27.5 mpg with the cruise at 74, which I think is not bad for a 400hp car.

When your electronic hubs are 'OFF' I presume, and I presume because back in my day you got your butt out and turned the dial on the Warn Hubs to do the job, that disconnects the wheels from the axle. The axles do not turn the differential, universal joints, transfer case gears and so the engine doesn't have to use a bunch of gas to overcome all that resistance.

[bowtieguy]

Originally Posted by theclencher

Are you trolling or are you serious?

i'm w/ ya clencher. depending on the weight of the load, a 4cyl can tow well enough, especially w/ a 5 speed.

according to this http://www.fordf150.net/specs/04ranger.php, the AT can tow more than the MT on a 4 cyl ranger?

[Jay2TheRescue]

On my trucks I run highway tires, and always have (I like my smooth, quiet, comfortable ride), and I run synthetic fluids. I usually travel within 5 MPH of the speed limit (And in light traffic I'm going 5 MPH under). At 65 MPH I'm usually turning about 1,800 to 1,900 RPM.

[theholycow]

Originally Posted by bowtieguy

i'm w/ ya clencher. depending on the weight of the load, a 4cyl can tow well enough, especially w/ a 5 speed.

Heavy towing doesn't require a lot of power, contrary to popular belief; if you don't have enough power, you'll just go slower, no problem. It does, however, require an appropriately sized and weighted vehicle with appropriate brakes (despite whatever brakes may exist on the trailer). There's probably no 4 cylinder vehicle that is legal or safe in the US to tow my 26 foot camper, for example.

[theclencher]

Originally Posted by bowtieguy

i'm w/ ya clencher. depending on the weight of the load, a 4cyl can tow well enough, especially w/ a 5 speed.

according to this http://www.fordf150.net/specs/04ranger.php, the AT can tow more than the MT on a 4 cyl ranger?

I don't see where he mentioned what was being towed... I was responding to the little inferiority complex remark about not be willing to be seen in a 4 banger. Fer stupid.

[bowtieguy]

well, you know how that can be an excuse. ya know, "i might need to tow something, sometime."

obviously, unless a load of sod or concrete is being towed, most 4 cyl can fill the need.

[bowtieguy]

Originally Posted by Greeen

I was looking more for modifications. I'm pretty sure I would hate myself if I had to drive little 4 banger everyday, plus I do have a few trailers I pull on occasion.

found it

[Mayhim]

I got a scangauge for use in my truck. It doesn't help as much as I would like (nothing is magic) but it helps me to improve my driving techniques.

While a new fuel efficient vehicle would be hard to make pay for itself, I did just that. At the height of the gas price rise I found an '89 Honda CRX and got it for $875. The money I saved getting 40mpg over the 10 mpg in my V10 Super Duty has more than paid for the price of the car, maintenance, and body work/paint. Add in insurance and maybe not, but it's a lot easier to find a parking spot for it. It does take a while to get into the little-car thing, but if you want good mileage a truck really doesn't do that. I guess it's all in how much gas you want to save...

Driving conservatively I get 40-41 mpgs. Last tank I tried semi-rigorous DFCO (deceleration fuel cut off) and got 47.25 mpg. Sure beats the 10mpg of the truck. It even beats the 20mpg I get out of my automatic '98 Z28.