Increasing Fuel Mileage

[Casey6404]

Was curious if anyone has ever used a “tuner” or something similar to increase the fuel mileage of their tow vehicle. I know tuners can decrease mileage but i don’t have any experience with this type of technology to call it anything other than tuner. I have a 2000 Ford Expedition 5.4 Triton and towing with my previous boat I was getting 13 mpg. I recently purchased a Nitro Z9 and I’m down to 10 mpg (Bigger, heavier boat). Any miracle technology out there worth trying? I know I’m not going to get huge increases but even a few mpg would help. Your thoughts?

[CatFan]

Not much available on a gas engine. Keep your foot out of it and don’t get in a hurry is about the best you can do.

[Casey6404]

My foot gets lighter the older I get.

[wmitch2]

There's little you can do to the engine that I'm aware of other than keeping the Injectors clean and the Air Cleaner also. You can look into the "Rolling Resistance" of the Tires you're choosing. If when you mention this to your Tire "Dealer" and he/she gets a Glazed look on his face, do an about turn and LEAVE !! The LOWER the Rolling Resistance is the lower amount of POWER it takes to turn them. Compare what you're running now with the new ones, You'd be surprised.

https://www.bridgestonetire.com/lear...ng-resistance/

You can also use less Power by changing your wheel bearings to Micro Blue Bearings.

http://www.microblueracing.com/

Think about this, 1 mpg gain from 10 mpg is a 10% increase in mileage, and a 10% DECREASE in fuel COST !!! Just think what a 2-3 mpg increase would save you !!!

[wmitch2]

oops !! please delete

[Casey6404]

Interesting. I’ll go take a look. Thanks.

[n2ratfishin]

I think I’ve tried everything under the sun over the years. If extra gas mileage was there that easy the manufacturer would have tapped it. The market is too competitive. Keep it maintained and drive like you have some sense.

[CJ1]

Keep the engine in tune is about it. I have never seen a programmer for a gas engine do any better than maybe 1 mpg after tuning and the spark knock was very noticeable. Want mileage towing, buy a diesel. CJ

[clayshooter]

I drive approximately 150mi a day round trip. I did have the Bridgestone Driveguard tires and it definitely improved fuel mileage on a compact 4cyl SUV. However, ride quality went down significantly. I sucked it up for 4yrs and endured it. And then traded in for a new Cadillac 4cyl CT4 and got both now and it is also 4wd.!

[fishnfireman]

I've tried several things from Intake to exhaust to tuners. Never saw an increase in fuel mileage- some gains in performance.
Best thing I ever done for fuel mileage was get this new 6 cyl Duramax in a 1/2 ton

[Woody b]

There is no magic for better gas mileage. Keep air pressure correct, clean air filter, good engine tune ect. Drive like there's an egg between your foot and the throttle pedal.

[Team Mud]

For less drag, I remove the deck seats and windshield, might help a little?

[plbass]

Found that the older I get the slower I drive. Used to drive 80+mph to and from ramp and now it's the speed limit or a little more and gas mileage went way up.

[gdi]

Run a 70K boat and you worry about MPG in a tow vehicle. To funny.

[krindgen]

Owned that engine in a 2001. Fuel economy not great. I had a Diablo chip in mine that did nothing and ended up making some problems with throwing erroneous codes. I think it drove a little better with high performance air filter and dual exhaust, but still not great.

[DaveBrabec]

Stock tires will help

[ilhunter65]

I have just slowed down and also use my cruise control as much as possible . I find i am mashing down on pedal and letting off trying to drive a steady speed. So i use the cruise and let the truck do the work.. just my 2 cents

[fishnfireman]

Run a 70K boat and you worry about MPG in a tow vehicle. To funny.

not funny in West Texas !
Put 25K on my new truck in 15 months-- most of it fishing. This 3.0 ltr diesel gets 50% better fuel mileage than my last three 5.3 ltr gas motors.
Put the pencil to that!
70K won't buy my boat...

[tcesni]

Was curious if anyone has ever used a “tuner” or something similar to increase the fuel mileage of their tow vehicle. I know tuners can decrease mileage but i don’t have any experience with this type of technology to call it anything other than tuner. I have a 2000 Ford Expedition 5.4 Triton and towing with my previous boat I was getting 13 mpg. I recently purchased a Nitro Z9 and I’m down to 10 mpg (Bigger, heavier boat). Any miracle technology out there worth trying? I know I’m not going to get huge increases but even a few mpg would help. Your thoughts?

Unfortunately the 5.4 Triton V8 and “fuel economy” are never used in a sentence about good fuel economy. Not it’s strong suit by any stretch.

[Fishysam]

When I had a 2012 and 2014 rams with hemi's I put a k&n air filter in the stock air box and replaced the muffler with a the largest magnaflow muffler that would fit. This gave me 0.5-3.0 mpg better empty and probably about 1 mpg better towing. And with the big magnaflow the truck was actually more quiet than stock until wide open throttle.

with my cummins there is some tuning that has improved mpg