efficiency & mileage

[drunk_monkey]

Howdy-

Don't mean to offend anyones sensibilities, but: Any one out there modified a 7.3 for efficiency? I don't need to tow much (3k-5k lbs) and mostly use the beast for commutes. With the price of fuel being what it is, I want to get the best MPG out of my truck ('00 F-250 4wd LB XCab) that I can. Seems that with the torque this thing produces, I can tune for MPG and still have plenty of power.

Any ideas or pointers would be appreciated.

--Dave

[sldghamr]

most tunes will do some kind of MPG increase.

try going to the following link:

Gear Vendors under/overdrive transmissions the most awarded auxiliary transmissions.

[Dirk]

I'm SERIOUSLY considering Gear Vendors OD unit when I have BTS rebuild my 4r100.

[NCHornet]

A GV unit isn't cheap and that will be a long term payoff!! There was a guy in Diesel Power magazine and he's a member of another forum who has done extensive testing with the 7.3 and mpg. He has gotten 24 mpg, but he pretty much gutted the truck and smoothed every angle on the body. If you want the best mpg, you need a boost gauge, the sweeet spot in our trucks for mpg is anything below 1800rpm's, if you can keep it here and maintain the lowest boost possible you will obtain the best mpg. Gearing is a HUGE part of milage. I have 4:10's so at 1800 rpm's I am barely doing 60mph, you'll get killed in NC driving that slow, so it is all a trade off. The member above went to 3:08's which are not available, he had them made. Of course his towing capacity went way down to a 1/2 ton, but this wasn't his concern. For the average guy just wanting the best mpg, keep your tires air up to the max pressure, lousy ride, less rolling resistance, keep rpm's and boost as low as possible. Letting the engine breathe by adding a better flowing intake and exhaust will also help a bunch. The only tune I have seen consistent mpg gains is with DP-Tuners 80 econo. I have it but I find the extra 103HP to tempting to get any milage increase, lol!!! Call Jody he can probably tweak the shift points for you, if you really want the best mpg, as long as you realize when you make changes like this it will affect other areas, like towing capacity, etc.... but let Jody explain all that. I didn't buy a 1 ton crew cab dually truck to get great mpg, if that is what I was after I would have bought a Kia. To be honest with you I am totally amazed that a 8200lb truck gets 15 mpg around town, heck that's better than my F150 got!!! Although with fuel going up like it is every extra mile we can squeeze out the better, that is why I will be making Bio by the end of winter. Good Luck.

[drunk_monkey]

Thanks for the info. I'll look at the DP tunes and see what makes sense. The GV looks like a great product: better mileage AND better towing. But I'm never going to have the $3500 for it, and I doubt I'll have this truck long enough to see the return. And the intake and exhaust stuff I was probably going to do anyway, just for fun!

I would have been happy if they made a PSD Ranger! I wanted diesel so I can make my own WVO or BioD. And the 250 is the smallest production diesel pickup in the US, at least as far as I can tell. Okay, so I didn't need to buy the 4x4 longbed but if you're gonna go, go all the way, right?

Thanks again.
--Dave

[NCHornet]

I too will be making my own BIO by Spring and I am looking for a older VW TDI rabbit or a Mercedes to run WVO in.

[nc1500]

Check out my post. I didn't start out trying to get the best mileage, but it's a happy coincidence.

Spent WAY too much on exhaust mod (My Saga)...