Economy Build on Paper

I am wondering about picking up an older pick-up and building a BBF for d/d and occasional towing. I am looking for thoughts on a high (for a pick-up!!) MPG build.

Likely an F150 or F250 with a OD auto.

I am thinking EFI would be a must, zero deck, some more cubes. any input on specifics and projected results?

Bill

Mine gets 9 empty and about 7 towing. I'll be watching this thread for ideas too.

cletus66 wrote:Mine gets 9 empty and about 7 towing. I'll be watching this thread for ideas too.

Lol, I'm hoping for a bit more than that!!!

My '09 Ram gets a shade over 20mpg and I am thinking with both making about the same HP, the mpg's should be able to get close!!

I'm not sure if the Ford EFI would work good or if an aftermarket EFI would be better? Or maybe a well tuned carb would do the trick!

Bill

Oh well, guess I'll check elsewhere.....

Bill

Give the folks a little time to get home from work and read the postings.
What size engine is in your Ram? 5.7L? You're not going to get 20+mpg with old technolgy 7.5L. But you will defintately need EFI to get the most mpg out of it.

Here's some tips (not mine - I get 6mpg and don't care):
Copied from (http://ecomodder.com/forum/showthread.php/big-improvement-ford-f-250-manual-7-5l-9568.html):

I ran a quick check of my mpg before I started and it was 11.2 mpg. I read some of the posts and articles on this site and here are the things I did:

1) slow down...instead of 50 mph in a 45-zone, I drove 40. Instead of 72 mph in a 65-zone, I drove 60. Instead of full throttle acceleration I did the 1/2 to 3/4 throttle.

2) Instead of running the gears from 2nd thru 5th, I started skipping a gear when I could. Start in 2nd, rev the engine to about 3,100 rpm and shift to 4th. Same with 3rd to 5th.

So, after these two simple changes my mileage went to 13.6 mpg. I had a lot of town driving and I pulled a horse trailer in town for a little bit, too. Not much I thought...only 2.4 mpg. But, the percentage changed my mind...21.4%!!!!

Amazing how a few simple changes can make a huge difference.

Next thing on the agenda: I aired my tires up to the max tire rating on the sidewall. And, when I do my daily commute of 30 miles on the highway, I'm going to fold my mirrors in and open my tailgate...(JUST KIDDING!). I also will probably remove my windshield wiper arms for a couple of tanks just to see if it makes any difference.

After this test, I hope to have some time to actually mod my truck a little:

a) Build a tonneau cover that covers the back 60% of my bed.
b) Fabricate an air dam for the front bumper
c) Fabricate a sail for the rear of the cab
d) Fill in the gaps in the front of the truck and the sides that could create drag
e) fabricate improved wheel fairings that improve air flow
f) fabricate a more aerodynamic bumper for the front and rear. It seems there are a lot of places to create drag.
g) Fabricate belly pan systems to channel air flow better under the truck.

I would start with a late 80's early 90's F-150. Build a tight quench 8.5-9:1 466 use the stock cam with a straight up double roller timing set, roller rocker conversion on a D3 head, a stock holley pattern intake with a 4 hole q-jet adapter (very important to use the 4 hole and not an open adapter), a purpose built carb from Jet Performance (Q-jet), a K&N airfilter, hooker headers with a nice 2 1/2" exhaust, an E4OD trans with controller, a new traction lock diff with 3.55's and D rated truck tire on 16 inch rims. If you can keep your foot out of it I think said combo would probably get ~18mpg city/highway empty and ~15 towing a trailer. I know not alot of people are not fans of the Q-jet's but in this case it would work good.

bigblok2000ranger wrote:I would start with a late 80's early 90's F-150. Build a tight quench 8.5-9:1 466 use the stock cam with a straight up double roller timing set, roller rocker conversion on a D3 head, a stock holley pattern intake with a 4 hole q-jet adapter (very important to use the 4 hole and not an open adapter), a purpose built carb from Jet Performance (Q-jet), a K&N airfilter, hooker headers with a nice 2 1/2" exhaust, an E4OD trans with controller, a new traction lock diff with 3.55's and D rated truck tire on 16 inch rims. If you can keep your foot out of it I think said combo would probably get ~18mpg city/highway empty and ~15 towing a trailer. I know not alot of people are not fans of the Q-jet's but in this case it would work good.

Good info Eric, thanks!!

I know the bigger/older 460 based engine would not match the hemi, but I thought for a similar HP level, the mpg could get close. And 18 mpg is very close!!

I have the 95cc eddy heads, so they should work a bit better than the D3's I presume.

It sounds like the engine you speced would have a good bit of grunt too!!

Bill