i'm carrying motorcycles, one sometimes two bikes in the bed so a tonneau or a topper is not that practical for me. The bikes are about 400 lb, sport bikes. The bikes get about 40 mpg stock and can to 0-60 in 4s and top out at 155mph-175mph. some times i tow a pop-up trailer and the FE goes down to 12mpg nothing will help this. i take a 420 mile round trip once a week from Dallas to Houston and its costing about $75 +/- for each trip at about 65-70 mph i stay with the flow of traffic cruse control most of the way. I have the bed empty on the way down and the bikes in the back on the way up. I don't know how much of a difference, FE wise, it is with and without the bike on the back. I just do a mpg average for the whole trip. i was reading some info on the alternator, and i was thing of some sort of alternator mod. form what i was reading i could gain 10% in FE. I'm hoping maybe to get up to 25mpg on the freeway (maybe). i'm not expecting much in savings I just like a challenge

I tried going slow one time but 2 things happened one i was having move out peoples way cause everything was going 65-70 i was at 50, and i think all of that wiving in traffic used up more gas and it added almost 2 hours to the trip, round trip.

Welcome
 

Welcome to GS...

Do you have another vehicle to drive between trips (or would you consider buying an inexpensive, used vehicle with better gas mileage for short trips/no cargo)?

Best FE,

RH77

If you are going anywhere on the west side of Houston, make sure you cut off 45 in Madisonville and go down through Navasota and Hempstead. It cuts distance and traffic.

A "taller" rear axle ratio would probably help.

Stay in the far right line until it becomes exit only, then move over to the left and keep repeating. Let the people who want to go 70 go around you... you're not doing anything wrong going slower than them. You don't actually have to go the same speed as them, unless you want to. If someone starts tailgating, just maintain your speed and eventually they'll pass you. (But there's no way around the extra time it's going to take. You just have to decide for yourself if the savings is worth it. Maybe try it for one or two trips and see if the savings are worth it?)

50mph is a bit slow unless you really know the route. Try going 60-65mph in the right lane, you should be even with semi traffic. The taller rear axle is (un)officially seconded.
Contrary to what you may expect, the worst your mileage, the more you can save from improving it. A car going from 50mpg to 75mpg can only save ~$200 over 10,000 miles with gas at $3/gal. But your truck going from 15mpg to 25mpg will save you ~$800 over 10,000 miles.

well i know with an s-10 it could do all that but it wouldnt last long cuz 800 lbs is just about max for the load capacity, could always get some helper springs or get some off the 4wd s-10's. towing, the s-10 could def tow a pop up trailer. and im talking about the 4 banger s-10 not the v6 but if its hilly i would suggest the v6.

but theres no way in hell your gonna see spitting distance if you haul anything in a truck, just alot of extra weight and alot of non aerodynamic loads(essentially hauling 2 cubes(bikes) or hauling one big cube (pop up)

the alternater mod might work but remember when your towing the trailer theres a decent sized electrical load with all the lights on it. what i might suggest you could do is change the trailer lights to LED's it might help but again dont expect any miracles. and always weigh the price of upgrading all the trailer lights to LED's to how long its going to take for these savings to pay for the lights...:p

the mechanical fans enguage whenever the engine is reved off idle. its like a centrifigual clutch, as the engine gets off idle the clutch grabs thus spinning the fan, so when your driving at any speed its always on. i noticed a 1-2 mpg increase with an empty load on my s-10 when i did an efan install. but i do notice after i stop from towing my trailer the fan is on almost constantly:( so when towing it doesnt help jack. that and im not sure if its accualy blowing hard enough to cool the truck when im towing up a major hill. but i dont travel far with the trailer so i really cant say.

Couple thoughts:


1) Take a lesson from the big rigs...get as TALL a tire as you can if you are mostly doing highway driving...you will drastically reduce your RPM's at speed.

2) Get a good slick cover (almost like saran wrap, or a tarp you can really tighten down) to cover the bikes in the back to reduce drag.

3) If you can't reasonably slow to 50mph, then slow to 60mph.

--Randall

Concord, NC

If you go with taller (but still relatively narrow) tires, is that the speedometer in the F150 can be recalibrated for a different tire size to keep it accurate.

For a taller tire on a 16" rim, the 85 series tires may work for you. I swapped my 4runner from 225/75/15 (a little under 28") to 235/85/16 bridgestone dueler revo's (just over 32"). 4" more diameter, just a little wider. This size is pretty common, 215/85/16 are less common. Was able to pull several 23mpg tanks driving normally cross country, 65-75 mph. At least for me the speedo/odo difference is almost exactly 10%. The Revo's are E load range, so they ride rougher than typical tires, but will also take up to 80psi. If i have them over 35 though I notice they are wearing faster in the middle, and the ride gets harsher quickly at higher psi.

For hauling 2 400 lb bikes, I would think that a lot if not all mid sized sedans could tow that on a trailer. I know a guy who had a hitch installed on his older accord and tows his jetski's with well with that. The popup trailer is probably quite a bit heavier though.

Lastly, driving anywhere close to the speed limit in texas seems dangerous. We visit Dallas several times a year, and I'm always shocked how much over the speed limit people tend to go.