Fuel economy and range

[RZehr]

Our old motorhome was 30 feet on a Ford 350; we bought it used and it was a 1990 model. If I remember correctly the fuel tank held 38 gallons. The living quarters added quite a bit of weight to it but we still managed to get 22 mpg on the highways. I did not drive fast nor accelerate quickly. I used the air conditioner. I changed the oil every 3500 miles and maintained the transmission frequently.

Correction: it was a 1999 model. I seem to be hitting or missing the keys lately.

Diesel?

[MaxPC]

Our old motorhome was 30 feet on a Ford 350; we bought it used and it was a 1990 model. If I remember correctly the fuel tank held 38 gallons. The living quarters added quite a bit of weight to it but we still managed to get 22 mpg on the highways. I did not drive fast nor accelerate quickly. I used the air conditioner. I changed the oil every 3500 miles and maintained the transmission frequently.

Correction: it was a 1999 model. I seem to be hitting or missing the keys lately.

Diesel?

No, gasoline. Our son bought it from us and is now taking vacations in it with his family. He said the mileage on it is 209,443.

[Josh]

I'm impressed with anyone getting 22 MPG out of an 1999 F-350 with the V8 or V10 Triton. I have a 2001 with the same motor and can barely get 10 MPG out of mine around town, but it does go up to 16 MPG on the highway.

[MaxPC]

I'm impressed with anyone getting 22 MPG out of an 1999 F-350 with the V8 or V10 Triton. I have a 2001 with the same motor and can barely get 10 MPG out of mine around town, but it does go up to 16 MPG on the highway.

I was careful Without question good shocks, tire inflation, especially keeping the transmission maintained helps. It probably helps that I drive slowly. I am that vehicle ahead of you doing 35 in a 55 mph zone … and every year it becomes more difficult to see above the steering wheel.

[Sudsy]

Today I discovered that I can drive 1,059.1 miles on one tank of fuel.
Truck: 2022 Ford F150 pickup, crew cab, 4x4, 325 horsepower, 400 pounds of torque, all standard equipment, 2.7 liter.

Topped off my fuel tank with 37* gallons of premium gasoline, no additives. Put it in Eco mode, and drove very slowly and carefully, over the mountains and through the hills five times. No air conditioning, or speeding, or cruise controlor idling. Finally ran it out of gas along the road. I had a two gallon container of fuel with me in the bed of the truck.

Went 1,059.1 miles on one tank of fuel, averaged 28.77 miles per gallon (computer says 29.5).
After the pickup said 0 miles to empty, it went another 135.7 miles on 0. Filled it up, and now the computer says that I am 999 miles to empty.

I personally filled up the tank for the test. Filled it until it was dribbling out top. When I refilled, being at a station in Oregon where the attendant must fill you up, they only got it 34.8 gallons. I think if I had filled it, I could have got in .2 gallons more.

Sounds to me like your odometer needs fixing.

[Josh]

I'm impressed with anyone getting 22 MPG out of an 1999 F-350 with the V8 or V10 Triton. I have a 2001 with the same motor and can barely get 10 MPG out of mine around town, but it does go up to 16 MPG on the highway.

I was careful Without question good shocks, tire inflation, especially keeping the transmission maintained helps. It probably helps that I drive slowly. I am that vehicle ahead of you doing 35 in a 55 mph zone … and every year it becomes more difficult to see above the steering wheel.

I do the above. If I didn’t… I’d be getting even worse fuel economy. If my tyres are not properly inflated mileage can drop to 8 or 9.

My daily trio is typically 35 MPH (or less), 5 miles each way.

[RZehr]

Today I discovered that I can drive 1,059.1 miles on one tank of fuel.
Truck: 2022 Ford F150 pickup, crew cab, 4x4, 325 horsepower, 400 pounds of torque, all standard equipment, 2.7 liter.

Topped off my fuel tank with 37* gallons of premium gasoline, no additives. Put it in Eco mode, and drove very slowly and carefully, over the mountains and through the hills five times. No air conditioning, or speeding, or cruise controlor idling. Finally ran it out of gas along the road. I had a two gallon container of fuel with me in the bed of the truck.

Went 1,059.1 miles on one tank of fuel, averaged 28.77 miles per gallon (computer says 29.5).
After the pickup said 0 miles to empty, it went another 135.7 miles on 0. Filled it up, and now the computer says that I am 999 miles to empty.

I personally filled up the tank for the test. Filled it until it was dribbling out top. When I refilled, being at a station in Oregon where the attendant must fill you up, they only got it 34.8 gallons. I think if I had filled it, I could have got in .2 gallons more.

Sounds to me like your odometer needs fixing.

I don’t think so. I think I’ve tested the speedometer on the interstate at official speedometer marking’s recently.

I got 900 miles on one tank in my old 2017 F150 2.7 liter, and that tank I wasn’t even initially trying to see how far I could go. Wasn’t until I drove a few hundred miles that I noticed my mileage was great that I decided to see how far I could go. That tank I even pulled a light little trailer for a little ways. That also was premium non-ethanol fuel.

One more thing - I live about 2,800 feet of elevation and the last trip I did, was drive a hundred and fifty miles down to a couple hundred feet of elevation. (But had to climb two 4,000’ mountain passes in between.)I didn’t have fuel to return the last trip. Even though I crossed the mountains multiple times, going up to over 4,000’ elevation, my starting point was at 2,800’ and my ending point was probably about 235’. So going downhill helps.

If I could only figure out how to keep the wind at my back and only go downhill, I could go way further.

[MaxPC]

I'm impressed with anyone getting 22 MPG out of an 1999 F-350 with the V8 or V10 Triton. I have a 2001 with the same motor and can barely get 10 MPG out of mine around town, but it does go up to 16 MPG on the highway.

I was careful Without question good shocks, tire inflation, especially keeping the transmission maintained helps. It probably helps that I drive slowly. I am that vehicle ahead of you doing 35 in a 55 mph zone … and every year it becomes more difficult to see above the steering wheel.

I do the above. If I didn’t… I’d be getting even worse fuel economy. If my tyres are not properly inflated mileage can drop to 8 or 9.

My daily trio is typically 35 MPH (or less), 5 miles each way.

Short trips lowered my mileage too, usually down to 12mpg.

Most of the motorhome’s travel was long distance. I never drove it faster than 50 mph on the interstates due to the longer stopping distances. Cruise control seemed to help with increasing the mileage.

I do not know enough about vehicles to diagnose your truck alas. I trusted my mechanic with keeping the motorhome serviced.

Perhaps your truck was made in a different factory? Someone else on the forum will be of better assistance than I can provide definitely.

[Sudsy]

Today I discovered that I can drive 1,059.1 miles on one tank of fuel.
Truck: 2022 Ford F150 pickup, crew cab, 4x4, 325 horsepower, 400 pounds of torque, all standard equipment, 2.7 liter.

Topped off my fuel tank with 37* gallons of premium gasoline, no additives. Put it in Eco mode, and drove very slowly and carefully, over the mountains and through the hills five times. No air conditioning, or speeding, or cruise controlor idling. Finally ran it out of gas along the road. I had a two gallon container of fuel with me in the bed of the truck.

Went 1,059.1 miles on one tank of fuel, averaged 28.77 miles per gallon (computer says 29.5).
After the pickup said 0 miles to empty, it went another 135.7 miles on 0. Filled it up, and now the computer says that I am 999 miles to empty.

I personally filled up the tank for the test. Filled it until it was dribbling out top. When I refilled, being at a station in Oregon where the attendant must fill you up, they only got it 34.8 gallons. I think if I had filled it, I could have got in .2 gallons more.

Sounds to me like your odometer needs fixing.

I don’t think so. I think I’ve tested the speedometer on the interstate at official speedometer marking’s recently.

I got 900 miles on one tank in my old 2017 F150 2.7 liter, and that tank I wasn’t even initially trying to see how far I could go. Wasn’t until I drove a few hundred miles that I noticed my mileage was great that I decided to see how far I could go. That tank I even pulled a light little trailer for a little ways. That also was premium non-ethanol fuel.

One more thing - I live about 2,800 feet of elevation and the last thing I did was drive a hundred and fifty miles down to a couple hundred feet of elevation. I didn’t have fuel to return the last trip. Even though I crossed the mountains multiple times, going up to over 4,000’ elevation, my starting point was at 2,800’ and my ending point was probably about 235’. So going downhill helps.

If I could only figure out how to keep the wind at my back and only go downhill, I could go way further.

I'm steadily going down hill but find I run out of gas sooner than I once did.

[Neto]

In the case of older vehicles (like pre-77 models), running the A/C didn't necessarily affect the MPG. Back in the Fall of 74 my dad bought a 71 'Rocket" Oldsmobile that had been traded in at the Olds dealership where he was service parts man. No one wanted it, so my dad decided to buy it. That was the first car he had ever owned that had A/C in it. (And we lived in Oklahoma. They didn't put A/C in the house until many years later.) So on the first trips the A/C stayed off. Then they took a 400 mile trip, and he decided to run the A/C the whole way, as a test. The MPH results were exactly the same as the same trip at a previous time - 18 MPH. Lots of people think I'm lying when I say that huge "tank" got that kind of mileage. (Like, there was around 18 - 20" of extra space ahead of the radiator, just for the styling effect of that super long hood.) I think that engine was 455ci, almost 7.5 L in today's speak. A smaller engine has to work harder with the extra power draw of the A/C, so it looses the advantage. The big engine has so much power that it is unaffected by that inconsequential A/C compressor pump. (That car was also the biggest car they ever had, and it was a challenge to get it in 7 out of the 7" wide garage door, and the front bumper had to be up under the work bench in order to close the garage door. (They built the house in 64, and the garage was sized for the 53 DeSoto that was the family car at that time. Actually, the garage door was used when the house was built, and it was still solid when the house sold in 2019. Another example of how things used to be made to last.