Starting a pool.......

[Sludgy]

I started a mpg test of my 6.0 diesel/automatic regular cab 4x4 F350 today. Here are the mods:

235/85 16 tires, broken in about 500 miles, replacing 265/75 16.
Radiator grill block (fabric)
Bed cover (plywood)
Removed spare tire from beneath truck and put in truck bed.
Relocated trailer harness out of airstream.

I'm driving several hundred miles on the highway in the next few days. I plan to obey the speed limits, mostly 65 mph. Just to see who pays attention to my posts, I'll send a crisp $10 bill to the person who guesses my mileage most closely. In case of a tie, the first person to post a guess wins.

[omgwtfbyobbq]

21.2 mpg! :D

[Bill in Houston]

19.8 mpg

[Peakster]

65mph in a Ford F-350??? (granted it's a diesel) I'm going to go with 16.8 mpg... so prove me wrong Sludgy!

[The Toecutter]

What will be the shape of the bed cover? Flat, rectangular, or tapered? This makes a huge difference.

[Lug_Nut]

...In case of a tie, the first person to post a guess wins.omgwtfbyobbq is hoping for a tie as he's the "first person to post a guess". He can win if his guess is the closest or he can win if others tie for closest.
We know what you meant to write...

[Xylene]

17.6

[SVOboy]

18.1

[Red]

17.5

[roadrunner]

I go for 18mpg.

[Matt Timion]

15mpg. Is this like The Price is Right where you can't go over?

[SVOboy]

I withdraw my guess! I forgot I don't believe in gambling...18.1 is back up for grabs.

[kwtorbe]

19.1 mpg!

[rh77]

I bid 18.6mpg

[Hockey4mnhs]

19.3

[kickflipjr]

20!

lets see if it can be done.

[Hockey4mnhs]

OH by the way nice truck. This may make some people cry on this site but i love all the f series truck. My mom drives a new f 150 and i love it. Its really hard to get her or my dad (drives a new accord) to hypermile them tho. anyone know of ways to get them to gradually start hypermileing

[Bill in Houston]

If we could arrange for gas to go up to, say, 2.70 per gallon, maybe they would be motivated. Oh, wait, that already happened...

[smithenhiven]

21.3

[davidjh72]

18.9

[jwxr7]

Is it a dually? I say 16.5mpg.

[CO ZX2]

22.2 I'm bettin' on Sludgy, not the truck.

[northboundtrain]

One ton, new engine not broken in, I think it's going to be . . . oh . . . say 16.2 mpg.

Sludgy, when you have the time, drain the front and rear differential fluids (only do the front after you've driven it in 4wd a bit) and replace with synthetic. There's a lot of metal floating around in there from the gears breaking in and you won't believe what comes out, particularly the rear.

Also replace the tranny filter if you haven't already.

[Bill in Houston]

I'm counting on Sludgy's skill and the skinny tires.

[kps]

29.8 picoacres.

(That works out pretty close to 19.5mpg)

[Sludgy]

Answers and hints:

The truck bed cover is made from 1/4" luaun plywood; it's flat, not tapered or boxed.

The closest guess is the winner, whether high or low.

The rear wheels are single.

I plan on adjusting the odometer mileage for tire diameter, as published in the Tire Rack tables.

I'm at ~320 miles thus far on this tank. Weather has been mostly good so far, except it sucked today on about 100 miles of the return trip from Holyoke, rainy with strong headwinds. I tucked in behind semis most of the way, but this weather has to have hurt mpg.

I'm making a 100 mile round trip to Haverhill tomorrow in better weather, after which I'll gas up at the same station.

However, I'm using the wife's car to go to NY this weekend, and may not have time to post the results and select the winner until Monday.

[Sludgy]

I withdraw my guess! I forgot I don't believe in gambling...18.1 is back up for grabs.

This isn't gambling, since YOU didn't bet any money. It's a contest, and you can pick a number!

[SVOboy]

This isn't gambling, since YOU didn't bet any money. It's a contest, and you can pick a number!
The conflict is profiting at the expense of another, :) (for me, at least)

[Bill in Houston]

The conflict is profiting at the expense of another, :) (for me, at least)To me, Sludgy is giving a prize to the winner. I didn't pay to enter or anything like that. He is just being a swell guy and having fun with his new truck.

But, you gotta go with your conscience. I have rules that I put on myself when it comes to drinking that wouldn't make sense to many people, but they are what my conscience requires.

[SVOboy]

Who drinks anyway, not me, :p

I'll go back in for 18.1 with the proceeds going to darfur if I win.

[UfoTofU]

17

[omgwtfbyobbq]

omgwtfbyobbq is hoping for a tie as he's the "first person to post a guess". He can win if his guess is the closest or he can win if others tie for closest.
We know what you meant to write...

Haha! If I wanted to win that way, I'd just say my guess was something along the lines of a real number equal to the sum of the function that approaches Sludgy's afore mentioned mileage as the time from this comment approaches Sludgy's announcement of the afore mentioned mileage, mapped to the positive reals. Assuming time isn't quantam. ;)

[Wazabi Owner]

18.5

I used to have a 7.3 IDI dually. My TOP mileage I ever got was 23. That was a freakish ONE TIME thing. It consistantly got 14-15.

[rh77]

18.5

I used to have a 7.3 IDI dually. My TOP mileage I ever got was 23. That was a freakish ONE TIME thing. It consistantly got 14-15.

Years ago, I put 1000's of inefficient miles on the Ford E-350 Ambulance Conversion Van with the 7.3L non-turbo Navistar Diesel. The Cd had to have been terrible with the extended height and lightbar. Ah, the good old days...

http://pic16.picturetrail.com/VOL698/4382742/9261619/245407167.jpg
Unit 113: Second from the front, behind the Bronco.

We would fuel-up at the end of every shift, but FE was rarely calculated. I once did some calcs and figured 14-17 depending on how many emergency calls we had vs. long-distance transfers. Then the turbos came out, right when I moved-on...

RH77

[Bill in Houston]

I'll go back in for 18.1 with the proceeds going to darfur if I win.THAT'S the spirit!

[rh77]

15mpg. Is this like The Price is Right where you can't go over?

So, at the very last minute, can I bid 1 mpg, Bob?

[The Toecutter]

20.5 mpg.

[BeeUU]

19.8 mpg. It sounds like you are really trying!!

[Bill in Houston]

BW, I already got 19.8, in case you want to choose something else...

[BeeUU]

Sorry, :o I made a quick look and thought I saw them all,

19.9 then.....if I missed that one let me know.

[ELF]

17.25977634200

[Sludgy]

kwtorbe!

Here's the data:
Trip odometer reading 609.1
BGF Long Trail 265 75 16 diameter 31.7
Michelin 235 85 16 diameter 32
Adjusted miles 614.9
Fuel used 32.142
MPG 19.12962334

Players Guess Difference
omgwtfbyobbq 21.2 2.070376663
Bill in Houston 19.8 0.670376663
Peakster 16.8 2.329623337
Xylene 17.6 1.529623337
SVOboy 18.1 1.029623337
Red 17.5 1.629623337
Roadrunner 18.0 1.129623337
Matt Timion 15 4.129623337
kwtorbe 19.1 0.029623337
rh77 18.6 0.529623337
Hockey4mnhs 19.3 0.170376663
kickflipjr 20 0.870376663
smithenheiven 21.3 2.170376663
davidjh72 18.9 0.229623337
jwxr7 16.5 2.629623337
CO ZX2 22.2 3.070376663
northboundtrain 16.2 2.929623337
kps 19.5 0.370376663
UfoTofU 17 2.129623337
Wazabi 18.5 0.629623337
rh77 (disqualified second guess) 1 18.12962334
The Toecutter 20.5 1.370376663
BeUU 19.9 0.770376663
ELF 17.25977634200 1.869846995

Thanks to all for playing. To cash in, kwortbe, send me an email with your mailing address. (I'll send a check if that's OK with you because it sucks to mail cash.)

[Sludgy]

Although my mileage didn't break 20 as I was hoping, at least 200 miles of the total was in strong headwinds and rain. None of the driving occurred with strong wailwinds, even on trips the same day. I'm sure that wind and rain hurt the average at least 1 mpg.

I'm not yet done with hypermiling AT OR NEAR POSTED SPEEDS, which is close to where most people drive. I want to be able to break 20 mpg highway routinely, so I'm planning more aero mods, like a fastback bed cap, baby moon wheel covers, wheel spats and the like.

I do a lot of driving to and from my camp in northern Maine, so I may repeat the contest later this year after more mods are in.



The last leg of the trip was from Boston to NYC for the Auto Show. I had hoped to get information about the new hybrid pickups and SUVs that GM is developing. They had a mockup of the transmission BUT the GM idiots manning the booths would say nothing about the expected EPA mileage ratings. They said fuel economy would improve "about 25%" over today's trucks. Hell, I got that much info on the web a year ago.

"25%" means nothing when GM offers its trucks with various engines and with or without Active Fuel Management and VVT. Pressing further, I wanted to know whether the hybrid would be available with the 4.3 V6, which is still in production. Again, no info was available. You'd think GM would be hyping this new tranny, but instead, nothing new :cool: was to be had.

This is frustrating. I have a cash deposit in hand, and I'm ready to dump this P.O.S. Ford pickup if someone can build me a 25 mpg full size 4x4 SUV. I need a 6 passenger vehicle now that I have 3 grandchildren and another on the way.

The lights are on, but nobody's home in GM's marketing department.

[northboundtrain]

Sludgy, Congrats. 19.1 is pretty good in a one ton new truck. Hopefully you can expect increases in FE as the engine breaks in more.

[Sludgy]

Sludgy, Congrats. 19.1 is pretty good in a one ton new truck. Hopefully you can expect increases in FE as the engine breaks in more.


I was unclear in the first post...... the tires have only 500 miles of break in. The truck is at about 55,000 miles.

[Bill in Houston]

Great mileage. Way to go! Even if I didn't win...

[Peakster]

Holy smokes! 19.13mpg is amazing!

[Sludgy]

Just did another F350 diesel mileage test, but without the bed cover, with the tailgate down. I had tailwinds during both legs of a hunting trip. There were perhaps 50 miles of city driving in the 388.6 mile mix, and a few miles steep and muddy off-road driving. 19.96 mpg......

I suppose I should be happy, but I really would love to get 20 mpg.

By the way, kwtorbe never claimed his cash. Has he posted recently?

[SVOboy]

Indeed, he has, mehbe he's forgotten!

[BeeUU]

19.96 mpg......

I suppose I should be happy, but I really would love to get 20 mpg.

Sludgy-

That is 20mpg in my book considering the mud slinging part of the trip.

Congratulations that is a great number.

[ELF]

Ya, 19.96, I say round that sucker off to 20 mpg ;)

[Bill in Houston]

Shoot, man, that rounds to 20.0 mpg. Hold yer head up, Sludgy! :-)