New to me 97 f150

[crawldit]

I'll post up when I burn through a whole tank. I'm sitting at a half a tank right now and have gone around 250 miles. That's almost entirely city driving at less than 45 mph. I think I read that I have a 30 gallon tank.

[Mad_Texan]

285s


Nice to have another F150 guy aboard. Enjoy it! Looks like you've already started to......[/QUOTE]

BigTex,

Did you crank the torsion bars at all? I have a set of heritage wheels and 285/70/17's Coopers that I haven't put on yet. I am going to go up with the bars some and change the rear shackle to a shorter one to keep some rake. I have to remove my running boards, truck just looks too low...

I guess I am the short one here at 6'3"...but I still don't fit in a 5'5" bed...

[BigTex]

Mad Texan - I didn't crank them, but when I was under it replacing the transmission mount, i noticed that they are cranked all the way up. It's been like that since I bought it, so i didn't get a chance to notice any degradtion in ride quality. I put bilsteins on it about 6 months ago, and I think it rides good for a 4X4 pick up. I noticed when i park with the wheels turned, it has probably 3/4" clearance front and rear, fender well and lower bumper, with the 285s. It also cleared the 305s without trimming anything.

Crawldit - I didn't see you were from Alaska. I bet shipping is a huge player on any project. Didn't mean to hijack your thread.

[crawldit]

Crawldit - I didn't see you were from Alaska. I bet shipping is a huge player on any project. Didn't mean to hijack your thread.

No worries BigTex. If we are talking F150's it's not really a hijack anyway

[BIGdaddy]

I'll post up when I burn through a whole tank. I'm sitting at a half a tank right now and have gone around 250 miles. That's almost entirely city driving at less than 45 mph. I think I read that I have a 30 gallon tank.

Looked up your rig on edmunds

http://www.edmunds.com/ford/f-150/19...tml?style=9463

Looks like it could be either the 25 or the 30 gallon. If it's the 25 gallon you're getting about 20 mpgs, if it's the 30, you're getting about 16. (assuming you've burned either 12.5 or 30 mpgs)

Easiest way to find out would be to top off at a convenient point, and divide the miles driven by the gallons used.

I've known several vehicles that consistantly get better fuel economy on the 1st or 2nd half of the fuel gauge. My 4runner would actually dip down to 3/4 tank during the first few miles, but then it would stay pegged there for like a 150 miles. haha.

Cheers!

[crawldit]

Good info. I noticed my tank has started to drop alot faster since it hit half a tank. I was getting about 125 miles per quarter tank for the first half, now I'm down almost another quarter tank and have only gone 30 miles. Maybe the gas gauge will stick where it is for a bit. Gas is still over $4 a gallon up here in AK so I'm looking at over $100 for a tank of gas. I think going forward that I'll start topping off the tank when I get around half empty. Are there any cons to not running the tank down to almost Empty before filling up?

[BIGdaddy]

Good info. I noticed my tank has started to drop alot faster since it hit half a tank. I was getting about 125 miles per quarter tank for the first half, now I'm down almost another quarter tank and have only gone 30 miles. Maybe the gas gauge will stick where it is for a bit. Gas is still over $4 a gallon up here in AK so I'm looking at over $100 for a tank of gas. I think going forward that I'll start topping off the tank when I get around half empty. Are there any cons to not running the tank down to almost Empty before filling up?

Nah, though some people might spout e-myth's about the gasoline varnishing if not used, but this is only an issue for tanks sitting unused for a LONG amount of time.

When you're driving the "new" fuel is effectively being mixed with the existing fuel, allowing the octane rating to hover right around what it needs to be. Water in the fuel again would only be an issue if the truck were standing for long periods of time, where condensation may enter the tank via a leaky or missing fuel cap.

I actually prefer to fill up my vehicles around the halfway mark to always keep a minimum amount available. (I'm an emergency responder, and as such I have to be able to get to my post even when fuel isn't readily available)

[crawldit]

For those asking about mpg, I managed 13.5 around town for the first tank. I'm headed from Anchorage to Homer this week, which is over 220 highway miles one way. I'll post up my highway mpg when I get back next week.

[Mad_Texan]

While I am sorry to hear your mileage dropped of I am somewhat relieved that my truck is similiar...

Since you were talking of the 285's thought the setup up of BigTex's truck would be useful...hope to get mine done soon

[crawldit]

Just got back from a week down in Homer. I averaged 15.5 mpg on the Highway with speeds ranging from 55 to 65. Not too much better than around town, but I'll take it. Now that I have a base mpg to work with I will change the spark plugs and all the oil. Maybe flush the tranny and add some injector cleaner for the next couple of tanks and see if the numbers change.