F150 Milage

[slipnslide]

Hey i was wondering what kind of milage some of you get with your f150 (302's)?

[ScreaminZ]

My old 1992 F-150 5.0 used to get between 10 and 11 mpg most of the time. It was a long bed, extended cab 4x4 with auto tranny, 3.55 gears and 31" tires. Didn't seem to make too much difference if it was city or highway.

[Panthers65]

don't expect more than 11-12 out of any of the older 5.0s

[IDASHO]

The best i EVER got with my old '95 was 15mpg on the highway.

Thats a 4wd, standard cab-longbed, with a campershell. 5-speed manual, with the cruise set at 65mph.

Around town it would barely get 10mpg.

[f250rollinon37s]

i get 13 -14mwith my f250 5.8 - auto reg cab long bed with 4.10 and 35"


but i have to drive 55-60 max - with the ac and 70+ its 10 or less

[94stepsideford]

Mine gets 14 (95 5.0, 4R70W with 3.55's and 31's)

Hell my 94 gets 12 with a 4spd, 4.11's and 39's.

[MikeW]

Do the sixlitre writeup,

9mm Ford Motorsport plug wires
Standard plugs either from NGK or Autolite/Motorcraft (Non-Platium)
Crane ignition coil (Stay far far far away from MSD as they are coming from China)
Bump timing to 13 1/2

More information can be had on FSB.

I get 14 combined with my FSB 302 E4OD (I went from 11 to 14)

[just4cuz]

Generally that mileage is not real good. Does Ford still run their timing retarded from the factory? We used to change out timing gearsets all the time because they came 4 degrees retarded from the factory in the 70's. It would really liven the engine up when we reset the cam straight up. We generally used Cloyes adjustable sets, but on 460's we just used earlier 429 timing sets IIRC.

[VerticalTRX]

I'm having a hard time believing that these 302s are getting as bad of mileage as everyone is saying. If that were the case why would anyone have ordered one in a truck?

My '88 F-250 ex. cab long bed, 460/ZF/1356, 3.55's and 33's gets 13mpg on the highway if I drive it nice.

Furthermore, my '79 F-150 trail rig gets 13-14mpg running a built carb'd 351w, 4.10 gears and 36" TSLs.

[Boyer343]

I have a 90 f-150 with a 5.0 long bed auto and it doesnt get much better then 10-14 no city or highway

[IDASHO]

Originally Posted by VerticalTRX

I'm having a hard time believing that these 302s are getting as bad of mileage as everyone is saying. If that were the case why would anyone have ordered one in a truck?

Good question. I certainly would not have ordered it that way, especially after owning one for 4+ years.

IMO it is a case of an underpowered/overweight rig vs mileage. The lil' 302 just doesnt have the torque to push a 5500lb rig along, without working pretty hard.


That said, it DID manage this load:



2k worth of crap in the bed and on the roof, and roughly 5500lbs in tow.

Thats a gross combined of roughly 13k lbs If the truck didnt have bags in the rear, it wouldnt have done so well.

I hauled this load more than 900 miles (our move to Idaho).
Slow and steady.

Did I mention I sold the POS with a piston slap noise for 4k when i got here? Must have been one of the 5 mountain passed we has to cross. 2nd gear, tached out just to stay moving.

[94stepsideford]

Originally Posted by VerticalTRX

I'm having a hard time believing that these 302s are getting as bad of mileage as everyone is saying. If that were the case why would anyone have ordered one in a truck?

My '88 F-250 ex. cab long bed, 460/ZF/1356, 3.55's and 33's gets 13mpg on the highway if I drive it nice.

Furthermore, my '79 F-150 trail rig gets 13-14mpg running a built carb'd 351w, 4.10 gears and 36" TSLs.

You have chopped alot of weight off though. That said I have a bit of a hard time believing it too. Unless everyone drives like a fawktard.

Like I said 302 4spd 4.11's and 39's and I manage 12.5 or 13 keeping up with traffic.

[PROJECTJUNKIE]

I too am curious of this, I have a truck that I was thinking of DDing or just letting it sit till I get to it. 95 bronco 5.0 5spd, 166k but very mechanically sound, I drove it 40mi or so and parked it, had great power, and cruised really low rpms in 5th, I think it has 3.55s. It has 31" ATs on it. Any ideas on mileage?