Need better MPG's

tjhaf2007

tjhaf2007

New member
So I'm tired of getting poor MPG's. I not expecting to get the MPG's of a Prius, but a couple more miles to a gallon would be nice. About 3 weeks ago I drove from Pocatello to Boise (about 250 miles) and I got about 17 MPG. Let's just say I wasn't too thrilled. I decided to take off the lights that were on my roof rack just to see how much of a difference it would make, and I didn't have a fairing to put back on the rack. Ended up getting about 20 MPG on the same trip to Boise from Pocatello. I find it hard to believe that (4) 6" lights would drop my mileage that much. If that's the case, I might as well remove my roof rack and gain a few more MPG's too. And my other question is; if I remove my roof rack and put my lights on a defiant light bar up front, am I going to be in the same scenario with my mileage. I'm just thinking since the defiant light bar is in front of the car, making the lights be in front and not on the roof, it shouldn't cause as drastic of a drag on my 4runner. Any info/input is appreciated.
 
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You'll see more MPG if you remove that stuff off the roof, less drag coefficient, especially at highway speeds. Tell ya what, if you have 2 trucks, 1 with your kind of lights (round spot lights), rack on top of a roof rack and spare tire on top; 2nd truck with the spotlights grill/front mounted, integrated/recessed roof rack and spare on rear/under/inside, the 2nd will have better MPG. By how much? That's subjective and debatable.
 
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ghostridr said:
You'll see more MPG if you remove that stuff off the roof, less drag coefficient, especially at highway speeds.
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That's what I thought. But I still want to have lights, I don't mind if they are out in front on a light bar. that shouldnt make make as drastic of a drag as the stuff on the roof does. Plus I rarely use that rack for storage. I think it's time for the rack to go...
 
tjhaf2007 said:
That's what I thought. But I still want to have lights, I don't mind if they are out in front on a light bar. that shouldnt make make as drastic of a drag as the stuff on the roof does. Plus I rarely use that rack for storage. I think it's time for the rack to go...
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Yeah, there's usually a trade off. Good rule of thumb in your case is priority and efficiency. Do I drive more highway than off-road, how important are these features vs better MPG, Do I really 'need' this type of configuration here, etc...?
 
My rule of thumb for better MPG...drive like an old man. Be aware of how fast you are going....don't go 80 on the highway...go65 or better yet 60.

I am able to get around 20 mpg city/highway 50/50 and about 22 highway. But this is being constantly aware of the MPG meter.

And yes remove that stuff from your roof...that is killing your mileage.
 
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Also, keep close watch on your tire pressure. Look at the sidewall for max inflation PSI of your tires. I run BFG AT T/A KO's at 45 PSI on the street. They'll run cooler which gives longer wear life and less rolling resistance for better MPG. I've owned 4 sets of these tires and average about 2.5 MPG higher at 45 PSI. Very little rougher ride and you'll get a lot more miles out of them.

Don't run the max inflation PSI but look at yours and up the PSI a bit and test it.
 
tjhaf2007 said:
I find it hard to believe that (4) 6" lights would drop my mileage that much.
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Me too, there might have been other factors to consider - temperature, wind, driving style, etc. Having a spare up there (your pic) would make a huge difference though.
 
Yep, definitely gonna take that roof rack off and see how much of a difference it'll make. Maybe that basket and lights will be up for sale. Haha
 
I have added this sticker and noticed I'm getting around 25 mpgs.

adyny4u4.jpg
 
You will see a much larger mpg increase from changing your driving style than anything else. Go read up on hypermiling and try to incorporate some of those tools into your daily driving style.

You will be shocked at how much driving behavior impacts your mpg.
 
Just an off the wall thought here if you don't mind tjhaf2007, is if you need or want the accessories on the roof (which looks great by the way), then why not reduce the "parasite" drag by designing a streamlined lid for the whole roof to cover all of it.

Maybe design it as a 2 piece system so when your not using the lid you can easily break it down and put it in the back of the vehicle.

All you really need to do is direct the air flow smoothly around those lights and tire. We have huge wind breakers mounted on the roof of the trucks we drive to direct the flow of air around the trailers we pull, and it makes a "huge" difference in gas mileage. The whole fleet now has all mounted wind breakers on them.

Maybe even something like that would work as well installed in front of your lights large enough to direct the flow of air over your lights and spare tire.

Just a couple of ideas to have your cake and eat to (sort of speak).

:)
 
Accelerate slowly. Try to plan out coming to a stop. The more you use your brakes = the more energy you use. I'm OCD and have pretty much tried everything lol. It doesn't seem like much, but after a few hundred miles on a tank, you'd be surprised how much fuel is wasted and converted into heat on the brake pads. Don't corner too fast. Any force your rig encounters has to come from some source of energy.
Don't roll your windows down at highway speeds. Don't use AC in city driving conditions. Don't use cruise control on inclines. Catching the draft behind a semi might be pushing it! I've also noticed a sharp difference (~4mpg) just between cruising at 60 & 70. The faster you go, the harder your truck has the "push" through the air.
And after all this unofficial "research", my girlfriend still manages to average better mpg than me.
 
I average about 25-26 mpg when on the freeway. I never go over 70mph and I accelerate slowly. I also don't have anything on my roof.
 
I have a gobi stealth and did not notice any mpg hit with the roof rack. Not sure of yours is a low profile rack or not.

Upgrading to 285 tires took the biggest hit in mpg.

I get 16mpg in 100% city driving. Without 285 tires and roof rack I got 19-20 mpg in the city. 3-4 mpg loss in city I'm not too worried about.
 
How the heck are you getting 24-25 mpg? I do drive a little aggressively, but I don't have anything on the roof and I'm getting 16.5ish (unofficial, based on the meter, I know I know not accurate - still close enough for govt work I think). Even with the driving factor and the inaccuracy of the electronic meter, I don't think there should be a 8-9mpg difference, should there?
 
If you really want to hypermile, one of the things you can do is get a scangauge or an ultra-gauge, or similar (I think you can get the same type of gauges that work on your phone, too, although personally I prefer one that is dedicated to the truck.)

What that gives you, once calibrated, is instant feedback. You can get a real good idea of what kind of driving kills your MPG and what makes it better.

I have been using both for several years (Scangauge II on my 4runner, Ultra-Gauge on my DD Mazda pickup.) There are advantages and disadvantages to each one.

My $0.02 is to get the SGII for the 4runner if you can afford it (it's roughly twice the cost of the Ultra Gauge.) The advantages to the SGII are that it's easier to mount (you can put it on top of your steering column with a piece of velcro or double-stick tape), easier to customize, and that you can program it to show you transmission temperature (the main reason I got the SGII) which is important if you are towing a trailer.

The Ultra-Gauge (UG) is easier to calibrate, but a little more complicated to operate, and your mounting options are fewer since you need to be able to access the back of it in order to operate it (whereas on the SGII all the buttons are on the front so you can 'flush mount' it if you want.) The UG can be calibrated to a finer degree than the SG but both are very useful.

JeffMerr said:
I average about 25-26 mpg when on the freeway. I never go over 70mph and I accelerate slowly. I also don't have anything on my roof.
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svana said:
How the heck are you getting 24-25 mpg? I do drive a little aggressively, but I don't have anything on the roof and I'm getting 16.5ish (unofficial, based on the meter, I know I know not accurate - still close enough for govt work I think). Even with the driving factor and the inaccuracy of the electronic meter, I don't think there should be a 8-9mpg difference, should there?
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Yeah color me a little skeptical. I wonder if he is going by the "lie o meter" in the dashboard. Mine reads consistently 2 - 2.5 MPG high. Driving on flat roads without a lot of stop-and-go, at speeds of 65 or less I could easily see 22-23 MPG, so a 2 - 2.5 MPG error could show 24-25 on the display.
 
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