Reducing Vehicle Weight

[meltdowner]

I want to lighten up my 4 Runner.

Are there any realistic ways to reduce the Weight of the vehicle by a an amount that would noticeably improve MPG, or am I just wishful thinking?

Just a thought. I figured a few of the following may be feasible:
Remove spare tire
Remove interior seats (except front two) and plastic walls.

I figure that will shed about 150Lbs but that's all I can think of. Is reducing weight a pointless en-devour?:redbrick::ak472:

 

[wc11]

Go on a diet? Get a skinnier wife? :rofl:
Kidding.

Pointless. It is what it is.
The spare tire is about the heaviest thing you can remove.
Driving habits affect the mileage most.

 

[fourwd1]

That little bit won't help much, and you may need your spare.
Driving habits make the most difference.

 

[TowMeOut]

Some people report getting 20+ with their rigs. I don't know how. I was stupid and bought the V6 vs the V8 because of some perceived fuel savings. Now with my 255/75R17s and about a half hour commute to work I average about 16 and change. It's rare I break 17 and that's corrected for the slight up-size tire.

I carry a lot of junk in the cargo area (recovery gear, tools, fridge, 2nd battery, etc. I doubt removing every ounce of that would gain me more than maybe half an MPG. It's and SUV with a V6 that's working pretty hard to drag it down the road.

It's the price we pay, and pay, and pay.....

 

[4RunnerIdiot]

Some people report getting 20+ with their rigs. I don't know how. I was stupid and bought the V6 vs the V8 because of some perceived fuel savings. Now with my 255/75R17s and about a half hour commute to work I average about 16 and change. It's rare I break 17 and that's corrected for the slight up-size tire.

I carry a lot of junk in the cargo area (recovery gear, tools, fridge, 2nd battery, etc. I doubt removing every ounce of that would gain me more than maybe half an MPG. It's and SUV with a V6 that's working pretty hard to drag it down the road.

It's the price we pay, and pay, and pay.....

That's gotta be 20+ with all highway driving. I got 20 average on a 900-mile roadtrip, with like 300 lbs of stuff in the back, but I get 9 around town if I never hit the freeway. 16ish seems about right for combined mileage.

 

[phqduphead]

A full tank of gas is approximately 140lb. Remove all the unnecessary crap, inflate your tires to a high psi and cruise around with less than 5 gallons of fuel at 55mph. I bet you see low 20’s

 

[ghs215]

1 Gallon of gas is 6lbs

Full tank = 138 lbs

put less gas in the tank.

:suspicious:

 

[meltdowner]

That's what I'm talking about. It's all the little things that add up.

I'm now a "speed up to red light" kind of guy, I save gas just being the driver.

Inflate tire
remove spare (if not on long trips; I'll live if I get a flat 10miles from my house)
I'm considering taking off the door plastic covers to see what's in these things.

If the frame and engine 99% of the weight then this is all pointless.:usa2:

 

[rokr1292]

If MPG is the goal, the best option is planning your trips.

between eliminating as many stoplights/signs as possible, and cruising at the speed limit on my commute, I fairly regularly get 18+ mpg.

When I take longer rides, I can break 20 pretty easily. got 23ish on a 7 hour trip to the beach this summer.