We took the camper out for the third time all the way from Baltimore to Lima OH. I am surprised at the mileage I am getting. I was averaging about 200 to 210 miles out of a tank. That's the lights on so now start looking for gas. I was getting about 17 gallons. So do the math 200/17 = 11.76. I bested 12.25 MPG on one tank this trip.

Lifted truck with 35's towing about 3,000 lbs of camper getting 12 MPG I can't complain.

The first time I took the camper out I thought I got better then this but I don't think that was right, now.

Edit: the miles are accurate because they are from the GPS.

 

you know thats not bad at all... and i was thinking about the tranny fluid on the drive back to DE and i think it might have turned that color from the towing/left in too long since there is really no way for water to get in there

 

I have never gotten less than 13 mpg towing my race car in an enclosed trailer. The total extra weight is close to 3,500 lbs but the trailer is not higher than the shell on my Ranger. I was averaging around 13.5 mpg when I first started towing with it. The last long trip I took with it I averaged just slightly over 14 mpg and one tank full I got 15 mpg.

It seems like as the miles build up on my Ranger I get better mileage.

 

edo you own a BAMA programmer Ben? if no get one you will see a bigger increase.

 

I know this thread is a couple of days old, but I just got back from a weekend with the camper. I pull a Fleetwood pop-up camper. It weighs 1450# dry, so I guess with water, LP, food and ready to tow it is near 2300#.
My 2002 FX4 supercab, 4.0, auto tranny, 3.73 rear, with a sportsman shell gets another 350# of fishing gear, more food, beer, etc, plus me at 210, a dog and a thin wife loads the old PU up pretty good. Heading out from Las Vegas to south central Utah we had a nice tail and side tailing wind of about 35 mph average. But we climb from 2500 ft to over 10,000 in the 200 mile drive. Then back down to 7200 ft at the campsite. My Ranger just turned over 107,000 miles on the trip, and is totally stock, not one mod so ever. Going we got 14.3 mph with miles kept with a magellan GPS. Coming back today we again got 14.1 mph in dead calm air at a stop. I swear this truck feels stronger pulling than it does totally empty and just me in it. I love passing F-250's pulling fifth wheels on the freeway. They look at me like "geez what has that guy got under the hood?"
Sorry for the long reply. This fall this great little truck becomes my dailey driver, as I am stepping up a notch to a larger travel trailer, so a new F-150 Lariat is soon to be the order of the day. I just don't think I will ever part with this ranger. I just love it. Great off roader also.

 

considering i am rolling on 35's I am happy with my 12 MPG, for now

Zach No I don't have a bama yet, i want to get one here soon.

We just got back from OBX (outer Banks NC)

Towed the camper all the way down. I bested 12.7 MPG towing. I think the worst I got was 11.0.

 

better than what i thought you would get

 

Thats not bad at all.

 

ya after a tuner you will probly be hitting like 15 which would be alot better...

 

ive gotten 16 towing. 12.5 aint bad but did you use 5th gear? or just 4th?

 

thats true i acully lose MPG in 5th with my truck

 

I would use 5th on the highway when i really got it rolling(like 65-75 MPH) but most of the way down was small little back roads.

 

you should leave it in 4th prolly be better.

 

I would be more concerned about the vauge figure you are using gallons pumped. You should try to record exactly how much you pump on each fillup. I keep a log.. but that doesn't work for everyone. For my GF I get her to just scrible the current odometer reading down on the bottom of the sales receipt from the pump.

FWIW: +/-10 miles of error at 17 gallons would work out to a delta of only ~0.5 MPG or +/-5%.. meanwhile an error of only +/- 0.75 gal at 210 miles would make for the same margin of error.
Didn't the '02 FX4 package come w/ 4.10's?

 

Yes, they did.

 

Right, the 02 FX4 did come with 4.10, but I changed mine. It suits my style of driving to have 3.73's. 4.10's just seemed to low of gearing for me. I used to do a lot of highway driving with just me in the truck empty (well maybe a suitcase) and with the 4.10 gears it seemed to wrap up too much at 85. Now that the truck is broke in (107,500 miles) it seems to run smoother than ever. And I am getting as good if not better overall MPG now. I hope it runs for another 100,000.

 

I do the calculation right there at the gas station using the calculator in my cell phone or on the laptop and I write down the MPG but not the gallons(I see your point though maybe i should start doing that). So I might not remember the exact gallons but I do have an accurate MPG. I reset the GPS trip meter with each fill up. So I know the numbers are right. Sometimes on a long trip when I have the laptop in the truck i might make a log of gallons and miles and stuff in the laptop.

 

I keep a small note-book in the center console. I have it pre-gridded for four columns: date, gallons pumped, total cost, and odo reading. On the back of each page of the log-book I jot down notes about maintenence (oil/filter changes, tire rotations, etc) and repairs. Basically when and at what mileage. But I also record when I did what mods. This way I can see what impact a mod may or may-not have had on my milage. It is borderline obsessive. My GF calls it excessive..

Periodically I bring the logbook into the house and spend a few minutes updating a spreadsheet. The spreadsheet automatically computes MPG for each fillup and adds it to the running averages. It works extra slick. I also occasionally chart the results to check out the trends. It's really depressing to chart fuel costs over the last few years!
Nice.. I can totally understand that. I've been cruising around at 70 MPH or less lately. Anything better than that and my mileage goes to hell.

Did you have the gears professionally installed? Have you measured how much it has helped your MPG numbers? I presume you still run stock sized (31x10.5R15) tires. You say you off-road it.. how has the taller gears impacted things off-road? W/ low-range at your disposal, I imagine the gearing isn't quite as important off-road..

 

I can understand the usefulness but thats not for me. I just don't care enough to spend that much time on that.

 

Yeah, my GF either. As it is it is a struggle to get her to jot down the mileage on the receipt from the pump. 90% of the time she doesn't even bother getting a receipt from the pump. To each his/her own..

 

If anyone is looking for a laptop mount that works in a ranger..
they are on ebay for about 40$. I picked up one the other day.

 

since you are so on top of things is there a mod that you personally did that was super good or bad on MPG?

 

There was only one mod that significantly effected my MPG: changing the way I drive! As others have mentioned here, slowing down and 'short-shifting' (shifting below say 2000 RPM) has done wonders for my MPG.

Nothing else has changed my MPG figures significantly..

 

Colin if I were to buy your truck I personally would feel you took care of your vehicle if you showed me that you tracked your mpg and obviously took care of it.

Aaron

 

Thats what I thought you would say.