Better mpg for F150 King Ranch

[brodon651]

Bought a 2008 F150 Crew Cab King Ranch for TT. I get around 12 mpg and 19 hwy. Thinking adding a 3.5" exhaust system and add a chip to truck. Did this to a 3/4 ton pulling a 5th wheel and got better mpg.

Moved to Tow Vehicle forum from DIY.

[goducks10]

I would be careful on which exhaust you buy. Some are prone to droning at certain rpm's. I bought a lower priced dual exhaust for an 08 F150. Sounded good 95% of the time. Problem was when towing at a certain rpm it droned horribly. It's now sitting up in my shops attic.
Not sure if you visit any F150 forums but if you haven't I would go over there and find out which ones deliver the best sound and performance. IIRC you need to get into the $500.00 range to get both.
IMO nothing sounds better than a V8 with duals. My son has a Ram 5.7 with factory duals and it sounds nice. Neighbor has a Nissan with duals, as well as another with an older Toyota 4.7 V8. Both sound great.
If you have the coin I'd get duals for the sound if nothing else.

[doughere]

What makes anyone think that Ford, Chrysler, & GM haven't figured out the best chip for their engines. Bigger exhaust; as 74vette said "All I got was more noise."

Gas is no longer cheap. All manufacturers tout their best mileage figures; why would they not chip their engines for the best mileage they can get. As wanderinbob said "Cheaper to leave earlier and drive slowly "

Doug

[wanderingbob]

As 74vette says , your motor is an air pump or compressor , 3.5 inch exhaust won't do much with out a 3.5 inch intake . Cheaper to leave earlier and drive slowly .
We hear a lot of stories about significant improvements , but remember after a fellow has spent many hundreds of dollars for some silly item , he is to ashamed to tell the truth . Ain't many people who will say , I spent eleven hundred dollars and got one and half more miles per gallon , of course I drove slower to break my gizmo in ".

[time2roll]

You will never recover the price of these items with fuel savings.
Accelerate moderately and drive at a reduced speed will have a bigger effect.
JMHO

[Ron3rd]

Your mileage sounds about right.

[74vette]

If your truck is running correctly, the air fuel mixture is 14-1. The engine is no more than an air pump pulling in a mixture of 14-1. I have not seen any significant improvement from a chip or tune other than at wide open throttle. The exhaust will depend on what is on the truck now. I changed from a stock muffler with 3 1/2 inch pipe to a Magnaflow. All I got was more noise.