Looking for advice on making my Tacoma more fuel efficiant

I have a K&N air filter but what else can I do to improve my gas mileage on my 4.0 engine. Is there any exhaust that can help with MPG? Right now I am putting 480 hwy miles on it A WEEK. I am pretty desperate to save some gas. I greatly appreciate any advice. I can't go to local auto parts stores anymore because the employees don't have experience. All they can do is get a part off the shelf for you. At least that is how it is locally here.

 

What kind of mileage are you getting?

There's not alot you can do aside from keeping the truck in good tune and not carrying any extra weight you don't need.

 

Is the truck stock or modded? If modded, how?

What MPG do you record now?

Even when it's the best it can be, it won't be great. But maybe it can be better.

There is no bolt on magic.

 

I am pretty sure I am barely if getting 20 hwy MPG. I just cleaned my air filter and put in new plugs. I didn't realize how dirty it was. My poor truck. I just filled the tank and reset the tripometer so I will know more in a few days. I've watched some youtube videos on the fuel savers you plug into your OBD2 port but they seem to be more of a scam.

 

Find the lightest tires and rims possible. Just don't be upset when they have garbage longevity. With anything you do to the truck, there will be trade offs.
Other than that, take off every unnecessary bolt on. Avoid roof racks. Throw an air dam on the front. Slam it. Lose some weight. Remove your back seats. Dump your girlfriend. Do a rear mirror delete. The possibilities are endless.
Or more simply, buy a prius for the commute and keep the Taco as the weekender/hauler when needed.

 

If it’s a long term deal, buy a commuter. You’re going to spend the money either way. Extra fuel cost vs purchase. At the end of the ordeal sell the beater and recoup some cost. Plus keeps the miles off your truck.

18-21 is as much as your going to get out of a stock truck w/ 4.0 on the interstate.

90’s beaters get 30-40+

 

And the answer to the 1st 2 Qs in post 3?

 

20 is about all you can expect out of the 4.0 especially if it's a 4wd and your doing anything over about 65 mph.

Yes those plug in "fuel savers" are a scam, they are nothing more than a plug with LED lights.

 

Spark plugs every 30k

Stay below 70mph

Limit air con.

Higher tire pressures as the expense of wear. 35-40psi.

Remove spare, rear seats, carpet, headliner.

Only drive when there’s a tail wind.

Avoid up hill highways.

 

I gained a bunch going with DT long tube headers, URD Y pipe, no cats, and electronics to prevent CEL. Worth about 4 mpg at 70 mph.

 

My lifetime average is 18.4, with a high of 23.9 and a low of 9.3 mpg. The 9.3 comes from short trips in sub-zero weather.
All maintenance is up to date and the front tires are at 32 psi. Out of curiosity to see what happens with mpg I just recently moved the front tires to 35/36 psi and left the rear at 30 psi.

 

Drive like a granny.

Don't stomp on the accelerator or brakes. Easy acceleration, easy stops. Drive the speed limit.

It makes a bit of difference and saves wear and tear on all sorts of parts.

 

I've got a 90 mile round trip commute. Staying below 70 is not an option. lol

 

Take the K&N out and go back to stock. They don't save fuel. They CAN increase HP, but only at rpm's in the 5000-6000 range. In other words they might give a race car 1-2 more mph. They do a poor job of filtering the air.

Other than making sure you tires are properly inflated (I like to run mine a little hard, a few PSI over recommended) and driving conservatively there is NOTHING you can do.

There is a lot you can do to make fuel mileage worse. Any modifications, larger more aggressive tires etc., will reduce fuel mileage. If you've done anything like that take it back to stock.

My son does the same. He is a union electrician and drives 100+ miles round trip 5-6 days a week. He moves around to different construction sites but everything is in the Atlanta area and we live 50+ miles away. He drives old beater cars that get 40 mpg to work and saves the wear and tear on his better cars. Pay $2000-$3000 for one, put another 100,000 miles on it and sell it a few years later for $1000. At the rate you're driving you will put 300,000 miles on your truck in no time. It doesn't make sense to wear out an expensive truck like that. My son can buy 4 new tires for his beater car for about the same price as 1 tire for my truck.

 

Clean the throttle body and the MAF also .

 

Lots of good suggestions above. You never said what mpg you get now and what's on your truck.

35 psi in all tires and highway tread not offroad
Drive between 55-65 (don't get run over)
No cruise if hilly as wants to downshift
Accelerate slowly and no long idling with easy braking
AC probably no effect as compressor drags but open windows do to so a wash
Leave exhaust stock and doubt K&N will help may actually slightly lower mpg
Run ethanol free and mpg will go up about 10% but costs more so a wash will not save you anything.
Then there is the old way - hug up behind a semi (but they will not like that and you can't see crap so not really a good option)

I am lifted 2-3 inches so more air under it, heavy full skids with a shell, AT3 tires but at 35, and my avg is between 17-19 highway wind dependent and running at 70-75.
In a really heavy 50 mph headwind in KS only got 14 mpg at 65 mph and if my foot lifted speed dumped fast. Only worst is towing heavy then 8-12. It's a truck.

 

Driving style is probably the biggest improvement.
But 20 mpg is actually pretty good.

Back when I had my Lightning, I had a Vacuum/Boost gauge.
I toyed with keeping the vacuum up on the gauge to “hyper-mile”.
But you’re basically having to drive like a jackass and pissing the guys off behind you.
Slow and easy on the pedal can get you big gains in the MPG.

 

As someone who drives 3-400 miles per week, I feel your pain. My advice (coming from a 3rd gen) is as follows:

-highway tires or some mild/light all terrains if you must.
-proper air pressure.
-watch the skinny pedal and know when to use (and when to avoid) cruise control. I tend to drive 70 MPH on the highway even though the speed limit is 75 MPH most of the way.
-occasional fuel system cleaner.
-proper fluid changes and tire rotations.

Also, my experience with a K&N air filter was actually worse MPG. Granted, that was in a Ford Mustang V6 and I don't know how old the K&N was when I replaced it. But the generic paper filters worked much better for me.

All that being said, there's only so much you can do. Proper warm ups in the winter can help your engine longevity as well. Don't worry about the miniscule changes in MPG or you'll become obsessive, trust me.

 

Slow down.

 

Reach out to @JustDSM . The OTT tuning network has a bunch of really good tuning folks around the country. I put long tube headers on my truck, made a small improvement (maybe), but noticed a 1-2 mpg gain with a ECU tune (and that was a diy tune, I bet ott can blow mine out of the water). Anyway before you start spending a bunch of time and money on parts that give you small gains and effect your emissions compliance give @JustDSM a shout.