Affordable ways to increase MPG

Least expensive way to increase mileage it to ride the bus (or carpool so you're are only driving half the time)

 

https://www.calculator.net/gas-mileage-calculator.html

this might help

 

There is nothing you can add that will improve fuel mileage enough to pay for what you added. There is a lot you can remove that will improve fuel mileage. And it sounds like driving style is also a factor. You should be doing a little better even with the bigger tires. If you can drive it 200+ miles on a tank of gas you're in double digits. Your math is probably not right. I'm sure you're doing better than 9mpg.

I have 265/75/16's on my truck which is almost a 32" tire with no lift. With a 33" tire you have 1/2" more ground clearance. I average 17mpg as a daily driver where I live. On the hwy 20mpg is typical, but it can vary between 17-22 depending on the conditions.

If you're gonna play with the big heavy tires you gotta pay.

 

Well, now, there is another way. Get a front mounted hitch on your truck, and get a four foot long piece of 2x2 square stock and weld couplers on each end. Find a neighbor that's going where you want to go and hitch up to them. Now, for this to work long term, here is a few simple things to keep in mind...
First and foremost, don't cheap out and use a chain or strap for the connection. First time you get into any serious texting or butt watching, this whole plan will go south. I don't have time to explain, just trust me on this.
As the neighbor pulls into the gas station, as he will do more and more often, offer words of encouragement , like, 'I forgot my wallet, but, next time is on me.
Occasionally , you might have to employ a unknown donor vehicle . Try to keep these at a minimum, as its a little dicey where you will end up and some people like to make an issue out of somebody following them four feet off their bumper every where they go. If you get into this situation , have a witty response ready , something like, ' I got your back, Jack '.
Try this for a few weeks and report back if you would, as I would like to save on gas, too.

 

This right here is almost your culprit - except he meant rolling resistance.
Weight plays a role on acceleration, but once at a constant speed is negligible
Rolling resistance increases with width (more surface area) and tread pattern (think of each one of those knobbies as a mini mountain your truck has to continuously climb).
I know the tires seemed like a good price, but nothing is free.

You may want to get a ScanGauge to monitor usage and driving habits.

 

If you have not done the maintenance and need to change gear oil try use a boutique synthetic gear oil. I switch all my rigs to redline in the diffs, x-case and tranny if you have manual. My old jeep was a stick and the biggest wow when I did this but in the Toyota you might see a 1 MPG with an Auto. I run a scan gauage I ball parked .75 to 1 mpg on my daily commutes. So not something to run out and do but something that I would do if you need to do the maintenance anyway. I run a E load tire/ super charged and hang in there at about 18.5.

 

I have not thought much about this until now because I haven't even ordered my lift kit let alone purchased 33" MT ATZ's... (I haven’t even ran my first tank of fuel through my Taco, but I will update my current MPG about the end of next week) But I think what I will do once I get my rig set up is map out 20 miles in a straight line on google and then go drive it with my trip set. This should give me a pretty accurate number based upon how far my trip is off when I reach the end point. I can then take this number and extrapolate it over the entire tank of gas / trip OD run. I should be able to calculate a pretty accurate MPG reading this way. I guess you could just use mile markers on the highway where I live. According to the calculator I will have 52.57 (-8%) less revolutions per mile with my desired tire combo.

 

You can do the same with a little hand held gps. You can see not only the distance but also the mph. Use the mph to check speedometer.
You don’t need to go buy one, heck there is probably an app for this.

 

Yea I used to have a MPH app when I had a car that the speedometer didn’t work. I scavenge the app store this afternoon, if there isn’t one someone should create it!!

 

you'll never get back to where you were, but you can improve bit by bit.

My thought, get an ultragauge. I would say over time i have increased my mpg by 1-1.5 just by realizing what little touch of the gas pedal can do, as well as laying off when you can. Im not saying driving like a granny or hyper miling either, just realizing when you dont need the gas to go the same speed.

 

I agree, I drive the same way most days so I know which lights take forever and which ones turn over quickly. I know i drive people nuts with how early i lift and roll into stop lights. Ive always thought of it this way "what are we doing, racing to the next red light??"

 

I had 265/50r20 street tires on there before I did all my work and I was getting about 16, but that was me driving crazy since I was young(er) and hadn’t even been driving a year. But since the work I started driving slower and more calmly but I still got way worse gas mileage. I don’t go racing in it or fishtail around corners with my new build, so I was just figuring of ways to get better mpg. Not saying you’re wrong and I’m right, because I know I’m nowhere near as smart as I think I am, but I’ve had close to the same size tire and I got almost double what I’m at now. And as for daily driving, again I live in New Orleans so it’s not exactly the most favorable driving conditions. @Marshall R

 

I knew what I was getting myself into, I hadn’t realized that the impact on mpg would be nearly as bad as it is though. It’s kind of easy to realize that if you put heavier tires with less tread on asphalt that you would lose some mpg but not cut it in half almost. Thanks tho for the analogy I’ll remember that when I’m looking for my next girlfriend @Johnnymoto

 

Funny guy, because I probably got more hair on my balls than what you got on your head. @Johnnymoto