Tube Bumper Fuel Economy

I know they are different but these are 2 bumpers I made for customers. I run the same on my truck with 285s and fiber glass front fenders 50 inch light bar and 4 9 inch HIDs and I'm getting Round 12.8 not highway and about 11.3 street. Just my numbers....

 

Any updates or still waiting for delivery?

 

Got it, waiting for some warmer weather to get it on. I'm hopeful there'll be a weekend in the 40s coming up soon. I hate wrenching in the cold...

 

Hey man, got the bumper on yet?

 

Yeah, but no solid drives to gauge fuel economy yet. Short runs tell me it's no worse. That's a good sign. Not appreciably better either.

If I break even I'm a happy camper

 

I think it's a break-even scenario. Tube bumpers front and back, plus the light bar, and the soft top up i'm still getting about 19-20mpg (last fill up was 310mi and 15.5 gallons). i drive with a very light foot, and keep it around 71 on the highway. I ran up-state last weekend, and got great gas mileage, but there was no wind at all that day, and there was other traffic to hide behind.

sucks i couldn't be more scientific about it, but anecdotally, tube bumper didn't seem to negatively affect gas mileage at all.

 

@TooMuchToDo, do you have the 2.7L or the 3.4L engine?

 

3.4 mt 4wd

 

Thinking aerodynamics is over thinking anything when it comes to 4x4 vehicles....

You'll never notice a difference.

 

i don't know that i agree with that, but that's why i started this thread. Just because a vehicle is a 4x4 doesn't mean that nothing else matters. a 4x4 may be less fuel efficient as you drag more moving parts around with their various frictions...but, a 4x4 brick is bound to be less fuel efficient than a 4x4 spear.

 

You're in a brick...Love your brick....put whatever bumper you'd like on your brick.

If you're looking for MPG get a hybrid or 5 lug.

 

You're getting really good MPG for a V6 truck with armor.

 

I put a Addicted Offroad tube bumper on my '01 a couple of months back. Since then I've done a couple 500 mile trips and a 1200 mile trip, and my gas mileage has been the same or better on the highway.

 

thanks for sharing! before all this i would have guessed the opposite, but i've been proven wrong with both my own experience and yours. i like when that happens. How do you like your addicted offroad?

 

It's nice to be wrong on this stuff. I was fully expecting to lose at least a couple of MPG. So far I don't have any complaints on the bumper, its definitely sturdy and gave me a considerable amount more clearance for obstacles than the stock bumper did. I don't have a winch to mount as of yet, but I'm interested to see how the extra weight of that will affect my front suspension and MPGs.

 

Bumpers don't really add to aero drag since they're not adding any appreciable surface area. They don't add any more weight than a passenger so you shouldn't expect mileage to change any more than you would with someone riding with you that weighs the same as your bumper. The most noticeable change would be if you have stock suspension and throw 150 lbs of bumper and winch over the front coilovers. You might get some sagging and need to throw on some stiffer springs.

 

Fair enough. I guess I hadn't looked at it like that, but it makes sense.