worst mpg I've ever heard of

Hey guys I have a 2005 TRD 6spd. It has 31s but no lift. I have body armor front and rear bumpers on it with a tire swing and skid plate. Im getting like 11mpg all the time. I've dropped the tire swing and skid plate just to lose weight. I've had 2 of the cats removed and the other 2 gutted. The air filter has just been replaced also. Nothing has helped I have friends with lifted Tacoma's on 33s and 35s getting around 20 mpg. Please help

 

I think your friends are lying to you. How many miles on yours?

 

Mines got 164k on it. I thought the same thing at first but I've had to different guys tell me about the same thing. One friend has almost the exact same truck with 35s and over 200k. He said he gets high teens all the time. The other has an 07 ext cab automatic with 35s. He said he gets low 20s. These guys don't know each other so idk.

 

Nobody on this forum (which is slightly larger than 2 guys) is running 35s and getting high teens or into the 20s at any kind of odometer mileage.

Your friends are full of shit.

Also, 11 MPG is terrible - welcome to TW.

 

I get 16.5 driving 70 -80 MPH on the intestate 80% of the time. I don't even have 33's. I think maybe if I was on a 55 mph highway maybe it's possible for high teens as I hear the MPG's go down allot past 2k RPM's.

 

Yeah I wonder if my gear ratio has been changed. This is the first Tacoma I've owned so idk. Mine runs at or above 2k rpms doin 60mph which is what I drive on a lot of the roads where I live

 

Sounds perfectly normal.

 

I'd try to figure out if you are just suffering from a heavy load with all your armor, if your driving is too aggressive or a combination of both, or if you're having some mechanical issue causing mileage loss before I'd start thinking of highly unlikely and questionable things like gear ratios being changed or your friends getting twice the MPG you do with 35s.

There's a lot of info here if you don't gloss over it and try to grab random conclusions.

Start here.. read a lot.
https://www.google.com/search?q=tac...tacomaworld+poor+mpg+site:www.tacomaworld.com

 

OK I'll check it out thanks. I'm willing to try anything at this point. That's something else I don't drive aggressively mainly because the truck feels like it has absolutely no power. I've had to hit 3rd gear to make it up hills before. It feels like I'm pulling a trailer everywhere I go

 

Your friends are liars.

 

List what maintenance has been done.

Maybe you're forgetting something obvious.

 

Haha they may be I wouldn't doubt it. What should I be getting though? I mean what do you guys get? Mine has the body armor bumpers and 31s and no lift so idk but I think 11mpg really sucks

 

I just replaced the air filter. I had a check engine light scanned that said the cats were blocked so I had 2 gutted and 2 removed. I'm thinking maybe o2 sensors now but idk.

 

There's no real measure for that because every truck is driven in different conditions, with different fuel, different drivers, different setups, etc,.

Not to mention, I have a hard time believing that if you took 100 identical Tacoma's, filled them with the same fuel, driven in the same conditions, that they'd all get the same mileage. There's way too many variables.

All I think can be said is that 11 sounds low, but there's so many factors that can contribute to that it's still a bit of conjecture to say that you should be getting more than that.

 

That's about the same mileage I get.....































when towing a 5000lb travel trailer

 

Yeah I understand what your saying but still mine has to be at rock bottom. I mean I'm really dropping the overall average haha

 

@DCSBFTMFW makes a lot of great points. That said on 33's with a front bumper I'm still only getting 15ish (on pavement with a light foot) so it doesn't seem that outlandish to me with all of the extra weight and such

 

Buy a hybrid or a 3/4 ton diesel

 

Haha yeah feels like I'm pulling a fifth wheel camper most places I go.

 

You keep saying you have 'no lift' like that means you should be getting decent mileage...a lift doesn't affect your mileage, at least not in a considerable way. The added weight from larger tires that people put on after a lift is what makes the MPG's go way down. You have larger tires, and weight from armor....those two things will have a big effect on your mileage. 11mpg though is worse than what I would expect, maybe post a pic of your truck for us to see what the armor and tires look like. Try doing a tune-up as well if you can.