How Can I Get Better Gas Mileage for My Truck?
With fluctuating gas prices comes the uncertainty of how much money it would take to fill up your truck's gas tank. Gasoline is refined from crude oil, a non-renewable resource which will eventually be completely depleted. Without this resource, vehicles with gasoline or diesel engines will no longer have the required fuel necessary for operation. Taking the steps to conserve the amount of gas your truck uses is both an environmentally sound and cost efficient thing to do.
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Instructions
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Drive reasonably and sensibly. Aggressive acceleration and unnecessary speeding significantly drops your gas mileage and can compromise both your safety and the safety of other drivers on the road.
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Turn off your truck when idling. When you stay in one place for long periods of time the amount of mileage you get out of every gallon of gas drops to zero, which translates to money lost. Waiting for a passing train or a bridge to come down are two ideal situations in which you could turn your truck off in order to save gas.
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Stop revving the engine unnecessarily. Though the sound emitted is intimidating and attention-grabbing, the engine uses significantly more gasoline when revving.
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Keep all windows closed. When driving at highway speeds, having the windows open could cause significant amounts of drag, causing the truck to work harder. This could have a negative impact on your truck's gas mileage.
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Shift to the highest possible gear as soon as possible if you are driving a truck equipped with a manual transmission. Do not, however, shift to too high a gear at too low a speed as this could "bog down" the engine. This causes unnecessary stress on the engine and could wear down vital components.
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Remove any excess weight from your truck. Though excess weight affects smaller vehicles more significantly, trucks can also lose gas mileage due to the effects of excessive weight.
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Use the grade of motor oil suggested by your truck's manufacturer. Using the wrong grade of motor oil could cause unwanted friction and could negatively affect your truck's gas mileage.
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References
- Photo Credit pickup truck image by Tonda from Fotolia.com
