How to Increase Pickup Truck Mileage
At a time when gas is expensive and future fuel availability is uncertain, conserving fuel by increasing gas mileage is the responsible thing to do. Trucks may not have the best gas mileage to begin with, since most are made for working and are not particularly aerodynamic. But there are several things you can do to maximize your fuel economy.
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Instructions
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Drive less aggressively. Tests show that quick acceleration is one of the biggest contributing factors to wasted gas. Instead of shooting for a zero-to-60-mph acceleration time of under 10 seconds, moderately accelerate to your cruising speed in 15 seconds to save gas. Likewise, decreasing your overall speed will save gas, as will using overdrive gears.
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Use your cruise control whenever you can, unless in mountainous areas. Maintaining a constant speed reduces acceleration expense. In mountainous areas, however, the cruise control's task of maintaining speed will result in frequent revving and downshifting to lower gears, which burns more gas.
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Maintain the manufacturer's recommended tire pressure. Tires low in air increase drag, which makes your truck work hard, resulting in wasted gas.
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Turn off the truck when sitting in one spot for an extended period of time. Idling offers zero miles per gallon, so you need to minimize idling time. You expend gas to crank the truck up again, but you save more gas by not having it run during the interim.
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Lighten your truck by removing excess weight from the truck bed. The more weight you carry, the harder your truck has to work, which means it needs to burn more gas to compensate.
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Maintain your vehicle by keeping it properly tuned, regularly changing the oil and replacing fuel filters. This keeps the truck operating at peak efficiency.
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Add a tonneau cover or cap atop your truck bed. This reduces the drag coefficient and lightens the work required of your truck, particularly at higher speeds.
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References
- Photo Credit gas image by Mat Hayward from Fotolia.com
