Good reasoning. This is the reason I asked for real world experience with add-ons.

I drive 80 miles a day commuting plus weekend errands. Average about 1800 miles per month. About 35% city driving, 65% highway with cruise at 65 mph. Average 17.0 mpg. I spend about $400 per month on fuel. Truck engine/trans/chassis is completely stock except for the K&N air filter.

The one observation I will make about the air filter is the amount smoke when the truck is run 1/2 to full throttle. Lots of black smoke with a paper air filter and almost none with the K&N filter. Black smoke equals wasted fuel. So...

 

Looks like you have it under control. I do not have any information on fuel saving accessories other than a larger exhaust but that's expensive and would be more noisy. I have read where some guys were buying the front axle lockout but that runs $2000 or so. They claim to get 2 mpg better but it will take 80k miles to break even with the fuel savings. Good luck on your quest, 80 miles a day driving, yuck .

 

Reducing your speed by 15mph is not going to add 52 minutes to your drive.

 

I wonder if adding somewhat larger diameter tires would help. Nothing extreme as that would increase rolling resistance. This would lower the rpm some but would the larger tires, increased wind resistance lower fuel mileage or cancel each other out?

 

I tried that on my Dmax. I went from the stock 245/75 r16 to 265/75 r16. Ended up losing 2 mpg, hand calculated and adjusting for tire size.

 

OUCH. That's why mine is still stock. That and I have two sets of tires and rims. One set for winter; The other for, well, the other seasons. I like my money more than a fancy truck that I'll just have to sell some day anyway.

 

I am not sure that I agree completely with the results. Their test truck was a F150 Supercab SHORT BED. I have owned and driven several short bed and long bed trucks. The wind behavior in that last 1.5-2.0 feet of bed space is completely different. Example: I currently have a long bed and short bed truck with rubber bed mats. The bed mat in the short bed never moves no matter how fast you drive or weather conditions. But, the long bed over 50 mph the bed mat will get picked by the wind and rolled to the midway point of the bed. The only way to stop this phenonmem (sp?) is to put something heavy in the bed or screw the mat down.

My current thought is that Myth Busters was correct when they tested the short bed. But I expect to see different results if they ever test the long bed.

I am going to run tail gate down for two weeks (approx. 800-900 miles) and post whatever results I get.

 

I tried running with the tailgate down and got worse fuel mileage. Tonneau covers work well in my experience.

 

"the combo psm, cool hose,afe proguard 7 filter and tag " what is a psm, and what is a tag

 

PSM is a cold air kit to add to the stock air box.
http://www.psmdiesel.com/air_04.5.php


TAG is a Turbo Air Guide and is supposed to smooth out the air going into the turbo. I have ordered the PSM to try on my truck as the articles in TDR sounded very credible in the testing they did. It just made sense. I have no experience or comments regarding the TAG devices.

 

It's more like 93 minutes/wk if my math is correct.

400 mi/wk @ 70mph = ~343 minutes/wk driving
400 mi/wk @ 55mph = ~436 minutes/wk driving
436 - 343 = 93

 

tire pressure, syn fluids,fuel treatments,cai. soft on the skinny.
Some have suggested removing the bug shield as well. i think i will give that a shot.

 

Thats funny right there, if I drive 55 on a two lane highway everyone drafts me, just long enough for the next car to pass...

 

Mythbusters is infotainment. I like the show, but sometimes their conclusions aren't too scientific. The tailgate segment is a good example. The only way to really test that theory is in a wind tunnel, not with Grant or whatshisname driving down the 101, and the conclusions would only apply to the particular vehicle under test. There is no way the Mythbusters could control all the variables properly with an individual driving down the highway dodging traffic.

I am calling that test busted.

 

Grant is one of the Ghost Hunters there tree farm. Only way to know...two tanks of fuel, paper and pencil. Also, make sure that the outside temperature is constant during this test and the road is absolutely level and there is no head or tail wind and you drive exactly the same, not passing anyone, and don't forget the egg under the accelerator and, and...... Yeah. Wind tunnel would be easier.