Better gas mileage

[KYFord4x4]

What I find most atrocious about my 2019 Ranger Lariat 4x4 is the tiny little fuel tank that Ford decided to put in the vehicle. 18.8 gallons is an abysmally small fuel tank for even a light truck. I had a 2003 Explorer Sport Trac and it had a 22 gallon tank and was considerably smaller; not only that, but it got crappier gas mileage (~16mpg) but had better range. I don't have any trouble with the Ranger's fuel economy, I get about 22.5 miles per gallon on an 80 mile a day commute, but the range is terrible.

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[Dean Schaffran]

For me, small gains were had by adding a bed cover and running premium gas with no ethanol. Not sure if the second is an option for you or if the improvement will pay back the higher price.

 

[Canadian Ranger]

A K&N filter will cause more issues than it'll help.

 

[CP0861]

I'm a bit of an MPG nerd. I drove 30k/year for many years on various vehicles.

For the Ranger, the best tip I can give not already mentioned would be to use your cruise at every chance. I even accelerated and decelerated with it as often as possible.

Keep it under 60 as often as possible. From watching the fuel economy gauge often, it seems to really start to suck beyond 65ish.

Any type of cover will help reduce drag and will probably show a noticeable improvement. I had a cap on mine. At the time I got it, I actually calculated potential fuel savings......I don't remember exactly, but it was hundreds...probably $200-$400/year per year. Obviously that didn't completely offset the cost, but it softens the blow if you also want or need the utility of cap - which I loved and miss dearly! lol. A cover, depending on your annual mileage, probably could pay for itself and provide a true savings within a few years.

I also inflated up to 38psi sometimes with no issues whatsoever....I didn't always do that, but I'd throw in a few extra on long trips...maybe a touch stiffer, but barely noticeable. I had 67k on stock Hankooks when I traded it in and they had life left.

Also, for MPG, the flatter the better. I think a lot of the variance on the forum in MPG is due to terrain and conditions. I've had days driving in wind where the MPG drop was very noticeable.

It's flat where I live. Lots of short trips, rural commutes with a fair amount of highway miles. My best tank ever was a 4am trip to OBX (loaded truck, 400+ miles) where the dash said 30.0 mpg (I have a pic somewhere!) for the trip when I pulled in to fill up in Kitty Hawk. In reality, it was probably 28.8ish since my dash was almost always about 1.2 higher than actual. Normally, on 80% of my tanks, my hand calc averages fell between 22.5-24.0.

I ran 93. It doesn't pay for itself but the truck feels so much better with it, I tried to go back down at one point and couldn't stand it.

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