fuel mileage tips

progressive shifting, drive like there is a egg under your foot. rolling hills cruse off let it pickup speed on the down hills and let it slow on the uphills, not peddle it up the hill just give it some but not all throttle your gain your speed back on the down hill side anyway. flat land i think cruse is best for fuel millage.

 

Drive like you have no brakes and downshifting isn't an option to scrub off velocity. All else being equal you'll return among the best mpg of any drivers at any company.

Another benefit is you really have to keep your head involved in "driving", and keep it WAY ahead of your rig.

Among the last thing motorists want to do, or will do, is lift off the throttle unless a crash seems imminent.

 

This one seems funny joke, but was tested and confirmed by Mythbusters.

http://www.discovery.com/tv-shows/mythbusters/videos/right-turn-only-minimyth.htm

 

I WILL grab the magazine & scan the article & post. I could not believe it either. it is in H.D.T. heavy duty trucking it has 121 fuel tips. on page 90 item # 64 AVOID left turns. look it up. will try & post when I get back from the road.

 

On the progressive shifting, I know on my 95 ser 60 anything below 1300 r.p.m. & the engine is lugging and NOT good for the engine. I do know newer engines can be lugged lower.

 

its never good on any engine new or old to apply full throttle at a lower rpm than peek tq. so if peek tq is at 1300 you don't want to put it too the wood at 1200. im running the same engine as you. no reason to rev it all the way out in the low side of the box. on pavement ill up shift the first few gears at 12-1300 rpms and then as you get higher in the gears the more rpms you give it before grabbing another gear. no reason to ever give it a lot of throttle in the low gears so no real reason to be worried about lugging it. unless your in soft ground in witch case you're keeping your rpms up anyway.

that's what progressive shifting is, short shifting your your lower gears and moving your shift point up as you get higher in the gears.

 

i seem to remember mythbusters episode on that as well. there are times as well its just plain easier to make 3 right hand turns vrs 1 left hand turn depending on the intersection.

 

Really your biggest change for MPG is speed. I run about 57mph now, get a consistent monthly AVG have been 8.35-8.67 (actual low and high's over last 5 months). Tires make a big difference, along with an alignment. I gained almost .2mpg just from an alignment (turned out that it was getting progressively worse and I kept putting it off till I wore out a set of steers prematurely...). 5th wheel gap plays a roll. I lost about .15mpg from moving mine all the way back, but it is a smoother ride so to me it's worth the MPG loss.
By doing the little things, you'll be able to achieve better fuel mileage. I idle A LOT. Possibly a few gallons each day I'm in the truck (assuming 1 gal/hr). I also draw more power than most with a bunch of gizmos and gadgets running 24/7. It all comes down to how much you want to practice to get that 10mpg. I've pulled out a few 10.0xx over the past few months just by keeping my boost below 12. Though it's easier for me to keep the cruise on 57 and still enjoy the benefits of an easy 8 without trying.

Since I babbled here's a recap (of what really hasn't been touched on yet):
Tires, alignment, idle time, SPEED, 5th wheel placement, and other power drawing units.