MPG of diesel 4X4 van - Page 3

Railvan · 03-06-2010, 09:31 PM

15.8mpg average with 6.0 diesel, RB50 and SMB 4x4. That's road trips, town driving, and 4x4 time...

Brian Rutherford

John and Dana · 03-10-2010, 01:00 AM

Bettyford, I am with you. About 10 years ago I was on the way back from a wedding with my wife and two other friends riding in a Honda sedan. We were traveling 70 mph when a semi in front of us lost one of the tires on the trailer. Large chunks of rubber flying through the air. It was a very scary experience. Luckily the 40lb chunk of tire that hit us hit low and took the air dam and bottom of the radiator clean off the car. If it had hit the windshield I don't even want think what would have happened. I don't draft large trucks!

John

**daveb** · 03-10-2010, 01:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by John & Dana

.... Luckily the 40lb chunk of tire that hit us hit low and took the air dam and bottom of the radiator clean off the car. If it had hit the windshield I don't even want think what would have happened. I don't draft large trucks!

John

Not to mention rocks and stuff. How about a 1 foot piece of metal going through the hull of your brand new Ranger bass boat after bouncing off the bottom of the tow vehicle several times...Talk about jackin up your trip. By the time I found the damage the truck was long gone.

pjpvi · 03-10-2010, 03:47 PM

Back to mileage ....

Please take this the way it is intended (light hearted), but I think you are all smoking crack or something. Either that or I am unknowingly dragging an anchor behind my van. My "around town" mileage runs around 11MPG +/- with normal highway mileage around 14MPG +/-. My best tank ever was 17MPG from the Canadian border to Medford Oregon on a single tank.

I had read all of the claims of 15-18MPG out of the diesels before I bought mine and was quite disappointed at my observed mileage. Still love the van, but the diesel just didn't deliver what I was expecting.

I will agree that speed on the open highway makes a big difference. My van seems to get the best gas mileage at around 60mph. A strong head wind will kill that though and it's hard to only go 60.

Phil

Ford_6L_E350 · 03-10-2010, 04:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pjpvi

Back to mileage ....

Please take this the way it is intended (light hearted), but I think you are all smoking crack or something. Either that or I am unknowingly dragging an anchor behind my van. My "around town" mileage runs around 11MPG +/- with normal highway mileage around 14MPG +/-. My best tank ever was 17MPG from the Canadian border to Medford Oregon on a single tank.

I had read all of the claims of 15-18MPG out of the diesels before I bought mine and was quite disappointed at my observed mileage. Still love the van, but the diesel just didn't deliver what I was expecting.

I will agree that speed on the open highway makes a big difference. My van seems to get the best gas mileage at around 60mph. A strong head wind will kill that though and it's hard to only go 60.

Phil

Ahhhh Phil,

You hit one of the benefits of old age. With retirement comes the ability to drive 60 in the right lane. Even on long trips I rarely exceed 62mph. It's just a more relaxed way to travel. The mileage gains are simply a bonus.

Mike

woodbee · 03-10-2010, 04:13 PM

Phil,

I was glad to read your post, I thought I was the only one getting that kind of milage. I get 11 - 14 mpg and I always try to cruise at about 65 mph.

Woody

pjpvi · 03-10-2010, 04:22 PM

Quote:

I was glad to read your post, I thought I was the only one getting that kind of milage. I get 11 - 14 mpg and I always try to cruise at about 65 mph.

Woody

Thanks for speaking up too Woody. I know there are more of us out there getting crappy mileage.

We must unite!

Greggd · 03-10-2010, 10:43 PM

Phil ,
your mileage mirrors mine ! But I had expected the reduced mileage with our Roof Rack and HID Light Bar .I am extremely pleased with the 1 plus mile increase that I am getting with the combination of the new Air Box and Edge Platinum . The two add ons have given me better power, lower EGT's and cooler water and oil temps . And for the first time in my life I am enjoying driving at 60 to 70 miles per hour .
Greggde

John and Dana · 03-11-2010, 12:08 AM

On our trips we usually average around 15 mpg. Our worst was 13mpg with a lot of off road driving and our best was 17mpg on flat road in central CA. I have also notice that mountain passes kill our mileage and we have a lot of those here in the NW. I usually drive between 60 & 70 mph. I have been happy with our mileage considering we are pushing 10,000+ lbs of steel on off road tires down the road.

Switchfoot · 03-11-2010, 08:51 AM

Another mileage comment for the thread. Our 2007 Quigley PSD doesn't get very good fuel mileage either. My van conversion interior its significantly lighter than an SMB so I can't say there is a relationship between mileage and weight.

Being self-employed we have no daily commute so we end up with a fair amount of short in-town trips intermixed with freeway jaunts for the out-of-town excursions. Our driving habits don't make for great mileage so I guess I can't gripe too much, but I really wanted to get more than 14-15 mpg on the highway. Granted, I drive 70-75 mph which is on the slow end of the flow of traffic here in Socal. Best tank to date was 17 mpg in Death Valley hauling a bunch of Boy Scouts and camping gear around at park legal speeds.

I've tracked mileage from Day 1 and its currently averaging 12.51 mpg over 19,000 miles (no it doesn't get driven that much and we do tow a 6k lb trailer that affects mileage). I'm hoping it will get better after the engine is "broken in", but am not holding my breath. Quigley said their diesel conversions usually get around 18 mpg on the highway and my 35" tires may cost me 1-2 mpg. So if I slowed down and put 33" tires on, I might get back to that mark.

Seems like their are "good" and "not so good" 6.0 PSDs regarding both reliability and mileage. I'd say mine has been fairly reliable with 3 warranty repairs in almost 3 years (none hugely major or left us stranded). Compared to some of the horror stories you read about on the web, I guess I should consider myself lucky. But my last Ford was a stock F150 4x4 Supercrew (5.4L V8) that was never in the shop for the 6 yrs we owned it and got the same mileage (no towing) under the same driving conditions. I'm envious of Dodge and Chevy owners with lifted diesel pickups running oversize tires getting 20+ mpg.

Do I like our van? Yes, it really fits our needs.

Does my wife periodically quiz me as to why we bought a noisy diesel that cost $4K extra and really doesn't get any better mileage than the V10? You bet. Martial bliss has survived thus far...

The kids love it though and remind mom that we have the Zombie Apocalypse Van able to be fueled by rendered fat from dead zombies. Don't forget the Double Tap (Rule #2) first...