New FJ owner with a trail teams that gets horrible MPG!! (1 Viewer)

[73bronco]

Hello all-

I just picked up an 08 trail teams with 2,980 miles. I have 34" toyo m/t's on a 3 " lift, gobi roof rack w/ladder and lights and front brush guard (stock bumpers). I am currently getting about 13.4 mpg on the highway at 75 mph (not taking into account that the speedo reads incorrectly due to the larger tires)! This is awful, what can I do to improve upon this? Would a taller set of gears help, and is that wise to do on such a new vehicle? Any help would be greatly appreciated. BTW - I was light on the gas with acceleration and tried to keep it pretty smooth.

Regards,

Hayes

 

[Brazenhead]

Hello all-

I just picked up an 08 trail teams with 2,980 miles. I have 34" toyo m/t's on a 3 " lift, gobi roof rack w/ladder and lights and front brush guard (stock bumpers). I am currently getting about 13.4 mpg on the highway at 75 mph (not taking into account that the speedo reads incorrectly due to the larger tires)! This is awful, what can I do to improve upon this? Would a taller set of gears help, and is that wise to do on such a new vehicle? Any help would be greatly appreciated. BTW - I was light on the gas with acceleration and tried to keep it pretty smooth.

Regards,

Hayes

It'll get better eventually but not much, The increased rolling resistance from the MT's and the added wind resistance from the lift definetly don't help but your biggest enemy is speed. The faster you go the more thirsty she gets. I've personally noticed that if I go below 70mph my mileage gets better but if you actually do 60mph you get closer to what they say you should get. My $0.02

 

[joebob2586]

Is it AT or MT? MPGs on the FJ are terrible in the first place, its very boxy so it has a lot of wind resistance to begin with adding a lift just makes its worse. Plus the tires don't help. Try dropping your speed down to 65 and go easy on the gas pedal, thats about all you can do short of taking off the lift and reducing the tire size.

 

[woody]

34's....roof rack.....75mph....none of those help mileage....

drive slower....air up the tires...buy AT's in a smaller size.....remove the rack unless you need it.....

 

[Aggie]

34's....roof rack.....75mph....none of those help mileage....

drive slower....air up the tires...buy AT's in a smaller size.....remove the rack unless you need it.....

Nice way of saying what i was going to say.

 

[boss73]

34's....roof rack.....75mph....none of those help mileage....

drive slower....air up the tires...buy AT's in a smaller size.....remove the rack unless you need it.....

X2

Sounds like what you have is more for off road than on. All of the above.. and really slow down if you want better fuel economy. Think about it, your driving a big box with big tires down a road at 75 mph........



On the sticker when I got mine new it said 19/21.. With 96 oct fuel. (which I don't get here in Cali)

My advise is to get a smaller car to commute and take the FJ to the Trail !!

 

[73bronco]

Thanks for the input thus far! I don't want to take the rack off and I could live with A/T's instead of the MT's. Nobody mentioned re-gearing?!! Is that not an option? Also, would changing to a K&N CIA setup be better than the trail teams intake setup? I really would like to here if anybody has installed a taller set of gears to compensate for the bigger tires, and what the results were.


Thanks!

 

[boss73]

Thanks for the input thus far! I don't want to take the rack off and I could live with A/T's instead of the MT's. Nobody mentioned re-gearing?!! Is that not an option? Also, would changing to a K&N CIA setup be better than the trail teams intake setup? I really would like to here if anybody has installed a taller set of gears to compensate for the bigger tires, and what the results were.


Thanks!

I am not real sure if that would help either.. Sure you would be better up at sped but if you re-gear to higher gears, then wouldn't it require more torque at the start to get them rolling?? I am not an expert but it seems that what you would gain on the top end you would then looses every time you stop and have to start up again (ie stop lights, traffic ).. But someone else may have a better angle.

Boss

 

[adso]

Thanks for the input thus far! I don't want to take the rack off and I could live with A/T's instead of the MT's. Nobody mentioned re-gearing?!! Is that not an option? Also, would changing to a K&N CIA setup be better than the trail teams intake setup? I really would like to here if anybody has installed a taller set of gears to compensate for the bigger tires, and what the results were.


Thanks!

With taller gears, you're going to rob Paul to pay Peter, besides overworking your engine offroad.
Any change in mileage would not pay for the cost of re-gearing both ends.
I'm lifted, have M/Ts, and the ARB with winch, as well as the ARB roof rack. I run 93 octane and get 17-18 MPG if I keep my speed between 65 and 70. Above 70 and the noise of gas being sucked out of the tank is louder than the roof rack. Keep your RPMs below 2000 while accelerating.

 

[73bronco]

Hey adso -

Your setup is very similar to mine... I don't know how you are getting that mileage. I am starting to wonder if there is some other underlying problem that is giving me such rotten MPG. I went thru another tank 90% hwy and was very easy on the throttle and was almost annoying my self driving so "grandpa like", all to no avail. I ended up with 13.6 MPG, I never went over 70MPH, stayed mostly between 63 & 67 mph?

 

[jmylie]

I've got a 3" lift and 285 / 70 x 17's (almost 33's) Goodyear MTR's, ARB front and Warn rear bumpers.

My 2007 (auto) with 11,500 miles gets 18 mpg around town with a little highway.

I have yet to run a long distance on the highway.

Milage was the same running 93 or 89 gas.

I would say that 14 MPG does sound low. Even accounting for the tires (maybe 10% off) that would be 14.7 mpg.

Borrow a GPS and see what percentage your speedometer and odometer are off.
You need to start with a better estimation of your fuel mileage.

Oh yeah, you can increase your tire pressure!

 

[Aggie]

Increase your tire pressure, and make sure you let the engine break in.

 

[adso]

Hey adso -

Your setup is very similar to mine... I don't know how you are getting that mileage. I am starting to wonder if there is some other underlying problem that is giving me such rotten MPG. I went thru another tank 90% hwy and was very easy on the throttle and was almost annoying my self driving so "grandpa like", all to no avail. I ended up with 13.6 MPG, I never went over 70MPH, stayed mostly between 63 & 67 mph?

I've got a 3" lift and 285 / 70 x 17's (almost 33's) Goodyear MTR's, ARB front and Warn rear bumpers.

My 2007 (auto) with 11,500 miles gets 18 mpg around town with a little highway.

I have yet to run a long distance on the highway.

Milage was the same running 93 or 89 gas.

I would say that 14 MPG does sound low. Even accounting for the tires (maybe 10% off) that would be 14.7 mpg.

Borrow a GPS and see what percentage your speedometer and odometer are off.
You need to start with a better estimation of your fuel mileage.

Oh yeah, you can increase your tire pressure!

When I have tested my MPG, it has been on primarily highway trips and, being a compulsive gadget freak, I have used the mileage from the GPS unit, which (I figger) is going to be more accurate than the speedometer since I'm running larger tires. Don't have a clue about city mileage, but I'm sure it is abysmal.

 

[FJ40_68_Nick]

96 octane = jet fuel (I know it doesn't really) I live in ca and can only get 91 - even when I lived in OH we could only get 93... In what state do they sell 96 octane? I wouldn't have though you were looking for a high mileage vehicle when you purchased an FJc w/Lift and giant tires.... good luck....

 

[tddfj]

try exhaust and going 1 inch smaller in tire size this will help quite a bit. forget the gears because with bigger tire you need to lower the gear ratio because you already effectively raised it with the bigger tires.

 

[larsdennert]

34's would throw your speedo off at least 10%. At 75mph reading means you are going over 80mph. Exactly what kind of mileage are you expecting from a box going over 80??

 

[73bronco]

OK, I was thinking the opposite...duh?! I was thinking at 75 mph I was really only doing 70, my bad. Geeeez ,people are flying on the highway these days. I may have stated my gearing idea backwards as well, maybe it is not taller gears I should have said, but lower gears so I can get a little torque back. I am not sure it could effectively tow my trailer w/golf cart in a hilly situation.

Also, nobody has mentioned if a new K&N CAI setup will help, or if the trail teams edition intake is better, or just as good? I hear that change could give 1 to 2 mpg better.

 

[zuluzeugma]

The coefficient of drag has the "v" term in it three times. In other words, a difference of 5 mph changes your drag coefficient 125 times. Slow down to 55 mph and watch you fuel economy go up. I did this experiment in my 94' Civic once upon a time. I generally got high 30's, but on one trip to San Antonio, I kept the speed at exactly 55 mph the whole way down there. I averaged 56 mpg... Don't believe, try it for your self.

GL

 

[Biff]

I have a similar setup on my TT, and still get 18-20mpg. Two things save my mileage, tire pressure, and keeping a consistant 65mph.

 

[REKCUT]

Anything you do with the air intake will be min at best. The tires and rack far outweigh anything you might get back from an air filter. I dont think you have ever stated if you have a auto or a manual. The 6spd are geared lower and wont get as good a MPG as the auto. Also out of curiosity how many miles are you getting on a tank. I can usually get 300 on a highway tank at 70 MPH or less. Around 250 to 260 in town.