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

[73bronco]

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.

I don't want to lose the rack or tires, so I am just looking for things here and there to make up some ground. A couple things I am going to try is switching the steelies out for some lighter weight alloys, air up the tires, and I'm still not sure if a K&N CAI will be more effident then the stock TT set-up (is the stock TT setup the same as the TRD CAI?). BTW it is an automatic. I have not let it get that empty yet, I wasn't sure how big the tank was, but now that I know it is 19gal I will see how far I can get....BTW the light comes on after using 15gal?!?

 

[73bronco]

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.

Biff -

Did you change your air intake from the stock? Did you change anything else?

 

[Biff]

Biff -

Did you change your air intake from the stock? Did you change anything else?

I did, changed it to a TRD CAI. The mileage didn't really improve, just picked up a little bit of power.

 

[Brock]

you will start seeing an improvement around 6000 miles.....

keep RPMs at or below 2000rpms on highway and it helps significantly.....

 

[FJFEVER]

i have an 07, at stock rack warn front bump and winch, 3" lift. I now swap out my stock alum with my 305-65-17's on procomp series 7189. the difference is 3 MPG. i still get better mileage though, 15-16 on emt's 18-19 on stockers. im running 91 octane. i find if i run the air conditioning intermitantly that helps. mi dose centavos

 

[Lemony]

is you speedo off?

Have you check your speedo? Mines seems to be right on with those road side your going too fast signs and im running 34.8".s 325 50 22.and 14 mpg is what I get on a good day and just added an arb roof rack today so thats probably too high now.
Good Gas Mileage? isnt that why they make the Prius?

 

[scrumfle]

my gas mileage stock...

stock 07 fj: I average 20-22 consistently on my weekly commute of 30miles each way (50/50% on highway vs. country roads...set cruiser on highway between 60-65) auto transmission, stock everything, running mostly 91 octane sometimes lower. worse gas mileage I've gotten is in the winter in and out of 4x4 and towing sled trailer 15mpg. Besides, what good is a 50mpg car if it can't make it to my house on crappy dirt roads or get me to work during a typical New England winter.

 

[DEWFPO]

Don't take this the wrong way but make sure your are in 5th gear with your automatic. I see many folks pull the shifter back thinking they are in drive and they are in 4th. Seriously. The instrument panel should say 5.

My brother in law drove his for 40 miles in NM (into a headwind) in 4th (without knowing it) at 90 mph (yes, crazy) and used 3/8th of a tank of fuel for 40 miles. He said he thought something was wrong when he let off the gas and he could feel the engine pulling the speed down, but he never thought to check the dash indicator or the gearshift lever, or for that matter the tachometer. Knucklehead.

DEWFPO

 

[LTD FJ]

14 sounds very bad. I also have an 08 TT Edition and just turned 2800 miles on it. I have had it since April, but don't do any highway driving. It has ARB Front, Rear, Roof Rack. I did three tanks with the Simpson rooftop tent on and I averaged 13.5 MPG in the city. I have larger tires on the vehicle and I know the speedo is off by 3mph. So probably get better milage than that. Just took the tent off last week and haven't gone through a full tank yet, but I'll let you know the MPG on that in a week or two.

 

[Athena]

I didn't read all the post on here but.. you've got to consider that the speedometer is reading differently so is the gas guage. Take into consideration how many gallons are going in when you think you are absolutely empty. I've noticed that running my 35" tires that I can go another 60 miles on empty "E".

 

[MarcoPolo]

If I may be the first... at least on this thread



Welcome to MUD

 

[73bronco]

If I may be the first... at least on this thread



Welcome to MUD

Thanks!!!

I think I am going to add the TRD CAI (from what has been said, I don't think the TT edition comes with that and it is an upgrade). Also, I got a quote from one of the local Toyota dealers here in Charlotte, NC, for the supercharger. I have been told by some that, as I think I am going to add the TRD CAI (from what has been said, I don't think the TT edition comes with that and it is an upgrade). Also, I got a quote from one of the local Toyota dealers here in Charlotte, NC, for the supercharger. I have been told by some that, as long as I stay light footed (which will be occasional at best), I should actually see some MPG improvement by adding the charger!!?

I
Regards!

 

[joebob2586]

Light footed would entail keeping the RPMs around 2000 or less, more power equals less gas mileage. Why would you add this is MPG is an issue for you?

 

[WingsOverWasatch]

I have an '08 Trail Teams too... manual, with Toyota roof rack, plus a front "T-Bar" for carrying hang gliders... I just recently added a minimalistic 2 or 2.5'' lift (I forget what it was)...

Anyways, I drive a steep downhill section of Rt 80 between Salt Lake and Park City pretty regular, and I always put it in neutral and let it coast... well my old '98 4Runner would top out at about 90 down this hill... the FJ, about 70-75 depending on how much stuff I have in it...

From someone that deals with things like induced drag (AKA wind resistance) for a living, I can tell you what everyone already knows... this vehicle was not designed by an aerodynamicist! But it sure does climb hills and handle rocky roads well (going slow)...

 

[WingsOverWasatch]

oh yea, and I've been getting a little over 300 miles to the tank, usually putting between 16-17 gallons in each time...

That's somewhere in the 17.5-19 mpg range, and I have just a hair over 2K miles on it now... I have the 'stock' trail teams wheels/tires, BF Goodies I believe?

 

[Niner]

your milage could be expected if you have the manual and AWD. Unless I missed it?

The only time I've gotten 14 was with Iowa Ethanol at 75 MPH, last Sunday.

I didn't start getting 20 unmodded until 10,000 Miles after mods I consistantly get 17.

If I stay around 2000 RPM's regardless of tire size and mods, that has been the best milage spot

50,000 miles on my 2008 auto trans FJ.

 

[REKCUT]

I didn't read all the post on here but.. you've got to consider that the speedometer is reading differently so is the gas guage. Take into consideration how many gallons are going in when you think you are absolutely empty. I've noticed that running my 35" tires that I can go another 60 miles on empty "E".

While its nice to know you can go farther than what the empty mark indicates, it has no bearing what so ever on MPG. You fill the truck up, run it for a distance( the farther the better), note the miles you have driven, refill the truck, and divide the miles driven by the gallons require to refill tank. Driving it below empty will give you greater range but has no effect on mpg.

 

[Hondo352]

We pulled our 17' travel trailer from Salem Mo. 420 miles north on 27.5 gallons thats with no head wind at 65 mph 07 a/t 4x4 black cherry

 

[73bronco]

So, I aired up the tires to 45psi and keept the RPMs to 2000 or below and got almost 18mpg!!! Hooray me! Also, I just got back from my oil change and put in mobil 1 (which I run in all my vehicles, but the PO of this one had conventional) so I counting on a little bit better as a result. On a side note I am going to start a new thread asking about wheel backspacing....the dealer said there wasn't enough room to properly align the front today. Apparently they couldn't turn the toe in because to properly adjust it would have made it rub. So anyone with some advice on the backspacing I should get on some new rims, please chime in!

Thanks!

 

[DominicG]

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!

If going for a CAI, go with an AFE/TRD or Volant. Those 3, not counting the stock CAI (Yes, the stock intake is arguably a CAI), are the only CAI's available for the FJ. The K&N is just less restrictive than stock, but sucks in hot engine bay air.

I don't want to lose the rack or tires, so I am just looking for things here and there to make up some ground. A couple things I am going to try is switching the steelies out for some lighter weight alloys, air up the tires, and I'm still not sure if a K&N CAI will be more effident then the stock TT set-up (is the stock TT setup the same as the TRD CAI?). BTW it is an automatic. I have not let it get that empty yet, I wasn't sure how big the tank was, but now that I know it is 19gal I will see how far I can get....BTW the light comes on after using 15gal?!?

Stock stealies are 4 lbs. heavier than the stock alloys.. not a real big difference.

When the fuel light comes on, a STOCK FJ should have 55-60 miles left in the tank. Take your foot off the gas, and back down to 65.

I usually cruise the highway at 63-65 (unless its midnight-ish.. then im going 90 ). I have 315' BFG A/Ts, and a brick on my roof, and can get 18-19 highway if i cruise the speed limit and no re-gear.

If you look at mine, you know you could get better mileage if you tried

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