Any advice on tuning an F150? specifically a 2003 4.6 supercrew

Don't have a lot of modifications or anything like that, but I am trying to squeeze every MPG possible out of it.

Are there any programmers that will let you manually adjust the fuel maps, or are they all just canned?

Thoughts on just using a SAFC-II and a wideband o2 sensor?

I know neither of those options are the "best" and a custom tune on a dyno would be ideal.
But A) I don't know anyone that tunes fords and B) not sure if the money is worth it since I'm not tuning for big mods or anything like that. Just trying to get as much MPG as possible out of it.

 

I had the Superchips tuner which added a few MPG, once I did the intake and exhaust used the SCT one with a custom tune for the mods I had. Saw a jump in MPG on the highway but very little in the city.

 

Not trying to be rude or anything, but If you want MPG , don't get an underpowered, 220hp V8, 5,000lb truck?

You can dial the truck in for the type of driving you do (i.e. city, highway, mixed) with a tune and gears, but I bet you only get 1 or 2 mpg improvement.

 

With the SCT, CAI and exhaust I got 15+ mpg on the highway, 5+ in the city. The factory tuning is very conservative. I'm sure I'd seen more if I used the premium fuel tune.

And I dyno'd at 300+ hp to the wheels and 365+ lbs tq to the wheels before I broke Coastals Dyno in my F150 lol.

 

15+ and 5+ as in , in addition to what you were getting before? Or just 15 ish mph on the interstate period?

5+ in addition to what I'm getting now would put me at 20 mpg in the city.

Right now, I'm averaging 14/14.5 in the city.
The truck is currently totally stock. I'll be doing the intake and electric fan swap in the near future and exhaust shortly after that.
I've seen guys get a few more mpg with just simple mods like that, but there has to be more to be had with a decent tune.
Even if it is just shifting the power band around to let it scoot its ass around better, I know that would help.
Those mail order "custom" tunes just aren't it. I want something I can set up and make the adjustments for, for my truck, not every truck on the road, and from what I've been able to see, pretty much all of the programers use "mail order"/"off the shelf" tunes for their "custom tune"

Given that I average over 60 miles per day (some days over double that) for my business, MPG is a bit of an important factor, I just can't do what I do without my truck.
Kinda hard to put a mulch and sod and tools in the back of a corolla and tow an equipment trailer.

 

You're not going to get a 50% (7mpg or so) improvement in fuel mileage from bolt-ons and a tune. Sorry to burst your bubble. If that were the case Ford would have done that to begin with.

At best I see 2mpg maybe 3mpg if you spend a thousand bucks or so. That's a 15% improvement in mileage and is more of a reasonable request.

People with trucks always make me chuckle. For some reason they all think slinging around that amount of steel doesn't come at a cost

You could always go coocoo for coco-puffs and try one of those water4gas setups, played with one years ago, kinda worked, but was a melting pot inside your engine bay and too much fiddling.

 

I drove from St Pete to Wachula every day so I know I was getting quite more than a 2 mpg hop on the freeway/open roads. In the city I don't think I saw very much.

My 5500# '05 5.4 3v was rated at 12 city / 16 highway. In all honesty I was getting an average around 8 in the city and maybe 12 on the highway.

You are correct with the Superchips tuner I saw maybe 2-3mpg on the highway and that was when I ran high test. When I went with the SCT the tunes were just for mpg not power. I had three tunes for it low test, high test and E85. Never used the E85 tune as I'm still not sold on using it even though it was a flex fuel vehicle.

In the city I was seeing about 15 mpg. 3mpg over the listed rate and 5 more than what I was getting.

On the highway I was seeing around 23-25 mpg dependent on traffic, at least 7 mpg over the listed rate and 11 more than what I was getting. 15 was a little off. Pulling the trailer or with a larger payload I was back to 15 mpg.

I was constantly data logging it and keeping in touch with the tuner.

I had done:

Magnaflow exhaust(also had Gibson and MRPP on it at some point)
JBA Headers
SCT tuner(previously used the Super Chips and Hypertech)
Banks Ram air intake system(had the Air Raid and K&N ones previously)
MSD coils(factory ones kept going out)
Too many sets of spark plugs to remember but ended up using the Motorcraft ones.

Ditched the rear bumper, replaced the tool box with a tonneau cover, and went with light weight rims 22# each.

Like I said when I dyno'd it I put down more to the wheels than what was listed to the crank with only the shitty super chips tuner, gibson exhaust and airraid intake.

I was always tempted to go with the E85 tune but back then it was very hard to find, especially around Wachula lol.

 

this wouldn't be the first vehicle that I've driven that I have gotten over a 50% increase in the EPA estimates.
To say that Ford has their truck so finely tuned that there is no room for improvement is putting a lot of credence in how they built their truck. Saying Ford would have done it from the get go is almost laughable. If that was the case, then every truck would have come off of the lot with long tube headers, true dual exhaust, and a performance intake set up.
Yeah, driving a big heavy vehicle is going to have its costs, but why not look for ways to improve upon it.

The thing that I find so frustrating is the combination of the general mindset of "oh, its a truck, it should get shit for gas mileage" and the general mystery when it comes to building one up. Even when you're looking for power, people just don't seem to get it. I get that getting MPG out of a truck isn't easy and therefore most people don't do it, but you would think there would be enough guys out there looking for more power that there would be not only better products, but better knowledge.
we're talking about one of the all time highest selling vehicles ever, and there just isn't the information out there that so many other cars have readily available.

But, even for the sake of argument, adding 2-3 MPG in the city would make a significant difference. That would make it 17 mpg. Given the gas prices now, that adds up really quick. That would add almost another 75 miles to the tank.
The thing is, people seem to be able to get that with some basic bolt ons. Generally speaking, the consensus is that electric fans average a 1 mpg increase because it frees up some torque down low. The Gotts intake mod is supposed to give you another 1 because it allows the engine to breathe easier and therefore make more efficient power. And a decent exhaust set up should give you yet another 1 because again, it allows it to breath easier.
So that is 3 mpg right there. And that is before it is tuned. I would be willing to bet there is a good chunk of power that is locked away in the highly conservative stock tune. More power can mean better MPG. So even if there is only 2 mpg to be had from tuning, add that to the bolt ones, and now you're up to another 5. No, not quite 50%, but that pushes it up to the 20 mpg mark. Don't know anyone that would bitch about that.

 

I'm not doubting there's room for improvement. I am however doubting your going to gain that type of mileage with bolt-ons and a tune. You have to have a pretty damn good tuner and lots of hours paid to get the mileage AND power up effectively. I tune some cars on the side, generally most cars I just need to add more fuel to the lean spots in the power band to gain power. What you are saying is somehow I can remove fuel and add power while also increasing the fuel mileage. I don't see that being the case except at maybe a WOT scenario. Everywhere else in most Ford tunes (except the A9L Mustang tune), it's pretty conservative fuel wise.

Ford doesn't put exhaust on their vehicles like that just like every other manufacturer doesn't, emissions, sound. But here's the thing. they tune out the best fuel mileage/power with the exhaust setup they have. Ford spends an average of about 160 hours tuning a new model, so to say they slapped it together inefficiently is completely misinformed.

People also change their driving habits subconsciously when they are looking for the best mileage. Then as time progresses they get more comfortable with how the vehicle is powered and the fuel mileage goes back down to normal.

Not trying to burst your prolific bubble. Just stating what I see and know. I have a 2001 Dodge 2500 Quad cab with the 318. After Full Exhaust, Headers, Intake, and me tuning out for probably about 8 hours I got 3mpg. I'm happy with that, but I don't think there's any more to get. The mileage actually went down when I put the Exhaust on there initially. I had to tune it out to get the power/mileage back up because the power band shifted and didn't match the exhaust.