[BFix] Thinking outload gas mileage and EB....

Thu May 8 13:08:24 MST 2008

Roger, 

my wife too made a similar comment to me one day, when I said I was worried about putting more money in the bronco with gas prices going up and up.  She said, if you had a Cobra with a 427 engine would you pull it out and put in a six cylinder to get better mileage?  Kinda ended the conversation right  there for me.

Of course my rig rarely sees the light of day so the question was kind of moot to begin with 8-)

Ben

----- Original Message ----- 
From: Roger 
To: mail at broncofix.com
Sent: 5/8/2008 12:24:26 PM 
Subject: RE: [BFix] Thinking outload gas mileage and EB....

My wife put the whole think into perspective before my latest journey to the SoCal desert.  I was talking about building something I could get to remote places and still carry all I'd need for the trip and get better gas mileage.  She told me "Just drive the Bronco.  You have a lot of money in something you like so why start over?"  Made sense, here's why.  I love driving the Bronco.  I don't drive it that often and the difference in cost in gas is as followes:

Bronco – Driven 3000 miles @ 15mpg avg. and $3.75 a gallon is $750.

Something else close to it (Explorer mayby) loaded and modified for offroad maybe at best 18mpg, $3.75 a gallon is $624.9999999.

Go to the extreme and stuff the econo-box full and tie a bunch of crap on the roof, squeeze in and get stuck on every small rut in the trail figure 30 mpg and $3.75 a gallon you spend $375 on gas and have a crappy time.  Why bother.

Figure you keep your Bronco just to drive to the event of the year and a few times in the summer you have to build or buy the replacement.  By the time your done you have $10,000 invested and to amortize that out to make it pay you have 13 years of gas not including anything you need to repair, replace or maintain.

Ok, I'll double the 3000 miles per year to add in additional Bronco fun.  Over the econo box I'll spend $750 more a year.  If I had to work nights at a 7/11 for one month a year to pay that it would be worth it.

From: bfix-bounces at broncofix.com [mailto:bfix-bounces at broncofix.com] On Behalf Of bfranklinisg at earthlink.net
Sent: Thursday, May 08, 2008 9:26 AM
To: Dan Davis
Cc: mail at broncofix.com
Subject: Re: [BFix] Thinking outload gas mileage and EB....

Dan, I think the question is: what do we consider good great gas mileage? And is that a relative question as to what vehicle your driving at the time?  I thing for a bronco with a ZF and a EFI 5.0 18 mpg would be great gas mileage, and is quite possible to do depending on driving style.

Ben

----- Original Message ----- 
From: Dan Davis 
To: 
Cc: mail at broncofix.com
Sent: 5/7/2008 10:47:46 PM 
Subject: Re: [BFix] Thinking outload gas mileage and EB....

Come on,
If you really want good mileage, spend a couple grand on a used Honda instead of Bronco upgrades.  You are pushing a 5000 lbs brick through the air.  It doesn't matter what you do to it, it's not going to get good mileage.  End of story.  You might get better mileage if you put it on a trailer and towed it around behind a diesel truck.

On Wed, May 7, 2008 at 9:42 PM, Erik Christensen <cat44 at telus.net> wrote:
gearing has absolutely nothing to do with mileage in a Bronco.  I've tested extensively, from 3.50 to 4.88, and the only thing that matters is your cruise speed. 50mph might get 18mpg. I never beat 17, but some claim to, although set ups vary. Mine was generally with 35" mudders, 5.5" total lift, and SEFI.various transmissions.

90-100mph, 10-12mpg. 
70-80 mph 13-14mpg.
55-65mpg 15-16mpg average
50-55mph I got 17mpg the one trip (full tank- hwy) I tried it.  

As far as I'm concerned, I'm going to run out of time before we run out of oil, so I drive fast :)

YMMV  :)
----- Original Message ----- 
From: Jim Lemanek 
To: mail at broncofix.com 
Sent: Wednesday, May 07, 2008 8:21 PM
Subject: [BFix] Thinking outload gas mileage and EB....

Reading all that we do, it looks like someone with a 5.0 and an OD tranny like a ZF gets maybe 18 mpg.  What gears is that with?

So if I were to keep the 3.50 gears, install a 5.0 and a ZF, any guess what I could get?

According to gear calcs, an OD at .75 and 34" tires, at 70 mph I get 18XX rpm at 70 with 3.5 gears and 21XX rpm with 4.11.

What do you think that would do to mpg? Stock 92 mustang 5.0.

Just wondering thoughts.  I was gonna ask best mpg setup as an excercise but quickly realized I would get a discussion on 4bt probably.  Thats a bit outside my motivation based on my current resources.

--Jim

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-- 
Dan Davis
69 Bronco 351W SEFI
My Pictures:
http://community.webshots.com/user/utahbronco
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