How can I improve pickup truck fuel economy?

Whether you use your pickup truck for work or simply for transportation, the idea of saving on the cost of operating your pickup truck is a welcome thought. One way to save on the cost of operating your pickup truck is to improve your pickup truck fuel economy.

If you operate a fleet of pickup trucks, pickup truck fuel economy is even more attractive.

There are a few things you can do to improve pickup truck fuel economy. Happily, for the most part, these efforts do not require extensive effort. They are generally simple tips you can apply without much cost, time or energy. Combined, they will help you to maximize your pickup truck fuel economy.

Keep the weight of your pickup truck down as much as possible. If you don’t have to carry a heavy load, don’t. Imagine you are in a foot race. How much energy will you burn if you carry a backpack filled with rocks as compared to the energy you’ll burn without any unnecessary weight? The same holds true for your pickup truck fuel economy. Don’t fill the bed with materials you won’t use (unless you’ve put them back there for traction in the winter). Carry what you need and operate economically.
You can tune your pickup truck for optimal pickup truck fuel economy. This includes changing the oil on schedule, which is good for the engine in general. But, more than this, keep the engine running smoothly. Replace the air filter and PCV valve on schedule or when needed and, you might even consider, an upgrade to the exhaust system that will help the pickup truck to breathe better. Referring back to our earlier analogy of a foot race, imagine trying to run the race when you have a bad cold, your nose is all stuffed and you just can’t breathe right.
Making sure you have a good set of tires, with proper air pressure, will help you to attain the best possible pickup truck fuel economy. Back to our analogy, imagine running that race with a badly worn pair of shoes that don’t quite fit right. If you’re running a foot race, serious consideration of footwear is essential. The same holds true of your tires when trying to maximize your pickup truck fuel economy.
Don’t drive your pickup truck as though it’s a hotrod. You may enjoy the smell of burning rubber in the morning but this only makes sense if you also enjoy the figurative smell of money burning in your wallet, too. Applying our analogy, you wouldn’t run a long-distance foot race as though it was a series of 100-meter dashes. You’d burn up all your energy at an unacceptable rate. By comparison, you may not burn up all your money with jack-rabbit starts and a heavy foot on the gas but, if you want better pickup truck fuel economy, driving that way won’t help.

Pickup trucks generally don’t get the kind of gas mileage that their smaller cousins get. Still, with a little effort, you can improve your pickup truck fuel economy to a level you can live with.

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