Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Tires really do make a difference in gas mileage.

I'm not talking about different size or style of tires either. Everybody knows that if you put big mudders on a truck the gas mileage goes down the tubes.

I recently went a trip to Island Park, Idaho to fish the Henry's Fork and my 98 Chevy 1/2 ext cab 4X4 5.0l got the best gas mileage I've ever got since it was new.

I filled up in Rock Springs, Wy and filled up again just north of Idaho Falls. I checked the mileage and it was 19.7 mpg. I thought BS. My truck does not get that good of mileage so I must have screwed on the calculation. The best I ever got was 18.1 mpg ... once and only once and usually I'm happy when it's in the seventeens.

On the way back I filled up north of Idaho Falls, drove back up and over the Tetons, and filled up again in Rock Springs. 19.4 mpg. WTF ???

As a final test I checked the mileage when I got back home to Fort Collins and it was 18.4 mph. This was doing 75 plus on the interstate and running the AC most of the way.

I've kept up with maintenance and the truck runs as good as new but I've never done anything that would improve the fuel economy. It's all stock.

The only thing that could make a difference in mpg is the tires I currently have on it. They're Firestone Destination LE's 245/75R16. They have a stiffer side wall and don't sag as much as the tires I've had and ??? maybe a different rubber compound.

I'm on my fourth set of tires (Goodyear, BFG, and Firestone) and they've all been the same size and style (M&S with a mild tread pattern). I was blown away that a similar tire could make could make that much of a difference in fuel mileage. I'm seeing a 1 1/2 + mpg improvement ... on the highway.

I had the same experience when I replaced the factory Bridgestones with Michelien LTX-2 tires.

Ed

I use nothing but Firestone Destination A/T on my Tundra

I've found the same thing on my last three Chevy's...mo' better all round

When I worked at Schneider we did a TON of testing with specially built tractors on tires and fuel mileage.

There's definitely a difference brand to brand even when styles are the same. HWY style treads et cetera.

My Frontier had BFG Long Trail tires on it, and if I drove real feather-footed, I could get ALMOST 22mpg on the highway. Unfortunately, those tires would spin too easily whenever a cloud hinted that it might rain, IN THE NEXT COUNTY. Good mileage, but crap tires.

I put some Goodyear Wranglers on it, and now, the best mileage I can squeeze out of it is about 19.5 highway. But I can go dangnear anywhere I choose to. Since it's 2WD, I'm pretty cautious about where I choose to go, but I don't spin on a hint of moisture, either.

The last set of tires I had on my truck were BFG Long Trail TA's. Out of the four sets I've had they were my least favorite tire. They had no positive effect on mpg either.

Don't discount Wyoming having better gasoline blends. I went from 275 70 17 to 245 75 17 (same diameter, less wide) on my F150 and picked up 1 to 2 mpg driving the Denver area. I am sure round tires, a decent tread, and less flex help too.

I run my Firestone Destination LE, 265-70-17 at 35 lbs all around. Mileage is at 19.5 which is 1.5-2 mpg better than the Coopers I was using. Mileage on 2004 Tundra is way north of 200k. Avoid alcohol gas when I can. Syn transmission and axle lubes.

I thought about that but I don't believe that's it. In the past I've noticed a difference in mileage with different blends and most noticeably a decrease in mileage with the winter blend in Alaska.

I bought the truck new in 1998 and I've ran non-ethanol fuel (the good stuff) in it and never had mileage this good. It's got 137k miles on it and somewhere at sometime I would have noticed an increase in mpg if it was fuel.

It has to be the tires. This was first long trip I taken with it carrying a minimal amount of weight and/or not towing an ATV trailer since I had the tires installed.

Interesting. I have been pleased with the Firestone Destinations that I have, but never even noticed mileage one way or the other.

Do you have LE's, AT's, ST's or MT's?

I worked at Brad Ragan and I know you did a lot of testing... Grin

I have used ATs and LE2s . Firestone tires Rock!

Tire pressure makes a huge difference also. I ran the E load range tires on my 99 dodge diesel at 35 psi for a while because it gave a much better ride. I pumped them up to 80 psi to pull my gooseneck one day and left them there for a couple of weeks. I picked up about 2 mpg from the tire pressure increase, but the ride was kidney jarring if you were empty. I lowered them back to 50, I figure it's a decent compromise between MPG and keeping my teeth intact.

I lost 3 mpg switching tires once on a small vehicle (Subaru wagon). So, what does one do, sell the tires as used and look for a different set? 3 mpg over the 40-50000 mile life of the tire makes a difference to a starving student, which I was then.

Nothing changed but the tires. I've tracked just about every mile in every vehicle I've owned (OCD?) since 1972 so I know when mileage suffers. Used to do it on old cars with the non electronic ignition (points, condenser, etc) so I would know when it was tune up time.

Tire profile has a big influence. Now I try to compromise on my truck between real trail tires and street tires. Have some sort of Michelin mud/snow rated light truck tires on there now. Didn't change mpg from the previous set.

If the tire manufacturers can put a code for tread wear/speed rating, why not a rolling resistance or fuel economy number based on the "average" vehicle like they do for the other specifications?

One tire guys told me to try OEM tires if I can find them as the car/truck mfgs test tires so they can get the best EPA mpg #s on their window stickers. Not sure how true that is but it makes some sense.

Never had much luck riding on the reeeums.

Crow Hunter, if you look in the door panel of your pickup it probably recommends 80psi for rear tires and 50 or 55 psi for front tires. but, the tires (front and rear) are good at 50psi unless you're pulling a load or have a real load in the bed. then they'll squat, wear the outer edges faster, run hotter, and burn more fuel. my truck is rough empty, especially with 80psi in rear tires, so i usually run at 50psi with no problems.