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Get the best gas mileage from your conversion truck

Conversion trucks don’t boast the best fuel mileage figures in their class, as they do with the number of fun adventures you’ve had, but they can offer fuel economy if maintained regularly. The typical conversion truck will get approximately 12 to 16 miles per gallon (mpg), depending on the model. Let’s explore the factors that affect fuel economy and how to get the most out of your truck’s gas mileage.

Van conversion and fuel efficiency

Weight is a primary enemy of fuel efficiency. Most security technologies carry additional weight. Carrying more weight means that the engines must produce more power.

Mark owns a 2002 Chevy Express high roof conversion pickup. He drives the pickup about 70% on the highway with cruise control on and the remainder in town. Your van is equipped with a wheelchair lift, which adds weight. “My gas mileage is 10 miles per gallon.”

Susan owns a 2001 15-passenger Chevy Express pickup with a 1-ton chassis. “I bought it used with almost 40,000 miles. About four years later, I got a 91,000-mile tune-up. My truck still averages 10-11 mpg.” Your truck’s 30-gallon fuel tank allows a total trip of 390-320 miles before you need to stop to refuel.

According to the US Department of Energy, Mark and Susan’s Chevy Express trucks should get 14 mpg, combined city and highway.

If you ask different owners of the same conversion truck models, they’ll get 15-18 mpg. What is your secret?

Weather conditions (wind), truck maintenance, road conditions (hills, traffic congestion, etc.), and city or highway driving are among the factors that affect truck performance. Driving in the city lowers the average very fast. The only mileage that you can reliably compare between vans is highway (non-city) mileage at the same speed.

8 Helpful Tips For Conversion Van Gas Mileage

The fuel consumption of any vehicle is affected by driving style (if you are an aggressive driver, for example), speed, driving conditions and vehicle maintenance.

Aggressive driving – speeding, fast acceleration and braking – wastes gas and can reduce gas mileage by 33 percent at highway speeds and by 5 percent in the city. Sensible driving is safer for you, pedestrians, and other drivers, so you can save more than just gas money.

While each truck achieves its optimal fuel economy at a different speed (or range of speeds); Gas mileage generally decreases rapidly at speeds above 50 mph.

Every 5 mph you drive over 50 mph is like paying an additional $ 0.25 per gallon for gas.

Here are some tips to ensure the best fuel economy:

  1. Make sure your tires are properly inflated.
  2. Check that the engine air filter is clean.
  3. Plugs. Do you have the right ones? Is the gap okay? Check all three on the front; they are the easiest to access.
  4. Torque converter freezing? When driving at a constant speed of about 40 to 45 mph, the converter should lock up, so the rpm drops by about 500.
  5. Check the engine oil and transmission fluid levels. Have the oil changes been done regularly or is the engine clogging?
  6. Avoid excessive idling. Idling can consume a quarter to a half gallon of fuel per hour, depending on the size of the engine and the use of the air conditioning (AC). Turn off the engine when your vehicle is parked. It only takes a few seconds of fuel to restart your vehicle.
  7. Use the cruise control. Using cruise control on the highway helps you maintain a constant speed and, in most cases, will save you gas.
  8. Remove excess weight. An extra 100 pounds on your vehicle could reduce your mpg by as much as 2 percent.

How to Calculate Your Conversion Truck Gas Mileage

The best way to calculate the gas mileage of your conversion truck is to divide the miles traveled (recorded on your odometer) by the gallons of fuel used. You can also use the miles per gallon calculation from the trip computer, if your truck model is equipped with one.

Your conversion van’s trip computer may display the remote as empty (DTE). The DTE is an estimate of how many more miles you can drive based on the amount of gas in your tank and your recent fuel economy. It will automatically restart when you fill up the tank and will depend on your driving style, speed and fuel economy. The DTE may reflect if you use a heavy throttle.

The DTE will get more accurate as you use gas, as it tells you what is left. It does not subtract from the starting number; for example, the DTE reads 300 miles, but you drive 150 miles and now the DTE reads 200 miles.

The US Department of Energy has a handy annual fuel cost calculator to help you estimate what your annual and lifetime fuel costs may be.

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