[Darkside]

Alright my fellow Titan owners, I need your help. I have a '04 SE, with a 6" procomp lift and 35" inch tires. I drive my truck to work and back only which is a 13 mile round trip per day. And because of the constant stop and go on the streets, I'm getting horrible gas mileage. Now the crappy gas mileage isn't a surprise to me since I'm lifted and on 35's but with driving such a short distance only 5 days a week, it's really bothering me, especially with prices at the pump rising.

So here are my thoughts, and please let me know of any suggestions you guys may have: #1 I have a little bit of money saved to put a down payment on a street bike, only bad side to this is that I won't be able to pick up and drop off my son at daycare. I enjoy doing that a lot but I know my wife would also love to do the same. #2 I save up a little more $$$ and re-gear the Titan for my 35 inch tires, buy a tuner and stop some of the bleeding at the pump. My only hesitation with this route is if I wake up the truck power wise, I won't be able to keep my foot out of the throttle and I'll be back to square one....

Any suggestions or advise would be appreciated. Thanks!!

 

[jasonmotox]

ride a bicycle

 

[flewbyu]

You could buy a cheap daily driver, 4 cylinder or something.

 

[CVTitan05]

Yeah, there are only major things that you could do (ie regear) but that would cost more $$$ than what your going to save gas wise. The only logical thing is to get a 4banger or ride a bike etc.

 

[Scan999]

Option 2 wont fix your gas MPG. I know it theory it sounds good but reality is often different. I have a tuner and my MPG went down but the power went way up. I suggest you park the truck if you want to save on gas. You could go back to stock size tires and gain 1-2 MPG but is it worth it since you only have a 13 mile ride to and from work.

 

[BigA]

If you had like a fifty mile commute, buying a small car or bike might be worth it, but for 13 miles a day your not going to make up enough differance in MPG to justify spending money on a second mode of transpertation.

 

[Darkside]

I hear you... I joke around about riding a bicycle to work, but I just can't see myself really doing that the hotter it gets outside! At least if I'm riding a street bike, I'll get home faster to be able to cool down.. I also don't want to get rid of my truck because I've invested too much in the suspension and minor fabrication done to it to ever see a return on investment. I'm also not thrilled about picking up another car payment in getting a 4 banger... I just paid off the truck in January and it's NICE not having a payment...

 

[titanhornet]

I wouldn't buy a bike our anything else. Bike is another payment, insurance, tags, taxes. Use that money for gas. Fwiw

 

[express705]

you have to pay to play.

 

[Milehigh Titan]

Another option is to be happy about the situation your in. :bangit:
I have a 40 mile commute one way at 6200 to 5280 above see level driving a day. If I need to go to a jobsite it can easily be more a day.

My wife a little less than that but still twice what you have, and drives a Tohoe that is 2 years old so it too is not paid for.

Kids, oohh ya, got 2 or them in daycare at 17K a year alone not to mention pre-school that is another $150 a month.

I am only saying this because you are in a good situation wanting help and not really looking at how good you have it.


You need to figure your costs per mile not MGP, you own so compared to buying, registering and maintenance on another you may be looking at higher costs. Good luck

 

[Darkside]

Another option is to be happy about the situation your in. :bangit:
I have a 40 mile commute one way at 6200 to 5280 above see level driving a day. If I need to go to a jobsite it can easily be more a day.

My wife a little less than that but still twice what you have, and drives a Tohoe that is 2 years old so it too is not paid for.

Kids, oohh ya, got 2 or them in daycare at 17K a year alone not to mention pre-school that is another $150 a month.

I am only saying this because you are in a good situation wanting help and not really looking at how good you have it.


You need to figure your costs per mile not MGP, you own so compared to buying, registering and maintenance on another you may be looking at higher costs. Good luck

Oh believe me, I didn't start this topic in a pessimistic nature nor sulk about how "bad" I have it. It was just a simple request for suggestions. Everyone has a choice about where and how far their work is. There's nothing wrong with trying to trim some overhead expenses and bouncing ideas off of others in my opinion. Good luck to yourself as well.

 

[I.E. Titan]

Call AAA and have them "tow"you to the mechanic aka work. Im sure 2 times a week will help

 

[Darkside]

Call AAA and have them "tow"you to the mechanic aka work. Im sure 2 times a week will help

And the point of that suggestion was what??? Sorry couldn't get past the stupidity of it..

 

[I.E. Titan]

I obviously wasn't serious.

 

[carlo_natit]

Of course, you should not put your son on the bike. So get a daily driver or enjoy what you have now.

 

[tsunamilogan05]

You could still get a used cruiser and add a side cart. Just a thought.

 

[nissanbyblood]

Man I have both a secondary car and a sport bike and let me tell you. Keep the titan and feed it what it needs, right now the car is got a blown injector and the heatercore is bad. Im looking at $700 repair bill from a shop if I do not choose to do it myself, and the bike runs through rubber so bad it really doesn't justify the mpg savings, and this does not count tag, insurance, taxes,getting wet on the way home from work. Do you know how long $700 will fuel my titan? A pretty good while...2 cars are not worth it or even 1 car and a bike unless you have a 45min-1hr haul to work each day, and then if repair bills get too high it will eat at that.

 

[Titan Thunder]

Dude get a $1000 1990 Honda, it will run forever, literally, with time it will eventually cover for the gas with 30+mpg. Even if you have to finance it the payment on $1000 would be like $50 a month. You would save more than that in gas if you drove the honda solid for a month. Or even an old saturn, or corolla...

 

[Milehigh Titan]

Oh believe me, I didn't start this topic in a pessimistic nature nor sulk about how "bad" I have it. It was just a simple request for suggestions. Everyone has a choice about where and how far their work is. There's nothing wrong with trying to trim some overhead expenses and bouncing ideas off of others in my opinion. Good luck to yourself as well.

I think you may have missed the most important part of what I wrote to help you with your problem.

Figure the cost of another vehicle, added insurance, tags, maintenance etc. Then see what it will cost you per mile. Not MPG that you are trying to save on. I bet you will find you are better off where you are now.

A motorcycle is not cheap, a good helmet alone will cost a couple hundred. Leather jacket or another type that is wear resistant to skidding on the highway etc. I know I have one. The bike is just a down payment on the eccessories. Now figure what if you get in an accident, I have long term disability I pay for every week so if I got hurt I would not loose everything I have worked for. You got that? I can go on and on.

My point is you are pretty good now as far as saving $$ I would love to own my truck, but my work requires me to never have a vehicle that is not a day older than 5 and must always be a representation of the company. Has to meet certain critera etc. etc. But I chose to sign that peice of paper.

Yes I chose my career, it is one that I go from location to location so a 40 mile commute is pretty darn good, I would not know where I was going to work from one project to the next, eventually they get done and you go to the next. Where will that be, not sure we will see when we get that job.
To save money I sold my Jeep, a toy that had a ton of $$ into, I did not buy another one.
If you had a much longer commute I would say buy another vehicle but you are too close in IMO to buy something to save $$

You asked for opinions and that is mine...

 

[DirtyD73]

Damn guys it may not of been your intent, but it feels like a lot of people are coming at this guy for not being happy with his titan ect.. All he is wanting is to see if people know some cost effective MPG saving tricks.

Hate to tell you though man i think what everyone on here is trying to say and from the research ive done my self is that there is nothing really effective enough to be worth spending the money on.

So what im deciding is a 50/50. 50 things i want and 50 will help it run better. For instance i will be putting my exhaust and cool air intake in. This will save some MPG (but not as much as some think) but is the MPG really worth the $$$ it will take to install, i dont think so but at least im getting a little of both worlds.