Do I really want a M1009? (MPG)

[nyoffroad]

I drive a 1008 daily and get 20mpg in the summer, winter it goes down due to 'winter fuel' and oil and grease is thicker so more rolling resistance and the fact I have an 8' snow plow on it. That truck does have a 700R4 in it and that is what makes the difference.
The best MPG I ever got was on a civvie 1/2T 2wd with a 700R4 I only checked when camping once and was towing an old but small 16 or 17' travel trailer and had the bed filled and a canoe on top 22MPG and that was running at 70MPH on I90 and then up and down in the Adirondack MT.

 

[Drock]

I've squeezed 20 mpg highway out of my m1009, but I think it's still running slightly rich even after I tweaked the fuel delivery down. More commonly I get about 18 highway, 13-14 city. It's not gonna win any awards for efficiency, but when you compare it to a gasser k5 that does 10-11 city and maybe gets 16 highway with overdrive, it looks pretty darn good.

Worst I ever got was 12.5 combined. But that was running pretty rich, beat up probably original air filter with the foam ring, old fuel filter, and a trans that didn't like holding 3rd speed... Yeahhh it wasn't doing so hot before I started tinkering. Kinda wish I would have gone with some sort of 4 speed auto and a little lower axle ratio instead of fixing the TH400 when I had the chance, but hindsight is 20/20.

Edit: Important note. Figure out what % wrong your speedometer is and factor that into calculating mpg. Mine runs ~10% slow. Was getting real pissed at the mileage I was getting until I realized that was an issue.

Yeah you'll need to use GPS if you want an accurate reading. My speedo reads randomly, depending on outside temperature and never quite correct no matter what. I use the (SpeedView) APP on my phone. My best MPG to date after new head gaskets is 19MPG's (M1028, Gearvendors over drive, Banks turbo, 31" tires, glass pack muffler, 4.56 gears.

 

[LastFbody]

I measured my speed with a gps a number of times, I have no idea why or how but its consistently about 10% slow. As in when the speedo reads 55 its actually going about 60.

But good thing to point out Drock, these things are old now and weren't built to the highest of standards to begin with, the speedometers on them might do all sorts of kooky things. I'm lucky mines consistent.