BIGMIKES~98RUNNER

i love these threads..... what do you want out of a mid size truck with a lift and big tires ?

jaypee784

Not sure what you are assuming I drive... but I have a 2000 SR5 3.4L 4WD. I am pretty positive I have a ~14 gallon tank. I would hate to think that my needle is on dead empty with the light on at 240 miles and 12 gallons burned if there are 6.5 more gallons left! Not trying to sound like a smarta$$... just saying...

Whitey13

I have the same truck...it's 18.5 gallons. My fuel light comes on with 5 gallons left in the tank.

jaypee784

Then that is crazy and I will put my foot in my mouth! Why would Toyota do that? I read somewhere that it was a 14 gallon tank and when I bought it (used) I was told it was a 14 gallon tank so when my light came on at 240 miles, I assumed what I was told was right. You might have opened a can of worms for me... when my fuel light comes on, I am just going to ignore gas stations for a day or two and I will end up on the side of the road somewhere! I might need to carry a gas can with me just in case.

Whitey13

If you get stranded, I'll owe you a beer.

X-AWDriver

It's an 18.5 gallon tank but you can't truly run the tank dry since the fuel pump doesn;t sit on the bottom of the tank and when my needle is sitting just below E I still only get 15-16 gallons in and that's just filling it til it clicks once and then fil til it stops again and I consider it full.

In the winter I get 14-16 depending on how much 4wd is used but in the summer I've been getting 17-19 mostly city driving and I do have a bit of a leadfoot and I've even got my Yakima rack on top but the rack doesn't have a negative affect in most city driving situations.

jaypee784

Ok, so this made me do some research on why the gauge says I am empty when there is only 12 gallons burned... I found this Toyota service bulletin EL010-00. I am sure this has been discussed here before though, just not something I ever thought about looking up until you called me out!

jaypee784

haha, this actually gives me great relief... Stopping to get gas every 4-5 days is a PIA and cursing Toyota for what I thought was a 14 gallon tank in an SUV.

Stick_Figure

to the original poster, how are you calculating millage? if you speedometer is off from the tire change, then your odometer will be off as well which will in turn throw off your MPG calcs. OF course the may not be much of a difference, just depends on how big of change.

goez211

I was going to suggest exactly the same thing... my speedo is off by about 10% since switching to larger tires. I was surprised to see a big drop in MPG after the tire change. It took me a few tanks to realize that my MPG calculations were likely about 10% off (low) due to the new/additional speedo and odometer error.

Using (odometer miles / gallons to fill up), my calcs indicate I get around 16-18 MPG. Adding back in the 10%, I end up in the 17-20 mpg range.

note: I'm estimating the error based on difference in tire circumference and haven't yet compared indicated speed to a GPS, radar, etc. In other words, this doesn't take into account original speedo error, if any.

X-AWDriver

How big are your tires if they are 10% off;with 265/75s the diff is only 3% so on a tank that you get an indicated 250 miles you'd only be adding 7-8 miles to the total.

Parker Runner

Do you have the rear locker? If so, you have 4.3. If not, you might have 4.56. Find that out first. The lower (in number) the tougher time your truck will have pushing larger tires and hence deeper your foot will be in the gas pedal to get moving.

For that reason, I went to smaller tires.

John LTD

I'll throw in some data:

Over my last 66 fill ups(I calc the mileage every time), which includes a pretty even mix of city commuting, road tripping, and off-roading, I averaged 18.05mpgs. So I'd consider that a good benchmark for people with stock setups.

flynhighaf23

i usually just top it off at the pump, then reset the trip meter to zero. then i'll drive until the next fill up (usually around 220 miles) then top it off again and divide the mileage driven (say 220) by the amount of gas i use to fill it up (say 14 gallons). then i'll get 220/14=15.72mpg. i'm pretty confident that my odometer would be off since my speedo is off so, so i'll have to figure that one out...

flynhighaf23

my truck doesn't have the rear locker since its a 95.5, so according to your info above i have the 4.56 final drive? so are you saying since i have the 4.56 my truck DOES NOT work harder to push bigger tires??

mwc0404

ok, so i got also ask here i have a 99 limited 4x4 and i used to get really good gas mileage then i was in a small wreck and it sat for a while. now the fuel mileage has reduced and the tranny is acting funny, (and by funny i mean it would run each gear all the way out before switching the first time through and then work fine after) i think ive corrected the tranny issue by changing the fluid and filter and blowing out the lines to the cooler and getting the trash out. but still not sure on the fuel mileage issue. Ive read through all thats been said here and i have done all the normal checks and replacements, i just in the last couple days had the C.E. light come on due to one bank running lean due to an O2 sensor going out. Any ideas or suggestions?

yoder man

These trucks are cat sensitive. My truck was getting 24mpg untill the check engine light came on. So I took it to Toyota and they scoped it and said we have some good news and some bad news. Good news is the catalyic converter is pluged, the bad news is it's $800 for a new one. So being the tight ass I am I went to a muffler shop and had one put on for a $160. Then my milage went to 17 to 18 mpg. Instantly, no tire change, no lift, no driving difference. The cat changed everything. Go put the stock exhaust on it and the truck will be almost silent at an idle and get 24mpg. My truck has 294,000 miles on it now and it gets around 15 to 16mpg. If your really worried about how good your motor is do a compression test on it. Good luck guys.