Fuel Economy, gearing, and other questions
 

OK, so I'm looking into 1 of 3 homes that are a half hour from town. the Powerstroke already gets alright fuel economy (even while leaking fuel fairly badly I saw regular outings with 18-19mpg last winter, on 285/65/16s I believe).

however, I am wondering if it's possible to gear the rear end wider and bring the revs down lower, and if I can couple this with some injectors and tuning for better fuel economy. Basically, I have all but scrapped the idea of getting a bunch of power out of the truck. because usually, power means more fuel. and I need the truck to be practical before it's fast. if I wanna go fast, I have a sportbike for those times.

I know it's a long shot and I know I probably won't ever see better than 25, but it's worth a quick discussion anyway. for the record, I rarely tow at all, so that issue doesn't worry me. everything I haul I haul in the box.

is something like a 2.73 setup buyable? those aren't hard and fast numbers, I dunno what's available. it's just numbers I have heard thrown around before in the automotive world for rear ends.

Final note: I'm currently at about 2,000 down the highway at 110kmh (approx. 70mph to most of you), I'd like to cut it down to about 1700 if possible. that's a ~16% drop, so theoretically I'd need a final drive of approx. 2.9 to see that kind of drop. hence why I shot out 2.73, is a common number and close(ish, not really)

Leave it alone. Your driving a power stroke not a car. 18-19 is awesome mileage in it. You could spend thousands to try and get better mileage but its not worth it. Fix your fuel leak and call it a day.

If your worried about mileage use the money you would have spent and buy a car.

jeobob is right. You already have the better gear ratio for fuel economy. I have a 97 with 4.10 gears and i usually roll about 2400 or so at 70 mph. I would suggest getting something to commute with, or just be happy your driving a pickup that gets 18 or better. I used to have a V10 super duty that was a piece of crap 10mpg turd.

fuel leak was fixed a few days ago, finally.
if it's impossible, I'll not do it I guess.