Question 'bout trucks & fuel economy.

[flamin lib]

Realizing that even compact PU trucks compromise fuel economy for torque and towing capacity, are there aftermarket mods that can increase economy in a truck that will not tow anything or carry more than a few hundred pounds?

I'm a suburban type who goes hunting a few times a year and it would be nice to have a bed to carry light loads and have increased ground clearance in a four door compact truck.

For comparison I'm currently driving a 1.8L Nissan Sentra and it's carried everything I need weight wise (gotta pack carefully) and gets 35+ on the hwy. It's just out of it's class in the woods and sand.

Ford Ranger and Chevy Colorado both claim 27 mpg (small engine) which translates to 22 in my experience. Any way to boost that?

[Kali]

1. everybody around here removes their tail gates

not sure what the numbers work out to, but I bet there is something on line somewhere
do you really need an open bed? maybe a smaller suv type vehicle would be more useful - I find unloaded or lightly loaded pickups to be less useful in sand than a vehicle with some real weight on the back (or front wheel drive)