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ES
Dodge Dakota
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9/02/2008
06:14:53
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 Subject: Aerodynamic or put it on a diet?
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Ive noticed the only way ive achieved decent mpg is when i drive 65 mph and lower then it goes to 18-20 mpg anything above it sharply drops to 12-14 mpg.
What can be done to improve the brick on wheels?
Ive debated putting thinner tires but not sure the effect thinner tires may have if any effect at all on economy.
Also is their a way to cost effectively lower and raise ride height when needed? The ground clearance is nice to have around the farm but im sure the height murders highway economy.
Only thing on my list currently is getting a bed cover, but ill admit i have an urge to toy with my setup :)
2002 quad cab 4x4 1.7 rr, ported heads, port matched manifold, exhaust, cold air intake, superchips tuner, 4.10 gears
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LOL
Dodge Dakota
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9/03/2008
06:24:35
| RE: Aerodynamic or put it on a diet?
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4.10 gears & ported heads
LOL
you want power,speed and economy.................
right!
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ES
Dodge Dakota
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9/03/2008
15:21:49
| RE: Aerodynamic or put it on a diet?
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The 4.10s actually improved highway mpg. With out them i couldnt even use overdrive. Porting the heads is always a good choice your removing casting and sharp corners reducing fuel drop off and helping fuel atomization.
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?
Dodge Dakota
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9/05/2008
08:06:06
| RE: Aerodynamic or put it on a diet?
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The bed cover might help a little , but , if you
really want result , need to streamline the underneath . There are a few guys who have doubled their highway mileage by doing some extreme work mostly on that underside.
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LOL
Dodge Dakota
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9/05/2008
09:23:44
| RE: Aerodynamic or put it on a diet?
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"There are a few guys who have doubled their highway mileage"
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yeah man
Dodge Dakota
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9/05/2008
11:11:51
| RE: Aerodynamic or put it on a diet?
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i tripled mine!
all i did was put a qt of amsoil in the bed
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ES
Dodge Dakota
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9/05/2008
17:55:54
| RE: Aerodynamic or put it on a diet?
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Thanks ?
I think ill play with that idea on my spare time
How would i go about doing such a thing though?
I have access to plastic sheets but am i just making the entire underneath flat with the plastic sheeting or just the front half?
Would lowering the vehicle have the same effect as well?
Thanks
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ow get real
Dodge Dakota
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9/05/2008
19:58:58
| RE: Aerodynamic or put it on a diet?
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your as brain dead as he is!
do you really think you can double your mpgs ??????
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ES
Dodge Dakota
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9/06/2008
06:31:07
| RE: Aerodynamic or put it on a diet?
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Apparently u are brain dead. No where in my post did i say i expected to double my economy. To me that means id get 40 mpg and thats very unreasonable with the current method of power transfer to the wheels. No i expect more along the lines to see 1-5 mpg gain. Are u such a brain dead individual that u arent even willing to experiment for the sake of finding any improvement or learning anything at all? People like u bashed the first airplane called the inventors crazy but the damn thing flew anyways so take ur stupid and go some where else
I found some neat information on some modifications that can be done. http://www.popsci.com/cars/article/2002-07/truck-drinks-less-car
Of course ur not completely blocking off the radiator just taking up the excess frontal area to the point enough air is going in where u arent overheating meaning more air is left to go around the vehicle instead of dam up infront of it
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DakotaDog
Dodge Dakota
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9/06/2008
10:17:28
| RE: Aerodynamic or put it on a diet?
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ES: obviously you need a truck because you
mentioned having a farm. Can you get away with
maybe picking up a cheap gas efficient car,
taking the registration/insurance off the truck
and just using it on the farm? It's a big hit in
convenience, but in the long run it may be
cheaper than trying to squeeze an extra mpg or
two out of your truck.
Other than that, anything you can do to reduce
friction, weight and drag are your best bets. I
have a big fiberglass tonneau cover - it may
reduce drag, but it's really heavy so I bet any
improvement in air drag is negated by the
additional weight. If you can get something
light weight & rigid, that would be the way to
go. If you have A/C, you can remove the
mechanical fan from the engine, because the
electric one will be good enough. Put additional
air in your tires (not too much for safety
reasons) - that's a biggie. Synthetic oils &
fluids. Some people (including myself) have had
some success with "hypermiling". Make sure your
plugs/wires/distributor are in good condition.
Don't buy the snake oil & aftermarket crap that
is being hocked on this forum. I had all that on
my truck and it got WORSE mileage. Switched back
to plain old stock equipment and the mileage got
better again.
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daddio
Dodge Dakota
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9/06/2008
10:30:37
| RE: Aerodynamic or put it on a diet?
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i wouldn't think a bed cover would make a big difference. especially when considering the extra weight you're adding by installing one.
i don't think you'll squeeze much more than 20 mpg out of QC, 4x4, 5.9/auto. you've got about 5k lbs of truck there. narrower tires well help along with proper tire inflation and alignment.
if you're after mileage, you don't want a cold air intake. get some hot air in there and run it as lean as you can without burning anything up.
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ES
Dodge Dakota
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9/07/2008
04:38:55
| RE: Aerodynamic or put it on a diet?
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Message:
Thank you for the suggestions everyone. Ive looked into maybe gettig a hybrid but the thing is i do end up transporting things on a weekly bases. So the fuel im paying now compared to savings and cost of the other vehicle arent their yet.
Ive looked into what hypermiling was and i must admit there are a few things i havent tryed that may be another drop in the bucket.
Hot air makes sense to me especially if the fuel being injected gets heat soaked enough to improve its atomization
I have a nice tinker list forming here i cant wait to try some of these out. Its all in good fun even if some of them do nothing :)
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J and J Auto
GenII
9/13/2008
03:04:43
| RE: Aerodynamic or put it on a diet?
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Message:
Where does all the extra weight come from with a
bed cover
I have a Extang tough tonno II and the cover and
the frame only weighs around 20 25 lbs
That amout of weight verses the reduced drag
will defenitly help mileage
lowering will help very little unless you drop
her down to the frame rails
Do a surch on the chrysler air flow what they did
was have ports and vents to let the air flow tru
the car to reduce drag
on my 95 4x4 I experimented with the front air
dam under the front bumper, I removed it and left
it off
last check 24.45 mpg
All mods and bolton's cleand and polished head
ports and a hotter cam intake port matched
The heads are not to bad all they need is a clean
up and polish removing some bumps and casting
leavings
The intakes on these trucks are bad they have
upto a 1/4" hanging down on the top of the port
I have seen some so bad the injector spray was
actualy hitting and being forced back up the
runner this is the biggest bottle neck in the
entire system
Larry
J&J Auto
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Jarhead86
Dodge Dakota
JOIN HERE
9/17/2008
19:44:50
|  RE: Aerodynamic or put it on a diet?
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Message:
I have done most of the mods mentioned on this site,dual exhaust,V8 TB,E3 plugs,exhaust headers,Harland Sharp 1.7 roller rockers,CAI,underdrive pulleys,CPS mod,TPS mod,air temp sensor relocate, and even went bigger on tires...results= much more power and 23 mpgs at 72 mph, even better mpgs if I drive slower.
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Curly
Dodge Dakota
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9/17/2008
20:21:05
| RE: Aerodynamic or put it on a diet?
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Message:
Larry?
*on my 95 4x4 I experimented with the front air
dam under the front bumper, I removed it and left
it off*
Did you notice much of a difference with it off?
{MPG's}
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J and J Auto
GenII
9/18/2008
02:59:16
| RE: Aerodynamic or put it on a diet?
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Message:
The gain was minimal only like .2 but every little
bit helps
Now Jarhead done his homework and is getting 23mpg
that also tells me all his sensors are working
right
when you do these mods and performance and gas
mileage don't change or get worse you have other
issues with your truck something is not right
I have many customers with the V6 and all are
getting 20mpg and up The 318's with 3.92 we are
pulling the same some as much as 24mpg the 360's
20 21mpg
These trucks are fuel efficiant if set up right
the best I ever seen with the V6 26 27mpg now
how can you beat that my best ever was 25.8mpg
but I have never gotten that ever again 24 25mpg
in my 4x4 is great just think about the old
carbed 4x4's 10 to 15mpg was about it
I had a 1977 chevy full time 4x4 with 3.07 gears
a 350 4bl and the best it ever did was 15.5
My brother has a 1974 blazer K5 350 4bl holley
600 3.73 gears a good tune and a set of headers
will pull 18mpg highway this is our plow truck
its on its 3rd motor and second trans always
starts and plows the driveways getting a little
rusty but it never goes more than 15 miles from
the shop these days
I had a 1971 ford estate station wagon with the
400 that army tank got 18 19mpg I sold it at
99,000 miles the guy ran another 100,000 on it
the body was faling off so it got scraped
Keeping your vehicle tuned and good maintanance
is always a plus
The worst one I ever had was a 1964 pontiac star
cheif I bought it used and it got 7mpg with the
389 4bl after a good tune up it got 12mpg I never
seen such a gas hog in all my life I drove that
car untill the fram broke in the back LOL but with
gas at like 20 25 cents it did not hurt to much
these days it would never cut it
Its like they say
Its bad when you cant cut the mustard
and really bad when you cant even open the jar
anymore
That about describs this car LOL
I have also seen some of the 70's cadilacs with
the big 472 and 572 getting 19 20mpg
Last fall I bought a 1979 Lincoln Mark 5 it got
14 15mpg after droping around $2000 in the motor
that big car is pulling 22mpg highway and what
a nice ridding car rust free AZ car with 69,800
miles now Its what I use for trips these days
Because I knew the family so well he sold me the
car for $700 it was sitting in a garage for 10
years and was only run 50 miles a year filled
with gas and stable and put back in the garage
after pestering him for 8 years he finaly gave
in and sold it to me
All org paint with 2 little dents in the door
In all my years working on motors I just could
never figure out the star cheif's crap mileage
it was good in the snow up here
Larry
J&J Auto
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Jarhead86
Dodge Dakota
JOIN HERE
9/18/2008
07:27:14
| RE: Aerodynamic or put it on a diet?
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Message:
I should have mentioned, my truck is a 94 SLT 2WD and I live in the hills and mountain areas in Virginia. When I drive my truck down south at sea level, it actually gets about 26 mpg. I noticed another nice gain when I switched my O2 sensor to the NGK that Larry recommended.
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