im new here but i have been scrapping for over a year already. i use a 1999 5.9 ram 1500 2wd and would like to know if anyone else has one and what you do to make it use
less gas
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im new here but i have been scrapping for over a year already. i use a 1999 5.9 ram 1500 2wd and would like to know if anyone else has one and what you do to make it use
less gas
only drive downhill of course
I read a couple years or so ago about either a new word, or a new most popular word. It was "hypermiling", which is defined as doing anything you can do to get better mileage
One of the scrappers in town drives around with his tailgate half open. I dont know how he does it tho.
First off...Welcome to SMF from Indiana. As far as better mileage...keep your truck tuned up, check your tire pressures and try to keep your foot out of it. Good Luck...
You want better mileage, buy a Ford,,Quote:
Originally Posted by DiamondN
Might also check into water injection.
i'd like to know myself
First buy a gauge that tells you instant and avg mpg then you can see what driving habits are causing you to burn more gas. For me I though accelerating under 2krpm was key, wrong it burns almost as much gas as going to 4k, the key is not using the brakes as much and coasting to stops, etc.
They used to have a manifold pressure gauge in the carbureted days, and yep, RPM is best used to calculate horsepower, not mileage.Quote:
Originally Posted by ScrapYaHerd
Mileage depends on many factors including, but not limited to,
1. road conditions/surface(i.e. paved/gravel, smooth/rough, etc)
2. weather conditions (raining/dry, headwind/tailwind, hot/cold, etc)
3. vehicle condition (well tuned/untuned, well maintained/unmaintained- from the fuel tank to the engine, right down to your wheelbearings and tire condition/pressure)
4. Load conditions (empty- no trailer to full up w/trailer etc)
and last, but not least
5. Driver's aptitude (starts fast/drives fast/stops fast, or drives sensibly/shifts gears in a timely manner- heavier loads require shifting at higher RPMs etc
Bad idea. You want the tailgate UP on the truck at all times. It turns out that dropping the tailgate makes the aerodynamic situation worse, not better.Quote:
Originally Posted by greytruck
This is 100% good advice. Google 'hypermiling' and read up on it. The main things are: don't use your brakes, coast as much as possible, anticipate traffic stops, avoid jackrabbit starts, and keep the vehicle in top running condition.Quote:
Originally Posted by Bear
Limit your top speed to 60MPH, anything above that and the mileage goes down really fast. You can make very small, incremental improvements in mileage (less than 1 MPG) by using synthetic oils and gear lubes. Inflate the tires to the maximum pressure listed on the tire sidewall (my father-in-law's 98 Ram's tires will hold 90PSI!) Change the air filter when it starts to get dirty, and also occasionally run some fuel injector cleaner through a tankful of fuel.
A 5.9L Ram from that era is going to be tough on gas, no matter what you do. They were not made to be as efficient as today's trucks are, and will use a lot of fuel. If you do all the things I mention above, including the hypermiling techniques, you may see as much as 1-3MPG improvement; more if you have a heavy foot, less if you don't. But before you consider getting a different, more fuel efficient vehicle, make sure you calculate how much you're gonna spend on it and how much the actual savings will be. Most of the time you're money ahead keeping your current vehicle and just using it more efficiently.
I found if I drive slow and keep my shifts under 2k (I have an automatic until I start my manual swap) I can get about 5mpg better than what the manufacturer said. Like others have said you can look into hypermiling. I always turn my truck off at trains and long red lights. Also look into a vaccuum gauge. Basically it tells you how efficiently youre driving.
As mentioned above, regular maintance does wonders. Keeping your oil changed does worlds of good. As per tire pressures, running too much air will cause excessive tire wear but not running enough air is hard on your tires. All depends on the conditions and weight involved, also running more air than the tire is rated for does nothing other than wear the center of you tires out.
Get a diesel
Try alternative fuels and fuel blending
Get a 1999 or newer Silverado with the 4.8 or 5.3 V8. 18-20 mpg highway and 15 around town. I love those dodge 5.2s and 5.9s but they're not the best on gas. My wife's Durango with the 5.9 gets 13 mpg lol
Is that slick 50 still around. I had a friend who was a courier who like it.
the only way a 5.9 will get good milage is if its a cummins, ive had two of the gas burners 13.0 emtpy no matter how easy you drive, diesel i get 16 mpg pulling a trailer 95% of the time and half of that time has a car on it.
A strong magnet on the fuel line to align the molecules into long strings, positive to negative, so the fuel burns more efficiently.
Scott
Ditto. 91.5 intercooled 4x4 here.Quote:
Originally Posted by corycouch
If you do a lot of highway driving then you might consider an overdrive unit, they used to add on behind the transmission. Back when I hauled campers over the road the unit was built by Doug Nash Overdrives. This seems to be the main one now. It is switchable, and looks to change the gearing 25-28%. You can get it as an over or under.
Gear Vendors under/overdrive transmissions the most awarded auxiliary transmissions.
regular maintenance first, if your behind on that get that done. Next thing is psi in the tires. I ignore the manufacturers ratings on the car and go 5 pounds less than what it says on the side of the tire. Second is intake system upgrades. Exhaust is next. If you have a pickup truck i would do a cold air intake and a chip at the very least. Diesels will make big gains with a tuner module alone.
Coasting to stop signs and lights and using as little breaking as possible is one of the best ways.
I try not to keep excessive scrap weight in the bed too long. If you have the means keep the excess weight out, I've worked a setup out where I can unload every day into my trailer. Trailer gets hauled to the yard when its full. Hope that helps.
Running 75 psi on a 10 ply 16" tire on something like a Ford ranger would be a bit much when it's empty. the amount of air pressure always depends on the weight it carries, so I dont feel like a Cookie cutter answer like 5 psi less than the tire is rated for to be an adequate answer. Not trying to start anything here but I've done 95% of my own tire repairs and been a tire tech for 4 years so I know a few things about tires.Quote:
Originally Posted by jghilino
1996 C70 Straight Truck, with a 366 motor, five speed split gears, dump bed, Pfft, be lucky to get 10 miles per gallon.
Load em heavy as hell when your driving that brute down the road
Try a Throttle body spacer or a Regulator plate. I got a 2000 Chevy Silverado 1500 and most of the time I have been getting 13mpg. I just got 15 when I babied it. Try a tonneau cover aswell
Larger tires gave me an extra 5-7 gallons per tank.. or to be more specific, TALLER tires gives me results. I just have to be careful with my speed until I change out the speedometer gear because I am actually going faster than what the needle reads.
So technically a taller tire gets me a further distance for every revolution of the wheels which adds up after a few hundred miles. I figure that going from the 215-75-15's to the 235-75's adds another 10-12 mph to my actual speed which translates to the higher distance/mileage per tank.
What you did Ted was lowered your RPM a few hundred.
I always look for a tractor trailer to draft behind :). I use a 04 GMC Sierra 1500 to go back and forth from the house to the shop(84 mile round trip) truck is all stock, gets 20/22mpg if you keep it at 65mph, runs around 1800rpm. If i draft behind a tractor trailer i can drop my rpm to 1550 and still keep it at 65mph.
The advice I underlined just didn't make sense to me the first few times I read that. Then on the way home tonight it clicked. I think that's some pretty darned good advice now that I'm finally able to wrap my mind around it.Quote:
Originally Posted by ScrapYaHerd
I've never heard of this, is there somewhere you recommend reading more about it?Quote:
Originally Posted by NobleMetalWorks
Describe to me how a fixed thing like rotations per minute changes?Quote:
Originally Posted by skrRecycling
Should not happen with a lock up torque converter
Here you go, they help explain all the quackery;Quote:
Originally Posted by wannabemechanic
K&J Magnetics - Fuel Magnets
Cause tucking in behind the semi will "pull" your vehicle along. If you get close enough you could theoretically take your hand off the wheel and foot off the throttle. Do not try this at home. When you can lessen your wind drag by 40% safely then something's working. http://www.treehugger.com/cars/draft...s-it-work.htmlQuote:
Describe to me how a fixed thing like rotations per minute changes?
Should not happen with a lock up torque converter
I have a 2004 Dodge Ram 1500 Laramie 4x4 with a 5.9 Magnum HEMI V8 and I get 14.6 MPG. The 2007 Ford F-150 4x2 with a 5.4 Triton V8 that I had prior would get excellent gas mileage for a truck - anywhere from 22 to 25 MPG. I DO NOT suggest tailgating Semi's, however I do like it when I get behind them on the highway at a reasonable distance. You can really see a difference!
I use a mini-van. It's purple. It's like being inside a raisin. Also, like said a few posts above..if i got scrap, its unloaded at the house, till my next trip to the yard. Ewaste goes straight in to my shop. Tires kept up, maintenance, etc.
Sirscrapalot - Has thought of putting sunglasses on his van, and rock the California raisin look.
just install a flux capacitor, they work great.:cool:
google hydro xi. and hydrogen generator. easy to build and they work. easy to get 25 % increase in mileage. Water for gas is another site.
wouldn't that create more friction with more tire touching the road reducing mpg?Quote:
Originally Posted by jghilino
i heard every 100lbs reduces mpg by 2%. i don't know if that number is an accurate measurement but clearly hauling anything that isn't necessary is costing you money.Quote:
Originally Posted by Russell
someone else mentioned using less break and coasting to stop lights. this is the easiest and one of the best ways to reduce fuel consumption imo.
Yeah I've seen a 3 mpg increase with keeping my rpms at 2000, not jumping on the gas, and coasting to stops. How does that Magnet work? I'm assuming you attach it to the fuel line??