Squeezing out MPG's

[Johnny Blaze]

Dropped the tailgate, we'll see if it helps, but ime, it doesn't.

Going to open the gaps on the plugs, play around with timing and carb some more.


Looks like the s10 T-5 is the way to go, going to start looking around for one.

An Air Dam is a great idea as well, and will look into fabbing one, not too mention it will look cool right?



Headers, I am pretty limited, due to the clutch and v8 in l6 mounts. Block huggers are about my only option, but I've always heard they are not much better than rams horns, what do you guys think? If I went with block huggers should I get the tiny 1 1/2" tubees or the standard 1 5/8"s?


Thanks for the tips and encouragement.

I think I can do the t-5 pretty cheap and it should pay off fairly soon, of course more fine tuning will help as well!

[BonzoHansen]

mythbusters proved the tail gate thing does not work, but try it anyway!

some math maybe to help with your decisions

		NOW		+20%		+ 30%		+ 40%
Miles	 	12,000 	 	12,000 	 	12,000 	 	12,000 
MPG		14		17.50		18.20		19.60
Fuel Used	857.14		685.71		659.34		612.24
$/Gal	 	$4.00 	 	$4.00 	 	$4.00 	 	$4.00 
Cost	 	$3,429 	 	$2,743 	 	$2,637 	 	$2,449 
Savings		n/a	 	$686 	 	$791 	 	$980

Savings move with gas prices, of course. Just to give you an idea of cost savings. 12,000 miles is not a lot of miles per year for a daily driver, but probably way more than the average old car here. Mine gets about 3,000 per year as an extra car, etc. For older cars I think OD’s best trait is less RPMs which probably helps with wear & tear, and a more comfortable ride that still allows ‘fun’ gearing. MPG is a nice benefit but not #1 due to lack of use. EFI is the same way. I kind of laugh when people who drive cars <2000 miles a year put $2000+ improvements in their car in the name of mpg. The payback is never there but I guess it helps them allocate the money in their heads. Improvements are for fun!

Anyway good luck and let us know how you make out.

[High Plains Mopars]

MPG is a nice benefit but not #1 due to lack of use. EFI is the same way. I kind of laugh when people who drive cars <2000 miles a year put $2000+ improvements in their car in the name of mpg. The payback is never there but I guess it helps them allocate the money in their heads. Improvements are for fun!

That is why I've never bothered to go EFI on my tow truck. It never gets used enough to justify the $4-5k cash layout to swap to a complete EFI set up and OD trans. This is particularly true for me because I've got everything so dialed in now, that I'm getting mid teens around town to high teens on highway, with a load, driving with 450+ cubic inches, a carb, 4:10 gears and a 3 speed tranny. The payback on the change would take forever since I'm only using it a couple thousand miles a year!

What I've found, and it won't help in this scenraio, is the biggest improvement to mileage, and power for that matter, was to run as much dynamic compression as I could get away with.

[48prerunner]

Here is The Myth busters video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r3aqHbD-O9E


They say tail gate down is the worst but then again these are more modern trucks designed to use the air flow in the bed. Their finding was the tailgate net improved by 5%

I'm running a flat bed right now so I can't play with this in real world until my 69 is done.


http://www.gminsidenews.com/forums/f...78/index2.html

also check air pressure in tires probably make more difference than any of this bed stuff lol