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.