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Old 12-23-2012, 01:04 PM   #21 (permalink)
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I just got to adding a grille block (upper - lower already had the factory piece in it) on my 3rd gen ram. I'm not posting pictures because it doesn't look like anything special, and there's tonnes of grille block pics on here.

Did you feel you need to do anything about the veritable chasm between the bumper and the bottom of the hood? it's pretty big gap and goes all the way around under the head lights too for some reason.

I used coroplast and zip ties for mine... although, I use the zip ties I had, and they are pretty thin, so I think I'll go out and get some thicker ones to shore it up.

But that other chasm? also, anyone have any good ideas about the gap between the cabin and the bed cap?

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Old 12-23-2012, 07:55 PM   #22 (permalink)
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Just got back from a 800-mile roundtrip to Fort Worth, with some observations. Temps on the way up dropped from around 60F here in South Texas to just below freezing at my destination. Engine temp never dropped below 187F with grille block in place and mpg was 23 despite fighting a 20-mph 3/4-headwind (with gusts past forty) the first 150-miles. Trip was run at 58-mph or 1,725-rpm.

Temps came up quickly. Never more than seven miles to op temp the following days. The return trip was on an alternate route (non-Interstate, and hilly compared to northbound leg) and overhead stayed consistently at 26-mpg (corrects out to just under 25). Haven't refilled, but will be northbound again in a couple of days (buying new travel trailer) on Interstate.

24-mpg is the now old baseline. But it was not ever run in consistently freezing or near-freezing weather. So anything close is a win in my book. So far, so good.

Last edited by slowmover; 12-23-2012 at 08:36 PM..
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Old 12-23-2012, 08:20 PM   #23 (permalink)
ron
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were you towing and getting that mpg . what model trailer are you looking at the wife and I are looking at the view finder alum frame and v nose . Ill be watching to see what your going with.
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Old 12-23-2012, 08:32 PM   #24 (permalink)
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Quote:
Originally Posted by non-prophet View Post
I just got to adding a grille block (upper - lower already had the factory piece in it) on my 3rd gen ram. I'm not posting pictures because it doesn't look like anything special, and there's tonnes of grille block pics on here.

Did you feel you need to do anything about the veritable chasm between the bumper and the bottom of the hood? it's pretty big gap and goes all the way around under the head lights too for some reason.

I used coroplast and zip ties for mine... although, I use the zip ties I had, and they are pretty thin, so I think I'll go out and get some thicker ones to shore it up.

But that other chasm? also, anyone have any good ideas about the gap between the cabin and the bed cap?
I used a piece of pipe insulation to block the gap between the grille and the bumper. By pipe insulation, I mean this stuff:
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My version of energy storage is called "momentum".
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Old 12-23-2012, 08:37 PM   #25 (permalink)
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Sorry, no towing in the above. The new TT will be in tow on the return leg this Friday or Saturday (after tires, bearing re-pack, new shocks, trailer axle alignment, etc). The TT is a 1990 model 35' Silver Streak, one of the upmarket cousins to Airstream. I've come across more than a dozen reports of those using CTD's to pull aero all aluminum TT's averaging from 14-16 mpg over many thousands of miles.

I averaged 13-15 with the last one, so expect to fall in that ballpark even with lower towing speed these days (58 vs. 63-mph). TT is expected to weigh around 7k empty (full propane & fresh water). I'll be getting a scale ticket or two to help set baseline. There is maintenance, repairs and tweaks for the future (both vehicles) and this is just a git'er home trip. Both TT & TV will be lighter by several thousand pounds overall than the plan calls for. The outside high weight will be 18k for the combination, but I expect to be around 14k at this time.

The main thing will be in watching temps to see if [2] of the [4] grille blocks need to be removed given expected temps of from 60F to nearly 80F (A/C will be in use at some point in the day). A long slightly downhill run from North Texas to South Texas.
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Old 12-23-2012, 08:44 PM   #26 (permalink)
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Yes, when you're concerned with temps, just keep an eye on the coolant temp. When starting up, the temp should continuously rise until the thermostat opens (typically 180-200 deg F), and then fluctualte slightly within a range of +/-10 deg F or so. If the temp starts to rise above that level that means you have too much grille blocke--because the engine can't stay cool enough with the stat full open. If that happens, start taking grille block off.
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My version of energy storage is called "momentum".
My version of regenerative braking is called "bump starting".

1 Year Avg (Every Mile Traveled) = 47.8 mpg

BEST TANK: 2,009.6 mi on 35 gal (57.42 mpg): http://ecomodder.com/forum/showthrea...5-a-26259.html


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Old 12-23-2012, 08:47 PM   #27 (permalink)
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should be a nice upgrade ,Im going to add some gauges to my CTD. trans temp,pyro temp, and a fuel pressure gauge.and a new scangauge mine is first gen. what length is your old TT and do you expect to loose or gain mpg
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Old 12-23-2012, 08:57 PM   #28 (permalink)
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Originally Posted by Diesel_Dave View Post
Yes, when you're concerned with temps, just keep an eye on the coolant temp. When starting up, the temp should continuously rise until the thermostat opens (typically 180-200 deg F), and then fluctualte slightly within a range of +/-10 deg F or so. If the temp starts to rise above that level that means you have too much grille blocke--because the engine can't stay cool enough with the stat full open. If that happens, start taking grille block off.
I was watching for that temp fluctuation today on the way home from work. Sure enough, there was a change in the rate of increase just above 180F (till that point "rise" was nearly 2-degrees every few seconds once I was on the highway).

As I understand, our thermostats don't fully open until 207F. I'll use that as my cutoff this time (as temps will be mild, the load isn't onerous, Interstates are built for lower HP demand, and unless I hit stop'n'go traffic I'll see how things do).

As the block is most easily removed (bolt + wingnut) I'm looking forward to first removing the lower area, then watching for temp rise with A/C cut-in at some point.
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Old 12-23-2012, 09:09 PM   #29 (permalink)
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Quote:
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should be a nice upgrade ,Im going to add some gauges to my CTD. trans temp,pyro temp, and a fuel pressure gauge.and a new scangauge mine is first gen. what length is your old TT and do you expect to loose or gain mpg
I'm using ULTRAGUAGE as regular mech gauges are expensive. I may add one or two of those once I have a better idea of what I want to read.

The old TT was a 34'. Of a slightly different construction and aero design than the newest one. The new one is also wider and possibly taller though I haven't measured that yet. I would expect -- all other things the same -- that the older would be slightly better in handling off-centerline crosswinds thus possibly better in overall long-term mpg. This one is rather square in comparison (12-deg radius walls versus 22-deg).

I believe it rather easy to hit that 14/16-mpg with an Airstream type TT when using a CTD. The dedicated ecomodder will do slightly better. I look at it as mainly being able to predict long term costs . . and fuel is a good "instant" gauge of how I am doing in that regard.

Let's look at it another way. My northbound leg the other day, solo, was at 16-cpm. If I can see 14-mpg with the TT in tow southbound,
then 27-cpm is a decent baseline for future comparisons. My roundtrip expense would be 22-cpm to get the trailer home (had I only to have made [1] trip). At an est. 940-miles this would be just over $200 in fuel.

The grille block definitely shortened warm-up time/distance, and helped me maintain a higher engine temp once at highway speeds.

AFAICT, the effect drops off once ambient is around 60F. Becomes really marginal.

.
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Old 12-23-2012, 09:38 PM   #30 (permalink)
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my grill block (Full upper) using clear packing tape has raised my temp by 11* to191* max on scangauge harder to see on stock gauge . this is still below the 200*-210* that I believe is optimum. my resent trip back home at 60mph netted my best mileage to date of 22.12mpg if I can tow at 16 mpg I'll be a happy man.

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