Ecomodding a pickup truck

[AltFuel]

Lower speeds on the highway and good high pressure low rolling resistance tires. On my truck I noticed a difference just doing these two things.

[Kodak]

Originally Posted by stevenponec

Wouldn't a grill dam block the air intake to cool the engine?

Grill block or air dam?

Grill blocks can have the effect of limiting cooling, yes.

Air dams...well that's a tough one. I have heard of low air dams reducing the differential's cooling when under heavy loads. There was a thread about that very recently you may want to read. If it's a concern, just avoid it.

[euromodder]

Originally Posted by stevenponec

Wouldn't a grill dam block the air intake to cool the engine?

Some of it, and that's the whole point.
You normally don't need all the cooling capacity that was built in to cope with the worst possible conditions, like desert climates.
Hence you can block off a good part of it - watch the engine / coolant temperature though when doing so.
That way you block a sizeable part of the airflow through the engine compartment, which is causing drag and cooling down your engine more than necessary (especially in winter).

Usually the lower grill has more air going to the radiator, and the top grille is well, pretty useless in more moderate climates

[Weather Spotter]

Look through the wiki for mod ideas:
Car MPG Efficiency Modifications Main - EcoModder

[jsatter]

And even a partial grill block will net you some improvement in your mileage. The trick is finding a happy medium that will improve your mileage without the engine overheating.

[busypaws]

For camping think about a couple of solar panels. Harbor freight has a 45Watt panel setup. Add one or two marine batteries and a 1000Watt inverter and you can bring your boom box, coffee pot, reading light... All without burning gas or stopping at every other Starbucks. If you set it up in the bed you can charge the batteries all day and then use the "free" electricity at night.

If you are really good you could do an alternator field discharge switch and use the solar panels/batteries to run most of your electronics. But that would be a big stretch.
I have one of these harbor frieght panels on my house, a couple of, golf cart batteries and an inverter in the furnace room and an outlet in my office and bedroom running off the inverter. It runs my desk light, fan, lamp on night stand.

[stevenponec]

Do you have more information on those harbor freight panels and where you found the panels? For camping that sounds like a great idea!

[busypaws]

Go to: Harbor Freight Tools and see if they have a store in your area. They are the Walmart (cheap, made in China) store for all things tools. I use them for disposable tools, I.E. buying something for a one time project. If it works I put the tool on my Christmas list from a better manufactorer.

[winkosmosis]

Unless the vehicle has a bottom intake, an air dam should improve cooling. It reduces pressure below the engine bay, which helps suck air through the grill and engine bay.