2004 Dodge Ram - had to bite the bullet and get a truck

[MetroMPG]

Does this truck have cylinder deactivation? I once drove one of these Hemi Rams around this model year, and it had the feature.

[non-prophet]

Unfortunately not. This was the best I could find in good shape within my price range. I'm hoping to stick it out for maybe 2 years with it and reevaluate. I'm hoping by then I can afford to get something newer, diesel and manual, but we'll see.

I drove it around town a little today to get used to it. It's pretty bad on gas in the city, but not quite as bad as I expected, so there's a plus (going by the factory eco meter).

[non-prophet]

It will only take 20 out of town shows for this thing to pay itself off in the savings on rentals, so there's another plus.

[non-prophet]

Looking at it closely, there are some large caverns that will get filled with coroplast next week. I want to get a baseline of highway gas mileage first.

[slowmover]

Originally Posted by non-prophet

It will only take 20 out of town shows for this thing to pay itself off in the savings on rentals, so there's another plus.

Per mile tax deduction for business use? In the US it is about 55-cents/mile.

There is a CAT Scale in Milton. Get the adjusted empty weight (driver, full fuel + any permanent additions) and adjust payload down accordingly.

Check tire date codes. Anything past five years is suspect. Near seven and time to dump. Tire type is vital, as LT would be the only choice I'd want (not lesser types). Load index.

Even though mine is quite different (3/4T versus 1/2T), the brand & year is the same. I much like this truck and hope your luck matches mine, overall. I have a LEER topper that is closely body fitting. Recommend that also (mine does not have side windows: lighter and no view to interior for crooks). I also have the factory bed liner (plastic, not spray in). I use tubs to parcel the interior load . . basically slide it around to access whtat I want. This works well, so I suggest something similar to load your equipment.

.

[non-prophet]

Alright, so I have some results from a 360km trip. It was the maiden voyage for this beast, and it rained a lot both ways. I don't have a scan gauge yet, so I'm going by the factory eco display.

On the way down to Windsor (from Toronto). a 3.5 hour trip took over 5 hours and we rolled at 10 km/h for a solid stretch around kitchener, as well as a stretch near cambridge.

We averaged 18mpg on the trip down, including a little bit of city driving, and the slow parts of the highway. This is with the truck as is, exposed bed, tailgate up, etc - in the rain.

On the way back, we filled the tires before leaving (they were so low I'm kicking myself for not checking before I left). I averaged 23.4mpg on the 200km trip to London, ontario, where we stopped to buy a topper from someone on craigslist.

Still, same truck, but less rain, and full tires... 4mpg diffrence.

We bought the topper and installed it in London. Drove back to Toronto, 150km. Heavy rain again, 22mpg average.

Quick summary -
350km in rain and bad traffic, low tires - 18mpg
200km in light rain, tires full - 23.4mpg
150km in heavy rain with topper - 22mpg

Not very scientific, but it's a start.

Any ideas on the next move? I have a couple of weeks before I have to take a 600km trip, with a heavier load.

I'll post some pictures later, but the first thing I think I need to do is fill in some of the cavernous spaces on the front.

Next, I have to see if I can fill some of the space between the topper and the cabin (I'll post a picture to show the specific problem - and then all ideas are welcome).

After that, I don't know what my next move is.

[non-prophet]

i should add to that, most of the time on the highway, 100km/h on the dot seemed to be the optimal cruising speed (kept it at 1600rpm most of the time).

[non-prophet]

As I look up truck aero ideas... I keep coming across aerodynamic mudflaps for Semis:
Eco-Flaps
What exactly makes them aerodynamic? IS it hte curve?

[non-prophet]

Here's a better example... they still look to me like they would create drag, but I'm new to this:

[ksa8907]

They will create more drag than not having any, but less drag than the typical solid flap.