97 Ranger aero project.

[mackerel]

Originally Posted by JRMichler

Methinks he wants to be the first person on this site with a truck showing "90 day: 40 MPG" under his avatar.

Yeah. Me too.

[user removed]

Two pictures of step 1. You can see the black windshield adhesive between the panels and the metal frame which is welded together. Total time to construct, about 7 hours, this weekend. The panels were $35 and the adhesive was $26. Still a long way to go with the rear but that wont take too long. The two small pieces of wood in the second picture are where the cap attaches to the factory holes in the top of the bed. Two more in the rear not shown in the photos. Disconnect one side and it can pivot on the other side, sideways in relation to the truck. The wood pieces are shaped to fit precisely in the slots in the bed and I used 4 scews going in sideways to keep them from lifting out of their position, which would allow the whole thing to fly off the truck at higher speeds.

regards
Mech

[user removed]

Topped the tank off today. 40 miles was with the cap installed. 30.49 MPG in colder weather than the last fill. Under 10 cents a mile in direct fuel cost ($2.97 per gal). We'll see what the next fill shows with the cap on all of that time.

I think the next thing will be the grille block. Plenty of room between the front bumper and the bottom of the grille and the opening in the bumper, for a 100% grille block.

Easy to tell the difference in coasting. Now it is comparable to the Altima.

regards
Mech

[2000neon]

Cool! I like it. I don't know if I missed it, but material did you use between the cap and back wall of the truck cab?

[user removed]

Originally Posted by 2000neon

Cool! I like it. I don't know if I missed it, but material did you use between the cap and back wall of the truck cab?

You didn't miss it there is nothing there for now. Filling that gap and smoothing out the transition point will be after I get it hinged so I can make sure the seal works with the cap open and shut.
Plenty of room for refinement but for now I feel a grille block is the next step. In the meantime, I'll ponder the next step with the cap, since I have some time.

regards
Mech

[user removed]

Grille block.

regards
Mech

[ps2fixer]

Looking good, I bet with some warm weather and eco driving you could pull 35-40mpg with how it sits now .

[user removed]

Yeah the 97 was the last of both the twin I beam and 2.3 liter SOHC 2 valve trucks. 2800 pounds curb weight. 9.4 to 1 compression with the tallest final drive combination you could get with the 4 cylinder engine and manual tansmission, no power steering, just the alternator, water pump and AC compressor on one serpentine belt. The 97 also had a lot of aero tweaks for it's time, flush mounted door glass, no drip rails, flush mounted windshield. Even the mirrors are very small for a truck. I did not know the cylinder head was cast iron, but it's older tech, crossflow, with offset intake and exhaust valves for some swirl and dual plugs.
Even with the colder weather, I am hoping to get close to 35 on the next tank.
regards
Mech

[MetroMPG]

Originally Posted by Old Mechanic

Topped the tank off today. 40 miles was with the cap installed. 30.49 MPG in colder weather than the last fill.

Congrats.

Can you give us some context for that number? What type of driving - city? Rural? Speeds?

[MetroMPG]

For comparison:

Member "Cons" has a thread about his modified '04 Ranger, and he's been able to squeeze some decent numbers from it:



http://ecomodder.com/forum/showthrea...ger-14069.html