The Bee, Mazda B4000
 

This will be my ecomodding thread, only a/b testing, unless I do not see an improvement. Because I don't have accurate gauges spedo/odo I will be basing all milage on my garmin gps. I hope (and prob can) go 2 weeks on a tank of gas so ea mod will be done over a period of time.
The truck
1996, Extra cab, 5spd, 4.0 V6, 4x4, Ttb front suspension, .4 cd, roll up windows, power brakes/steering, 31x10.5 tires on 15" wheels
Mechanically it is sound, no slop in the steering, alignment, is good (based on tire wear, clutch works good, and the motor runs smooth. Much better than my Sub.
33% epa improvement over my previous truck. Yea me.
Will post a pic when I get home tonight.:thumbup:
Thankyou for looking

What are your plans for mods?

Planned mods,

Front airdam,
Tonneau cover,
Ac delete, (broken)
Scan gauge.

Suggestions welcome.:thumbup:
Oh yeah, fix the door lock,& ignition switch.

I just finished doing an e-fan on my tacoma I dont know if your truck has an electric fan but it made it so my "magic number" went up aka the number at which you get the best mpg but if i can go 57 instead of 53 that makes me happy I have a scangauge also and that helps! I am building a aero cap this summer which im told is far superior to a tonneau cover here is a link to a great build this guy is doing:
http://ecomodder.com/forum/showthrea...9-a-23152.html
hope this helps!!

Yup love that build, just don't know if I have that kind of talent:thumbup:. I put a e fan in my 22re powered Celica and gained about 1.5-2 mpgs, so that is also a possibility in this rig to. Don't remember where but I have seen a graph for pickups where a cab wing and toneau are within a couple hundredths of a perfect aero cap.
Currently the truck runs a little hotter than I like(no grill block yet) got to figure out why.

Good readin.
http://ecomodder.com/forum/showthrea...ver-124-3.html
And the graph I was thinking of...
http://i1240.photobucket.com/albums/...ps34dde95d.jpg

And a pic of the truck...
http://i1240.photobucket.com/albums/...ps4a1c7969.jpg

hey dont know if you can do anything like this in your truck it was easy for me to pull of the belts..
http://ecomodder.com/forum/showthrea...off-26034.html

Did that on my Celi, but I believe this truck has a serpintine(spelling?) belt.

I did my first mod today after work.
http://i1240.photobucket.com/albums/...ps3731528d.jpg

nice and as far as spelling man I knew what you meant haha
let me know what kind of mileage improvements you see because yesterday it i filled up and got 35.9 mpg just over 62 miles but it gives me hope for these little trucks!!

I have only driven the truck about 20mi from the time I put the airdam on, on my first drive with it the radiator temps stayed down:confused: and the truck was less affected by crosswinds:cool:
I suspect I am running right around 19-20 mpg right now but won't know untill I fill up on thursday(payday) I have driven 245 mi (gps)on a tiny bit more than a half tank 20g tank.

The wife thought the airdam was factory:thumbup:

"The wife thought the airdam was factory"
perfect! haha i get a kick out of explaining why I dont have/want P/S...

Yeah me to lol.
First fill up today, 14.8 gallons taken, 298 mi driven, works out to a touch over 20 mpg. :thumbup:the last 60 mi I had the new airdam on, the motor runs a bit cooler, vs without.:cool:
I can usually drive a car to meet highway epa # on my comute without mods, even though it is only 10 mi ea way and about 70/30 highway/city. I consider this a good baseline and will be modding now:D

Just joined the pickup team!:turtle:

Woohoo!!

You should join to, help build up the team.

Been thinking, 4" Black abs pipe from the cab top to 10.5 " above the tailgate, in a nice gracefull curve. With sheet abs for the sides and top. A hinge at the front so the center section lifts for loading and unloading aluminum angle to frame windows and doors, and c xlanps to hold it down.
What you guys think?

So google search revealed...
3.27 axle gears
69.4" wide, 67.5" tall, stock truck

Mine has 3" taller than stock tires, so 69" tall or so and running 1800 -1900rpm @60 mph.
Going to figure frontal area soon as I find the formula.

I'm not sure I understand your question about your aero cap as far as the design I get the lifting part the hinge and clamping system otherwise Im lost:( have you looked at this thread?
http://ecomodder.com/forum/showthrea...9-a-23152.html

Yeah sorry for the confusion. Mostly ? about dimensions.
Will 4" pipe give me the needed 2" radius for the corners? And will 10.5" off the tailgate, be close to template?
Love the thread on the taco, read it a couple of times and just not sure of doing fiberglass myself.
Thankyou for following aktacoma.

I'm no expert by any means on aero however it was suggested to me to take a piece of wood(pliable) attach it to the cab bend it down to where you want it to go at tailgate height and take a picture then you can compare it to the template

thats what I will do to make sure I can get a good aero cap built.

also no problem!

I joined pickup team 1 more mpg and we can be higher than team hyundai:D

Woohoo!

I hauled some 12' lumber home in the Bee yesterday, and discovered a way to keep cool without the side window all the way down. With the back window open and the drivers side cracked there is a nice breeze blowing forward.

yeah my 93 F-350 has those triangle windows and if you crack both of them and open up the back window its amazing how much air gets moved around the cab just make sure not to have loose papers in your truck:thumbup:

This little truck has been parked except for hunting, rafting, and other things requiring a truck. My Celica is back on the road, :) so 30+ mpg instead of 20ish mpgs. Giddity, Giddity.

So went to register the truck the other day and the dmv didnt have my plates on file anymore:(. I left them in the truck and forgot to bring them with, so I cannot drive it even if I want to. Will cost me $80 for the year.

So I haven't driven fhis little truck since igot my car back lol. Ithas moved in the yard a coup le of times but nothing significant.

Have you never considered to retrofit a small Diesel on that rig?

A small diesel with roughly the same power would be great imo.
What needs to be done soon...
U joints,
Alignment,
Figure out why the temp gauge is all over the place. (fluctuates between a little below 1/2&3/4).
Also need to replace the fuel filler coupler.
Oh and finally got more gas in the truck, just put $20 in.

Torque and the RPM bands are what matters more than power :thumbup:

Let me clarify,
When i refer to power, i refer to the combo of hp and tq.
I like the 200tq avalible from my 4.0 engine, but if i could have a 2.0 diesel with 250 tqs and 150 hp, oh and the money to have a shop drop it in i would so do it.
Probably be good for a 50% increase in fe aka 30ish mpg.

The good about the truck is it is fairly light 3500ish lbs, and narrow unlike the modern "small" trucks. The bad, that huge lump of iron that is called a modern engine oh and a part time 4x4 system that causes alot more drivetrain drag.