Dodge Ram 2500 eco build

[gumby79]

Well done I see more progress.
The rotating mass reductions you have pursued add up to ~60#, I'd venture to guess equates to ~500-1000# of static weight reduction

The 04.5-07 pistons have some special design for emissions

Non EGR CR Cummins duse not exist.
I found this out when researching parts for an 05 medium duty Cummins with a misbehaving EGR valve the wealth of information that is the internet could only tell me I was not seeing what was in front of me and EGR hit the Dodge/light duity in 04 the physical valve didn't show up until the 08.
Re cam the motor is the only way to remove the non cooled exhaust gas non-recirculating system. By closeing the exhaust valve early they were able to trap spent hot exhaust in the cylinder displaces fresh air on intake stroke making a valveless EGR
---

, I can pull 6th @35 mph running ~900 rpms. never a complaint unless the hill is too steep

How is the 64mm(?s364?) Spooling ,at the extreem low rpms?on grades(5-9%) my 91 with an hx35w12 with a Quick Spool Valve sends in a written complaint using smoke signals running less than 1263 RPM( 55mph in 6th 2ndOD.61, 3.55rear 31.7"tire) due to insufficient air to make power from the fuel causing a rich condition and overly high egts for throttle position and speed 850-1050° ,by 1050@10psi is turning black, drop to 5th(.71 1470 ) 650-750°. Or run 66mph (6th.61 1516)and she spools 15-20psi depending on the grade.
IAT 70° ,that would be a wet dream -2to 20 above ambient with the itty bitty baby intercooler the first gen came with.worst seen so far this winter (its been mild) 11° air filter, 120° post compressor, 9°f IAT @70mph crossing the ID/MT Continental Divide pass

[steve05ram360]

My setup (AFE exhaust mani + the HTT 64mm HE351) starts spooling (off ambient) at 900ish rpms. Seems like the only time there is no spool is off throttle.

[steve05ram360]

Update: Went back and entered in all the fuel receipts that I have in hand, (have them all, just not in one spot) averaged the monthly mpg across all months & over 32K miles the truck is averaging 21.1 mpg. The last 3 months on winter fuel in the PNW area (mild winter), it continues to average 21.

My 2nd air dam mount broke last week, for the 2nd time. Going to need to fab up a better mount for it. Interestingly, it is on the same side as the last time (passenger side) which is telling me there is more force on that side for some reason. Kind of a head scratcher, if anyone has any input on it I'm all ears.

other aero mods still in place, wheel wells, rear tire spats...the bed seals & rear bumper are off, need a permanent solution to the rear bumper issue.

[steve05ram360]

Update...

Came full circle on the rail pressure strategy and found I had bottomed out with the mpg's never really changing from the 20.5~21 mpg range. Would occasionally get 21.5. Decided to go the other direction with it and saw positive results right away getting into the mid 22's. Looking to go further I revisited the bed seal issue I had and decided to put those bed seals back in play but only down to the body line on the bed that goes the length of the truck. Effectively removing turbulence at the cab/bed area above that body line with everything below it was unchanged. I also reinstalled the 2nd air dam I built.

What that (2nd air dam & bed seals) gave me is the ability to now coast down a lot more hills that I couldnt otherwise (same as back when I was in the bet with co-worker). With 90 miles already on the tank, I milked the carp out of it and was rewarded with a 2nd best tank ever of 23.654 mpg's. Thinking that maybe 24's might be achievable on a regular basis as IATs are no where near ideal (70's to 80's, best for my truck is 95+).

Anyways, updated for the next guy...

[steve05ram360]

Another update...

Friday I made my own lower bed seal (to the cab) to finish off the 3 seal install that the newer rams have. Was surprised by how much farther I can coast before loosing too much speed. It made a noticeable difference.

It is all detailed in this thread... would need to go back to the previous friday in that thread for pics of what I did.

https://www.cumminsforum.com/threads...#post-29492601

After the install I short filled the tank so I have good data for 4 days of commute driving to compare against. Was surprised to get a 21.1 mpg out of the 125 miles on that tank. That is high for my truck given that 90% of the miles were all in town... (nothing is flat here so I get to coast a lot).

Looking at doing some ducted cooling changes in an effort to relieve the high pressure at the front of the truck. If that is successful then I also want to see about leveraging the heat extracted to feed a rear diffuser I plan to build a the back of the truck. The goal there being to help reduce the vacuum pull at the back of the truck. I think there is some decent gains to be had there if I can get the diffuser fed with air correctly. That is a long term project.

I did manage 3 tanks of 23.5-23.6 mpg's in a row, followed by a 22.x tank on a road trip, AC blasting on the return & both e-fans on. Not bad for a 7k # 4x4 truck (I think anyways). Walking up to my truck, you'd have to have an eye for aero mods to notice anything is different from the factory.

[steve05ram360]

Another update...

I am a bit confused by the performance of the horizontal bed seal, it showed a benefit at lower speeds but then ultimately created more drag & downforce on the bed. Truck was very stable at 60~70 mph with vs without. With that though came added drag. I ran a full tank with an eco milkman mentality behind the wheel and mpg's were still in the low 23's. I ended up pulling that seal, watched that stability go away and can feel drag being reduced... (truck feels "lighter").

I explored and tested several things in the back bumper but ultimately, open and left alone was king. anything I did back there just caused drag and that heavy feeling that goes with it. I have concluded that the bumper bracket could be opened up to relieve air pressure back there, how much that will help will remain to be seen.

To date I have 9~10 (would have to go back and look at receipts) tanks over 23. Pretty happy about that given that its a 4wd truck, and a heavy one at that (7k#).

I want to make a front wheel air curtain by pulling air from the front bumper insert and routing it to the wheel well, not sure if that is feasible or not, need to look behind the bumper and determine a route to the fender.

[California98Civic]

Got pictures? It would help.

[steve05ram360]

Pics...




Here is the horizontal bed seal I just mentioned...




Here are the vertical bed seals that I trimmed...





Here is my version of that horizontal bed seal, used garage door seal from home depot and 1/4" plastic panel fasteners.

[California98Civic]

Originally Posted by steve05ram360

...

It is not clear to me how this mod would change the airflow or pressure in the way you are describing. What's your theory for how this mod should/does work? How have you tested it?

[steve05ram360]

Originally Posted by California98Civic

It is not clear to me how this mod would change the airflow or pressure in the way you are describing. What's your theory for how this mod should/does work? How have you tested it?

That seal is doing something in the bed to add downforce, the back end is more stable then without. Two lane roads passing a semi, it is very clear as the truck barely notices the wake from the semi... its rock solid.

MPG took a hit by 0.2~0.3 mpg. How I tested it... I can feel the added drag removed (when I pulled it off) when I tested it out on the hiway & the neutral coast down a hill.

How it is doing it, I am unclear on. Ram felt the need to add that seal sometime back in 2011~2012 on their trucks so they must have found some benefit from it for mpg's.