The Elephant in the Room

[Twerp]

Hello. A friend of mine told me about this site. I'm not sure if he's a member or not. He prolly will be as soon as he acquires a vehicle to ecomod. I've been checking it out for the past week and a few days ago I became a member. Currently I've got my V6 Tundra which I'm looking to moderately mod out. It's designed for fuel economy much like an elephant is designed for tight rope walking. If I can save up the money, I might try to get a cheap Geo Metro or something similar which I won't mind getting drastic with. The only other thing I have is a 94 Honda Magna, which I may end up trading for that Metro or something which would go a little better in the rain and the cold. For now though, I need help training my elephant on the balance beam.

[SVOboy]

Welcome to ecomodder! What kinda mileage are you getting with the truck, right now?

[Twerp]

To my best estimate, I get between 18 and 20mpg. The summer gas seems to run closer to the 20 mark. I'm considering getting a Scan Gauge so that I can keep better and more accurate track of my fuel mileage.

[SVOboy]

The SG is definitely the way to go, with some mods and driving tweaks you should easily climb up higher in the 20s.

[Daox]

Welcome to EM.

What is your daily commute like?

[Twerp]

At the moment, there is no commute. I'll be starting a new job soon and it's about a 45 to 60minute trip. So that's why I'm so interested in fuel economy all of the sudden. That and the price of gas is expected to go much higher before long. The non-highway route is the most direct. There are a few stop lights, but the route is mostly a straight shot. There are some hills and some turns and some straight aways. It goes through a couple small town centers where the speed limit goes down to 30, but for the most part it's between 45 and 55. I'll be working the night shift, so for the most part, I should be alone on the road for the way there. The way back will involve some traffic.

[Daox]

If you can stay off the highway you are going to much better off. If you can stay off the brakes in the small towns you are going to get even better mileage. I'd still seriously look at a cheap small car though as it'll easily double if not triple your mileage.

[Twerp]

That's the eventual plan, but I need to make a few paychecks and pay a few bills first. As the weather warms up, I'll prolly be able to commute my bike and get around 40mpg, but it needs a bit of work first. I just discovered that I have a leaky fork seal.

[trikkonceptz]

If you do not plan on using the 4wd feature on your truck over the summer, can you remove the shaft? That should help you also..

[Twerp]

I'll have to look into that. There have been a few times where I needed to put it into 4wd in the in-law's driveway, even when there was no snow. Mostly it was to access the low range so that I didn't burn my clutch when doing some creative tight maneuvering (long story). Even if I do disconnect the drive shaft, the front wheels will still turn the front axles, which will still turn the front diff. I'm not sure how much difference the drive shaft will make at that point. I've looked into locking hubs, but that seems like an expensive and labor intensive route. I think my first step is to get the SG so that I know what benefit I actually reap from the mods that I do. I'm hoping to put a little tax rebate money toward that so I should have one in maybe a couple weeks. Once I have that, I'll get under the truck and see what I can disconnect.