engine mods worth doing?

[saand]

dmac regarding your comment about a scangauge, i dont have one myself as i made an equivalent myself (which ended up being free for me since im an elec engineer and have availability to free components) if you dont want to spend the coin on a scangauge there are alternatives
I have seen reports you can get scangauges cheaper second hand on ebay and things like that, according to the wiki page one user got one for $98 second hand i assume
ScanGauge OBD-II computer - EcoModder

Also there are alternatives to the scan gauge that are cheaper, not necissarily as reliable but see some of the options are in the wiki link below
MPGuino DIY fuel consumption computer - EcoModder

I have also seen someone looking to get an iphone adapter for the obd port you might be able to find the thread if you search for it.

Without instrumentation you can still use all the hypermiling techniques you may just not know exactly what works for you and what doesn't.

[Domman56]

Originally Posted by redyaris

What we are looking for in better fuel economy is the minimum amount of power, so what can you do to get less power? use a lower displacement engine! Better aerodynamics reduces the power needed to go at any given speed, all else being equel. I think wikipedia has some good articles on Internal combustion engines.

Wrong that's why many midsize trucs like the f150 and silverado and the tundra in fact get better mileage in their V8's than they do in the V6's cause the V6 is just underpowered and not as efficient with such a large vehicle Make ur motor less efficient and have less power for better mileage? really? so none of us should ever do oil changes or change filters or tune up our cars that way they'll have less power and get better gas mileage suure

[Daox]

Originally Posted by Domman56

Wrong that's why many midsize trucs like the f150 and silverado and the tundra in fact get better mileage in their V8's than they do in the V6's cause the V6 is just underpowered and not as efficient with such a large vehicle Make ur motor less efficient and have less power for better mileage? really? so none of us should ever do oil changes or change filters or tune up our cars that way they'll have less power and get better gas mileage suure

Wrong. Take a look at the EPA tests and see what ones get better mileage. Its the smaller engined trucks. This goes for every vehicle I have ever seen with a small and large engine selection.

Left to right: 4.2L, 4.6L, 5.6L

[redyaris]

Originally Posted by Domman56

Wrong that's why many midsize trucs like the f150 and silverado and the tundra in fact get better mileage in their V8's than they do in the V6's cause the V6 is just underpowered and not as efficient with such a large vehicle Make ur motor less efficient and have less power for better mileage? really? so none of us should ever do oil changes or change filters or tune up our cars that way they'll have less power and get better gas mileage suure

Like your classic car, this is a classic form of argument:
1 Ignore what the other person said.
2 Construct a ridiculous proposition that has nothing to do with issue.
3 Make argument against your own ridiculouse construct.
4 And there you are, a legend in your own mind.

[Zerohour]

Well there may be some truth to what Domman is saying, but I think it is less evident today than it was 20-30 years ago.

Depending on where you live, depending on how you drive, depending on your geography there are scenarios when the V8 will achieve better MPG. If you look back to 6s versus 8s and put them in a hilly area you can get better MPG out of the 8 because it has enough power to stay in a higher gear when driving through hills.

If you take the same setup (6 vs. 8) and place them in a city with stop and go traffic the 6 is going to win out because of less consumption at idle and acceleration.

Its the same way you can argue mass of vehicle. Reducing too much will kill your coasting capabilities. So you may be able to do more with more and not more with less.

BACK TO THE QUESTION AT HAND!

Some mods that might help your truck would be intake and exhaust, but generally with an engine that large you may end up using more fuel. The Dodge generally has enough power to do the job. Some of us with the smaller engines may see gains since you don't need to wind out the smaller engine when merging highways or trying to accelerate out from lights. Your Dodge @ 2,000 RPM is probably making more HP/Torque than the guys and gals with smaller engines are at the peaks.

The intake itself might benefit from the "warm air intakes"

But the truck might benefit from lowering springs or air blocking. You may not want to lower your truck if it is used as a truck :-p But the air blocks should do you some good.

Wheel skirts might be a large benefit on the truck. From what I understand the larger the wheel gap the worse your side aero works. Trucks have ALOT of suspension travel, thus ALOT of wheel gap. You could go full skirt, or even gap reducing arches to see if that helps your MPG.

[dcb]

Originally Posted by Zerohour

...
Some mods that might help your truck would be intake and exhaust

no, not likely, not worth mentioning.