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gone9 11-29-2017 07:04 PM

new to forum looking forward to some MPG's
 
Well,
Im new here, been lurking for almost a year on-off now. I have been following a lot of Big Daves stuff with his 2000 f350 The Red Baron.

I have a 1999 f250 supercab, short bed 4dr 7.3l diesel with the following:

when I was bone stock 65-67mph I got 19.4 mpg best highway and about 14-16 town average. After level kit and tires about 17.6 best highway and town is roughly 14-15.5ish... I manually calculate since even with a corrected speedo its off a bit. I have an edge insight monitor but it seems useless for average or instant mpg.

2.5in level kit, 285/75r16 tires, AIS Motorcraft severe duty intake, straight pipe exhaust, hydra chip.

I know its not your average eco modder set up but im new and already realized the level kit and tires cost me about 1.5 on average. I take a couple trips to my home in northern Idaho to see family, hunt, etc...


Probably going to get a soft tonneau cover and POSSIBLY fab a air dam like Big Dave did since I don't have snow to deal with in CA.

Hoping to pick up a few tricks.


p.s. I may look at gearing too. I have 3:73's but I may try for some 3:55's seems highest I can fine for a superduty 7.3l. I may also go back to stock suspension and lower the rear about 1.5-2inches to level too.

I also have what diesel runners call the 08+ upgrade mirrors. A larger square mirror. it helps immensely when towing but Im gonna see about folding them and adding a small mirror on the folded section seems some see a very small gain from reducing drag with mirrors. once I have enough post. I'll show pics. they are big ones lol

gone9 11-29-2017 07:11 PM

Seemed Big dave gained 1-1.5mpg with a tonneau and I drive to sac for night school so tis about a 105mile round trip once a week plus about a 24 mile trip to work during the day.

any thougts for this tonneau cover?

soft, with sectional supports, and soft may help with drag better than a solid top plus lets me use the bed for lumber, and 5th wheel when need be etc.

cant post links yet. sorry


I really want an aercap,aeroshell or whatever the term is but seems a bit past my tools ability right now plus my wife might have a few things to say lol....

gone9 11-29-2017 09:31 PM

found another diesel hypermile dude in san fran. Not sure hes around anymore but I like his semi aerocap it appears to be about 10 or so inches below the the roof line so you can still see out the back window etc.

He even went as far as removing power steering, AC, and adding a solar kit to keep dash lights lit after completing LED switch.

gone9 11-29-2017 11:32 PM

The link below shows the diy half aeroshell.

Seemed to work well anyone else use something similar?

https://www.google.com/amp/www.instr...famp_page=true

Daschicken 11-30-2017 12:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by justinooo9 (Post 555358)
I know its not your average eco modder set up but im new and already realized the level kit and tires cost me about 1.5 on average. I take a couple trips to my home in northern Idaho to see family, hunt, etc...

Oh don't worry about that, we've got plenty of truckers on here. I am an advocate of getting the vehicle you want, then driving and modding it efficiently.

Lost mpg from a level kit? I'm guessing was at the same time as the new tires. Does the level kit raise the front to the same height as rear, or does it drop the rear to front level?

gone9 11-30-2017 12:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Daschicken (Post 555375)
Oh don't worry about that, we've got plenty of truckers on here. I am an advocate of getting the vehicle you want, then driving and modding it efficiently.

Lost mpg from a level kit? I'm guessing was at the same time as the new tires. Does the level kit raise the front to the same height as rear, or does it drop the rear to front level?



Just a front level kit. My truck came with the tow package so the rear end was almost 3.5 taller than the worn out springs in the front.

I’m thinking going back to stock height in front and switching blocks in the rear to still sit level. The tires were a 265/75r16 stock and I went to 285/75r16.

Budget is little low since I got a new turbo compressor wheel. 5+ more psi boost, lower egts, better low and top end, no ecm programming needed either.

At the very least a tonneau cover. But I’d love to break 20mpg or more on a 7700lb 4c4 diesel haha.

Daox 11-30-2017 09:22 AM

Welcome to the site Justin. Sounds like you have a good handle on what needs to be done.

For testing a tonneau, you can just slap a piece of wood on the back to see what it'll gain you.

elhigh 11-30-2017 10:42 AM

Getting your front back down to stock height and lowering the rear to match is the way to go. Then add the air dam, it should make a noticeable improvement. Trucks are wide open for aero improvements.

Seconded for throwing a sheet of plywood on the bed for quickie tonneau tests, and I recommend a rigid tonneau instead of a soft one, if that's the route you go. I think any flapping the top does is going to induce turbulence. Turbulence Is Bad.

This is someone's Master's Degree thesis digging into the various things you can add to a pickup to reduce its aero drag: http://csus-dspace.calstate.edu/bits...d-finished.pdf By his experiments the tonneau was only good for about 1.5% improvement, but that was with a generic "truck" shape. Your real world results, as they say, may vary.

Other trucks, especially ones modded for top speed runs at Bonneville, have run with half-tonneaus covering the bed from about the midline of the rear wheels back, with a solid bulkhead at the front. This leaves a large open space between the bulkhead and the rear of the cab. I have no idea whether and/or how big an improvement that would provide, but it's interesting to think about. If nothing else it would allow you to continue to use the truck as a truck for things that aren't too big or heavy, just toss them in over the side.

I say for the price of a sheet of plywood and a few minutes with some ratchet straps, a stop watch and a few runs down a hill, what more is there to lose? The improvements could be significant.

gone9 11-30-2017 11:09 AM

thanks for the info, looks like I have some reading (probably skimming) hahaha. I saw the little chart showing a wing from the top/rear of the cab and a cover from the middle of the bed to the tail gate but looked like more work than I was willing to do. Esp to make it somewhat nice/sturdy.

I plan on getting a couple of sheets not this weekend, but next. I already have 4 holes in my bed rails from a previous camper shell so should be a little easier.

The link I shared also shows someone making an angled tonneau cover with a two elongated trianble pieces of plywood on the side and a tonneau cover over the top. He said the angle alone was almost a 2mpg improvement but I'll start doing some more testing soon.

Truck got hit at an intersection so shes getting a facelift right now.

was there talk about how far the air dam should be off the ground? I'll probably try to make mine no higher then the lowest point of my wifes car as a reference and for approach in/out of parking lots, but did anyone see results with a super short vs med, vs super low handing dam?


oops sorry didn't see the air dam section of the calstate doc lol.

gone9 11-30-2017 11:50 AM

Im doing a nice 2000 mile round trip this December to Northern Idaho too. Im gonna bring back some conveyor belt from my Dads place. Im gonna copy Big Dave no lies lol.... I'll do some measuring but i'll probably make it as low to the ground as possible since 99% of the time I don't deal with snow

gone9 12-01-2017 10:46 AM

small update:

Found a short bed are hard top tonneau cover for $125!! even if the guy can find the hardware I can put some bolts through it with some rubber spacers and camper tape to seal it off from the rain.

I drew up some sketches to where I had a 3 piece plywood unit that folded up between the fender wells and laid flat in case I use the bed but for $125 I may got for the hard cover. it looks like fiberglass and molded over the tailgate with a lock too.

gone9 12-02-2017 03:55 PM

Well, wife heard me yammering about fuel economy and the truck. She ordered me a tri fold soft tonneau cover lol. Seems it would be a good mix for covering items in the bed, yet semi rigid for the hopefully improved economy.

I leave in late December and I have the recording from last trip only a month earlier the prior year. So if I’m hitting 18-19 mpg I’ll know there was an improvement.

16.7- running 80hp time 65-68mph average.
17.7 running stock ecm file stopped at same gas stations on the way back.
Little over 2k miles round trip. Drastic elevation changes, big up/down hills but again if a tonneau helps me I’ll know at the pumps.


Here is the link to what she ordered me:

https://www.realtruck.com/american-t...tonneau-cover/

elhigh 12-03-2017 08:06 AM

Excellent find on the cover. That's a good price if it's in good condition.

Only take the air dam as far down as the lowest hanging pieces of your undercarriage, but as far out to the sides as possible to cover the tires. Lower than that and the improvement gets negated by the increased area.

Besides that I've read stories that described improvement all the way down to the ground, but every time the dam scraped the road the driver would grit his teeth. There's a point beyond which the improvement in performance isn't worth the added discomfort.

Looking forward to seeing how this goes. Start a garage page for your truck and we'll all be able to follow along.

puddleglum 12-03-2017 11:02 PM

I agree with elhigh on the air dam. Raising the front probably created even more turbulence under the truck than before. Anything you can do to smooth out the airflow will help. You may want to consider making a belly pan as well as an air dam.

gone9 12-04-2017 01:03 AM

My buddies brother works at some sort of factory that makes big rubber belts lol. Once I get my truck back from the body shop I’ll take some measurements for a air dam.

I’m going to try the tonneau cover, Mirrors folded for about 2k miles in late Dec this year. Then hopefully within a week I can get a rough air dam that doesn’t interfere with daily use.

I’ll see about adding a pic of the current set up now and then after each mod etc

gone9 11-27-2018 04:00 PM

The tonneau cover has been a nice addition and clear fuel economy improvement. average 1-1.5mpg consistently. It even got me almost summer blend diesel mpg out of winter blend. I can't say the fuel additives are good/bad but for diesels I feel the power service product diesel kleen made an improvement in winter blended fuels for me.

Air dam is a little more difficult because of deep snow so I am looking for another front used bumper to modify. The superduty front bumpers are only held on by 4 bolts and are very easy. So I will have an air dam in the garage for winters then 10 min swap to air dam in summers.

I looked into lowering the truck but its not cost effective at the moment. I would need new oem front leaf springs around $140+ each even used outrageous. then swap the rear block for another with the same angle. Plus getting shorter shocks for the front.

I have dabbled with the idea of an angled tonneau cover for simpleness but this winter I will have more inside time to see about fabricating a small frame and possibly some sort of plastic for the shell. My brother is a much more accomplished fabricator then me so he would probably help choose material and assembly etc.


other mods that improve driveability but not measureably mpg.

-Motorcraft AIS severe duty intake-more direct ram intake style along with whats called a zoodad mod for the 99-07 powerstrokes.

-wicked wheel 2 turbo wheel-lowered egts, builds boost faster,

-power hungry performance chip-Love the high idle and no start features and can get custom tunes for shifting.

-straight pipe-lowered egts, way more sound, interestingly little more get up on low end acceleration too.


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