New Member - Oregon

[Oceanic815]

Hello All,

Have been lurking for some time but have finally decided to pull the trigger and join. I have the below vehicles:

2002 Ford Escape [Maverick for you UK guys], no mods planned
1994 Buick LeSabre [only 64k miles], no mods yet
1987 Jeep Comanche 2wd, fiberglass canopy/topper, minor mods

I have been tracking my mpg via fuelly since early 2012 for the Ford [16.6 mpg overall] and Jeep [19.8 mpg overall], but not for the Buick as it has not been running until recently.

Minor mods to the Jeep include blocking 4 of 10 grille slots and modifying an S10 lower valance to extend the OEM air dam, but mods are still very embryonic and are prototypes, and more for my learning and education than anything... and I look forward to learning more!

Regards.

[mcrews]

welcome!
raise the psi to 40+
Get a scangauge (see link in sig)
adjust the nut behind the wheel

[Oceanic815]

Originally Posted by mcrews

welcome!
raise the psi to 40+
Get a scangauge (see link in sig)
adjust the nut behind the wheel

Indeed; the nut behind the wheel is already adjusted to eco driving [is that the right term?].

[elhigh]

That's the right term.

Start a garage page for your vehicles. It's fun to watch the numbers.

I'm especially interested to know more about the Jeep. Is that the 4x4 or 4x2, straight 4 or straight 6 engine? I always wanted a Comanche and if my Toyota ever dies, I'm going to go looking for a not-beat-to-hell Comanche to replace it.

[Oceanic815]

Hi elhigh,

The Jeep is a 1987 AMC Jeep MJ Comanche base model, short bed, 2wd, 2.5 inline four, AX-4 four speed, no factory a/c, power nothing except steering and brakes, and currently 204k on it. The truck has a contoured fiberglass canopy/topper on it during the winter to add weight over the back tires.

It has oversized 245/70/16 tires on 16x7 Grand Cherokee Silverstar alloy wheels during the summer [225/75/15 stock] which yield a 4.3% increase in diameter, and studded winter tires [235/75/15] on 15x8 Wrangler Gambler alloy wheels that are 2.1% larger that I have to take in account for when I calculate mileage. As mentioned above, I have been tracking my mileage on fuelly but it does not take in to account the larger tires.

In the future, I intend to remove the 1" spacer pucks on the front coils and change to XJ rear shackles which will drop the rear 1/2". The current shackles lift the rear 1/2" and the rear leaf springs are from a 4wd model as I was experiencing sag on one side with the original springs; the 4wd springs are 4-leaf packs instead of the original 3-leaf packs and yield a 1.5" lift themselves but allow greater carrying capacity. The truck currently has a noticeable rake to it.

I picked up the Jeep in 2007 when I was looking for a cheap truck- only paid $440 for it but have done lots of repair and maintenance work to it since then.

[elhigh]

$440, sweet deal. I can excuse a lot of touchup work for less than half a $grand.

That AMC 2.5 is a tough engine. Not big power, but just sturdy. It's essentially a 4.0 with the two middle cylinders sawed out. I fantasized about building a stroker version of one but there's no parts support to make it happen. I'd have to get the crank made custom - high dollar for modest gain, and I don't even own a Jeep, so it's only a castle in the air.

[Oceanic815]

Originally Posted by elhigh

$440, sweet deal. I can excuse a lot of touchup work for less than half a $grand.

That AMC 2.5 is a tough engine. Not big power, but just sturdy. It's essentially a 4.0 with the two middle cylinders sawed out. I fantasized about building a stroker version of one but there's no parts support to make it happen. I'd have to get the crank made custom - high dollar for modest gain, and I don't even own a Jeep, so it's only a castle in the air.

There is a bit of info on building a 2.5 on www dot 4 banger jp dot com (my noob status won't let me post links yet), with dual carbs and roller rockers and the like- allegedly the stock cam is pretty aggressive as it is, but I'll just stick with my current anemic engine and stay up to date on maintenance on it.

[user removed]

Welcome, I'd be trying for 30 MPG in the Buick.

regards
Mech

[Oceanic815]

Originally Posted by Old Mechanic

Welcome, I'd be trying for 30 MPG in the Buick.

regards
Mech

The Jeep has been my daily driver as the Buick has been out of service for 2 years and still has a split heater core [bypassed], which prevents it from being a winter car [dash to be removed to repair- no thanks]. I have already hit 26 mpg in one tank in the Buick and intend to do more.