No telling what the future might hold..

[Weber95]

Hello ecomodder, I'm normally just a lurked on the site but I thought I'd pop in for a post to get some opinions and ideas. I'm planing a hiking trip and plan on leaving for it in three weeks, but it's 176 miles, 352 miles round trip. It's alot of miles especially for an old pickup truck. So I've been brain storming ideas an the only reasonable aero mods I can think of for a trip like this would be rear wheel skirts, (love to try them an see the reactions from people around me ) upper grill block, (partial?) and maybe I could whip up a good looking set of cardboard wheel covers. That would look fancy! So I'd like to hear your ideas to add on to my list, maybe I could get 27+ mpg for the trip.

[mikeyjd]

Mt or auto trans? You can always pump the tires up and drive slow. That's easy and free

[redpoint5]

Aero is the least of your problems when hiking 352 miles with your pickup truck.

I recommend going slow, and when you get to the trail head, hide any valuables so nobody will break in. Try to plan to have the fuel tank mostly empty by the time you reach the destination (with plenty to get back to a gas station). I had a full tank of gas siphoned from a rental car when I was in Hawaii hiking the Kalalau trail. I imagine your pickup holds more fuel than the compact car I was driving.

[Frank Lee]

You're missing the biggest aero tricks of all. Better lurk some more.

[Weber95]

Originally Posted by mikeyjd

Mt or auto trans? You can always pump the tires up and drive slow. That's easy and free

Manual transmission, 5-speed. I normally do drive slow but the passengers are not the most patient, as for tire pressure I had it up to max sidewall but my dad advised me to lower it some. Plus I'm all for free.

[user removed]

I've been running sidewall max for over 100k miles on several cars over the last decade. Only on my (sold) 94 VX when it still had the original 15 year old tires did I not run sidewall max. Tires last longer and wear evenly.

My 1997 Ranger has a clutch (temperature sensing) driven fan and I run a grille block year around.

regards
Mech