Re-geared and free-spinned the 3500 4x4 diesel

[gumby79]

Its only 60ish mi across Idaho to Montana were they can do 70-75mph lol

[ctmaybury@yahoo.com]

Last March, I did a trip from CO east to the coast in so Carolina down to Fl back west to Tx and back up to Co. Most of that was on interstate hwy with 75 mph speed limit. I'll have to look at my fuel log to see how many tanks I went through, but it was alot. I want to put another tank in the bed for the next trip.

[skyking]

Originally Posted by gumby79

Its only 60ish mi across Idaho to Montana were they can do 70-75mph lol

Even in Montana I kept the speeds at or below 65.
ST tires are not rated above 65 mph. Blown tires cause a great deal of damage at a minimum, and up to loss of life.
Not worth it.

[ctmaybury@yahoo.com]

My tires on the truck are e rated 10 ply and I run 75psi. Don't know what speed they are rated for, but it is well beyond 65 I would think. Trailer tires are only d rated, but have a solid rubber band on the rims for run flat if necessary. Truck and trailer feel very stable at that speed.

[Hersbird]

My new travel trailer came with 75 mph rated tires. Apparently they make 87 mph rated trailer tires now 😯!

[skyking]

And none of that has anything to do with my truck thread. It really has nothing to do with getting good economy either

[ctmaybury@yahoo.com]

Sorry

[skyking]

I got a decent test run in today.
The new engine has about 1300 miles on it.
Bare truck, ~34" Nitto Grapplers @65 PSI. 3.42 gears. Late model G56. ~1540 RPM @ 60 MPH, 170 miles at mostly 60 through Seattle and back. 23.4 MPG
Next move is to put on some Michelin highway tires at the stock size, about 31.7"
I think the superior tread on the Michelins will outdo the longer legs of the big but noisy Nitto mud and snow tires.

[slowmover]

1.4-1.7 mpg is my bet.

Very promising start!!

My mpg numbers have been based on 1725-rpm at 58/9-mph with earlier manual trans NV5600 and 3.73 gears. Michelin LTX. First A/S (best) of now M/S. Where I don't fall below 24-mpg with truck from 7400 to 8800 lbs. Rain or shine, winter or summer. Traffic or no traffic of consequence. And always across Houston. All on Gulf Coast plain. More than 20k miles total. Highs of 27. Usually 25+. Same stops every time. Separated from any city miles. All highway only numbers.

Had I an extra OD gear for purely solo cruising I believe I'd be at nearly 30 on that route. Might need some aero help to do it, but 3.42 years are as high as are reasonable for my use.

[skyking]

Here is the tire I ran today. It is quite noisy compared to even the old Bf Goodrich M+S I was running.https://www.nittotire.com/light-truc...ht-truck-tire/
I may have a run south to look at a travel trailer for a friend.
I am moving forward with these informal runs. They are not perfect; Diesel was $0.25 cheaper a few miles from the freeway today, for example. I won't re-top off, and I will have about 20 miles of slower travel from the station to my house, and back out to the interstate. Once I get there It is cruise @ 60 MPH if possible, and foot feed to as close as I can when the traffic gets to pulsing.
I just checked and it is 90 miles one way, with 16 miles of less-than-freeway speeds.
It is not the gulf plain for sure. There are a handful of grades that have a truck lane added. The light trucks and hotrods climb them with ease, but the properly loaded trucks get down to 40 or so. This is to give you an idea of the run.