Squeezing MPG's out of a Jeep - or atleast trying.

[Twerp]

I always thought that JK stood for Just Kidding...

After we had finished lifting his Jeep and putting good off road tires on, fuel prices spiked and my friend Jason figured out the most cost effective ecomod. The amount he paid for gas in the Jeep would cover the monthly payment, insurance, registration and fuel for the brand new Toyota Yaris that he just bought, with money to spare. Granted, he is commuting two hours each way between Nashua, NH and Boston. Still, not only is he saving on fuel, but evidently, by changing the status of the Jeep to "recreational use only" and putting the Yaris as the daily driver, he is saving some money on his insurance too. At least, that's what he claims...

[johnpr]

switching from jeep1 to the civic increased my insurance quite a bit, my car payments are a little less with my civic. i ended up switching insurance companies and now i am paying a lot less in insurance but its different for everyone im sure.

[JJW]

Originally Posted by johnpr

switching from jeep1 to the civic increased my insurance quite a bit, my car payments are a little less with my civic. i ended up switching insurance companies and now i am paying a lot less in insurance but its different for everyone im sure.

I had to switch insurance companies to get adding the Yaris to work in my favor as well. Some seem to be more willing to define a vehicle as low use or recreational use.

BTW, the OP might want to take a gander at jeepforums.com TJ Technical forum. Just about everyone with a Jeep 1) Loves it 2) Hates the gas mileage, and they inevitably post over there looking for ways to increase mileage. The long and short of it is that just about everything has been tried and the TJ just doesn't seem to respond well at all to attempts to increase the mileage. About the only mods that end up being worth it are to put on a hard top and drive slower. Lowering it helps.. but why would to you do that?

Depending on your engine/tranny/axle gearing combo, you may be able to go to slightly oversized tires to lower highway RPM.

Just realize however, even with your Jeep modded to that super-aero version posted, you still have a 4000+ Lb vehicle with constantly spinning 4 wheel drive running gear being pushed along by an engine designed in the 60s and set up for maximum torque.

In the end, its a game of diminishing returns. I'm much happier putting all the commuter mileage on my hatchback and letting my Jeep be a Jeep. In fact, I enjoy it much more now that its for fun and not a financial burden.

Buying a new more economic car wouldn't make sense to most people, but you could look into sidelining the Jeep for an old metro or civic. Your time and dollar spent there will be far more effective and rewarding.

That's why I still consider my Yaris the ultimate eco-mod to my Jeep!

By the way, you might want to work on your driving technique or tune of your Jeep before investing in mods, as they are free, and I've done 21 mpg in my 02 Sahara.

[nwbabybronco]

Can you get hub kits for TJs? I think on the older models you could switch the vaccuum system to a cable and get normal locking (or unlocking as matters here) hubs, or something like that. I figure the ultimate ecomod on my Ranger will be a motorcycle, but I still plan to try just for fun.

[Red]

You can. Warn and milemarker makes a kit. Downside is that the kit runs for about $1k and the hub doesn't fit inside of stock wheels.

I'm calling my Honda the ultimate FE mod

[Twerp]

I've considered a hub kit for my truck, but in the end, the possible gains couldn't justify the cost. Fortunately, hypermiling works pretty well for me so far.

I also had a truck/motorcycle combo for a while and I figured out that it would be more cost effective if I traded the motorcycle for a Civic. I've found that motorcycles cost more to maintain (ever blow a fork seal or need to have a valve job done? Oh, tires?) and there is just something nice about having a roof over your head when it is cold and rainy out. True, if you get your hands on a little 250 Nighthawk or Ninja, you could get over 80mpg some of the time, but don't count on that kind of mileage with a bigger bike.

My bike used to get about 40mpg, but I wasn't driving for economy. I figure I could have squeezed 50 out of it, but I'm betting that I can get at least 40 out of the Civic and I should be able to drive that comfortably in any weather except for heavy snow. So I haven't done the math, but I think 40 mpg for 95% of the year will be better than 50mpg for 50% of the year.

Then again, the Nighthawks are pretty cheap and easy so one of those might be worth the cost, especially if you live in a more temperate area. Just don't go getting a GSXR expecting to save much. Gas, maybe... Insurance, prolly not.

[nwbabybronco]

Yes, you are saving around $800 (+/- $1000) in gas.

At 16mpg for a truck (my avg) and 50mpg for a bike, and 40mpg for a Honda, the bike would have to be ridden 306 days of the year (88%) to not exceed the total gas consumption of your setup. That sounds like a worthy challenge!

A Honda won't make it up my driveway, but a 4x4, dual sport bike, or Subaru will. For my situation trading the truck (which I own) in on a Subaru (with payments) would break even. Keeping the truck, a motorcycle could pay for itself plus $100/mo in gas savings.

[Twerp]

Honda just came out with the CRF230L (I think it's the L) which is a street legal version of the CRF230F. It would prolly make it up your driveway, but as with most dual sports, or other small bikes, you prolly wouldn't want to take it out on the highway.

[nwbabybronco]

You would want to remove the mirrors, of course. I'm just wondering if air could be deflected around a jeep, since the windshield angle makes it so unlikely for air to attach to the roof.

Another idea:

[Greenblazer]

Get a suzuki DRZ400 dual sport bike they take a little getting used to in the comfort part of the equasion(it has a narrow dirt bike seat), but mine was my only transportation for 3 years straight, and that was with 20 miles each way freeway commuting with 65MPH speed limit. I usually did 70 to 75 MPH and got about 50MPG, but this was before I heard about hypermiling. My bike is an off road only model that I modified to be street legal in Arizona, but the factory street legal version gets much better mileage with a different lower performance carburetor(65MPG). 400CC and under bikes have a big discount for insurance, I pay $131.00 per year for full coverage. Mine has 45,000 plus miles of trouble free use. The tires will cost you too much though if you use dual sport tires they don't last long enough. I bought a second set of wheels for my bike from ebay, and have dirt tires on one set, and touring tires on the other set for commuting. The DRZ 400 is probably the most versatile, and reliable dual sport motorcycle on the market. It's just big enough for the freeway, and keeps the insurance/maintenence costs down. It's not a bad trail bike either.

Later,

Allan Greenblazer