New Member with a 2010 Dodge Ram CTD, and an Old Camry

[Willbrewer]

I've lurked here for a while, and figured it's time for me to introduce myself. My name is Bill, and my vehicles are a 1996 Camry and a 2010 Dodge Ram, 2500 4X4 Crew Cab with a Cummins diesel engine.

I've always been interested in boosting the MPGs of my rides, and with nothing but careful, easy driving I've been able to squeak out 40+ mpg from my Camry a couple of times. I found that keeping the speed down to around 64 mph on the highway is a sweet spot for that car. And using a light foot going uphill makes a positive difference too.

Right now I'm more concerned about getting the best MPGs from my Cummins engine as I can. Best I've gotten has been around 20 mpg, driving empty and very carefully.

I plan to install a simple tonneau cover to the bed of the truck (I came up with an idea of installing "C" channel stock onto the inner sides of the bed rails, then just sliding panels in to create the cover. Closing the tailgate will hold the panels in place). I've read that adding a tonneau cover is good way to get possible MPG gains.

Another idea of mine is to start using a block heater to preheat the coolant, and in addition to that (possibly), an oil pan heater. My thought is that when using the truck for short trips, starting out with a preheated block and preheated oil will make a big difference in fuel economy when taking short trips around town of 5 to 10 miles.

I've even thought of trying to rig up some kind of a solar heat collector mounted in the bed of the truck, then transferring that heat (by means of a pump) to the engine block and oil pan. It would be a low cost way to always have a warm engine for efficiency's sake, at least on sunny days. Might not be practical, or even work. But who knows, it might.

Another thing I'm interested in is finding out about diesel additives. Do any improve fuel efficiency, and are they cost effective?

I pull a 30 foot travel trailer quite a bit, and because it has a large, flat frontal area, it really decreases my MPG. I've probably averaged around 10 mpg pulling the trailer. I've thought about trying to rig up some kind of deflector in the bed of the truck to direct airflow up over the trailer, so it's not slamming into the front of it.

Well, that's my story.

Have a good one,

Bill