Quote:
Originally Posted by Jim Dunlop
LOL! That's very cool man. A true inspiration.
And BTW,
All your beer cans are belong to us.
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The beer cans are 240 miles away right now. Feel free to pick up the $6.00 worth of them.
Okay boys and girls I'm back and have my first report. I added clear tape to the openings around the headlights and over the driving lights. My goal is to be able to drive to the cabin (250.2 miles) on 1/2 tank (10 gallons). That part has been accomplished. With a high output 4.7 liter V8 in a truck no less.
Here's the facts and figures:
First leg, west, I-94 from Ann Arbor to Jackson, Michigan. 36.3 miles, speed 65 mph. Head wind 15 mph gusts to 25. Mileage with all mods, 23.9.
Second leg, North US 127 from Jackson, merge with I-75 to Gaylord. Cross wind, 15 mph gusts to 25. Mileage 25.2.
Third leg, South on I-75 from Gaylord, merge to US 127 to Jackson. I-94 East to Ann Arbor. Mileage 25.3.
Seat of the pants report:
The changes to the bed cover worked. I moved the rear support from 2/3 of the length of the bed to 9 inches before the tailgate. Added an old table top to the center of the bed under the cover. No more buffeting, in fact the front of the cover now sucks UP. This is a major change.
The first leg into the wind didn't effect the truck as much as it used to. Before the full mods, there would be a lot of buffeting. Now it was rock steady.
On the second leg, in the cross wind there is no more difficulty handling the truck. It used to be that it would move around the highway.
On the way back I did two experiments. I did this with the cruise control on set to 65 mph. I didn't shut the engine off and just hit "resume" for the second leg. First, after fueling I drove down the highway 25 miles to a rest stop with no Acetone added to the tank. Average mileage was 24.4. After stopping at a rest area I added the Acetone and drove an additional 25 miles. Average mileage was 25.3. This part of the highway (I-75) is hilly with curves. Both 25 mile segments have the same number of hills. Of course the weather conditions were the same.
I also discovered unlike the unmodified air dam and grill blockers that when I'm alone on the highway at 65, the instant mileage goes between 23 and 28. When I do 70, it goes between 23 and 28. I tried up to 78 mph before I noticed any drop off in the mileage.
In traffic, there is an astounding improvement. At 70 in a pack of cars, the instant mileage is 25 to 29 mpg. The vehicle is now
very sensitive to airflow from other vehicles. I tried driving behind a Wal-Mart truck, mileage was 25 to 29 mpg. Behind a camper (full size, 5th wheel style) mileage was 24-29 mpg.
With these results, I feel that I could possibly break the elusive 30 mpg goal with the addition of rear wheel skirts, flat wheel covers and a larger canard on the front wheel well.
Linear Mode
