Scheming an EcoFan Truck
 

Title pretty much says it but I love input! I've been a fan of eco mods for a long time, I owned a 93 Geo Tracker and pushed 40mpg out of it from the 24 I bought it at. I know to some of you this might seem like childs play... Because it is :D

So now I am getting an 87 Ford Ranger 2.9L V6 farm truck. First on the agenda is the tune up. Then.. onto mods!

I will be removing the bed and A/C to start, this should save me about 3 to 5 mpg. Then I will be removing my 75lbs doors and replacing them with hand made 'jeep fabric' doors - heres another mpg or so.

I will then get into the engine and create a minor side scoop out of the engine bay to feed air into a ram air intake system that will be fabricated from pvc pipe.. more air = better lean combustion = mpg gain

Then I get onto heavy fabricating! I will be fabricating a light weight boat tail of some bendable and flexible plastics or heavy duty vinyls similar to what convertibles use - none of the heavy aluminum for me!

These are just me scheming and I thought I might share this with the community.

Cheers!

After reducing all that weight and increasing the aerodynamics, have you considered regearing the rear? You could go to a lower numerical gear and get even more out of it depending on the speeds you will be traveling. I know my old V8 dodge only turned 1900 rpms at 60mph but I think the V6s turn higher rpms.

It may not be viable and I don't think it would be monetarily advantageous but those numbers would go up farther.

I like this little project.

I don't think I'd get rid of the AC (I like my comfort), and I doubt the weight difference between the original doors and fabric doors would make much difference, but you'd notice the difference right away if you got T-boned.

OTOH, I like the idea of a boattail...leave the bed on (you might want to use it as an, ahem, truck sometimes) and put on a boattail shell. Fender skirts, air dam, smooth underneath as much as possible and a taller rear end would help, too.