Well, I'm thinking when spring rolls around I want to start putting some work into my 98 Durango and get it ready to keep around another 5 or 10 years. My wife bought it before we met, and it's only been in the past year or so that I've personally driven it much. I've completely fallen in love with it, and at the same time she's decided she wants a van, so...

It does needs some attention, and once I get caught up on the bills that piled up while I was out of work, I'd like to get started. (That should conveniently happen right about the time the weather makes it reasonable to be outside again. )

In addition to some minor body work, a broken mirror, bad speakers, and the master window switch, I definitely want to see what I can do to improve the MPG. I drive about 45 minutes each way to work, so the fuel bill can start to add up with a 5.9 Durango.

I obviously plan to do all the normal "tune up" stuff. (oil change, spark plugs, cap & rotor, PCV valve, etc....)

I'm also thinking of adding the Flowmaster 70 series 17208 catback kit (it's due for a new muffler anyway, so what the hell), as well as hydra's recipe for a homebrew cold air intake.

Any other suggestions? Is the flowmaster kit what I'm looking for, or is there a better way to go? (Or is messing with the exhaust a waste of time in a quest for mpg on this vehicle?) I don't want a "loud" truck, but I think the youtube video of the Flowmaster kit presents a completely reasonable sound. (The video I linked at the end is the kit I'm thinking of.)

I don't want to dump 10 grand in all at once, so nothing major. I'm thinking 50 bucks here, a couple hundred there, that sort of thing. So any suggestions along those lines would be very welcome.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bXSgxqQE5v4

 

Like you said I would start with giving it a tune up, Cheap Champion Copper core plugs gapped at .040, I would get new wires (MSD makes a great 8.5 mm "red" plug wires), a new cap and rotor (either mopar performance or what I have a MSD), and I would give it a nice full synthetic oil change with a nice filter. Mobil 1 has a great full synthetic oil (10w-30 of course) and it flows like water even at extreme freezing temperatures so that's why I run it. Also I would put a nice Mobil 1 filter or Bosch to be nice to the truck since I'm not sure when its last oil change was, do you?

Mods, first I would start with a DIY cold air intake, not sure if you were wanting to fork out money right off the bat bu the DIY is a great start. Also FlowMaster does make s great cat back package and does increase mpg, HOWEVER I have seen the most performance improvement out of, wait for it, Magnaflow. I would say your quest to gain mpg's is going to be a long one if you're looking at the exhaust, it won't be much gain but I know Magnaflow does help a bit.

Also, do you do any towing? Typically this puts a huge damper on the gas mileage, so if you do I would recommend a power programmer. I have the SuperChips programmer and it has been great to me and my rig. It had a couple modes where you can give it a tuned performance race car feel, but for you there's also economy mode where there's quite a bit of mpg's to be gained. I think I gain somewhere in the ballpark of like 4 when I drive like a granny and have Econ mode on.

Typically most of us are going to say there's not much saving the 5.9 from bad gas mileage, let's face it that it's a huge engine. Like I said start with the tune up and go from there. Treat your truck like you want it forever.

Also I'm including a link to both the DIY cold air intake instructions and the DIY page. It has some great things on it and I would recommend reading it over and seeing what you cant find to do on your own.

https://dodgeforum.com/forum/1st-gen...m-air-diy.html

https://dodgeforum.com/forum/1st-gen...wers-faqs.html


Also, what is your mpg now so we have an idea of what youre already getting. And lastly I would recommend cleaning out the throttle body and IAC.

https://dodgeforum.com/forum/1st-gen...ttle-body.html

 

This will sound stupid, but i bypass the ac unit in the summer time using a shorter belt, it's not much but did gain a little. I use redneck ac in the summer anyway (roll the windows down). My Mpg average went from 10.8 to 11.2, bypassing the ac. just a thought.

 

Driving like a granny, the onboard computer will typically give me an average mpg for a full tank at right around 14.8 to 15. I know those aren't the most accurate, but I also calculate it by hand every now and again, and so far the computer in the truck seems to get it pretty close, generally within a few 10ths of a mpg. On flat highway, cruise set at 56 or 57, the instant mpg reading likes to sit right around 17 or 18. (This number I'm skeptical of...)

I'll take a look at Magnaflow's stuff. I do know that the mpg gain from doing the exhaust is going to be minimal, I just figured since I'm going to have to do at least the muffler soon anyway, why not?

Also be taking a good look at the SuperChips programmer. A 4 mpg gain sounds great. Don't do much towing at the moment, since I sold off most of my toys when the company I worked for went under and I lost my job. As soon as I get my finances back in order, though, I'll be looking to get another boat and camper, so towing is definitely in the cards for the future. In hindsight, I shouldn't have sold the camper. As long as it took to get a new job, there were a few times where we got pretty darn close to needing it to live in! LOL.

I'm fully aware that at the end of the day it's just flat out a big engine, and there's only so many mpg to be squeezed out of it. Then again, I'm sure I can get her to do at least a little better than she does right now.

The goal I have in mind is to be able to get back and forth to work for a full week on one tank of gas. As it sits, a tank of gas gets me through Thursday, so I don't think my goal is totally unrealistic. Might not get 100% there, but my gut feeling is I can at least get close.

I'll have to sit down sometime and crunch the numbers to figure out exactly what mpg increase I need to see to reach that goal. My gut feeling is that the 4 mpg you mentioned from the SuperChips would come pretty close to doing it.

 

Hmm if you're getting 15 in the city and close to 17 ok the highway bravo. The sticker only says it will get around 13 city and 15 or 16 highway. I would guess cleaning out the throttle body and programmer would put you right where you wanna be.

 

Um, yeah... There's just no way that's going to happen. LOL... With the A/C off, the compressor is hardly adding any drag at all, and around here on the days when you need the A/C, you REALLY need the A/C regardless of what it might cost you in fuel...


Now, if this would get me up to 45 mpg, I might be able to get the wife to green light it. Anything short of that, though, just ain't happening.

 

Yeah you're only going to gain like a fraction of a gallon for every 100 miles or so. If you have a good clutch on your compressor just turn of the A/C and it will be as if you don't have it there.

 

I'd say city mpg are more around 8, just don't do much city driving at all. Highway I'm getting anywhere from 14 to almost 17 depending on my driving habits. Still can't bring myself to drive like a granny 100% of the time!

Was just looking up some info on that programmer. How big of a deal is it to switch back and forth between different programs? From the info I've seen so far it's not exactly an "on the fly" thing, but it doesn't look too terribly bad...

 

You're correct its not on the fly but it just involves turning of and on the engine a couple times and trust Benita much easier than its probably telling you.

 

So, basically, it's a simple enough process that I could load the towing program when we go camping for a weekend, then switch back to economy mode for normal day to day driving? I get the impression it's only a couple minute process...