I'd love to use my Marauder as transportation to and from work but it is just not practical. The temps are now dropping into the 20s, it is hard to keep upright in snow with only two wheels, there is the cow problem and since the gas station in Rachal closed down last year I have no way to top off the tank to complete the return trip.

 

find an older CUMMINS powered DODGE RAM! better POWER and MPG! plus you can actually tow something HUGE

 

wow did you figure out what caused that fire

 

Nice Javalin... I used to have a 70 amx years back...

 

No offense, but with that amount of daily travel I would not have bought a truck period. Maybe you pick up a cheaper one for the winter months or when you know they are having bad days, and just drive a little econo box the rest of the year. I bought my Ram because I drive 10 miles a day round trip, and when I was recently thinking of getting a job that would have changed that drive to 60 miles a day, I would have bought a different daily driver.

Gas will not remain below 3.00 a gallon for any significant time in the near future. If you do any amount of driving, and are on a budget, a truck is a bad idea. Granted, you'll have to eat it in the winter time, but maybe you drive the truck a couple months a year and a bomb car the rest of the time?

 

lol
damn right
2004 Yamaha V-Star 1100

what caused the fire?
Ignition Switch wiring?

if your truck was a 2wd... lowering it some will make a difference, less air to move over it...

 

I have had two other Javelin's and One AMX. I have spent the last 7 years restoring this Javelin.

hutch1973,

Read all of my previous posts and you should get an idea of why I got another truck.

I'm not sure what started the fire. My brother is a Firefighter and he said it is really hard to tell what caused a vehicle fire unless you see the origin of the fire when it starts. This paticular fire burned very, very hot. It probably had sustained temps of over 1500f. Every spring sagged and the truck body was sitting on the axels. I had 20 gals of fuel in the tank and as soon as the tank melted it just put raw fuel everywhere. Probably was quite the bonfire at that point but I had probably walked 2 or 3 miles by that time and did not see the results. It was two hours before I got back to the truck and there were still many hot spots and lots of molten aluminum. I have a chunk of the aluminum on my desk and use it as a paper-weight.

I suspect that either a fuel line broke or possibly something got onto the cat and caught fire. At my previous job we spent a lot of time driving brush covered unimproved roads and lost two trucks to cat fires.

 

Motorcycles get better MPG and accelerate faster.

I love motorcycles, and have since I was 10 years old.

The beginings of my knowledge of mechanical things
began with a Briggs and Stratton 5 hp engine in a "Scat Cat" minibike
and continued with a 49cc Honda. With my father beside me to give me courage I took both completely apart. My first mod was to mill the head to increase the compression ratio and use premium gasoline to compensate. I immediately felt better throttle response and get better MPG, which I could tell when I refilled the 3 gallon tank for exactly $1, because even premium gasoline only cost 33 cents per gallon down at the country store at the bottom of the mountain road leading to our house. My two brothers had it even better: Dad bought them a 6 wheel amphipious ATV with a 12 hp Wisconsin single cylinder that the head was milled so much that no head gasket would hold, so Dad surprised them one day with a 40 hp Wankel engine out of a wrecked Arctic Cat snowmobile he bought on a business trip to Denver. A 'mod' upgrade from 12 to 40 hp with a new redline rpm of 12,000 is a really noticeable upgrade!

I have the scars from 'road rash' to prove those days of motorcycles and ATV's, and later two airplane forced landings.

I know my body won't heal like it used to.

I know motorcycle accidents can be 'life changing' events
and I have the friends to prove that.

I drive a Ram pickup, partly for safety.

My mother has a very good orthopedic surgeon
who is on his second Cummins Ram pickup with over 180,000 miles
and who told me he traded in his Mercedes for the Rams years ago
when he saw patients who survived accidents in Rams much better
than accidents in even high end cars that advertise their safety features.

The cost of a single auto accident that tears up your body
can easily exceed the total cost of 30 years worth of fuel.

If you lift your Ram with suspension or tires
the greatly increased chance of roll-over
kills off any safety advantage of the pickup.

 

Well after reading what u said u need, i think you should get a CUMMINS. Better gas millage, easy to get them in a 4x4 *what some people dont understand is with ur snow and ur animal problom + ur distance its better to have the 4x4 and not need it then need it and not have it.* also the CUMMINS has good weight good power and with how many miles u can put on it and it can still run hell strong he sounds like its the best bet for u.

Thats my 50 cents.

 

A good friend of mine had a similar ride to yours and picked up about 2 mpg by installing an Airmax intake and a Gibson catback.
I'd guess that a tuner flash or one of B&G performance's mileage reflashes might make up the rest. Keeping your motor in top tune and regular oil changes is a must. Make sure your plenum gasket isn't leaking. Things like that kill mileage.
I wouldn't lift the truck based on your current needs. You already have a brick with rounded edges. Lifting it causes more air to hit the under vehicle components, increasing drag.
Lastly a bed cover will shave off any drag from the bed. May not improve mileage by itself, but might with the other mods. Good luck.

[:@]I'd be estatic if I could get 12mpg out of my truck. 15 would be like...a fantasy?