Just wondering what mods I can do to my Dakota to help out the MPG's. I know changing the exhaust will help, but is there anything else that will help without hurting the engine over the long run?

 

get a cold air intake

 

lol i dont think anything works i have just about everything im sure exhaust and intake helps but i havent seen a change

 

Since you have an R/T, try keeping your foot out of it!!

Since the weather has changed here, I'm able to drive with the A/C off and the windows closed all but the last inch or two. Mileage went from 16.0~17.0 to 17.5. I have several tankfuls at 16.5. I've only done two tankfuls with the windows open. One at 17.5 and the other at 17.1.

'06 Dak ST V6 auto.

 

Thebest I get is 15.1 in the city. If I tow my trailer it will go down to 13.5.

So adding mods won't help out much?

 

Get rid of the mechanical fan and get an electric fan. My mileage went from 13 to 15.4 mpg. click on the mod section and look for my posting. You will see what mods I did and the affect it had on mpg's

 

is it hard to do the fan or what?

 

Adding a CAI or improving the exhaust both have the potential of improving MPG. The problem is our right foot. When the truck sounds better and accelerates better, we want to keep doing it. When I drive my '05, QC, V8, auto on the highway at 65-70,I always get 20-21 MPG.Around town it's always in the high teens. Most of the time I don't drive that way and don't get that kind of MPG.

 

There is no one thing that will significantly improve your gas mileage, however a combination of these things will help:
[ul][*]CAI[*]Exhaust[*]Electric Fan[*]replace fluids with synthetics[/ul]
And probably the one thing that we can control is the gas pedal...accelerate slowly, monitor traffic to minimize braking, do the speed limit...

 

The fan isn't too bad as long as you have some automotive and electrical knowledge. I recommend buying a flex-a-lite black magic #180 fan. It has good instructions. If you visit my page on cardomain.com you can look at pictures of my install.