I get great gas mileage,Why, because the only time I drive my gas hog is when like this week when it snows and when I'm towing my speed boat. the rest of the time I'm driving one of my PT Cruiser's. I have an 01 Sedan and a 06 convertible. Not bad for a 64 year old retiree is it.

 

Hank... do you have anything better to do other than talk trash? Have you done any mods to your 3rd gen ram... or are you just offering your useless advice on OLD common knowledge that was useful 5-10 years ago? You talk more trash than anyone I have ever known and its amazing you have many of the forum members fooled into thinking you know a thing or two with cut & past posting anything but your own words… and when you do post in your own words you sound like a fool. You offer your opinions that you try to pass of as fact yet YOU have no experience on the subject in giving... and your 1985 gas experiment has little to no use with today’s combinations. When you add your first mod to your 3RD Gen Ram then your responses will become USEFULL but until then your responses are just OPINIONS backed by nothing other than your cut and past responses you stole from some other author off the internet. ANYONE can do a search on ANY subject and cut and past the response... and we all know that’s what you do. You try to act like your this highly informed enthusiast but you yourself have ZERO experience with the 3rd GEN RAM other than putting gas in the tank... I bet you don’t even change your own oil! So who are you to give advice when you have tried NOTHING to improve your own fuel economy? Do you even own a 3rd Gen Ram?

The HUGE difference between me and you is I have experience. And when I offer it I’m offering current experience with … the 3rd GEN RAM… not a Chevy without an overdrive and 26” tall tires… I just hope too many people don’t get caught up in you miss-leading post. Your have led too many people in the WRONG direction that’s too bad. Sorry for the flame guys… I try my best top give you current FACTUAL information regarding our 3rd Gen Rams… I have nothing to gain by saying something that is not true. So my post are intended to help you gain everything you can from power to fuel economy, and I try my best not to speak from the FACT that I have come to learn modding my 3rd Gen Ram. I have done many mods and I have been through the GOOD the BAD and the UGLY. I just ask you take it for what it’s worth and do your homework…just don’t let people like HANK force his OPINION on you. If you do your own re-search and look up some of the information I have shared with you … you will soon learn that I’m not the only one who has seen these results.

SPEED SAFE, AIR RAM

 

I may be wrong and only thinking old technology. However, driving the truck like Grandma will help with mileage and it will kill your motor.

You'll lose power over time (4.7L doesn't need any help losing power, it's gutless as it is) due to carbon build up. You'll increase the wear on the engine parts because the oil doesn't get pumped around like it should. Remember, oil pump works based on RPM.

I'm not saying rev it, but doing the under 2k thing is bad news in my mind.

Just my .02 worth.

 

Well after 76,000 miles I have had my heads off to install the ported heads and 212 cams... NO CARBON build up at all on either the heads or the pistons and the ware pattern was little to NONE as the hone marks where still clearly visible as if they where just done... As for ware and tare from driving for the best fuel economy... I would not worry about ANY ware and tare driving 2,000 RPM’s and below would cause.

OK, I'm sure if you do not take care of your engine your subject to all sorts of power robbing ailments but I’m here to tell you from FIRST hand experience that there was NO build up what so ever on my 4.7L with over 76,000 miles on the clock.

As for the 4.7L being low on power... I will have to agree its tame when compared to the 5.7L with 60-70RWHP less. BUT its perfect for what it is and can be built to make more and perform better with the right bolt on's.

I rest my case, you guys take it for what its worth. At least do your homework and don’t let people with NO experience (HANK) with either MODDING there 3rd Gen Ram or no experience stretching the tank as far as it will stretch... I have been doing just that since February 2002 when I first purchased my QC 4.7L... I have not only been around my 3rd Gen Ram but I have been around COUNTLESS Rams and have watched my advice turn to reality for those who have taken it. So my advice is NOT an opinion nor guesses... its fact and has been road proven by countless 3rd Gen Ram owners. Take it or leave it ... it’s your loss or your gain depending on what you do with the information I shared.


SPEED SAFE, AIR RAM

 

Anything the overhead says can't be trusted. It has never been accurate for me.

As for 20 mpg. I have previous professional work experience in this area and I can say 100% that is a lie. No way you are getting 20mpg. It is pretty much impossible.

If you can do it, why can't a big automake who has hundreds of millions of R&D dollars per year mass produce a 20mpg truck? Do you realize what that would do for there sales?

 

Hey Nick, I questioned the 4.56 gear in another thread and you gave me an explanation that I was still optimistic about, however, this month's issue of 4-wheeling magazine had 30 tips on improving gas mileage, Guess what, one of those referred to gear ratio, less strain on motor, better mileage. So you now have other authorities providing the same information about the gear change to improve mileage.. Keep Up the good work. Thanks for protecting my freedom too.

 

Do you honestly think American automakers care about gas mileage? Up until about 5 years ago they didn't care. That's when foriegn automakers started taking market share away from U.S. automakers. I have been able to obtain 20.3 MPG on the highway with changing my driving habits, installing a K&N CAI, and using synthetic motor oil. The reason the auto industry doesn't use these sorts of modifications is because it causes the price of the vehicle to go up. They are all about making it as cheap and as quickly as possible. The modifcations that AIR RAM has on his truck would make the sticker price of a new vehicle go through the roof. And it wouldn't sell...

That's the reason plain and simple.

 

I get around 16 to 18 around town, 19 to 22 on the highway, got 9 to 10 hauling 13k from NM to NC according to the overhead that is. On those days when I drive like a tard I get about 8 around town but it is fun sometimes smopking the tires, then when I have the wife and kids in the truck I drive very defensive and aware of my speed and how smooth I can make the ride, my wife hates my truck cause of the size so I try to make it as nice as I can and thats when I get the best milage...

 

On the first 3500mi on my 05 4.7L, i got 13.5mpg in the city, when i got my oil change at the dealership they have a giant strip infront of it running parellel with the highway and i reset the mph gauge coming out of the dealership and when i got to the strip (about 500 yrds away) i stopped and saw i had 18mpg (for all of 500yards), then i stopped, hit the gas and spun the tires and i went down to 8!! it was awsome... then when i was going about 70 down this strip i hit the reset again and pulled my foot off the gas and it read over 55mpg... it was heaven...then i touched the gas and it went...30...20...17.....15 Oh well i didnt get a bigass truck for the mpg, but anyways im still averaging about 13-14 mpg (city driving roughly 20miles to school and work)

 

rayk3,
if you think any of those tips to improve MPG in 4 Wheeling magazine
say to increase the numerical gear ratio - you need to go back and
read that article again.

In the 50 tips I count 3 of them that correctly advise reducing rpms.
One of the tips:
"A vehicle that is either overgeared or undergeared will lose MPG"
gets right to the heart of the matter.

An engine is numerically overgeared if it is not cruising at about 60-75% open throttle.

An engine is numerically undergeared if it is trying to cruise in the 'Power Enrichment' zone
above about 80% throtttle where the PCM computer greatly enriches the air to fuel ratio.

For the same reason anyone who presses the accelerator down all the way near the floor
whether they are driving in the city, highway, climbing a hill, or pulling a trailer
is going to get about 25% worse MPG
than someone who presses right up to about 70% throttle but never goes over it.

This is why the old advice to install a vacuum gauge
can certainly help MPG
if the driver watches it out of the corner of his eye.

When the vacuum gauge reads below about 6 inches of mercury
you are in the fuel guzzling 'Power Enrichment' zone
but when the vacuum gauge is showing about 8
your engine is converting fuel into horsepower at its most efficient level.

Each engine goes into Power Enrichment at a slightly different MAP sensor level
but if you listen closely to the engine sound you can hear it happen
as the engine gets a bit smoother with the very rich mixture.