Important

also i havent had a down stream o2 for a few months...the cat converter stripped when i pulled the old one out. it sounds kinda funny now...and runs rich...then lean....then rich...then lean. its kind of a guessing game to figure out what kind of mileage it will get on any give day. it also stinks a bit in the cab when it runs rich :(
 
I do have a technical question. I filled up my dads truck today and it is only getting 10mpg, that is mostly city with some highway. At most, having a riding mower in the back. What is the easy things I can do to get that up? I am thinking plugs and air filter (I think he did the air filter already) at the minimal. It is an 01 Ram 1500 with the 5.2.
 
Same things with anything really. Plugs, wires, cap, rotor, new filters, fresh oil... I'm not sure if it actually helps to run a fuel injector cleaner through the system a couple times, but it can't hurt.

There are things like cold air intakes, exhaust, under drive pulleys, etc. that can increase mileage, but I'm not sold on whether or not the cost of the parts is worth the mileage increase over the power increase.
 
terrehautian said:
It is an 01 Ram 1500 with the 5.2.
Click to expand...

You're going to get that no matter what. Dodge trucks are terrible on MPGs, our Durango with a 4.7 got 10-11 in town and 17ish on the highway.


I have never been a Ford guy when it comes to tow rigs, but I pulled a trailer from Vincennes to Terre Haute with my boss' 08 F350 and I am now a believer. What a nice truck, and it pulls like a dream.
 
I am thinking about going up to 35s. I am just thinking out loud with the following.

Tires: I currently have 33x10.5x15 BFG KOs and I like them alot. They are a little loud on the road, other than that I have no complaints. Should I get KOs or get KM2's? KM2s are about $125 more and I see KOs on CL with 80%+ tread for ~$500. I do drive this rig during the winter too.

Axles: For the front, currently I have an locked(Aussie) HP Dana 30, 760s, I assume 3.56 gears. I know I will need a regear/carrier upgrade. Leaning toward 4.56s. On occasion I do drive it 2-3 hours. Should I consider a truss? Chromo's? Locked Dana 44 in the rear, not worried about that.

Suspension/Steering: Stock steering, other than a Rusty's track bar. And Iron Man lca's. Can I stick with the stock steering? What would be a better upgrade? Has a 5" lift, no fancy long arms. I think the fenders are trimmed, can trim more if need be. Would 12.5s have any rubbing on lca's, etc?

Brakes: Are stock brakes up to the task?

Anything else I'm missing?
 
K5Matt said:
I am thinking about going up to 35s. I am just thinking out loud with the following.

Tires: I currently have 33x10.5x15 BFG KOs and I like them alot. They are a little loud on the road, other than that I have no complaints. Should I get KOs or get KM2's? KM2s are about $125 more and I see KOs on CL with 80%+ tread for ~$500. I do drive this rig during the winter too.

Axles: For the front, currently I have an locked(Aussie) HP Dana 30, 760s, I assume 3.56 gears. I know I will need a regear/carrier upgrade. Leaning toward 4.56s. On occasion I do drive it 2-3 hours. Should I consider a truss? Chromo's? Locked Dana 44 in the rear, not worried about that.

Suspension/Steering: Stock steering, other than a Rusty's track bar. And Iron Man lca's. Can I stick with the stock steering? What would be a better upgrade? Has a 5" lift, no fancy long arms. I think the fenders are trimmed, can trim more if need be. Would 12.5s have any rubbing on lca's, etc?

Brakes: Are stock brakes up to the task?

Anything else I'm missing?
Click to expand...

4.88 is the way to go with 35s.
Stock brakes SUCKS with 35s.
Stock steering SUCKS with 35s
 
Chromos for sure. I used to be a "stock shafts are cheap at the junkyard" guy but my eyes were opened by a $120 set of used alloys... not even chromos, just regular old alloys.

You are going to want better steering for sure. V8 ZJ tie rod at a minimum, preferably actual quality steering and a track bar to go with it. Probably a good pump and/or Durango box as well. Oh, get rid of that Rusty's track bar before it breaks in half and kills you.

Brakes are going to suck. You will want a WJ brake upgrade or maybe look at what dgrigorenko did with his dana 34 setup...

4.56s are stronger than 4.88s, but there's a lot of debate about the merits of each and I haven't run either so I'll leave that for others.
 
I agree with Ken. Go 4:56's for gears. I've seen quite a few D30's with 4:88 break the pinion, its tiny.

make sure you have full circle clips on your shafts. If it was me I would add a truss they are not expensive if you can weld or have a friend that can weld.

I had 4:56's in a d30 on 35's for years and beat the crap out of my jeep. If built right with regular maintenance that is a very solid setup.


Jim
 
XJosh95 said:
Same things with anything really. Plugs, wires, cap, rotor, new filters, fresh oil... I'm not sure if it actually helps to run a fuel injector cleaner through the system a couple times, but it can't hurt.

There are things like cold air intakes, exhaust, under drive pulleys, etc. that can increase mileage, but I'm not sold on whether or not the cost of the parts is worth the mileage increase over the power increase.
Click to expand...

Going to start with plugs and wires. Not a big fan of how they put the distributor cap in there (I believe it is under something and a pain to get to). Though the reply below I might just wasting money to try to get it up. The oil has less then 1,000 miles on it.

IllianaXJ said:
You're going to get that no matter what. Dodge trucks are terrible on MPGs, our Durango with a 4.7 got 10-11 in town and 17ish on the highway.
Click to expand...

I should have expected that, the ratings for my XJ say 15 in town adn 20 on the highway. I may have gotten 20 once or twice. The government says it should get about 14 combined, but that is probably perfect driving on a flat surface.
 
When the moon is in the 7th hour and Jupiter aligns with Mars... I get 22mpg highway with my XJ. Of course, that was last summer with worn out plugs, bad wires and a corroded as all hell dizzy cap. Now that I took care of the tune-up over the winter, I'll probably never see it again.

But seriously, don't matter how many 4-letter words you use to get to that dizzy and rotor, get it done. There's no sense in having good plugs and wires if they're not getting a strong enough spark from the source. Hell, coil wouldn't be a bad thing to replace as insurance either. But seriously, do it. Don't cut that corner.
 
terrehautian said:
Going to start with plugs and wires. Not a big fan of how they put the distributor cap in there (I believe it is under something and a pain to get to). Though the reply below I might just wasting money to try to get it up. The oil has less then 1,000 miles on it.



I should have expected that, the ratings for my XJ say 15 in town adn 20 on the highway. I may have gotten 20 once or twice. The government says it should get about 14 combined, but that is probably perfect driving on a flat surface.
Click to expand...

The distributor cap can't be as bad to get to as it is on the ZJ. Same engine crammed in a smaller engine bay. It is basically right under the cowl on mine. A tune up is cheap and easy, if it has never been done it would be worth doing for reliability's sake anyway.
 
Ain't that the truth. The corrosion build up alone can keep the thing from running on the right day. A little sandpaper on the points can get it going again, but it's a band-aid, really.
 
Knowing my dad, it probably hasn't been done, then again it still runs great and only has 98k on it. I will pop the hood tomorrow when I get done with it with hauling the rider to mow.
 
An 01 ram may be COP and not have plug wires...

mac 'maybe you guys were going to let him find that out' gyvr
 
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