Project run around.

[LT.]

Those are some TOUGH tires. I think you'll really like 'em.

Thanks Steve. I hope so. I took a few more photos so we could see the difference in height. Here they are.

LT.

 

[sixstringsteve]

Did you see this post about rock sliders on a Cummins?

http://www.rme4x4.com/showthread.php?91121-Rock-sliders-for-your-Cummins&highlight=sliders

I know you don't intend to go crawling in it, but it might be some cheap insurance. I know Medsker takes his power wagon everywhere.

 

[LT.]

Did you see this post about rock sliders on a Cummins?

http://www.rme4x4.com/showthread.php?91121-Rock-sliders-for-your-Cummins&highlight=sliders

I know you don't intend to go crawling in it, but it might be some cheap insurance. I know Medsker takes his power wagon everywhere.

I looked at the thread very briefly. I may spend more time reading it now.

As far as measurements go. The front measures 14 1/2" to the bottom of the front bumper now. The rear measures 24 5/8" now to the bottom. Gas mileage I am going to guess is down a good 1 mile per gallon now. I have not done my test loop again this is just a guess. The Toyo's are about twice as heavy as the stockers were. The Toyo's are also more than the 1.2" taller than the stockers. As is evident in the pictures above and in my measurements.

Thus far I only have 50 miles on the Toyo's but, they are very quiet and there is no pull to the right like I had read so much about. After I do my test loop again I will have a better idea of just how much mileage I have lost.

LT.

 

[LT.]

Here are some pictures of the tires on the truck and as it sits now. It looks like anything more than mall crawling and the front tires are gonna rub. So, it looks like a leveling kit will go on the front and a 2" block will go in the back just for peace of mind.

LT.

 

[Greg]

Just because black_ZJ misses the point (not the first time and no real surprise) doesn't mean there isn't interest. I bet this project relates to more guys on this forum than a full on buggy build would. Guys might like seeing the buggy builds, but everyone on here has a 4wd that they would like to improve on...even if it's just primarily a DD. Keep the thread going

x3

Some people don't think about what they read (let alone see the pictures) and start running their mouths every chance they can.

Keep it coming, I really enjoy these kind of builds! I think the Dodge Ram is a great candidate for what you want out of the truck, it will be fun to see how it comes together!

 

[Cascadia]

Good looking! Makes a big difference. Since I added my toyo all terrains on my tundra I have only rubbed once. They do look like they would rub very easily though. I will end up doing the same as you and doing a level lift.

 

[rholbrook]

Its amazing how much better a vehicle drives with new tires. Keep it going.

 

[LT.]

Thank you for all the kind words fellas. It does drive very nice and on the way home from the shop I did notice that the truck is down shifting earlier, and more frequent. The shop is at about 8,500 feet in elevation and I live at 7,300 feet. Along the way I cross the mountain and I peak at 9,280 feet. During the way home is when I was noticing the more frequent shifting and I also noticed that the multiple engine displacement function on the engine was not going into 4 cylinder mode as often or for as long as it used to. This is something that I would like to address sometime down the road. Perhaps a cat back exhaust system, cold air intake and some computer tuning would give me back some of the power I lost due to the tires. I don't expect to get it all back but, something is better than nothing. Remember that this trucks build was in an attempt to keep the drive ability and increase the off road capability. I know there is some trade off but, I still want to explore ways to gain back the some of the mileage I suspect I lost.

I also am starting to wonder if reducing the drag on the truck would help. We have all heard about covers for the bed, tail gate nets and toppers for the truck that are all supposed to help with mileage. I am not looking for a tail gate net or a topper but, perhaps a tonneau cover would help. I don't know for sure.

Anyways, this will give me some direction as funds and time allow.

LT.

 

[Cascadia]

When I was building my tacoma, my mpg were way down and I was looking for a way or ways to get some mpg back. I read quote a bit of studies on tonneau covers, nets, shells, and tailgate down. In all the studies I read the only thing that improved mpg was a tonneau cover. Even the tailgate down didn't help. It was still only about a mpg though for the tonneau. But it's something.

 

[irish1371]

Nice thread good luck with it. Only advice I would add is, that after checking your gas mileage you may wish to rethink the tires. Toyo's are a great tire but they are on the heavy side and tend to adversely effect gas mileage

 

[LT.]

When I was building my tacoma, my mpg were way down and I was looking for a way or ways to get some mpg back. I read quote a bit of studies on tonneau covers, nets, shells, and tailgate down. In all the studies I read the only thing that improved mpg was a tonneau cover. Even the tailgate down didn't help. It was still only about a mpg though for the tonneau. But it's something.

I think I might have read the same article you are referring to. I seem to remember something about that as well.

Nice thread good luck with it. Only advice I would add is, that after checking your gas mileage you may wish to rethink the tires. Toyo's are a great tire but they are on the heavy side and tend to adversely effect gas mileage

Yep, that is for sure. The thinking was I wanted a tire that was not going to blow out while traveling down a gravel road. A tire that would be a jack of all trades and master of none. This is what lead me to the Toyo's. I did not weigh the Toyo's but, I can tell you that they were maybe about twice as heavy as what came off the truck. However, the stock tires were Goodyear Wrangler HP's that were not even a LT tire. The Toyo's are an E rated LT tire so, I was expecting some weight gain.

I also should mention that I mounted and balanced all the tires on the truck. The most weight I had to put on was 3.5 ounces on one side of the wheel. One tire and wheel only took 2 ounces on one side and .75 ounces on the other. Not bad at all for an aggressive mud tire. Tomorrow I am going to try and do the test loop and see exactly what I lost for mileage. The test loop is only about a 100 miles or so and it is all highway so it may not be the best test but, I did run it before the tires so, to keep things fair I need to run it again after. I also should note that I did not do an alignment on the truck. I decided against it for now as I was unsure if the tires were going to clear. I did not want to waste the time doing an alignment now and then later installing a 2" suspension kit and have to re-do the alignment. It seemed counter productive for now.

I will post up the results of my mileage test tomorrow if time allows.

LT.

 

[sixstringsteve]

don't forget to calculate the extra 1.2" in height when you calculate your MPG. Truck looks dead sexy with those tires.

 

[driver920]

my thoughts on the truck shifting sooner and the 4 cly mode not kicking in would be have you had the computer reset for your tire height if not this will through everything off i know it did in my cummins when you change from ........... just for example ......... but when you change from 2200 rpm to roll 75 miles an hour and go to say 1800 to do the same because of over sized tires you have changed the whole workings of how the computer is set up and they get confused todays trucks think they are smart but like a wife you change something and dont tell them you changed it it causes problems

 

[N-Smooth]

truck looks good, love it. for the mileage gain thing they tested all the different bed covers, tailgate down, tailgate off, net etc on mythbusters way back in 2005 and found that "Driving with the tailgate down actually increased drag on the pick-up and caused it to consume fuel faster than the identical truck driven with the tailgate up. It was later revealed that the closed tailgate creates a locked vortex flow that created a smoother flow of air over the truck. With the tailgate down, the trapped vortex was dissipated and the drag increased."

i found the video on youtube
clicky

if you don't want to watch the video, the tailgate net wins most fuel efficient. no tailgate, tailgate up and tonneau were "about the same" and tailgate down was "the worst"

 

[LT.]

don't forget to calculate the extra 1.2" in height when you calculate your MPG. Truck looks dead sexy with those tires.

Thanks for the complements. I would have forgotten to figure the extra height. Thanks for the heads up.

my thoughts on the truck shifting sooner and the 4 cly mode not kicking in would be have you had the computer reset for your tire height if not this will through everything off i know it did in my cummins when you change from ........... just for example ......... but when you change from 2200 rpm to roll 75 miles an hour and go to say 1800 to do the same because of over sized tires you have changed the whole workings of how the computer is set up and they get confused todays trucks think they are smart but like a wife you change something and dont tell them you changed it it causes problems

Another good point. If and when I get around to installing a programmer I am going to see if I can change some parameters like tire size and such.

truck looks good, love it. for the mileage gain thing they tested all the different bed covers, tailgate down, tailgate off, net etc on mythbusters way back in 2005 and found that "Driving with the tailgate down actually increased drag on the pick-up and caused it to consume fuel faster than the identical truck driven with the tailgate up. It was later revealed that the closed tailgate creates a locked vortex flow that created a smoother flow of air over the truck. With the tailgate down, the trapped vortex was dissipated and the drag increased."

i found the video on youtube
clicky

if you don't want to watch the video, the tailgate net wins most fuel efficient. no tailgate, tailgate up and tonneau were "about the same" and tailgate down was "the worst"

I had seen that some time ago and I ended up watching it again to refresh my memory. Thanks for the link. One thing, why do you suppose the tonneau cover only maintained their mileage? Was it due to the extra weight of the cover? They did use a fiberglass cover that had some extra weight to it. Perhaps a soft tonneau cover would do better.

Lately I have been looking at some cat back exhaust systems for the truck. A little extra ponies under the hood couldn't hurt and I maybe able to pick up some mileage there anyways. I am not sure what I am going to do next just yet but, y'all have given me some things to think about. Thanks for all the comments I really do appreciate them.

LT.

 

[N-Smooth]

whatever you do, don't regear it that would be a waste of money... editing posts is fun. i see nothing wrong with making it inhale and exhale better but i don't care for programmers on something that doesn't have glow plugs.

i wish i got the kind of mileage you reported in your test loop. the first tank (last week) through my '12 1500 hemi crew i got 12.78 mpg, the computer said 14.2.
on the second tank it is saying 15 even so we'll see what happens when i fill up tomorrow or friday. i have heard that they start getting better mileage after a little while, i bought it with 10 miles on it so we'll see. the break-in procedures surely can't help mileage either. i do LOVE the hemi with all of my heart.

 

[sixstringsteve]

I think most efforts to increase MPG will only yield 1-2 MPG MAX and will cost more than the price of the gas you'll save.

It's a sad fact, but you're just going to have to get used to lower MPG with a rig like this. Once you do a lift, it'll go down even more (increased wind resistance). Just don't expect much and be grateful for anything over 12 MPG.

Oh, and make sure you're calculating it by hand, not using the computer. Those computers are seldom correct.

 

[LT.]

whatever you do, don't regear it that would be a waste of money... editing posts is fun. i see nothing wrong with making it inhale and exhale better but i don't care for programmers on something that doesn't have glow plugs.

i wish i got the kind of mileage you reported in your test loop. the first tank (last week) through my '12 1500 hemi crew i got 12.78 mpg, the computer said 14.2.
on the second tank it is saying 15 even so we'll see what happens when i fill up tomorrow or friday. i have heard that they start getting better mileage after a little while, i bought it with 10 miles on it so we'll see. the break-in procedures surely can't help mileage either. i do LOVE the hemi with all of my heart.

The truck rarely sees any real mileage. Most of the time it is driven in town so I don't really expect much to be gained but, when I do hit the highway that will be a better test. Programmers on gas trucks really don't net much in the way of gains. Either with mileage or power but, you can still change the shift points, and I hope to also change the tire size as well. This would make the truck perform better and maybe even help with some features like ABS and the like.

I think most efforts to increase MPG will only yield 1-2 MPG MAX and will cost more than the price of the gas you'll save.

It's a sad fact, but you're just going to have to get used to lower MPG with a rig like this. Once you do a lift, it'll go down even more (increased wind resistance). Just don't expect much and be grateful for anything over 12 MPG.

Oh, and make sure you're calculating it by hand, not using the computer. Those computers are seldom correct.

I agree whole heatedly. I have the mileage of the test loop via map quest and it is the same loop I used last time. So, the distance traveled will be the same. I will fill the truck up here shortly, drive the test loop and then re fill the truck again. This should be the best way to figure the mileage. I don't know of a better way anyways.

The leveling kit and the rear block have troubled me some. Adding wind drag is a step in the wrong direction for mileage and economy. But, it may help with the off road abilities. I guess every decision in life is going to have some negative results. Today I also hope to test some of the flex just to see if the tires are going to rub. Then I can make a more informative decision on the small lift.

LT.

 

[jeep-N-montero]

but like a wife you change something and dont tell them you changed it it causes problems

This made me chuckle!

 

[N-Smooth]

The leveling kit and the rear block have troubled me some. Adding wind drag is a step in the wrong direction for mileage and economy. But, it may help with the off road abilities. I guess every decision in life is going to have some negative results. Today I also hope to test some of the flex just to see if the tires are going to rub. Then I can make a more informative decision on the small lift.
LT.

take it out and put it throught the paces and decide if you want to lift it or not. i hate the idea of lifting ifs vehicles so i'm biased. besides, the tires are going to be an amazing difference over stock and it very well could be as capable as you want. just my dos pesos