Improve pickup truck mileage

[theholycow]

Oh, there's no doubt in my mind that people will buy big-displacement diesels (including a whopping 5.9 liter V6). It's small diesels that I thought were being discussed.

As for the stick...I'm really not interested in having one in a truck. A car, yes, it's fun. Most new truck buyers feel the same way. Now, give me a good automatic transmission and good manual control of it and we're in business...

[GasSavers_BEEF]

the 5.9 was an inline 6 (huge difference) torque out the tail. I have seen dyno sheets where the torque is 2.5 times the hp. very low rpms.

I was talking about the V6 that they were putting in the 1500 series trucks. I didn't want to guess at the displacement but for arguements sake, i want to say it was a 4.2 liter but I am not sure. not sure either about the mileage. the larger diesel was 300/600 where as this one is 200/500. I think the drive train of the 1500 series trucks couldn't handle the large engine. the drive shaft, axles, and rear end.


*edit* found this on the chevys. the dodge site is messed up right now so I can't seem to find anything on it right now.

http://www.autoblog.com/2007/06/15/g...the-hummer-h2/

*double edit* found some more on the dodge diesels. I was a little off on the numbers but here is what I found. also it states that these numbers may change.

http://www.dieselpowermag.com/tech/d...rformance.html

[theholycow]

D'oh! You wrote "inline" and I just didn't pay enough attention to realize it.

The 4.5l Duramax in 1500 series trucks ought to sell okay (it still won't approach the 5.3's sales volume). Those who buy it will be very proud of it. Of note from the linked article:

...despite sharing its name with the older 6.6L Duramax diesel that was developed in partnership with Isuzu, the new 4.5L Duramax was developed completely in-house by GM.

[GasSavers_BEEF]

I am a big fan of the diesel pickups. I have never been fortuate enough to have one just because they are so expensive. I have seen them push some major power. dyno days with diesels are very impressive. I heard about the smaller ones for the half ton trucks and thought....there is a diesel for me.

ironically, I just sold my truck to make way for a new baby in the family. I may never see a diesel (at least not a truck) in my driveway.

also, I agree with the 5.3 thing. there is a following for certain engines especially when you say chevy or ford. also, they tend to put a big premium upgrade price on diesels as well. I think the dodge one was an extra 5K when I was looking at trucks and that was almost 5 years ago.

[Jay2TheRescue]

I was thinking... A lot of people talk of removing the wipers - which I think is unsafe and should not be done, even if you use Rain-X (Which I do). Has anyone tried these wiper cowls like the following?

http://www.jcwhitney.com/autoparts/I...26668010258656



Anyone's thoughts, do you think its worth the cost?

-Jay

[Big Dave]

I love diesels, but nobody is going to pay a $12,000 premium for a 4.5 liter diesel that won't get better MPG than a gas pig. Tier II stuck them with those dratted barrier filters that choke all the effiency out of them

I am disappointed GM does not offer the T-56 manual transmission instead of a complex, expensive, fragile, and wasteful slush box. I reckon they think people are too busy blabbing on the cell phone to shift their own gears without the waste of a torque converter.

[theholycow]

I think about the wiper issue often; they look like they must mess up airflow badly. However, what I've read is that the hood-windshield interface airflow works in such a way that the wipers don't affect it (whether it's very turbulent and broken anyway, or it's jumping up past the wipers somehow, I don't remember).

I'm glad to know there's a smooth, prefab product for the job. I suspect that the sharp drop/gap isn't so great, and I when I thought of making one I imagined a hinged cover that gets pushed up by the wipers as they emerge...

[GasSavers_BEEF]

I look at removing wiper blades the same way as I do removing side view mirrors. will it help efficiency? probably in some insignificant way. will it be unsafe? that depends on the driver and I want all the help I can get.

I like the Plastic wiper cover. I think it gives a very clean look. I can't say how much it would help but it looks good. I don't think they offer them for all vehicles, just trucks.

holycow,
your idea about the hinged hide-away wipers kind of reminds me of what they did with the aptera (if I read it right). I think it would be hard to do on an existing vehicle and not really worth the small gains.

I have also heard that the wipers that bow out that give even pressure across your windshield are more aerodynamic. I can't remember what they are called but they cost about twice as much as the conventional ones.

*edit* OH MAN that thing is like 120 bucks!!! still looks good.

[Jay2TheRescue]

I tried folding my mirrors in on The Beast once, and I was flying blind. I was so scared that there was a car in my blind spot the whole time. The Big White Hooptie and my old 80 Bonneville and 74 Chevy p/u all have wiper cowls from the factory. The wipers pull back behind the hood when not in use. I think this was for purely astetic reasons, not for any aero advantage. I wonder why they took the cowl away on the trucks. My 74 Chevy and Rusty (86 Chevy) were both essentially the same truck. The 74 had a wiper cowl, and Rusty does not.

-Jay

[GasSavers_BEEF]

I think the gains using the wiper cowl would be very small. there again, I haven't tested it so I don't know. I personally am not willing to pay that kind of money for something just to find out. it does look cool.

I would think that they had it on the trucks to see what people thought of it and they didn't get the response they thought they would, either that or they found a place to save a few bucks and didn't put it back on the next model year.