Long A$$ trip help
 

Ok, im taking a really long trip from Omaha, NE to Plymouth, CT. Im new to this website, but i come from explorerforum.com. I own a '97 Ford explorer XLT with the 4.0 SOHC V6 with 215 horse and 260ish ft/pd torque. I need some help on getting great gass millage. i already have and intake, exaust, synthetic fluids all around and someother little things. i was just wondering if you guys knew alittle tricks to get somemore done. Im hopeing to acheive 28-30 the way there and 28 on the way back. thanks for all the help!

Clay

Great mileage. Is that what your currently getting MPG wise? This is a good place to start. Welcome to the site.

Slow down! That's the main thing! Welcome to the forum!

Taller rear end? Lower air dam? Highway tires vs A/T? Higher inflation? I guess there's no sense repeating all the other threads...

SVOboy is absolutely correct!! The slower you can go (within reason), the better!

You might want to try a quickie airdam...checkout Bill In Houston's "The Orange Toaster" https://www.gassavers.org/garage/view/365 or kitcar's "Stinkerbutt" https://www.gassavers.org/garage/view/445 for ideas.

When we recently took a trip to Orlando in my wife's wagon, we got a couple more MPG just by following the speed limit on cruise control. I am sure we would have done better if we had been more patient and drove slower.

Ever seen or read about this guy?
https://www.explorerforum.com/forums/...ighlight=quest

Aldive, yea, hes my hero!! ha. If i had that type of money. Hes got a beautiful truck. same motor as mine, but ive got less weight cause im not an eddie so i know the potiential is there. But yea. I have done a few of his mods. i do have a custom intake with a k&n cone filter, crank case breather mod. and yea. I am getting a tune up, timming chain tensioners replaced, alignment and i think brakes done sometime this week. As of now with old plugs & wires, bad timming tensioner and its out of alingment, i get aroun 15-20 depending on how i drive. Im hoping to make it to ct in just over a day. i dont exceed 65-70 on the interstate, and it helps i have a 5 speed that spools 2200 RPM at 70 MPH. sadly tho i do have liberator A/T i bought 4 winter, and im too poor to get lets say tracker 2s. How did he make that airdam. Thanks for the help, im gonna go piddle with her now!
Clay

hey its me from mustang time. welcome to the site. i know you dont want to slow down to much because it is such a long trip so your gonna have to do some aero mods. start with a fresh tank and see what you get driveing now so you can know how well your doing.

Get a different car. That's going to make a huge difference.

there is a lot you could do. staying under 65 is the best, along with tire pressure and the other aeromods mentioned.

aldive posted something about his air dam back when he got it. I don't remember specifics now, but he included all the details in his post.

Yea, he has a forum of all the mods hyperlinked to the install forum. Its amazing. And i will NEVER give up my explorer!! I lvoe it to death. I have aphotobucket account, i just dont know how to post pictures on here or id show you it. Its a great truck, and hauls a$$ when i need it to. No offense, i wouild take it over a gas saving econocar. I Plus, im a ford guy! Thanks. Hockey4mhns mentioned today covering up my undercarriage. Im afraid to do that because i dont want to mess with the driveshaft and i want to keep the tranny and t-case cool. I know that a warmer motor will get better MPG, but i want to keep things cool, they will altametly last longer.

Whats the belly of a explorer look like? Do they make belly ups or tummy tuckers for you guys?

Gearing, gearing, and more gearing. Just make sure it won't kick down and you can give it enough throttle to get in the ~300g/kwh BSFC areas. I hesitate to recommend a rear axle change since that gears everything down, but it seems that Aldive's success was primarily due to that, keeping it under 70mph, and synthetics imo. You can do two out of three easily, and that should get you into the low/mid twenties, but w/o the change in gearing it'll be tough to break 30mpg.

Tire pressure was already mentioned.

Set them to max sidewall: whatever the label on tire says.
Forget what's on your sticker on the car somewere or in owner's manual, that's for your comfort. For fuel economy set tires to "max sidewall".

Measure pressure when tires are cold before starting up. Tire manufacturer's spec allows for them to warm up during the day and from driving. Firmer tires don't need to flex so much, your engine doesn't spend it's energy bending the rubber. Extra benefit: the tires don't heat up as much so they last longer.

I also drive something I love that wasn't made for fuel economy, and I'm not giving it up just to get more mpg. I'm doing what I can to get the most possible out of it. Got a lot of tips here, this is a good place.

Mostly, keep the speed down. Horsepower needed (hp pretty much = fuel) to overcome air drag goes up with the CUBE of the speed increase. So there's a huge penalty for speed. Double your speed and the air drag goes up 8X. Add 25% (difference between 60 & 75) and the increased drag is just short of 2X. Even if you only increase speed 20% (from 60 to 72) the speed "tax" on your hp is 1.72X: you now need 1.7 X the horsepower to overcome the drag you had at 60 mph.

You will probably get better gas millage on the way there because wind comes in from the west. If you have a roof rack you should take it off. Drive as slow as you can get away with (55-65mph). And if you see a a few semis in a row get behind them (if you are comfortable with that). I was able to get 50mpg with my saturn from drafting semis at a few seconds behind.

I have 3.73's in the rear. I prettyy much have the same setup as Al, minus the limited slip. I have synthetics all the way around. and my tranny os amazing. it only downshifts when i really hit the gas. so i can easily pass on the highway in 5th gear. My torque maxes at 3000 so i never have to go over 2500 in traffic. I do drive slow. like i said, 65-70 depending on traffic ofcourse. My tires are rated at 50, and at 50 their at. I got some tubing from a buddy tonight to finish off my intake, but it turned out to be to small. Ill have to try again. Ill let you know. BTW, go to my garage, i have some pix of my Ex, they were taken with a cell so their small. thanks! ill take some pix of the underbody tomorrow!

Are your wheels/tires and OD the same, cuz if that's all there you should hit ~30mpg@65mph. :thumbup:

Sounds like you are good to go. Have a great trip and come back and give us a full report.

I dont believe we have the same tires. but we do have the same axel and tranny. He has the eddie so the tires are alittle bigger if im correct. Well. We had some problems with why we were going, so idk if its going to happen. which really upsets me. I am still going to get those things done and see if it helps with MPG. Theres a 75/50% chance were going, so well see. Let me know if i missed something!!
Clay