Travel Strategies for the 'new economy'

[93wuntun]

How are you guys stretching your diesel dollars??

I just did a 1000 mile round trip... money is tight so I did the following.

Checked Gasbuddy.com, found diesel for $3.15 a gallon, the cheapest between san fran and LA.

made sure the tires were @ 80psi

Drove 63mph in the truck lane (added 2 hrs to the trip)

Idled no longer than 2 minutes

Went up mountain passes in third gear @45 with the trucks instead of wide open in 4th with the cars

Bought all 'road food and drinks' at the supermarket before the trip.

Recent valve adjust and air filter.

90% hiway/10% city, I got a slightly better than average 19.1mpg... I'd sure like to hit 20mpg one day, but the service body + tools weighs at least 1000 lbs.
__________________

Anything I forgot to do?

In the future, I'm going to adjust my valves yet again to a tight .010/.020 instead of a loose one.

I also extended my oil drain interval from 5k to 6k and Slapped some j-b weld on my leaking radiator instead of replacing it. (packed some pepper in the toolkit, just in case)

[SUPRNOVA]

I'm in the same boat, I've got a 3k trip coming up with my QCLB 4x4 06. I've got BF Goodrich 34" all terrains, I'm not sure what the optimum pressure it for them, I'm going to try 50psi (max @ 1340kg load). I just rid myself of my cat, silencer ring and intake baffles. I unfortunately have 4.10's so I'm screwed regardless, but last long trip I had I averaged 17.3 @ 68mph. I'm going to do the first 400mi at 68 again to see if the ring, cat and baffles made any difference. Then I'll up it to 70 for a while. I've got 80gals capacity with my extra tank, so I'm considering doing a single fill up in Yuma where fuel is pretty cheap for my first leg.

[jhardie]

Originally Posted by 93wuntun

How are you guys stretching your diesel dollars??

I just did a 1000 mile round trip... money is tight so I did the following.

Checked Gasbuddy.com, found diesel for $3.15 a gallon, the cheapest between san fran and LA.

made sure the tires were @ 80psi

Drove 63mph in the truck lane (added 2 hrs to the trip)

Idled no longer than 2 minutes

Went up mountain passes in third gear @45 with the trucks instead of wide open in 4th with the cars

Bought all 'road food and drinks' at the supermarket before the trip.

Recent valve adjust and air filter.

90% hiway/10% city, I got a slightly better than average 19.1mpg... I'd sure like to hit 20mpg one day, but the service body + tools weighs at least 1000 lbs.
__________________

Anything I forgot to do?

In the future, I'm going to adjust my valves yet again to a tight .010/.020 instead of a loose one.

I also extended my oil drain interval from 5k to 6k and Slapped some j-b weld on my leaking radiator instead of replacing it. (packed some pepper in the toolkit, just in case)

That $3.15...at Joe's in Wesley? I've traveled that route quite a few times, and they have the cheapest price. I'll never stop at that Flyin' J near the Grapevine--always issues w/ the pumps.

Wash and waxed the truck?

[93wuntun]

Originally Posted by 93wuntun

In the future, I'm going to adjust my valves yet again to a tight .010/.020 instead of a loose one.

ok, I've checked/set the valves 3 times now in the last 4k miles. They were WAY too loose. Each time I tightened. (I finally got smart and am using an air ratchet w/ barring tool to turn the engine over w/ ease)

My engine is definitely quieter (my landlord noticed) and its seems like I'm getting better mileage, which I will verify next road trip)

Next step is to ditch the mechanical fan and replace with 2 junkyard electric ones.

[Begle1]

I bought a diesel Jetta.