V-10 Economy

[Pick Up Man]

OK, so that might be an oxymoron. I have a '98 V-10 automatic. The guy that ordered it (not me) put a 4.10 rear end in it. Damn, does it ever suck gas. My last truck was a '96 V-10 5 speed with the standard rear gears (3.54 I think). I have seen about a 3-4 mpg per tank difference between the two trucks.

So - what can I do to help my economy? Change rear gears? Different exhaust? Different computer chips? I live in Colorado, so I still have ot pass emissions testing.

Any ideas out there?

Cheers

[Toe]

Your 4:10 rear end is what's causing it. They're great for hauling up steep mountains but your top speed is lower and you use way more gas at highway speeds. So swaping the rear end with a more normal 3:52 or something close to that would help. Also a K&N air filter should help your economy a little bit, though I don't think you'll really notice it. Computer chips will just cause it to suck more gas, and the expencive 92 octane gas too. The only other modifcation I have heard that really helps fuel economy is a super charger though that is a little extreme and expencive, but 400hp would be nice.

Tony

[Brian Mills]

Big tires, different gears, or one of those fancy aftermarket over/underdrives. Thats about it.

Brian

[9dodge]

You bought a V-10 and your thinking about gas mileage? You should have bought the Diesel and had both power and mileage.

Just a thought

[Pick Up Man]

Hey 9Dodge,

I don't drive enough miles to make a diesel worth while. Thank you so very much for doubting my judgement here. I bought the V-10 because it fit my needs, and I ask an honest question top improve my mileage.

Too bad I get a stupid response like yours.

[9dodge]

Sorry to have offended you. You have taken my answer far to serious.

[Mikey]

You're in a difficult spot....

As others have said, your 4.10s are the culprit to your fuel economy. Swapping them out with say 3.54s will run about $1000 (unless you do it yourself). As suggested, a good catback system that's at least 3" (I would do a 3.5") and a cool intake (Gen II) will probably get you an extra 2 mpg in the best conditions.

I don't know if K&N make the Gen II for the V-10 however, but putting a K&N air filter in the stock box will help. These two mods will run about $500-$600 and may take 12-16 months to pay for themselves, but the increase performance and the smile factor may compensate for the time spent waiting for the payback.

I noticed that you signed off with "Cheers", are you from the UK perhaps? Reason why I ask is that I deal with the UK MOD and UK companies everyday in the products that we sell. Just curious...nice people, always willing to help on in need.

Mikey

[Pick Up Man]

Mikey,

Thanks for the suggestions! I'll check them out. Nope, I'm not from the UK - I'm from the Central Rockies of Amercia. I just like using "cheers" as a tagline.

9Dodge-

No worries there. I guess you kind of hit a nerve with the diesel comment. While that is a nice engine, it simply doesn't fit my needs - I drive < 15 k miles annually. Gee, so why AM I bitching about economy then? ;-)

Cheers

[Christopher]

I don't think a gear swap to 3.54's would cost that much.If it were me,I'd swap gears to 3.54's.My Dad had a 78 Dodge crew cab with a 360 and 4.10's,and we swapped to 3.54's and the mileage went up 3mpg.

[TheRamMan]

PICKUP MAN
I agree a gear change to 3;54 should
give you the best results.
I have to asume your truck is a 2wd.
If its not this could be an expensive
proposition.There must be tons of dana 70
diffs in the wrecking yards (everbody used
them) this might be a less expensive
alternative to new. We tried m.p headers
cat converters removed (there is no downstream o2 on v-10s)and K/N filter on
4wd with 4:10s midrange power improved
but milage seemed unaffected (it sucked)
A change to 3:54s netted approx.3 m.p.g
increase. good luck

[Pick Up Man]

Hi Ram Man,

My truck is a 4wd - so I'm guessing I'll need to change both front and rear gears. Is that true? I do agree that the gear swap should improve things the most, but I'm willing to give the K&N and maybe a Flow Master a shot as well.

Thanks!

[MRBBQMAN]

I've done the gear swap on my v-10 2wd, about 500 for a 2wd, but i went the other way. i had a 3.54 and went to a 4.10 because of my tire wheel combos. i use my 255/70 for strip, and my 285/70 for hwy (12mpg), those big 285/70's compensate for the 4.10's. it will be hard to get any modification to the motor to pay for itself in mpg in a 3ton truck.

[jswar]

Economy? - Forget it. I have a 99 4WD Quad Cab, 3:54's w/auto. trans. w/app. 12k miles (in 6 months time). I have logged every drop of gas I've put into this truck, along with notes on what I was doing. I've tried 93 octane for extended periods and it does no better than the 87. My truck gets 10 mpg under just about all driving conditions. I pull a small camper (4500 lbs loaded) and after sitting on I95 last summer for 1.5 hrs. to go 6 miles the next fill-up showed 10 mpg. The only time that mileage seems to suffer is when pulling through the mountains (W.Pa.) it will drop to 8 if I keep it in the fast lane. I put a K&N filter on it and went on a trip recently and got 12.5 empty...around town it's still 10. I have called Gibson, Flowmaster and Dynomax and nobody had an exhaust system for this truck. The guy at Flowmaster had a muffler that would work but he said their reason for not developing a system was the sound that it would make...like a big 6 cyl. Looking at the truck I can see that it has mandrel bent tubing so I doubt that it can be improved upon. The dealer recently had the truck on the computer and found no faults...they then filled the tank, drove it 75 miles, put 5 gal. of gas in it and said your truck get's 15 mpg...must be the way you drive. My next tank gave me 9.2 over 280 miles so I know that they didn't get the tank full. The only mod. that will make an improvement is to fasten an egg to the bottom of the gas pedal and drive WITH the wind, neither is very practical. My economy solution was to buy a 91 Shadow with a 2.2 to run back and forth to work, etc...at 25 mpg I can now pass a gas station on the way to work without the vehicle pulling towards it.