Howdies!

That's pretty good! Yup, now that is my benchmark I will do one mod at a time and see how each helps, that being a grill block. However I won't be able to fully test it out because my next load will be with my motorcycle in the bed so testing will be postponed a little.

Can't wait! Thanks BZP!

 

I highly recommend an Ultragauge if you don't already have one. Testing takes minutes rather than gallons.

 

I had one... Sold it... Could never get it calibrated right. Whenever I would fill up it would say I filled up 37 gallons or something. Even after reseting the whole thing I still couldn't get it to work with my vehicle. I might get another one or a scan gauge sometime, I mostly sold it to get a sub for my truck. But now that I am more MPG savvy I wish I saved it

 

Sorry to hear! Mine quickly paid off. I actually thought I was getting 24 per tank when I was really getting 24/1.125=21.333... Because my fuel was not calibrated. It is now adjusted to be 1.125%. But it doesn't matter too much because regardless of accuracy, improvement is improvement. I can get it to 22 now but not much better... Kind of blows because I hear people saying they can get 20 MPG at 70 MPH and I get like 17-18 at that range. I usually drive 55-60 for 23-26 MPG.

 

I wish there was a way to just calibrate it automatically to the correct number because it was set perfect and then one time I calibrated it one more time and just never recovered but I remembered what that number was. I get 21 at 70 mph so I am stoked about the 24 at 65 mph even with my 3 inch lift. My skinny tires probably help though.

 

Got my fork assembly back and the welder did a great job at welding the extension on. This added about another $200 to this project. Since the air bag spring is further away from its pivot point, it should provide more reaction to the road.







I aired up the new air bag spring to 30psi just using a bicycle pump! The original rubber puck is fastened in its original position only on the top side which should provide bottoming out protection. I should be able to hook everything up and do a test run tomorrow morning to see what improvements this bigger air spring brings to the table. So don't be scared if you see me on the road.

I will not be reinstalling the Lazy Susan belly pan or wheel pant on at this time until I'm done testing out the air bag spring. There's nothing like pulling everything off just to fix things.

 

Question? I'm all for getting better mpg, but how much money have you invested (if you don't mind me asking, but you don't have to answer) and have you recouped that cost yet? I know it's going to cost something, but you have to figure out how long will it take to recoup the cost and start saving money. It's like buying a Prius or even a Chevy Volt and figure out at what point will you start saving money from the cost of gasoline or electricity as well as maintenance on the different technology. Makes sense when gas prices are near $4, but when gas prices are hovering in the $2 range or below, it's a different story.

Just curious and not trying to start something, but interested to learn more.

 

On his first page he mentions how much he saves each year and that it has already covered the cost of everything.

Not sure the exact amount of money invested however

 

I had forgotten he covered that part. Thanks!

 

Really cool project honestly, but i feel like doing all these mods defeats the prupose of a truck and if i was aiming for high gad mileage i would buy something that was efficient in the first place. Prius's are 20k-25k now, which makes them cheaper than our tacomas. Agian like i said cool project

 

But if you can return it to stock in an hour and this whole project doesn't put any extra holes in the body then why not? Get the mpgs of car but can have a full truck when needed!

 

And that's what's cool about it. No modifications made the truck is awesome!

 

This project started back in 2009 with just the original 1998 T-100 xtra cab 3.4L 2WD auto trans which came with a fiberglass camper top. It got a measly 15mpg on my first drive from San Antonio to Houston. A quick clean of the MAF and a reset of the ECU, the return trip back to San Antonio yielded 18mpg. I bought this former work truck with 307,000 miles for $2200 which I had the windshield, timing belt, water pump, accessory belts, hoses, radiator, and muffler replaced with most of it DIY. Replaced the fluids all across the board. Standard maintenance with the battery, spark plugs and wires, brake pads, and a leaking power steering system. Changed out the valve cover gaskets. Just had the rear bearings replaced last winter. Sold the fiberglass camper top after I started playing around with the aero cap. Dropped the air dam down 6" as the T-100 is notorious for notching the air dam if you bump into anything with it. That's when I started down the path I'm on.

The trailer...I bought it for $100...original MSRP was $1500. Most of the money I have spent on it was for welding of the hitch and now the suspension system. I don't know of any other hitch towed trailer that has dual shocks on the hitch and an adjustable air spring...except mine does because of based on how the single wheel trailer hitch works compared to a ball hitched trailer. I don't know if anyone could adapt shocks on a ball hitch to dampen the road effect or not but I know mine have made a tremendous difference in my setup. I don't get the back rattling/bumping you get from "normal" trailers.

Since the T-100 didn't sell in large quantities compared to other platforms, the aftermarket doesn't exist like it does for more popular platforms...like the Tacoma or F150. So owners like me are left to one's own devices to either deal with those short comings, adapt items to our trucks, do without, sell it and buy something else with a bigger platform support, or build our own things, In order to build it, you need to find a need and have the skill set to do it or have someone else build it for you.

Most of my direct costs are in the fasteners I use on all my projects since most of it is quick fab stuff. I don't have fiberglass or sheet metal skills so that leaves me with tape/glue and mechanical fasteners (screws, bolts, rivets, etc) to secure my build together with. Most of it is a learning experience and mistakes are where I learn the most from. Some of the things I apply to my project may be borrowed from other platforms or vehicles to see how much of an impact it may have. As an older platform, no one will be building anything new for it...so I'm basically on my own. Maybe some of the things I do might be beneficial to your truck...you never know...just probably not to the same extreme I am building mine on. For example...did you ever notice the front spats in front of your front tires (newer Tacomas have them). They are the result of aerodynamic testing to reduce the amount of air passing under your truck. May not seem like a big deal but every little thing helps. If you were to have a huge, low to the ground air dam installed on your 4WD truck, needless to say, it probably would get damaged or ripped off the first time you went wheeling or off-road, right?

Most of my mods were designed strictly for on road use since I pretty much knew up front that I wouldn't be going off-road in my T-100. My mods are to help me recoup my costs in my project as I drive more miles with them on. Not sure I can say any mods most people make to their truck will do the same as what I've accomplished for my truck but at least that is part of my goals that I have for mine.

 

If you drive 13,000 miles per year at avg 20MPG, you are using 650 gallons of gas per year. Something that can improve your MPG to 22 saves you 60 gallons per year. So whatever the cost of the mod is should not exceed the cost of 60 gallons of gas per year for however many years you can afford to wait before your investment makes a return.

If strapping plastic panels onto your truck costs a total of $50 and nets you 2 MPG, I'd say you're well within the profit margin unless gas drops to $0.50/gal.

 

What makes a truck unique is its ability to change to multiple capabilities fairly easily. You can't do that in a car, cross-over, SUV, or van as they are already shaped that way. Your requirements for your truck may be different than my requirement for my truck. How we get to there is only limited by our goals and the amount of funds we are willing to spend to get there. I learn something new every day that I might be able to apply to my goals. This project is just something fun that I can do without spending a lot of money towards it but at the same time, it saves me money in the long run when I drive it.

My cab cover project was integrated into my aero cap project and as far as I know, it's the only one out there with access doors to allow the easy deployment of my cab cover. That's something that can't be done on the Prius.

Not to beat the Prius horse to death but have you computed when your break even point is with that platform? Don't forget that the battery pack will have to be replaced at some point in time and it's not very cheap either. I don't believe it can do the things a truck can do either. I wonder what the highest mileage Prius is? I currently have close to 430,000 miles on my T-100...I don't think the Prius will make it that far.

 

My argument for getting more MPG out of a truck is this: If you are an avid offroader, first of all that is an expensive hobby and you won't be able to get 30 MPG. BUT, no matter what you do with the truck, just because it is a truck doesn't mean it can't get any better mileage than it currently does. I drive 55-60 MPH when I can afford to on the highway not because I wish I was in a car, but because it saves more money than the time you can save by driving fast. BamZip's mods DO defeat the purpose of most of our trucks but we don't have to go to those extremes.

For example, adding 4 MPG to my truck by making an aeroshell and belly panels will not affect towing or offroad capability. (Unless you were to seal the bottom up too much to retain heat)

 

This truck is rated at an EPA 19mpg highway. I'm closing in on 30mpg towing with the trailer. I've been averaging about 20,000 miles a year with a majority of those miles on the highway. Something that isn't factored in this equation is the amount of data and the knowledge I learn from this project. How much would that cost in an educational environment?

We also know that fuel costs will continue to rise every year. Yes, there are moments that the prices will drop a little but they always seem to creep right past the previous mark. So anything you can learn to help you save a little can help you save in the long run.

I know that if I ever decide to move to a more sturdy media like metal or carbon fiber/fiberglass, the chances of my return on investment diminishes greatly unless the materials and labor are donated to the project. The chances of getting sponsored to move forward towards metal or carbon fiber/fiberglass is rather slim to none. That is one of the main reasons why I've chosen the materials that I have as they are easily available, easy to work with, and cheap enough to afford.

 

Here, here!

Although the extremes I go though isn't what most other pickup truck owners will do, some of the data that I produce with my setup will be beneficial to some of you. Maybe some day, one of you will invent a better way to increase your gas mileage with your current truck instead of buying/paying up front for a promise of better gas mileage.

 

I'm headed up to Dallas on Sunday morning with the trailer hooked up. If you see me, honk 3 times...and I promise not to race you.

 

This is the current view...