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  #31  
Old 03-31-2005, 01:16 PM
TK TK is offline
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not if they arent warped! or, your a farmer like me
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  #32  
Old 03-31-2005, 01:29 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Dick
I thank Stoga for a sensible explanation about the old methods used in drum brake adjustment. I had forgotten about the spin-and-a-half method of setting a little drag on the brakes. As far as the drag being relieved as the drums warmed up, he points out that it is not an exacting science and one more or less click on the star wheel will make a difference. I feel that the shoes will also warm up and expand slightly, and if the drag is set a little on the heavy side, it probably won't be eliminated altogether.

As far as how others adjust their drum brakes for total "free-wheel", that may be OK on the race track, but it is not correct or safe on the street.

the proper way to adjust drum brakes----------make sure your shoes and drums are in good shape
check springs, adjusters, ect for stretching and wear
then, adjust untill they apply, and back off till they are (almost) free, in good condition, you should have a very slight drag (stoga's turn and a half)
if your drum brakes are in good condition, this is where the adjusters will keep the adjustment

big trucks-----------tighten slack adjusters, then back off 3/4 of a turn, look at the shoe, and make sure the brakes are realeased, they should not drag either.

im not being a smart ass or anything, im just trying to point out that all drum brakes should not drag, at all. and, the drum expands more than the shoe can, therefore, when warm, the shoe will not touch the drum. this is important in big truck, mainly because of cooling
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  #33  
Old 04-01-2005, 07:06 PM
George G. Leverette George G. Leverette is offline
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dwc43 slightly touched on tires, Radials tires 70 series will produce less rolling resistance than the 60,50,40 series. Fill the tires to the car manufactures maximum recommended pressure. Use nitrogen instead of air to fill the tires, Costo and others now provide these services for their customers. Buy a tire with a 400 or higher tire wear rating, these tires will have a harder compound and less road friction.
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  #34  
Old 04-01-2005, 07:13 PM
George G. Leverette George G. Leverette is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Supadart
Don't forget about the air conditioning? Turn that off on those comfortable days. It's amazing how many people will drive around with the windows up and AC cranked on a 70-75 degree day!

Those kinds of days are what open windows are made for!

-Gary
This is dependent on the type of car driven. With a new aerodynamic body style and low torque air compressors, the drag from open windows will negate any benefit from turning the A\C off. The older Mopars with the iron compressors will still benefit with the A\c turned off.
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  #35  
Old 04-07-2005, 08:51 PM
71dart666 71dart666 is offline
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Well this doesnt do anything regarding increasing fuel economy but it would reduce your costs, its a no brainer.. get a (if you dont already have one) a fuel efficient daily driver. I have a 95 Ford Escort sation wagon 1.9 liter with an automatic, its got a 100 lb subbox/stereo set up in it and it drive mainly city with heavy traffic and it still gets 25 mpg on regular gas or better, freeway 30 + easy. I pay a mere 2.45 a gallon for it right now, what a bargian !
Save the muscle cars for weekend toys or leisure driving and make sure you have a good gas saving commuter so you can put more money into your mopar.
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  #36  
Old 04-07-2005, 09:36 PM
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Biggrin

all good, but a pallet of chainlink, and a few sticks of pipe would look awfull funny on a escort i run (3) 1 tons in the summer, gas is killing me
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  #37  
Old 04-07-2005, 10:54 PM
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dwc43 dwc43 is offline
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Biggrin

I don't think this tip has been mentioned. Stop taking off from a light like your doing an F1 standing start for a race to work. Accelerate slowly up to the speed limit. Stop doing 70 in a 45 !! Accelerate before you get to a hill, and I've seen some that will kick the car out of gear and let it coast down hill. GA. overdrive for the truckers on here ... LOL!!
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  #38  
Old 04-07-2005, 11:53 PM
71dart666 71dart666 is offline
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Yeah DWC that is important, hell my friend used to bitch about how bad the gas miliage was in his 69 Cougar with 3.08 gears and a mostly stock 302 with a 4 barrel edelbrock.I told him maybe if he didnt floor it trying to peel out at every corner the gas miliage would improve, he said it only got about 10 mpg. I bet alot of people on here can get better mpg out of thier mopars with bigger engines, steeper gears and more power. Another thing Id like to mention that might is everybody whos got a decent amount of money should think about going with an overdrive tranny. Long term if you drive alot it would pay for itself, plus there are other advantages like less drivetrain wear and the ability to cruize on the freeway.
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  #39  
Old 04-08-2005, 03:31 AM
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Stoga Stoga is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by 71dart666
he said it only got about 10 mpg. I bet alot of people on here can get better mpg out of thier mopars with bigger engines, steeper gears and more power.
Just as an example, the 4-speed 70 Roadrunner I used to own in the late 70s would get 16 mpg when I feather footed and babied it. I used to do this on the long trips on the 4 lanes. It had a semi-heated up .030 over 440 with a 6 barrel cam, headers, 750 double pumper and 3.55 gears. Something lighter with less cubes like a 340 Duster or 360 Dart could do even better if geared similarily.
Naturally, when it came time to stick your foot in the throttle, then you had to figure out gas consumption at feet per gallon!!
The only real trick is just keepin your foot off the throttle, even a real gas hog will show some improvement if you baby it along.
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  #40  
Old 04-29-2005, 02:22 AM
bjoehandley bjoehandley is offline
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Beleive it or not, I noticed on a recent trip to Iowa that using full time 4wd in my Cherokee in high crosswinds actually improved straightline stability and gas mileage on I-80 and I-88 running between 65mph (posted limit) and 75 mph. I even went back and checked mileage from the trip we made back in October and found that you could tell when I used full time and when I didn't. The weather conditions, passenger count and cargo were pretty compairable too! The only difference was that I ran Chevron with Techron fuel additive (2 bottles in one tank and 1 bottle in the nexttank full, also made a difference running around town too), but the change between 2wd and 4FT was consistant.
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  #41  
Old 05-18-2005, 11:28 AM
scdanny scdanny is offline
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"Better gas mileage?...We don't need no stinking better gas mileage"!! My effiecent B.B. gtx gets a steady 8.3 M.P.G.

To save money my wife & I take turns eating. I'm in a good mood today cause it's my week to eat!!
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  #42  
Old 07-27-2005, 08:39 AM
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I love this topic...As you can see from my location, I live in the Netherlands...where gasprices are MUCH higher than in the US. "Oh yeah? Well, HOW much than?!?". Well...what do you think about $7-$8 per gallon?

Overhere, some cars drive on LPG (Liqified Patrol Gas). LPG-prices are MUCH, MUCH, MUCH lower than fuel prices BUT, your engine doesn't like LPG at all...especially the older (stock) engines.

My point of view: I don't need LPG, gas if for cooking...If I can't get to the gasstation because my wallet won't let me, well that's the consequence of driving a car with a large engine displacement.
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  #43  
Old 09-06-2005, 01:42 AM
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Whats the average income over there, probably makes my familes' look like pocket change to the netherland folk.
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  #44  
Old 09-11-2005, 09:02 AM
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Damn the gas!

I've come to the conclusion that getting 25+ MPG for my 140,000 mile dart is great. Sure that new mustang can beat me from 0 to 60 MPH but from 0 to cool I'll hand him his ass. I paid 2.99 a gallon to fill my dart yesterday and the wife paid $3.19 for 93 octane. Looks like the slant will get a rebuild this winter and the 440 will stay on the stand till I can make it run on farts.
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  #45  
Old 09-27-2005, 11:31 PM
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All Good suggestions

I have a 71 Fury 3 with a 360. I just rebuilt the engine, new cam, bottom end, pistons, basically remanufactured.

When I got the car, and I was shocked at this one too, I was getting 18 around town. I never touched it other than to install a pertronix module and their coil. On the rebuild, i installed a Holley Commander 950 TBI system. So far I only have 300 miles on the motor, but I am back at the 18 and still tweaking it. As mentioned above, EFI is the way to go. But get the Holley Ignition for it too. It's controlled by the commander
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  #46  
Old 03-30-2006, 11:26 PM
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Vitamin C Vitamin C is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by dodgetruckboy
also, a tight torque converter, and a shift kit can help gas mileage, a tranny wastes enough energy, without it slipping.

one more thing, if you have a truck, if you can, leave your tailgate down, it helps
The tailgate down myth was busted on Myth Busters. The tailgate down got worse gas mileage than the closed tailgate. It's just what I saw on TV and they made sense out of it.
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  #47  
Old 06-15-2006, 08:21 PM
ZR 900 ZR 900 is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Vitamin C
The tailgate down myth was busted on Myth Busters. The tailgate down got worse gas mileage than the closed tailgate. It's just what I saw on TV and they made sense out of it.
You are correct. Tailgate up or down is about the same but up is better.
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  #48  
Old 07-15-2006, 05:18 PM
69CoronetFTW 69CoronetFTW is offline
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i put a tonneau cover on my f150 and noticed an increase of roughly 1mpg overall, no bs. didn't matter around town but much less drag on the truck on the highway, you could actually feel the difference. if yu don't mind rolling and unrolling a tonneau every time you need to use the bed, then i recommend this approach.
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  #49  
Old 08-16-2006, 10:08 PM
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The numerically lower gears are not always the best, lot's of the late 80s Dodges were geared in the 2.45 to 2.7 with tall tires, they could have done just as well with 2.94, maybe even 3.23s if the tires are tall enough. Some people wait to long to down shift too, and it bogs it all down, gotta stay in a good rpm that gives good torque I air my tires to less than the tire manufacturers limit, but more than the door jam says to, my brother in law sticks with the way it says in the door jam, I would wear tires on the sides if I ran them that low, the way I drive (my dad calls it "Juinor wear") on my pickup, I lower the pressure a tad if I know I'll be in the snow
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  #50  
Old 02-26-2007, 05:54 PM
mtpickupman mtpickupman is offline
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an electric cooling fan and waterpump drive will increace both porformance and gas milage, and inturn pay for themselves
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  #51  
Old 02-27-2007, 10:09 PM
GoodysGotaCuda GoodysGotaCuda is offline
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some pretty darn good suggestions in here. thanks!
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  #52  
Old 03-10-2007, 10:49 AM
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Wink

Buy your gas in the right state if you can. On a recent trip in a PT Cruiser leaving NH w/ a full tank, w/ an avg. speed of 72 mph I got 24+ mpg. On the next tank purchased in NJ I got 26+ mpg. On the next fill up in VA I got 27+mpg in much hillier roadways too. Ah the wonders of reformulated fuels.
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  #53  
Old 03-15-2007, 05:37 PM
memnoch451 memnoch451 is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by GoodysGotaCuda View Post
some pretty darn good suggestions in here. thanks!
What I do Is just park my car in the warehouse and look at it. Or I'll invite people over to look at it. That way I don't have to go to the cruise nights or wear out tires. Of course it's not as much fun...

OR>..... Just get a boat load of money and drive the car any way...Also Start a business and use the gas as a write off... You have to expense it on a monthy basis but, the move you drive the more you save!
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  #54  
Old 03-15-2007, 06:55 PM
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Gary , do you not watch mythbusters? You must have missed the episode where they debunked that myth. LOL.
wayne
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  #55  
Old 03-18-2007, 12:37 PM
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1/ Avoid the high rpm 'drag' motor. Build your engine to have gobs of torque in a lower rpm power band/curve. 2/ No 'drag' gears! U want a Sure Grip to lay dual blackies, and then to hook, and highway gears around 3:1 to keep the rpm down. 3/ Big block or no block! My 440 had 480ft/lbs. factory!!!!What are u small block boys gonnna have 2 do to get that. I'll tell ya....crazy rpm! 4/ Use a spread bore, like a TQ. 5/ Consider an overdrive, like the 518. 6/ Avoid driving motor homes! 7/ Check tire pressure 8/ Remove the rear seat to reduce the # of arses. 9/ Tailgate ( er...I meant "Draft")fast movin semis. 10/ Get AAA to tow ya to the next gas bar. 11/ Buy the wife an electric car (helmet optional).
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  #56  
Old 03-19-2007, 12:42 AM
Tarrbabe Tarrbabe is offline
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Exclamation SixMan..............

I agree that for the street, the torque is the way to go................
It will make you go fast and use less gas too. The touts of torque are many.







But have you ever heard the cry of the banshee?????????
The sound of a small block turning 9 to 10,000 rpm?
Nascar does it every week.
Yes, it much more expensive, but the sound is magnetic.
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  #57  
Old 03-19-2007, 11:38 AM
Sixman Sixman is offline
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How long is it going to last at 9 grand? Lots of expensive parts if u build for over 6-7 grand. Have u ever heard the cry of the car owner, when the engine gernades? The only reason Nascar is in this sorry state is cuz they banned what, what...the Hemi(darn them), the 440(damn them), the Winged Warriors (F@#% them). Now they run cubes the equivilent of a Ford 300-6 with a 0.030 overbore , and a 1BBL carb. How 'bout a four door Winged Warrior? Historically, Mother Mopar is very upset with NASCAR. Hey how 'bout if NHRA limits Top Fuelers to 305cid? Big Block A-Bodies are definitely on the harry-chested end of our family!!!
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  #58  
Old 03-21-2007, 11:13 PM
memnoch451 memnoch451 is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Sixman View Post
How long is it going to last at 9 grand? Lots of expensive parts if u build for over 6-7 grand. Have u ever heard the cry of the car owner, when the engine gernades? The only reason Nascar is in this sorry state is cuz they banned what, what...the Hemi(darn them), the 440(damn them), the Winged Warriors (F@#% them). Now they run cubes the equivilent of a Ford 300-6 with a 0.030 overbore , and a 1BBL carb. How 'bout a four door Winged Warrior? Historically, Mother Mopar is very upset with NASCAR. Hey how 'bout if NHRA limits Top Fuelers to 305cid? Big Block A-Bodies are definitely on the harry-chested end of our family!!!
HERE, Here!

I will be looking and counting the amount of clowns getting out of a Nascar at the next circus I go to!
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  #59  
Old 04-20-2007, 10:42 AM
Sixman Sixman is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by PhilThePitcher View Post
tarrbabe...just curious how do drum brakes affect milage? i have all four drums.
calipers keep some pressure on the pads causing a bit of drag, whereas the springs pull the shoes back away from the drums
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  #60  
Old 04-20-2007, 10:54 AM
Sixman Sixman is offline
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That's intruiging theory re the drums expanding.... Scenario: Say, I go rally racing, in my '66 440 TNT NewYorker, get the four drums smokin hot, then back-up and brake several times all the way home, thus adjusting the shoes out tight to the now hot & expanded diameter of the drums. Park it, come out in the morning, would i find my binders locked up or heavily draggin?
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