It is my understanding that it is unwise to use E85 in a non flex fuel system. Apparently the ethanol is hard on injector o-rings and fuel lines.. These components in the E85 vehicles are ethanol compatible. Current E85 vehicles sport a bright yellow gas cap and the vehicles without this yellow cap carry a warning not to use E85. Also, there are guidelines about switching back and forth between gasoline and E85. They provide for a diluted introduction so the engine electronics can adjust. Early flex fuel vehicles required a different oil if E85 was to be used all the time.
What a coincidence, our main vehicle is also a Prius!
We try to balance our environmental impact by averaging our mpg/emissions as well as keeping a blend of utility in our vehicles.....
Dodge Power Wagon: 12 mpg avg (utility = pulls our second home, hauls loads and plays in the dirt)
Toyota Prius: 46 mpg avg (utilty = commuter/CA HOV lane stickers, all around people mover,)
__________________ Travel is in my blood, adventure is my passport, aluminum is my favorite construction medium, and therefore, an Airstream was my destiny.
Almost considered buying a deisel because I've always heard they were the ultimate in towing. We have Yukon XL (Suburban) with a gasser. Does just fine except the long grades. Got to just train yourself to sit back, turn the stereo up and relax.
You really get around and mix it up........once again you cross pollenate info from supportive forums.....the Lutz video certainly proves out the concerns of many regarding the long term value of diesel power as it relates to emissions standards and the effect on mileage benefits.
Well done. I would bet a lot of folks will start looking for 5.9 Dodge CTDs the same way some of the Ford folks look for 7.3 PSDs.
Thanks for the link.
__________________ Travel is in my blood, adventure is my passport, aluminum is my favorite construction medium, and therefore, an Airstream was my destiny.
I bought my HEMI 3/4 ton 4x4 new in July 2005. I looked at the Diesel 5500.00 more and at the time Diesel was 82 cents per gallon more the regular gas.. Was a no brainer!!! Love the Hemi and on the highway I get 16.5 mpg at 70.. Pulling the 30 foot Limited I get 11.5 mpg at 65..Funny thing is pulling my 65 17 ft Caravel I get 12.5 and it weighs 2250 lbs. Go figure...Shows its mostly wind load I guess... I had a hard time keeping my foot out of it at first but one ticket and a few stops by the BOYS I learned pretty fast..Damn thing will move!!!!I just turned 29,000 miles on it,,,Hope you enjoy your Power Wagon.. Ralph
__________________
"If your not living life on the edge... Your taking up too much room. WANTED, Single lady who loves and has a Airstream. Please send photo of A/S and T.V. Operation "SAVE RUDY" Strike Team (Charter Member) RALPH, KW8G.....WBCCI # 4201 Metro Detroit & 4CU
I don't think their mileage is unusual for a Hemi. I tow a 24 Argosy and with it loaded and the bed fully loaded with camping gear I get 12 mpg towing at 70 mph. On my way to the canopener I got 12.4 mpg at 55-60mph and on the way back I got 12.1 mpg at 65-70mph. This is about 1.4-1.6 more than I was getting before a new exhaust, Hypertech programmer/tuner, Airaide cold air breather and throttle body spacer. I think I would do just as well w/ just the exhaust however. The tuner does help w/ shifting while towing but the breather and spacer were probably a waste of money but I can't say for sure until I take them off and take the Argosy on another trip. We always load the truck bed when towing which cushions the ride quite a bit. GO Hemi!!!
__________________
Different strokes for different folks!
I never learned from a man who agreed with me. Heinlein
John, greetings from Don (Motoman) & Gail from Riverside.
You won't get any flames from us even though we pull our 25' CCD with a 2500 4X4 2005 Cummins, but then again my Dad's retired Chrysler discount brought the price of our Cummins down below the price others pay for a 1500 gasser. I certainly thought about the Power Wagon at the time but ended up going with the Cummins. Of course that was three months before the price of gas and diesel swapped, the Power Wagon wasn't yet at the dealers and I didn't want to wait.
I did want to hear how you like towing the Airstream with the all-terrain tires that Dodge puts on the Power Wagon. Our Dodge has the 17 inch Michelin highway tread and I would like something with a little more traction for dirt, mud and snow that we seem to find ourselves in on our trips. Do you notice more motion on turns and lane changes from the more open tread pattern?
Congratulations on your choice, we can have a whole string of these Dodge Rams in the caravan to the Balloon Fiesta this fall.
__________________
Don (KD6UVT) & Gail Williams
What do you want to be in life, a spectator or a participant?
John, greetings from Don (Motoman) & Gail from Riverside.
You won't get any flames from us even though we pull our 25' CCD with a 2500 4X4 2005 Cummins, but then again my Dad's retired Chrysler discount brought the price of our Cummins down below the price others pay for a 1500 gasser. I certainly thought about the Power Wagon at the time but ended up going with the Cummins. Of course that was three months before the price of gas and diesel swapped, the Power Wagon wasn't yet at the dealers and I didn't want to wait.
I did want to hear how you like towing the Airstream with the all-terrain tires that Dodge puts on the Power Wagon. Our Dodge has the 17 inch Michelin highway tread and I would like something with a little more traction for dirt, mud and snow that we seem to find ourselves in on our trips. Do you notice more motion on turns and lane changes from the more open tread pattern?
Congratulations on your choice, we can have a whole string of these Dodge Rams in the caravan to the Balloon Fiesta this fall.
Hi Don & Gail,
Nice hearing from you. You were one of the satisfied Dodge owners who helped me decide on my choice of a new TV..Thanks.
The All-Terrain tires on the PW are 285-70-17 BFG AT KOs and have good traction on dirt and rock. As for mud and snow they are OK, but not at the top of the list for the real sloppy off-roaders. As for highway, they are fairly quiet and handle great without the AS, the Hemi Ram (even the PW which weighs in at 6449 dry) is lighter than the CTD Ram, especially in the front, so they drive with a much lighter steering effort. Once you put weight on the BFG AT, they do have a bit of flex. Another forum member, Andrew T has advised me that the tire being tall and having a 11.5" tread width on an 8" wide rim may be contributing to a very small "push" from passing semis. I run them at the rated 60 psi, front and rear when towing and drop the rears to 45 psi when unloaded.
I will let you know more as I put some miles on the truck and play with the EQ adjustment. I do think the BFG AT is a great tire and if you stayed with your original size it would be a good choice, as far as going larger than stock, the vote is not in yet.
Why wait for the Balloon fiesta to rally the Dodges, we have plenty of upcoming rallys in So Cal.........it would be great to see you two hanging with the locals.
John
__________________ Travel is in my blood, adventure is my passport, aluminum is my favorite construction medium, and therefore, an Airstream was my destiny.
John---Great looking new rig! Looks like the same red as Kevbo's. We'll miss the bright yellow Ford haulin down the road, but it was time for it to go. Too bad you guys happened to get a poor example. It's a great time to buy tow vehicles. There are many excellent choices out there.
Diana and I look forward to seeing you at the next camping trip.
Hi Bob, we miss the big yellow as well, it's unfortunate that we had a bad example as you called it. We are happy with the new addition to the fleet, and the red is something to get used to. We had a great time caravanning with you and Diana, Don and Gail to the Balloon Festival. Hopefully we'll see you all soon in a local rally. BTW, Kevbo's Hemi is blue.
=^^= Cat
__________________ Travel is in my blood, adventure is my passport, aluminum is my favorite construction medium, and therefore, an Airstream was my destiny.
Thanks for the reply, we will try and make some of the local So Cal rallys this year but some other events have to be scheduled in and might reduce our rally miles.
I will check back with you on the tires. I would certainly stay with stock size since my odometer and speedo are smack on and the truck is tall enough anyway; I don't lack for ground clearance. I did notice some tread flex when we towed our firs Airstream with our Cherokee and all-terrain tires. I wouldn't want anything too aggressive and thought I would see how yours did. Also, right now the Dodge four speed shifts out of O/D with the CCD on back about 1/4 to 1/2 mile before the top of the grade out of Needles going west running about 62 mph on cruise. That's with the 3.73 gears, not the 4.56s on yours that help bring the the HEMI back into its sweet spot for towing on big hills and grades. The Cummins might be turning too slow with the 285 70s.
BTW, does the HEMI get more gears in the late model Power Wagons or just 4? Lastly, my post on the other tread about the Tundra and different model US 3/4 tonners was somewhat to get a retort, err I mean reply, from Kevin
but he was silent!
Quote:
Originally Posted by TIMEMACHINE
Hi Don & Gail,
Nice hearing from you. You were one of the satisfied Dodge owners who helped me decide on my choice of a new TV..Thanks.
The All-Terrain tires on the PW are 285-70-17 BFG AT KOs and have good traction on dirt and rock. As for mud and snow they are OK, but not at the top of the list for the real sloppy off-roaders. As for highway, they are fairly quiet and handle great without the AS, the Hemi Ram (even the PW which weighs in at 6449 dry) is lighter than the CTD Ram, especially in the front, so they drive with a much lighter steering effort. Once you put weight on the BFG AT, they do have a bit of flex. Another forum member, Andrew T has advised me that the tire being tall and having a 11.5" tread width on an 8" wide rim may be contributing to a very small "push" from passing semis. I run them at the rated 60 psi, front and rear when towing and drop the rears to 45 psi when unloaded.
I will let you know more as I put some miles on the truck and play with the EQ adjustment. I do think the BFG AT is a great tire and if you stayed with your original size it would be a good choice, as far as going larger than stock, the vote is not in yet.
Why wait for the Balloon fiesta to rally the Dodges, we have plenty of upcoming rallys in So Cal.........it would be great to see you two hanging with the locals.
John
__________________
Don (KD6UVT) & Gail Williams
What do you want to be in life, a spectator or a participant?
Thanks for the reply, we will try and make some of the local So Cal rallys this year but some other events have to be scheduled in and might reduce our rally miles.
BTW, does the HEMI get more gears in the late model Power Wagons or just 4? Lastly, my post on the other tread about the Tundra and different model US 3/4 tonners was somewhat to get a retort, err I mean reply, from Kevin
but he was silent!
hey Moto,
You better figure out a way to make a SoCal rally!!
The PW, and I am pretty sure all of the Hemi powered Rams have a 5 speed auto (the PW does have an optional 6 speed manual). The auto actually has 6 forward gears in that there are two second gears, one for upshifting and one for downshifting. The 5 speed's top two gears are both overdrives, one of the reasons the 4.56 differentail gearing works so well for towing and still decent solo.
kevbo has neen pretty quiet, something is brewing somewhere, and its probably at a dive bar with some kind of plastic animal on the roof....
time
__________________ Travel is in my blood, adventure is my passport, aluminum is my favorite construction medium, and therefore, an Airstream was my destiny.
Quick Links
WANTED, Single lady who loves and has a Airstream. Please send photo of A/S and T.V.
(Charter Member) RALPH, KW8G.....WBCCI # 4201 Metro Detroit & 4CU
Linear Mode
