1978 Dodge 360
From : robby
Q: recently purchased a 1978 dodge d200 with 360 and auto. i bought as a second truck and because it is in almost new condition. one problem! absolutely horrible gas mileage. if i drive it real careful and fairly slow i can get 13.5 mpg canadian or 11 u.s.gallon. after a complete tune up including new carburetor the mileage did not improve at all. a local speed shop specializes in mopar is trying to sell me a edelbrock 4 barrel and intake manifold. they claim all these trucks in this era got terrible mileage but this will improve drivability and bring mileage up to 18 to 20. sounds to good to be true. if anyone has experience please reply. robby .
Replies:
From : daniel j stern
on mon 28 jun 2004 robby wrote recently purchased a 1978 dodge d200 with 360 and auto. i bought as a second truck and because it is in almost new condition. one problem! absolutely horrible gas mileage. if i drive it real careful and fairly slow i can get 13.5 mpg canadian or 11 u.s.gallon. that is the kind of mileage these trucks get. after a complete tune up including new carburetor the mileage did not improve at all. not surprising! that is the kind of mileage these trucks get. local speed shop specializes in mopar is trying to sell me a edelbrock 4 barrel and intake manifold. they claim all these trucks in this era got terrible mileage but this will improve drivability and bring mileage up thats correct but 1 be sure youre getting the edelbrock performer intake not the performer rpm or air gap or streetmaster or torker intake manifold. they frequently go by on ebay for much less money than your speed shop probably wants; there are only two kinds one that only suits 72 and older applications and one that fits all applications up to 91. there are no separate intakes for 273-318-340-360 its all just one frequently described as a 318/360 intake. 2 get the edelbrock carb thats a repro of the carter avs not the one thats a repro of the carter afb. steve can provide more detail if he chimes in on this thread. increase the mileage to 18 to 20. sounds to good to be true. youre right. it is. no *way* will that truck ever get that mileage with that engine even using larger canadian gallons. -ds .
From : steve b this is not my real address com
on mon 28 jun 2004 214406 -0400 daniel j. stern dastern@engin.umich.edu wrote on mon 28 jun 2004 robby wrote recently purchased a 1978 dodge d200 with 360 and auto. i bought as a second truck and because it is in almost new condition. one problem! absolutely horrible gas mileage. if i drive it real careful and fairly slow i can get 13.5 mpg canadian or 11 u.s.gallon. at that time the big three were still trying everything they could to meet emissions specs. youve got a heavy van with a big engine trying to meet pollution codes and unfortunatley it just gets horrible gas mileage. the carb and intake may help some 2 to 3 mpg but it sure will take a long time to pay for them with the limited fuel savings. steve b. .
From : daniel j stern
on tue 29 jun 2004 steve b. wrote on mon 28 jun 2004 214406 -0400 daniel j. stern dastern@engin.umich.edu wrote on mon 28 jun 2004 robby wrote recently purchased a 1978 dodge d200 with 360 and auto. i bought as a second truck and because it is in almost new condition. one problem! absolutely horrible gas mileage. if i drive it real careful and fairly slow i can get 13.5 mpg canadian or 11 u.s.gallon. at that time the big three were still trying everything they could to meet emissions specs. youve got a heavy van with a big engine trying to meet pollution codes and unfortunatley it just gets horrible gas mileage. well no. its a canadian 78 pickup truck. at that time the emission requirements for such a vehicle as the original poster owns a 78 d200 with a 360 were quite lax indeed and the engine wasnt strangled or detuned like the passenger car engines were in the states. and its a truck d200 not a van b200. but youre right that its heavy and has a big engine and as a result will get poor mileage. .
From : bryan swadener
on tue 29 jun 2004 steve b. wrote on mon 28 jun 2004 214406 -0400 daniel j. stern dastern@engin.umich.edu wrote on mon 28 jun 2004 robby wrote recently purchased a 1978 dodge d200 with 360 and auto. i bought as a second truck and because it is in almost new condition. one problem! absolutely horrible gas mileage. if i drive it real careful and fairly slow i can get 13.5 mpg canadian or 11 u.s.gallon. at that time the big three were still trying everything they could to meet emissions specs. youve got a heavy van with a big engine trying to meet pollution codes and unfortunatley it just gets horrible gas mileage. well no. its a canadian 78 pickup truck. at that time the emission requirements for such a vehicle as the original poster owns a 78 d200 with a 360 were quite lax indeed and the engine wasnt strangled or detuned like the passenger car engines were in the states. and its a truck d200 not a van b200. but youre right that its heavy and has a big engine and as a result will get poor mileage. again there isnt a magic formula. better fuel atomization from the smaller primary venturis of a 4v carburetor will help *some* if you can keep your foot out of it. the biggest killer of fuel economy is the rearend gearing -- yours would be 4.101 and slowing the engine rpm will help the most. however changing rear axle gear ratios wont be cheap and will kill towing capacity and increase stress on the transmissions rear clutch pack when you do tow. switching from the a727 to an a518 overdrive transmission also will not be cheap but would give the best of both worlds. bryan 77 d200 400/auto .
From : bdk
erobbins@allstream.net says... recently purchased a 1978 dodge d200 with 360 and auto. i bought as a second truck and because it is in almost new condition. one problem! absolutely horrible gas mileage. if i drive it real careful and fairly slow i can get 13.5 mpg canadian or 11 u.s.gallon. after a complete tune up including new carburetor the mileage did not improve at all. a local speed shop specializes in mopar is trying to sell me a edelbrock 4 barrel and intake manifold. they claim all these trucks in this era got terrible mileage but this will improve drivability and bring mileage up to 18 to 20. sounds to good to be true. if anyone has experience please reply. robby a 3/4 ton with a 360 its a holley 2 bbl isnt it even if just a standard cab shortbed isnt going to get much better milage. my 77 360 w150 got about 10 stock and after mildly ported heads a new manifold and thermoquad carb a mild cam and headers got 12 if i drove it very old mannish. if i drove it normally i got......10. it did run a hell of a lot better though. the 4 barrel will make it more drivable and milage if you control yourself will go up slightly. the manifold will help too but nothing works miracles. bdk .
From : n cass
robby wrote a local speed shop specializes in mopar is trying to sell me a edelbrock 4 barrel and intake manifold. they claim all these trucks in this era got terrible mileage but this will improve drivability and bring mileage up to 18 to 20. sounds to good to be true. if anyone has experience please reply. robby i put an edelbrock 4bbl on my 1966 charger 318. mileage went from 12mpg to 19 mpg and became a lot more driveable. of course this is a car instead of a truck so i do not know how it will affect your d200 you more than likely have different size gears than i do but the 4bbl made it more pleasing to drive. i would dare say that the 4bbl would put you around the 15-16 range at least depending how you drive it and what type of gas you use. just my 2 cents -- nick remove number one if replying by electronic mail .
From : daniel j stern
on mon 28 jun 2004 robby wrote recently purchased a 1978 dodge d200 with 360 and auto. i bought as a second truck and because it is in almost new condition. one problem! absolutely horrible gas mileage. if i drive it real careful and fairly slow i can get 13.5 mpg canadian or 11 u.s.gallon. that is the kind of mileage these trucks get. after a complete tune up including new carburetor the mileage did not improve at all. not surprising! that is the kind of mileage these trucks get. local speed shop specializes in mopar is trying to sell me a edelbrock 4 barrel and intake manifold. they claim all these trucks in this era got terrible mileage but this will improve drivability and bring mileage up thats correct but 1 be sure youre getting the edelbrock performer intake not the performer rpm or air gap or streetmaster or torker intake manifold. they frequently go by on ebay for much less money than your speed shop probably wants; there are only two kinds one that only suits 72 and older applications and one that fits all applications up to 91. there are no separate intakes for 273-318-340-360 its all just one frequently described as a 318/360 intake. 2 get the edelbrock carb thats a repro of the carter avs not the one thats a repro of the carter afb. steve can provide more detail if he chimes in on this thread. increase the mileage to 18 to 20. sounds to good to be true. youre right. it is. no *way* will that truck ever get that mileage with that engine even using larger canadian gallons. -ds .
From : pete
on mon 28 jun 2004 000214 -0600 robby erobbins@allstream.net wrote recently purchased a 1978 dodge d200 with 360 and auto. i bought as a second truck and because it is in almost new condition. one problem! absolutely horrible gas mileage. if i drive it real careful and fairly slow i can get 13.5 mpg canadian or 11 u.s.gallon. after a complete tune up including new carburetor the mileage did not improve at all. a local speed shop specializes in mopar is trying to sell me a edelbrock 4 barrel and intake manifold. they claim all these trucks in this era got terrible mileage but this will improve drivability and bring mileage up to 18 to 20. sounds to good to be true. if anyone has experience please reply. robby hi robby i have a 1982 dodge 1 ton that had the 360. 410 axle ratio etc. done most of what you want to do and it never really changed the fuel economy much. figured with that poor of mileage i may as well throw in the 440 i had in the garage. get slightly less mileage running mt but better mileage pulling the 28 foot trailer. good luck with ever you decide to do .
From : steve
daniel j. stern wrote local speed shop specializes in mopar is trying to sell me a edelbrock 4 barrel and intake manifold. they claim all these trucks in this era got terrible mileage but this will improve drivability and bring mileage up thats correct but 1 be sure youre getting the edelbrock performer intake not the performer rpm or air gap or streetmaster or torker intake manifold. they frequently go by on ebay for much less money than your speed shop probably wants; there are only two kinds one that only suits 72 and older applications and one that fits all applications up to 91. there are no separate intakes for 273-318-340-360 its all just one frequently described as a 318/360 intake. the performer rpm is actually also a good choice if you have the hood clearance. the air gap is overkill the torker is a boat-anchor and not much good for anything classic example of designing a part for a chevy 350 modifying it to fit a mopar 360 and assuming it will work the same. 2 get the edelbrock carb thats a repro of the carter avs not the one thats a repro of the carter afb. steve can provide more detail if he chimes in on this thread. thunder series avs carb. increase the mileage to 18 to 20. sounds to good to be true. my friend its a smog-era d200 with a low-compression 360 probably a pretty short rear gear ratio and a simple reliable automatic that doesnt have overdrive. it can pull your house off the foundations while running coleman fuel diluted with rainwater collected from the cargo bed but if you want 20 mpg you should have gotten a v6 dakota. youll be doing great to get 14 on the highway without getting in there and doing things like shaving the heads or swapping on late-80s closed-port heads and being very very careful to match your carb intake cam and compression. and then you might get 16 with a tailwind... and by putting in a much taller rear gear than it probably has now. my advice- enjoy the truck for what it is- a nice simple incredibly reliable workhorse that will gladly do anything you ask of it... except get great gas mileage. .
From : geoff
my friend its a smog-era d200 with a low-compression 360 probably a pretty short rear gear ratio and a simple reliable automatic that doesnt have overdrive. it can pull your house off the foundations while running coleman fuel diluted with rainwater collected from the cargo bed but if you want 20 mpg you should have gotten a v6 dakota. lol! yet another reason why i head straight for the steve posts. well said! --geoff .
From : denny
is 5 mpg all you get i get 7-8 mpg by flipping it over and then rotating it 180 degrees. maybe this is just an ohio thing but its worked on every vehicle that ive owned even the bicycles. denny who has just left on vacation see yall in 2 weeks dodge truck air cleaners are very restrictive and i usually get 5mpg extra by turning the ari cleaner cover upside down in the summer months on tue 29 jun 2004 160803 -0600 pete itsstillme1955@yahoo.com wrote on mon 28 jun 2004 000214 -0600 robby erobbins@allstream.net wrote recently purchased a 1978 dodge d200 with 360 and auto. i bought as a second truck and because it is in almost new condition. one problem! absolutely horrible gas mileage. if i drive it real careful and fairly slow i can get 13.5 mpg canadian or 11 u.s.gallon. after a complete tune up including new carburetor the mileage did not improve at all. a local speed shop specializes in mopar is trying to sell me a edelbrock 4 barrel and intake manifold. they claim all these trucks in this era got terrible mileage but this will improve drivability and bring mileage up to 18 to 20. sounds to good to be true. if anyone has experience please reply. robby hi robby i have a 1982 dodge 1 ton that had the 360. 410 axle ratio etc. done most of what you want to do and it never really changed the fuel economy much. figured with that poor of mileage i may as well throw in the 440 i had in the garage. get slightly less mileage running mt but better mileage pulling the 28 foot trailer. good luck with ever you decide to do .
From : Annonymous
dodge truck air cleaners are very restrictive and i usually get 5mpg extra by turning the ari cleaner cover upside down in the summer months on tue 29 jun 2004 160803 -0600 pete itsstillme1955@yahoo.com wrote on mon 28 jun 2004 000214 -0600 robby erobbins@allstream.net wrote recently purchased a 1978 dodge d200 with 360 and auto. i bought as a second truck and because it is in almost new condition. one problem! absolutely horrible gas mileage. if i drive it real careful and fairly slow i can get 13.5 mpg canadian or 11 u.s.gallon. after a complete tune up including new carburetor the mileage did not improve at all. a local speed shop specializes in mopar is trying to sell me a edelbrock 4 barrel and intake manifold. they claim all these trucks in this era got terrible mileage but this will improve drivability and bring mileage up to 18 to 20. sounds to good to be true. if anyone has experience please reply. robby hi robby i have a 1982 dodge 1 ton that had the 360. 410 axle ratio etc. done most of what you want to do and it never really changed the fuel economy much. figured with that poor of mileage i may as well throw in the 440 i had in the garage. get slightly less mileage running mt but better mileage pulling the 28 foot trailer. good luck with ever you decide to do .
From : dave helland
wow the guy gets 11 mpg and complains about it. the reliable workhorse comment says it for me though. daniel j. stern wrote local speed shop specializes in mopar is trying to sell me a edelbrock 4 barrel and intake manifold. they claim all these trucks in this era got terrible mileage but this will improve drivability and bring mileage up thats correct but 1 be sure youre getting the edelbrock performer intake not the performer rpm or air gap or streetmaster or torker intake manifold. they frequently go by on ebay for much less money than your speed shop probably wants; there are only two kinds one that only suits 72 and older applications and one that fits all applications up to 91. there are no separate intakes for 273-318-340-360 its all just one frequently described as a 318/360 intake. the performer rpm is actually also a good choice if you have the hood clearance. the air gap is overkill the torker is a boat-anchor and not much good for anything classic example of designing a part for a chevy 350 modifying it to fit a mopar 360 and assuming it will work the same. 2 get the edelbrock carb thats a repro of the carter avs not the one thats a repro of the carter afb. steve can provide more detail if he chimes in on this thread. thunder series avs carb. increase the mileage to 18 to 20. sounds to good to be true. my friend its a smog-era d200 with a low-compression 360 probably a pretty short rear gear ratio and a simple reliable automatic that doesnt have overdrive. it can pull your house off the foundations while running coleman fuel diluted with rainwater collected from the cargo bed but if you want 20 mpg you should have gotten a v6 dakota. youll be doing great to get 14 on the highway without getting in there and doing things like shaving the heads or swapping on late-80s closed-port heads and being very very careful to match your carb intake cam and compression. and then you might get 16 with a tailwind... and by putting in a much taller rear gear than it probably has now. my advice- enjoy the truck for what it is- a nice simple incredibly reliable workhorse that will gladly do anything you ask of it... except get great gas mileage. .
From : redneck tookover hell
is 5 mpg all you get i get 7-8 mpg by flipping it over and then rotating it 180 degrees. i get an extra 7-8 mpg over the 5 mpg by rotating and flipping the cover politics the gentle art of getting votes from the poor and campaign funds from the rich. .