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From : mike in mystic

Q: hi everyone just brought home my 2004 ram 1500 slt quad cab 4x4 shortbed with the 4.7l v-8 automatic. got it in patriot blue with the two-tone job - i think it looks pretty kick butt. so how should i modify it hehe it has minimal options - upgraded cloth seats; infinity system with the dual deck leather wheel radio controls; fold flat rear storage thing; fog lights; bodyside moldings; p265/70r17 owl all-seasons with a 3.92 rear end; under-rail bed liner. my wife 52 got the salesman to throw in sidesteps but theyll be installed next week. this is my first truck and im hooked already. i feel like im driving a bulldozer driving around. a few questions is there any source of technical information about whether bed covers really improve gas mileage my wife isnt too keen on me dropping another $500+ to get one so if i can convince her it might save us money over the long run she might go for it. any other performance tips or other mods that are must-haves would be nice to know too. im now an all-dc family adding the dodge to the 02 jeep liberty we already have that got us $750 extra cash at the sale btw. mike mystic ct .

Replies:

From : nathan collierfmb

im not sure what your going to use the truck for basically ill be working out of it using it to haul welding equipment and materials. hopefully it will still be fit to take the family out on the weekend. around town he got about 11 mpg. ouch! i could live with it as its a little better than my jeep but not much. -- nathan w. collier http//7slotgrille.com http//utilityoffroad.com .

From : fmb

hi everyone just brought home my 2004 ram 1500 slt quad cab 4x4 shortbed with the 4.7l v-8 automatic. got it in patriot blue with the two-tone job - i think it looks pretty kick butt. so how should i modify it hehe drop in a ctd. it has minimal options - upgraded cloth seats; infinity system with the dual deck leather wheel radio controls; fold flat rear storage thing; fog lights; bodyside moldings; p265/70r17 owl all-seasons with a 3.92 rear end; under-rail bed liner. my wife 52 got the salesman to throw in sidesteps but theyll be installed next week. this is my first truck and im hooked already. i feel like im driving a bulldozer driving around. a few questions is there any source of technical information about whether bed covers really improve gas mileage my wife isnt too keen on me dropping another $500+ to get one so if i can convince her it might save us money over the long run she might go for it. $500 buys a lot of gas. looking for the breakeven point would involve your expected milage without the cover expected with and how many miles you drive per year. oh and what does gas cost you in your part of the world... any other performance tips or other mods that are must-haves would be nice to know too. yeah leave your stock tailgate in the up position and use quality gasoline. im now an all-dc family adding the dodge to the 02 jeep liberty we already have that got us $750 extra cash at the sale btw. mike mystic ct congrats on your new purchase hope you enjoy it a lot. fmb only one b in fmb .

From : s miller

i saw a paper done by some engineering students comparing the aerodynamic drag of a pickup truck happened to be a generation 2 dodge ram in four configurations. it was interesting because the results didnt agree with some of the conventional wisdoms. as i remember the results were starting with lowest drag and going up 1. truck with bed cover 2. baseline stock truck with tailgate up 3. stock truck with tailgate down 4. truck with full-height camper shell so a bed cover does reduce drag at least on the truck under test but apparently the common advice to run a bare truck with the tailgate down to save fuel isnt always correct. the worst by far was a full-height shell was significantly worse than any other configuration. was an interesting paper will try to find the url and post it or maybe someone else can of they have come across it. that all being said it would probably take a long time for a bed cover to pay for itself in fuel savings... mike in mystic wrote hi everyone just brought home my 2004 ram 1500 slt quad cab 4x4 shortbed with the 4.7l v-8 automatic. got it in patriot blue with the two-tone job - i think it looks pretty kick butt. so how should i modify it hehe it has minimal options - upgraded cloth seats; infinity system with the dual deck leather wheel radio controls; fold flat rear storage thing; fog lights; bodyside moldings; p265/70r17 owl all-seasons with a 3.92 rear end; under-rail bed liner. my wife 52 got the salesman to throw in sidesteps but theyll be installed next week. this is my first truck and im hooked already. i feel like im driving a bulldozer driving around. a few questions is there any source of technical information about whether bed covers really improve gas mileage my wife isnt too keen on me dropping another $500+ to get one so if i can convince her it might save us money over the long run she might go for it. any other performance tips or other mods that are must-haves would be nice to know too. im now an all-dc family adding the dodge to the 02 jeep liberty we already have that got us $750 extra cash at the sale btw. mike mystic ct .

From : calvin

jedmo123 wrote my wife isnt too keen on me dropping another $500+ to get one so if i can convince her it might save us i dont know about fuel savings but the fact that people cannot see the groceries home depot haul or whatever else is in the back of my truck combined with nothing gets wet was enough to justify my ex-tang snap cover costs. plus it looks cool six and a half years later. i love my hard cover for the reason stated by jedmo123. and i do believe my highway gas mileage went up by about 5% with my lid on. but if you dont do a lot of highway miles any savings is very minimal. have 200000 miles on my 98 dakota lots of highway miles. .