Increase your gas mileage by, ?! ADDING WEIGHTS?????

[BigMike]

I'm sure this won't apply to the majority of you guys..

I got Marlin's old 35x12.50 MTRs in December. The rims were pretty bashed and had lots of rock rash.

The second I put them on my rig it was obvious that they were TERRIBLY and HORRIBLY out of balance. Everything would shake and resonate at certain speeds, 30, 45, 60, 75, and 85mph to name a few.

Apparently the tires had never been balanced and on Marlin truck (~1,500 lbs heavier than mine) you could not even tell that they were out of balance.

So to make a long story short, I finally got off my lazy butt about a week ago and pulled / balanced all four tires.
Both rear tires were off 7 and 8 ounces and the fronts were 6 and 9

I balanced them and then put them back on. Sure it was nice and smooth, but what was even better was that I noticed I had more power on the freeway and I didn't have to apply as much throttle to maintain my speed.

Of course it all makes since - the tires are not trying to change their direction all the time so they can be pointed in the same path and maintain the same velocity for a longer period of time. It requires much less energy to keep something in motion when it is not oscillating.

Now with the tires balanced, I've gone from 225 miles per tank up to 260 on my last two tanks. That's about a 20% increase in efficiency all because I FIXED SOMETHING

Man it's like a curse, "Yeah I know they need to be balanced, I'll do it when I get time" yeah right, took me nearly 4 months just to get it done    

BigMike

[MiniSimp]

Wow! That's a huge increase.
Good Job!

[brainlessfool]

so just ta rub some salt in, what do you think your getting MPG now? 
better than my  17? 

[Hyena]

I had a tire out of ballance for a long time.  I could fix it when ever i wanted in auto class but i was too lazy.  I didn't think that it was casue all the death shake my truck had.  I ran my friends 37 inch MTR's for one snow run and my truck drove like a dream.  So i finally ballanced my tire and my truck doesn't have any vibrations untill i hit 65mph.  I didn't really notice my mpg going up cuzz i didn't have a speedo.  Thanx for the info BigMike!

[BigMike]

cuzz i didn't have a speedo.

Get it fixed slacker

Hey BLF, I figure I am getting 17-18 in the city and 21-23 on the highway.

[brainlessfool]

Hey BLF, I figure I am getting 17-18 in the city and 21-23 on the highway.

dang! all that new power and 21-23 on the hiway? dang!
I need a new motor! so hows the swap kit thing coming along? 

[BigMike]

Won't know until I start on Marlin's, the last week of May

[guywithuglyyota]

I had my front end aligned and it increased my gas mileage as well!  I never thought much about it, it was just slightly off, but enough to increase the rolling resistance im guessing.

[jackedyotaaaa]

MUST BE NICE I GET AROUND 12.2 TO 13 MPG ON 37'S, WITH 4.88'S  ANY THOUGHTS

[Cheesemaker]

Also, increase your air psi in the tires to decrease your rolling resistance!  Don't go too much or ya burn the centers of the tire on the hwy.  It's amazing what just 2 psi can do! The wheels you run can make the difference, too!  Cold rolled aluminum wheels (weld or centerline) are lighter than cast and machined aluminum, which will give ya more power and better mpg, but steel are more durable, and easy to fix the bends on the trail,   but heavy!!  Alot of guys around here run tall, skinny tires on the hwy to save on gas & increase horsepower.   Not to mention bearings and seals.  It only takes a few minutes to switch out wheels and tires if we know we are headed to the hills.  You gotta do what you can to save some money the way gas prices are lately!  On the oregon coast, just in the last month our gas went from $2.25 to $2.75.  Thank god for import pickups!

[WHITE_TRASH]

Hmm so I think Im the antichrist of fuel mileage here.    Im running 5.29's and with 37"ssr's on 10 steel wheels I was getting 21 on the highway.  Now Ive got 38.5x14.5 sx's on the same wheels but now with Longfield beadlocks.  Havent driven it yet but Ill bet my mileage goes to hell.....

[Hyena]

Get it fixed slacker

It is fixed, i just been to lazy to check my mileage.

[guywithuglyyota]

I just paid 3.10 a gallon at some shell off the 5 a few weeks ago.  yay

[mr4x42u]

bigmike,,what size tires were you running before?

[BigMike]

bald 33s & 5.29s for about 2 months

[BLACKDOG]

I just paid 3.10 a gallon at some shell off the 5 a few weeks ago.  yay

And I was gettin irritated cause our gas is gettin up to 2.50