The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly (1800 mile trip report)

[klenger]

I just returned from an 1800 mile trip to Denver.



"The good": I had the new TSB done for increased fuel economy for the 600's. I averaged 18. 5 MPG driving to Denver at 70-75 MPH, and averaged 20. 9 MPH returning at 60-65 MPH. Overall milage was 19. 5 for the whole trip. Oo.



"The Bad": I was taking a bed spring and mattress to the dump for a friend, and went over a speed bump a bit too fast. I had the tailgate down because the mattress hung over the back of the bed. Well, ... after I unloaded the mattress and spring, I noticed something was different about the truck. My tailgate was missing!!!! I figured it came off when I went over the speed bump. As I was about to go looking for it, a nice lady that works at the dump drove up with the tailgate in her truck bed.



"The Ugly": The tailgate was beat up pretty badly, mostly on the inside surface. The lower left corner was banged up some too, but it still attaches and works OK. I finally broke down and had the truck Line-X'd toady, which took care of most of the "sin" on the tailgate. I ordered a vented 5th wheel taligate a couple of weeks ago, and should get it next monday, so I probably just keep the factory tailgate in the garage. The Line-X job turned out great.



Overall, good trip and truck ran great. Just turned 10K since end of January.

 

[az]

"The good": I had the new TSB done for increased fuel economy for the 600's. I averaged 18. 5 MPG driving to Denver at 70-75 MPH, and averaged 20. 9 MPH returning at 60-65 MPH. Overall milage was 19. 5 for the whole trip.

Console, calculated or both?



Thanks

 

[1Tufdsl]

Klenger, glad to hear the mileage TSB seemed to have worked. That's that mileage I'm getting on my 555 at around 7,500 miles so that seems good to me. Sorry to hear about the tailgate though but at least you planned on a replacement beforehand.



We went to Tahoe this summer on our first trip with the Dodge. With our Fox, the tongue is long enough where you can still put the tailage down while hitched. Needless to say, when we fueled up at the Flying J in Palm Springs I must have forgot to put the tailgate back up after getting some Stanadyne conditioner out of the toolbox. Luckily, we only drove a couple of blocks away to get something to eat but it put a couple of dents in the tailgate. Even luckier, Dent Busters was able to fix it up like brand spanken new. I was pretty upset until I noticed someone at the campground in Tahoe didn't lock the kingpin on their fiver and it came crashing down on the bed of the truck after they went over a speed bump while leaving. Both sides caved in about a foot. :{ I felt even worse for that poor guy having to drive back home wondering how he was going to handle that one.



Love your website buy the way. It's provided a lot of valuable info in the past.



Good luck,

Karl

 

[Shooter]

:{



Sorry about the gate.



What happened to the gate cables??

Snapped like a rubber band ?

 

[klenger]

One of the cables is frayed, the other has no damage at all. Not sure how they disconnected. No damage to the truck, other than the tailgate. Milage numbers reported are all hand calculated. Computer was generally about 1 MPG less.

 

[wyosteve]

Ken, I'm just curious. Your mileage figure to Denver was based on 70-75 mph. and from Denver it is based on 60-65. Shouldn't the fuel mileage be better even without the reflash if you're going slower? More importantly, can you tell if the reflash changed your mileage at all? thanks

 

[klenger]

Yes, the milage would be higher at slower speeds, TSB or not. The milage numbers were good in my opinion, in fact better than I have ever had before, but this is the 1st time I have ever taken a trip of any length w/o the trailer behind me, so I don't have a lot to compare to.

 

[DPelletier]

Sorry to hear of your misfortune, Ken,



It does seem odd that the cables could detach themselves. Weird.



Dave

 

[milehigh.o.]

I almost lost my tailgate when I had my dirt bike in the bed. The length of the bike was perfect size that if you had the tailgate angled up against the back tire it was right in line with the slot to where you use it to remove the tailgate. I was driving and this guy waved me down to tell me I was about to drag my tailgate or loose it. :--)