Going thru Rocky Mountains like CA, OR, WA

Don't take any wooden nickels.

 

Thats not entirely true. If your truck is running right it will keep the air/fuel mix correct. Less O2 in the air means It will suck a larger volume of air in. If it cant, it should reduce fuel, but that also reduces power. Your engine will run rougher of it cant catch its breath and run less efficient. Generally trucks run rich when there is not enough air and therefore burn more fuel to get the same amount of power. If you have a huge air intake the truck just pulls in more air to get the required O2 and there is no performance change.

Less air only means less fuel if your power is being reduced. You can have the same reduction in fuel by taking your foot off the throttle. If thinner air made our trucks run with higher fuel efficiency, we would all just put tiny air intakes on them. Totally not true.

 

Everyone think the rockys are so bad. Just choose the right gear for your truck and load. Last time i went over i think i tapped the brake twice. Pretty much just jaked the whole way down. WV is worse then the Rockies. national parks with hair pin turns up 14% grades. Rockies are easy as long as ur int he right gear. As for MPG...it sucks going over rockies, but generally the loads pay better.

 

Higher elevation driving does reduce power but you do get better MPG. Since the oxygen sensors will report less oxygen at higher elevations, the ecu is going to lean out the mixture reducing power but increasing fuel mileage. I usually alway2 see a 1 - 1.5 mpg increase when west of I35.

 

You only see an mpg increase because you are running lower power. Your truck isn't leaning out the mixture, its just keeping the mixture consistent with the available air. Less air = less fuel = less power = better mpg. If you just drove at reduced power normally you would see the same mpg increase.

If you don't believe me, then don't change your air filter so the truck gets less air. The same thing will happen.

 

A dirty filter only decreases power and has no effect on MPG on an EFI vehicle. Here is a link to a 27 page study that was done that proves that a clogged air filter has no significant effect on the fuel economy. http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/pdfs/Air_Filter_Effects_02_26_2009.pdf

 

When you get to the top ignore those brake check stations.. and take it out of gear... You will get there faster...

In all seriousness .. Go slow.. One gentleman said the mountains out west aren't any worse than the mountains back east.... That isn't really true.. The mountains out west will test you more than the ones back east.. The wind is more severe (gets you wore out quicker) The grades while not really any steeper are A LOT longer and tend to have a nice curve at the bottom.. Just take it slow if the sign says trucks 25 go 25.. If it says trucks 50 got 45... Go at a speed that makes you feel safe.... and don't ride the brake all the way down... Let the transmission and motor do most of the work on holding the speed back... What I mean by that is if you are going down a mountain and you want to maintain 40 mph.. put it in a gear that will hold that speed... When it gets to 42 or 43 start applying light brake pressure.. Slow to about 35ish and repeat..


And use your engine brakes..

 

Okay goverment logic..

If the air filter is clogged you will have to use more power to get the truck up the hill... When you use more power the injectors work harder pouring more fuel into the system.....efi does not matter when the system is not working as intended..More energy expended means more energy spent... I guess by your logic if i have 3 injectors not firing I will get better MPG too... I mean in theory less fuel would be going into the system.. The engine missing would have not negative affect on my mpg.. RIGHT?

And I never see and increase west of 35.. I get 7.4 mpg from the Texas Oklahoma Kansas Neb... SD and ND back east.. and 6.4 when I go out west... but my truck doesn't like hills. It pulls fine it just doesn't really like them..

 

Yes, they are more extreme, more pressure on trucks; i busted 2 motors in Utah; you won't drive @ this elevations on East Coast;

click to enlarge;


The air density at aprox.10,000 ft is half of what you get at sea level; even if is colder, this thin air doesn't make the heat exchange through radiator, more chances to overheat the motor.

 

Technically speaking you are correct when you say that the west coast mountains are more extreme than the east coast and I know some do reach 20,000 feet or more but the roads going over the the passes are not any more extreme than the east coast. How many escape ramps do you see on the west coast vs the east coast? A couple in CA but not many other than that. I have been running the both west and east coast for as long as I have been driving and I know the biggest difference Is mosty just the weather on the west coast due to the elevation.