More Fuel Saving Ideas

Tech Tips, Repairs, & Maintenance

July 14, 2008

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July 14, 2008

Well, we just got back from the Escapee Rally in Gillette, WY., followed by the Life on Wheels Educational Conference at Lewis-Clark State College in Lewiston, Idaho. If you have never been to one of these conferences, you should make time in your schedule to go to one. They are so educational-you can take a class on anything from cooking in your RV and making income on the road to a numerous technical classes.

Traditionally, my classes are about RV chassis, ride and handling-but since I began doing seminars on improving fuel economy by reducing resistance, I have noticed even greater turnout and response. People still want to learn about the handling characteristics, problems and solutions associated with their particular coach, but these topics seem to have taken a back seat to fuel economy, for obvious reasons.

Since my last post on fuel economy (Minimize Resistance, Maximize Fuel Economy, part II), I have begun including trucks and trailers in my seminar as well. Most of what we do at Henderson’s Line Up centers around motorhomes, but obviously, maintaining correct tire pressure and alignment in your truck and trailer is also important. A lot of people don’t think about the alignment of their trailer, but single, double and triple axle trailers can suffer from poor alignment. As you can imagine, pulling a trailer with tow or more axles out of alignment causes a lot of resistance, not to mention handling issues-both of which can cost mpg.

There are some things I didn’t mention on my last two fuel economy posts that we’ve been talking about in the seminars. In addition to Airtabs (which we’ve already touched on) there is another product on the market designed to improve aerodynamics, and it’s called Turbo Shield. Turbo Shield is essentially a large air dam that reduces turbulence underneath the vehicle, thereby reducing resistance and improving fuel economy. The company claims 2 mpg in diesel trucks, 3 mpg in gas trucks-even when you’re not towing a trailer. For Class C’s, the improvement is a claimed 1 to 1.5 mpg. And in Class A’s, the savings is supposed to be around 1 mpg.

We’ve also discussed reducing resistance in the engine, by improving both the intake and exhaust systems, but we didn’t touch on synthetic oil. Besides using a synthetic in the engine, you can also use synthetics in the transmission and differential. Amsoil claims a fuel economy of 2-4% when you make the change to full synthetics. Some additives can also make a difference; for example, Amsoil makes a fuel additive designed to clean the fuel injectors, which could help fuel economy especially in older or higher-mileage vehicles. And Lubegard (www.lubegard.com) makes additives for both the power steering and transmission, which are designed to reduce resistance, and can thereby contribute to better fuel economy. So, between optimizing tire pressure and alignment, installing Airtabs, a Turbo Shield, switching to full synthetics and possibly using some additives, the improvement in fuel economy should be quite significant.

Of course, there’s some old ideas that still work, such as keeping your speed down to 55 mph, and using a vacuum gauge (gasoline engines only). The less throttle you use, the higher the engine vacuum. “Driving by the needle” and keeping it as far below zero as possible is a proven way to save fuel.

We’ve always emphasized the systems approach, and your vehicle’s fuel economy is no different. Get everything to work as efficiently as possible, and you’ll see real results. Rest assured, we’re going to continue to research other ways to save fuel and share those ideas with you.