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Road Trip

1K views 12 replies 4 participants last post by  Mopar-Mofun 
#1 ·
I bought my well cared for 2005 base, 3.3, T&C in March of 2017 for road trips. It rolled over 100k miles on the test drive. As of last month I had only put another 2763 miles on it in almost 2 1/2 years.

It's just the two of us. We just completed 5300 miles in 27 days. NW Indiana to Jasper Alberta & back and several stops along the way. We stayed in hotels but had a camp stove & thermoelectric cooler for some picnic cooking where meals are expensive. Tried to divide the distance up to limit daily drive time. We did about 350 to 400 miles a day. I'm too old for the 500 to 700 mile per day stuff. Cruised at 80 mph a lot.

Had one adventurous drive though a heavy rain storm that went into the night, We tried to squeeze too much into that day, 406 miles, stops at Devil's tower and Mt Rushmore, then the storm, lightning flashing, barely see the road. Tried to keep sight of some tail lights ahead. Sudden brake lights ahead. We catch up. A flooded underpass. Car ahead and us went through slowly. A little further and everyone is stopped. Can't see why. It's 11:30 pm. We're 8 miles from our next hotel and tired, We sit in place for a half hour. Notice some emergency lights way ahead on the other side of the road. See no oncoming vehicles on that side. Finally we see a 18 wheeler slowly coming through, something looks odd, there's a water wake behind his wheels. Eventually our side starts to move and form one lane. We enter a flooded road. We proceed slowly through about a quarter mile of water. The area is flat. It's like were in a lake. Somebody in front must know where the road is. Still driving in water, We pass a car stopped sideways in the next lane with a over turned car next to it. No one is around the cars, no cops, nobody. The next morning we learn the section on interstate we came through has been closed. I just found a report of the accident. One person, from the overturned car was treated for minor injuries. Two people from the other vehicle were not injured.

We kept a log of fuel used and miles driven. I'll get back to you with some mpg figures.
I didn't check tire pressures before leaving because there's some special valve caps on there that are supposed to indicate if the pressure is low. I just checked and they are a few psi low. maybe I could'a got better mpg.

Tires are noisy on some kinds of pavement. I wonder if different tires would be quieter. It's got some kind of Michelin's. You can't believe how noisy it is than the pavement changes and you can't believe how quiet it got.

Oil change & new battery before leaving. It's either Pensoil, or store brand, synthetic. I have a stash of both. Whatever it is, there's a extra can of in in the van. Didn't burn any oil. I think previous owner used Mobile 1 since new. First oil change by me.
Passenger power window stopped working half way through the trip.
My GPS shows elevation. There's less power when climbing hills at 4000 ft or more. Some cars were able to zoom past me.
I don't have a tach but it sounds like the cruise control has the ability to downshift on the down hill to control overspeed. There is not much engine braking from downshifting and I still had to use brakes a lot.
 
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#2 ·
I bought my well cared for 2005 base, 3.3, T&C in March of 2017 for road trips. It rolled over 100k miles on the test drive. As of last month I had only put another 2763 miles on it in almost 2 1/2 years.

My GPS shows elevation. There's less power when climbing hills at 4000 ft or more. Some cars were able to zoom past me.
I don't have a tach but it sounds like the cruise control has the ability to downshift on the down hill to control overspeed. There is not much engine braking from downshifting and I still had to use brakes a lot.
When driving at higher elevations, did you put 87 or 89 octane in the tank? Sure, folks can run 85 octane at higher elevations without issue because the air pressure is less. BUT, it robs the engine of power and MPG. So, 89 octane would have given a tad bit more power to keep up in traffic. Also, a clean air filter too. In order to run better at higher elevations, the engine either needs a turbo, not likely on your engine, or a larger TB intake. There is a thread here to take the 3.8L TB and put it onto the 3.3L engine. It's an EZ plug-n-play swap. Even at lower elevations like Indiana, the TB swap helps prevent downshift with the 3.3L engine going up small hills or reaching the top of an overpass at times.

Yes, these vans will speed regulate with cruise activated. Down here in the mid-west plains I'll kick off the cruise. As for the steep hills and Mts, beefier brakes would be my guess. Semi-metalic pads with recessed thru holes discs.

Nice write up. (y)
 
#3 ·
When driving at higher elevations, did you put 87 or 89 octane in the tank? Sure, folks can run 85 octane at higher elevations without issue because the air pressure is less. BUT, it robs the engine of power and MPG. So, 89 octane would have given a tad bit more power to keep up in traffic. Also, a clean air filter too. In order to run better at higher elevations, the engine either needs a turbo, not likely on your engine, or a larger TB intake. There is a thread here to take the 3.8L TB and put it onto the 3.3L engine. It's an EZ plug-n-play swap. Even at lower elevations like Indiana, the TB swap helps prevent downshift with the 3.3L engine going up small hills or reaching the top of an overpass at times.

Yes, these vans will speed regulate with cruise activated. Down here in the mid-west plains I'll kick off the cruise. As for the steep hills and Mts, beefier brakes would be my guess. Semi-metalic pads with recessed thru holes discs.

Nice write up. (y)
Ummm, wait, you do know that 85 and to a lesser degree, 87 AKI fuel has more power per gallon than 89; right? Said another way, putting 89 in a vehicle designed for 87, especially when at altitude, will only slow the car down and reduce its fuel economy.
 
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#4 ·
Factory calls for 87 octane fuel, they even tell you going higher doesn't help.

Your vehicle is behaving the way it should.

Don't bother with modifications to TB, it doesn't work unles you modify your engine too. That thread is dead for a good reason, just a couple of guys claim it works, one of the guys even swear it give you an extra transmission gear :oops: .

Thanks for sharing your experience.
 
#8 ·
It gets whatever the cheapest no lead regular is. Usually 87 octane. There were a couple stations that offered a no ethanol regular at a higher price. If that was available at home I might buy it for small engine stuff.
Brakes seemed to be good enough.

Wife says we spent $4285 on hotel rooms. We got a couple free ones and reduced price on a couple more by using Hilton Rewards points.

My new battery from Sams Club went on sale. We stopped somewhere in North Dakota at a Sams and got a $22 refund. We buy gas at Sams Club if we can.

From my scribbled notes and converting liters to gallons I have a slight lack of confidence in my MPG calculations. The 3 highest were 23.6, 24.37, & 23.84. The overall average was 22.17 or 22.3 depending on how I figure it. I had 3 under 20.
 
#13 ·
It gets whatever the cheapest no lead regular is. Usually 87 octane.

From my scribbled notes and converting liters to gallons I have a slight lack of confidence in my MPG calculations. The 3 highest were 23.6, 24.37, & 23.84. The overall average was 22.17 or 22.3 depending on how I figure it. I had 3 under 20.
With the mountains and the elevations, chances are the MPG isn't too bad for a 7-passenger vehicle.
 
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