Now that I have a few thousand miles on &quot;Smoke&quot;, I have learned a few things about driving her that I would like to pass on to you guys.<br><br>1. Splash guards work. 4200+ winter miles and not one chip ;D<br><br>2. MPG drops dramatically above 2000 rpm (70 mph) <br><br>3. When slowing down, it is easy to find yourself in too low a gear. I rarely needed to drop below 4th if I was moving at all.<br><br>4. Passing acceleration from 50 mph in 6th is much faster than it feels <br><br>5. Getting the last two gallons of fuel into the tank is not worth the effort :<br><br>6. Gunk engine cleaner thanks the red color off the &quot;Dodge&quot; on the valve cover &gt;<br><br>7. Wife really enjoys driving it and now wants me to drive her Honda to work <br><br>8. Washing the beast is a two beer effort. Add one for a long bed and four more if waxing ;D ;D<br><br>Latter,<br>The Boss Hog<br><br>P.S. Here is a picture taken from the back seat of a car that would not move from the left lane

 

You are exactly right on the accelleration while on the road. You better not push that little pedal down very hard at 60 unless there is nothing in front of you. You have to make sure you have moved ALL THE WAY into the passing lane before accellerating. <br><br>Glad you had a good trip.<br><br>Bob

 

Boss Hog we have about the same milage and I have done quite a bit of night driving and I only have one thing to complain about, it is the headlights on high beam. I know that they are not as good as my 98 Grande Cherokee and I rode with a friend in a 2002 1500 and his are not any better and his is a two wheel drive so I do not think it is any thing to do with how high the lights are off of the road. Yes I have had the headlight alignment checked. What do you think about your lights.

 

I agree with you JimO, the headlights on bright don't seem bright enough to me either.

 

Jim O,<br> I will have to admit that there were a couple of times when the lights just did not seem to reach out as far as they should have This was particularly true at night ;D<br><br> On the other hand, several drivers flashed me to lower my lights even when I already had them on dim! Maybe it has something to do with the color of the light (white as opposed to the yellow of the older lights)? Before my next long trip, I may have to investigate some driving lights to go where the fog lights would normally be.<br>Latter,<br>The Boss Hog<br><br>

 

That's a great post Boss. I enjoyed that this morning. Thank you. ;D

 

i do not know all about that Boss... <br><br>My mud flaps suck. While I am driving I can hear everything hitting the bottom of the door.. Yes they are installed properly.. <br><br>its scary that u already had to Gunk the block. Sorry to hear about the covers coming apart. I will watch for that.. <br><br>Take the truck to the do it yourself wash, takes me 12 mins to wash the entire truck and it looks good.. Just can not wax it in the bays there.. <br><br>I hate the left hand lolly gagers... nothing ruins a day like having to take off the cruise control <br><br>I never understood the waiting for the extra 2 gallons of gas?? What is that... <br><br>I thought the head lights where pretty bright, but i have not gotten it anywhere where I could not see past my hand. I will be there this weekend. Testing the trucks off roading capabilites.. SO i will have a tone of pics that I will be posting. Do not worry brothers...

 

Boy it's hard to stay below 70 though...over thanksgiving I towed my jeep on an 1800 mile trip and tried to keep the rpms right about 2000.<br>I have yet to fill my tank the max, takes 15 minutes to get it as high as I do. Last fill up the auto pumper stopped at 18.5 gallons and I got 27 in and got tired of waiting for foam(I was pumping very slow too) although I did get 175 miles before it dropped to the last hash mark by the &quot;F&quot;<br><br>My lights seem plenty bright, I'd like to get the lows/highs and fogs to all stay on together when just on high...<br><br>my wife loved her '03 Jetta TDI, until we got the ram...

 

Well I'd like to know how you can get her washed with only a couple of beers. It takes me 6+, depending on whether the wife is counting or not. You must not be washing where the sun don't shine ;D<br><br>I noticed the 70+ MPH MPG drop-off as well. If I keep it around 55-60 and stay out of the city, I get 24MPG while empty. Yes that is twenty-four. I got 10.5 with the V10 so this is dang near reason enough to have upgraded!

 

I have 2500 miles on my 2WD QC HO CTD now. ;D<br><br>I have noticed the dramatic mpg difference between 65 mph and 70 mph as well. I agree the magic number is 2000 rpm. If I can stay below that, mileage is fabulous. Almost wish for the old 3.54 gear instead of the 3.73. The mileage has been steadily getting slightly better. First tank 18.7, the last tank was 20.9, but it was nearly all highway driving (calculated figures). The little meter was showing 23.1 at times (the slow driving times). The meter seems to be a little more than 1 mpg optimistic. <br><br>The odd throttle response happens with my truck also. May be a by product of the 'all speed governer' or whatever it's called. Every once in a while I fool the computer into giving me 'the power'. Lots of fun. I got a little 4th gear scratch showing off for a buddy. All too easy to spin the tires in water. Makes me feel like a high school kid. <br><br>I can't get more than 24 gallons of fuel in the tank. The needle shows 1/8 tank, and the low fuel light is on. Isn't the tank supposed to hold 34 gallons? <br><br>My &quot;check gages&quot; light has flashed very briefly several times. The first time scared the heck out of me. What is a normal hot oil pressure at idle? Mine shows about 20 or so. <br><br>The high speed treadrocks are much quieter with the mudflaps and wheel house liners. <br><br>The truck points into corners so much better than the old Suburban, it is incredible. I have caught myself running off the inside of corners. Rack and pinion steering on a 3/4 ton, whodathought? Like a giant go kart. I've gone back to driving the Sub since it has a full tank of gas, and it handles like a squirrley POS compared to the Ram. <br><br>Passing is a riot, just too easy. The truck will pull right up to 95 mph effortlessly. I was expecting the fuel to shut off at 94 like my 98 Blazer (your head will nearly hit the dash). <br><br>Fun stuff. Can't wait to tow with it.<br><br>Mike in Arkansas

 

Boss:<br>I've also noticed the lights don't seem as bright as they should be, but the high beam indicator light on the dash is annoyingly bright. I find myself trying to prop something up there to block it. Just a minor thing on an otherwise great truck.

 

To Bobby G,<br>I had the same problem with the high beam dash light on another vehicle and it was easily solved by placing a small piece of window tint film (in my case a round one, the size of a dime) on the lens above the light. Works and looks factory!

 

Blownbananna:<br>That sounds like a really good solution . Why didn't I think of that ??? Thanks for the tip. <br>BobbyG