Fuel Mileage and First Impressions

[MATANZAS STING RAY]

Picked up my Stingray Gladiator Saturday from Travis and did some fuel mileage and tire pressure testing (wander curing) on the long drive home....

First day I adjusted tire (33' M/T's) pressure every 100 miles to gauge any change in steering wander. Every tire type will respond differently that mine so take my information with a grain of salt.... The Jeep's steering felt nice and tight but has some minor wandering and requires minor fine muscle motions to correct while driving which does lead to fatigue in the shoulders on long distance runs. Wander can be attributed to several causes, over inflation, tire type/size, wind effects or some looseness in a steering box/system.

Right out of the box, I checked tire pressure cold.... 40 psi and set off on the first leg. Immediately I noticed some "floating" (minor body oscillation) between all four tires... What I attribute it to is the shocks self-adjusting as it settled down within the first 20 miles or so... no big deal....

Day 1. 100 miles in, I had a fair amount of wander and the tire pressure check was 46 psi hot which I re-adjusted down to 40 psi. 200 miles in, a bit better with wander and tire pressure was 42 psi Hot, which I re-adjusted down to 40 psi. 300 miles in, wander getting less but still present and tire pressure was 41 psi hot, and adjusted down to 40 psi, last stop for the day was at 410 miles, again wander was better and tire pressure check was 40 psi hot. I'm fine where the wander is now, it's not the steering as much as tire type and psi... I think daily around town driving will be no issue. If I hopped on the highway, I might adjust down a few more psi to 34 cold... Of course I have to do this testing all over again as I'm putting 35's on later this week, LOL!

I also tested fuel mileage... Day 1, I ran pretty much 78 mph on cruise with some regular city driving mixed in. Happy to say I averaged 17.8 mpg with the 4.10's, 's and 33"s....
Day 2. morning check of tire pressure showed 36 psi cold. Made an adjustment to 35 psi and ran that all the way home, some wander still there but day 2 was more about fuel economy. I ran 70 mph on cruise all the way with some city driving mixed in and averaged 22.5 mpg... I'll take that !

Pentastar impressions... Have to say I was impressed with the performance. No it's not a Hemi or V-8 but it responded very well, sounded decent and the power curve was steady all through ranges. If I hammered it, it responded with no hesitation....

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[smlobx]

Great report!

I’m so jealous! It sounds like the fuel mileage is pretty reasonable, especially with a brand new engine.

We need more pics!

 

[tbaker]

Go up to a 35 M/T and report back to us that’s what I did on my gladiator rubicon and the gas mileage is around 16 but I didn’t buy it for gas mileage if it’s empty and you have to go somewhere you have to get gas first no matter what gas mileage it gets loving the gladiator fun to drive

 

[MATANZAS STING RAY]

Great report!

I’m so jealous! It sounds like the fuel mileage is pretty reasonable, especially with a brand new engine.

We need more pics!

The hard part on the drive was sticking to the test plan, and not saying to hell with the plan...just enjoy the drive! LOL More pics once the 35's and bumper go on.... waiting on lug nuts of all things......

 

[Jeep Rigg]

@MATANZAS STING RAY
First off thank you!
I took a road trip early last week in my JTRU w/ 33 A/T's and just figured the floating (wander) was a jeep think. I was getting really good Highway gas mileage, more than I thought I would ever see out of a brick with wheels, so I felt like I could deal with the wandering and I as happy again. Fast forward to this past weekend when we took a trip up north on the wonderful roads of Wisconsin (@steffen707 ) and I let the wife drive it for the first time so I could play around and enjoy some sunshine on more than the top of my head. Welp, she damn near got bounced off the road at 70mph due to what coined as, "The Jeep Jam" or "The Jeep Jump" when hitting a decent size crack in a road followed by 17 more equal or larger cracks in the road. It was ridiculous! So at that point I looked to my forum friends and wallacazam, you post your new findings. My on dash display has my tires at 40-41 cold and 43 hot. So I will drop them based on your findings and report back on "The Jeep Jammin" and will follow this thread to see what you post for PSI on the 35's. Btw, what brand and size 35's are you going to run? (no one needs to reply 35", I get that, there are other parameters I'm looking for)

Oh and btw, I noticed I got about 1 to 1.5 less MPG's with the soft top open acting as a sail on top of the jeep.

Rigg

 

[MATANZAS STING RAY]

@MATANZAS STING RAY
First off thank you!
I took a road trip early last week in my JTRU w/ 33 A/T's and just figured the floating (wander) was a jeep think. I was getting really good Highway gas mileage, more than I thought I would ever see out of a brick with wheels, so I felt like I could deal with the wandering and I as happy again. Fast forward to this past weekend when we took a trip up north on the wonderful roads of Wisconsin (@steffen707 ) and I let the wife drive it for the first time so I could play around and enjoy some sunshine on more than the top of my head. Welp, she damn near got bounced off the road at 70mph due to what coined as, "The Jeep Jam" or "The Jeep Jump" when hitting a decent size crack in a road followed by 17 more equal or larger cracks in the road. It was ridiculous! So at that point I looked to my forum friends and wallacazam, you post your new findings. My on dash display has my tires at 40-41 cold and 43 hot. So I will drop them based on your findings and report back on "The Jeep Jammin" and will follow this thread to see what you post for PSI on the 35's. Btw, what brand and size 35's are you going to run? (no one needs to reply 35", I get that, there are other parameters I'm looking for)

Oh and btw, I noticed I got about 1 to 1.5 less MPG's with the soft top open acting as a sail on top of the jeep.

Rigg

Yes, we drive bricks in the wind! Almost said that in my first post! I just got home from working in Michigan (same roads there, LOL) Glad it was helpful, all I did was follow our brother forum members suggestions. I've always run a lower tire pressure with Larger tires (32-34 psi) for better contact and control. The trade off will be slightly more wear so Rotate, rotate, rotate to extend tire life! Every tire has a sweet spot... top high a PSI and you get "Jump" (found that out going over railroad tracks, whoo boy that was fun! ).... too low and you get "bounce" like a rubber ball..... I picked up Falken 35 M/Ts (got a good deal) which are sitting in my garage waiting on lug nuts..... I'll post when i run some tests.... Yea, adding a sail to a brick will definitely lower the ole MPG! Glad my post was helpful and kept some peace in the family! just a side note, Travis pointed out the fender differences in the Rubicon and the Overland (which won't fit 35's easily)... not sure of the height differences on Max Tow fenders...

 

[MATANZAS STING RAY]

Picked up my Stingray Gladiator Saturday from Travis and did some fuel mileage and tire pressure testing (wander curing) on the long drive home....

First day I adjusted tire (33' M/T's) pressure every 100 miles to gauge any change in steering wander. Every tire type will respond differently that mine so take my information with a grain of salt.... The Jeep's steering felt nice and tight but has some minor wandering and requires minor fine muscle motions to correct while driving which does lead to fatigue in the shoulders on long distance runs. Wander can be attributed to several causes, over inflation, tire type/size, wind effects or some looseness in a steering box/system.

Right out of the box, I checked tire pressure cold.... 40 psi and set off on the first leg. Immediately I noticed some "floating" (minor body oscillation) between all four tires... What I attribute it to is the shocks self-adjusting as it settled down within the first 20 miles or so... no big deal....

Day 1. 100 miles in, I had a fair amount of wander and the tire pressure check was 46 psi hot which I re-adjusted down to 40 psi. 200 miles in, a bit better with wander and tire pressure was 42 psi Hot, which I re-adjusted down to 40 psi. 300 miles in, wander getting less but still present and tire pressure was 41 psi hot, and adjusted down to 40 psi, last stop for the day was at 410 miles, again wander was better and tire pressure check was 40 psi hot. I'm fine where the wander is now, it's not the steering as much as tire type and psi... I think daily around town driving will be no issue. If I hopped on the highway, I might adjust down a few more psi to 34 cold... Of course I have to do this testing all over again as I'm putting 35's on later this week, LOL!
RIEF UODATE
I also tested fuel mileage... Day 1, I ran pretty much 78 mph on cruise with some regular city driving mixed in. Happy to say I averaged 17.8 mpg with the 4.10's, 's and 33"s....
Day 2. morning check of tire pressure showed 36 psi cold. Made an adjustment to 35 psi and ran that all the way home, some wander still there but day 2 was more about fuel economy. I ran 70 mph on cruise all the way with some city driving mixed in and averaged 22.5 mpg... I'll take that !

Pentastar impressions... Have to say I was impressed with the performance. No it's not a Hemi or V-8 but it responded very well, sounded decent and the power curve was steady all through ranges. If I hammered it, it responded with no hesitation....

******* Just a brief update .... 35's went on this week and man I am impressed with the Falken 35 M/T's! Running 35 psi and minimal wander.... Virtualy no road noises, smooth ride and great looking. Put them on 8 1/2" x 17" 1941's and they just stick out of the fenders about 1 1/2 ".... as soon as I get my speedo recalibrated , I will conduct some mileage tests....

 

[MATANZAS STING RAY]

Picked up my Stingray Gladiator Saturday from Travis and did some fuel mileage and tire pressure testing (wander curing) on the long drive home....

First day I adjusted tire (33' M/T's) pressure every 100 miles to gauge any change in steering wander. Every tire type will respond differently that mine so take my information with a grain of salt.... The Jeep's steering felt nice and tight but has some minor wandering and requires minor fine muscle motions to correct while driving which does lead to fatigue in the shoulders on long distance runs. Wander can be attributed to several causes, over inflation, tire type/size, wind effects or some looseness in a steering box/system.

Right out of the box, I checked tire pressure cold.... 40 psi and set off on the first leg. Immediately I noticed some "floating" (minor body oscillation) between all four tires... What I attribute it to is the shocks self-adjusting as it settled down within the first 20 miles or so... no big deal....

Day 1. 100 miles in, I had a fair amount of wander and the tire pressure check was 46 psi hot which I re-adjusted down to 40 psi. 200 miles in, a bit better with wander and tire pressure was 42 psi Hot, which I re-adjusted down to 40 psi. 300 miles in, wander getting less but still present and tire pressure was 41 psi hot, and adjusted down to 40 psi, last stop for the day was at 410 miles, again wander was better and tire pressure check was 40 psi hot. I'm fine where the wander is now, it's not the steering as much as tire type and psi... I think daily around town driving will be no issue. If I hopped on the highway, I might adjust down a few more psi to 34 cold... Of course I have to do this testing all over again as I'm putting 35's on later this week, LOL!

I also tested fuel mileage... Day 1, I ran pretty much 78 mph on cruise with some regular city driving mixed in. Happy to say I averaged 17.8 mpg with the 4.10's, 's and 33"s....
Day 2. morning check of tire pressure showed 36 psi cold. Made an adjustment to 35 psi and ran that all the way home, some wander still there but day 2 was more about fuel economy. I ran 70 mph on cruise all the way with some city driving mixed in and averaged 22.5 mpg... I'll take that !

Pentastar impressions... Have to say I was impressed with the performance. No it's not a Hemi or V-8 but it responded very well, sounded decent and the power curve was steady all through ranges. If I hammered it, it responded with no hesitation....

Update! 35's went on and while I have not yet re-calibrated my speedo, I did use the RPM gauge and Speedo to estimate what MPH I was running. conditions were a mix of normal driving, in town and on the Interstate.... I tried to keep estimate speed at 70 and RPM's at 2000... Averaged 20.5 MPG on the 35 Wild peak M./T's (35 psi).... they run smoothy with minimal wander! Best large tire I've ever run... Happy with MPG too....

 

[Jeep Rigg]

Update! 35's went on and while I have not yet re-calibrated my speedo, I did use the RPM gauge and Speedo to estimate what MPH I was running. conditions were a mix of normal driving, in town and on the Interstate.... I tried to keep estimate speed at 70 and RPM's at 2000... Averaged 20.5 MPG on the 35 Wild peak M./T's (35 psi).... they run smoothy with minimal wander! Best large tire I've ever run... Happy with MPG too....

Ok, now can you test 37's for me?

 

[Gren71]

Ill second your findings.

35' AT's run at 30psi and have already re calibrated the speedo, Average 70mph on highways and im sitting around 19mpg. It drops to 17/18 most days when I get off the highway and back to normal roads. However I am also pleasantly surprised with the fuel economy. My JKU only got 16mpg with 35's...so Ill take 17-20mpg with a smile on my face.

 

[MATANZAS STING RAY]

Ok, now can you test 37's for me?

Yes, I shall, charge your account for the 37's, mine s a little low right now!

 

[5JeepsAz]

Great thread...!!

 

[mikesjt]

My JTR is getting about 14.5 mpg. I only drive 2 miles a day to work so I only have about 3/4 of a mile that's 55 mph. The rest is stop and go. I have about 600 miles on my truck so maybe gas mileage will improve once I get more miles on it. Looking forward to taking a highway trip to see what it gets! But, I didn't buy it to get good gas mileage so it doesn't really bother me lol

 

[Uparms]

Ill second your findings.

35' AT's run at 30psi and have already re calibrated the speedo, Average 70mph on highways and im sitting around 19mpg. It drops to 17/18 most days when I get off the highway and back to normal roads. However I am also pleasantly surprised with the fuel economy. My JKU only got 16mpg with 35's...so Ill take 17-20mpg with a smile on my face.

Which 35 ATs? Thanks!

 

[Gren71]

Which 35 ATs? Thanks!

Treadwright Axiom 35’s

I actually have them listed in the marketplace if your interested

Decided I want something a little smaller to preserve my tow capacity.

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