Welcome to the DML! I'm Gary Hedlin, the resident lunitic of the group.
I'm glad to see you like your dakota, I know I like my 98 with the 133,000
miles on it! You've deffinitly came to the right place!
I was suprised to read about your success with that tornado gizmo. When I
first saw the infomercial about 3 in the morning, I thought "well maybee
this thing works", but then I realized if you want to see air spin, all you
have to do is go in your bathroom and flush the toilet! I cant see how it
can regulate the ammount of air comming in. even if it creates some small
vaccum, its usually voided by the rest of the intake system. When your
going down the road at 65mph, the simple aerodynamics of the truck will
inject air into the engine.
My only question for you is what else did you do under the hood while you
were installing the tornado? Even changing something simple like spark
plugs, or even changing your octane of your gas would give you a big MPG
gain. Don't be afraid of the possibility that your tornado is just a dust
storm.
Gary Hedlin
"The Crazy Quadraplegic"
ghedlin@theramp.net (business)
ragingquad@yahoo.com (personal)
**Also Webmaster For**
http://garyhedlin.com
http://socaldakota.com
http://scsilverdak.com
http://assistivetechnologies.com
...And Many More!
<raymond.irons@gm.com> wrote in message
news:OFF179E37A.AD588DF2-ON85256BD1.005DBB42@mail.gm.com...
>
> I bought my Dakota used from a Ford Dealer over 2 years ago and I love it.
> I put about 25K a year on the truck and it runs great. I have done some
> things to give it a little better mileage and power. I researched and
> purchased a Tornado Air Management device, which I installed last year
just
> before Christmas. The improvement was immediate and, in my opinion
> significant (no, I'm not a dealer, just a satisfied customer) My daily
> commute is over 90 miles round trip and running at 62 MPH for the most
> part, I was getting right at about 19 MPG before the Tornado went in. The
> day after I installed it, I left on a trip from my home in Delaware to
> North Carolina and I got nearly 25 MPG running at 62 MPH. Right now, I
run
> between 65 and 70 MPH for the most part (thank you Whistler) and I'm
> getting over 22 MPG. I have also installed a K&N permanent air filter (the
> one that fits in the existing air box) and it not noticeably improved
> mileage or horsepower but will pay for itself in not having to toss one
out
> and replace it every oil change. I do change my oil about every 5,000
miles
> so this chore gets done about every other month. I occasionally tow a boat
> (about 1,800 pounds loaded) and the Dak handles it with no complaints. I
> have had a few problems but nothing too bad. The cat converter had
> something break loose inside, the cover on the center console flip down
had
> a rip in it, one of the appliques on the front fender came loose, and the
> air conditioner quit working. My local Dodge dealer fixed everything under
> warranty even though it wasn't purchased from them and the coverage for
the
> repair of the A/C was questionable. I recently had a problem with my
> electrical system. The truck started cranking slow (like the battery was
> low) but after running for a bit, would crank normally. The next weekend,
I
> started the truck (same slow crank) and after it started, the engine just
> died. I had to keep the engine rpm up to keep it running. I checked the
> charging system and it was working fine. I load tested the (original)
> battery and it was showing shot. Not too bad for 4 years and over 72,000
> miles. Replaced the battery, I went with a Deka, and no more trouble.
> Unfortunately, I have to park my Dak outside and I'm starting to see some
> severe oxidation of the paint on the hood. I have tried waxes and polishes
> to no avail. Short of getting the entire truck repainted (flame red), I
> don't know what else to try. Any suggestions on how to help this situation
> would be appreciated. I have over 76K miles on the truck now and I do take
> good care of it so it should last me for quite a while yet. When it does
> give up the ghost, I'm considering a swap to a V8, either a 318 or 340
> small block. Now for the big question. I am considering hanging on some
> headers and a cat back exhaust. I want to find a set up that will allow me
> to bring the exhaust out the sides of the truck not directly out the back
> (remember I tow my boat) and so far no luck. I might have to go to a
custom
> shop and have the pipes custom bent. Trouble is, I'm not sure if the V6
> will sound like a sewing machine on steroids or if it will have a nice
> throaty rumble. Before I spend that much money, I would like to know if
> anybody else has installed headers and or a cat back exhaust on the V6 and
> how does it sound? Please let me know. I also tried to check out the mIRC
> chat room (#DakotaTruck) but either I wasn't joing the correct channel or
> the channel isn't registered. Anybody else chat online in that channel? I
> figured it might be a quick way to get some answers to some of my
> questions. Thanks, Ray
>
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