What are some options for good gas mileage in overlanding vehicles?

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MOAK

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They are not, not at all. They're basically Fiat motors, so an Italian diesel. But I don't think I implied they were Cummins. With respect to the RAM I should have clarified I was speaking about the 1500s. A RAM 2500+ will be a Cummins, not an Ecodiesel.

-TJ
Years ago we owned a Jeep Liberty with the Motori Diesel engine. I really thought the thing would last 300,000 miles or more - WRONG. The 2.5 liter Motori was a miserable application in that vehicle. At 90,000 miles the high pressure fuel pump failed. At 10,000 miles I changed fuel filters. I could not get bubbles out of the line. I reported this to the dealership every 10,000 miles until the warranty was up at 70k. The vehicle went into the dealership 4 times. They could not get the bubbles to go away. Reported to me each time that it was normal. No, it’s not normal. The pump relies on diesel fuel for lubrication. With air bubbles present the life of the pump is reduced. Bubbles were forever present because Chrysler cheaped out and did not provide a suitable fuel delivery system to support the high pressure pump. No pusher pump and gasoline lines and fittings with tiny leaks caused the bubbles. A design problem from the start. At that time there was only one certified mechanic in our region, so we waited over 2 months. The repair bill was well over $4,000 dollars. Chrysler did nothing for me. They even had the balls to charge full retail price for the new pump. I no longer own, nor will ever purchase a jeep. None of my family will either. I don’t trust Chrysler with anything, let alone the diesel conversions that they offer today. And that’s what they are, conversions. I could of and probably would have done a proper conversion under a shade tree behind my barn.
 
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Arailt

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JDM meaning Japanese Domestic Market. By definition you can't buy any JDM anything in the US, and the OP is in Mississippi. That said, I know JDM is often just used to mean Japanese vehicles. What Japanese manufacturers currently offer a diesel 4x4 in the US?

-TJ
You can import JDM vehicles up to 1997 now (25 years). Scary to think how old I am now haha.
 

ontos

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The Rav4 prime is the ideal high milage overland rig. LP Adventure makes all the goodies for it including lift, under body protection and some other stuff as well. 965km per tank (on average), only a small tank to fill up. I think it's the ideal platform for everything but RAWK KRAWLIN.
The compact SUV route is a pretty good one. I've been impressed how well our stock CRV with ATs does on forest service roads and other light offroading. It gets us to the places we like to camp and carries the things we need. If I leave the roof rack in the garage and pack a little carefully we can get 25mpg real world on trips. The more gas prices rise, the less enviously I look at the big Toyotas.
 

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The compact SUV route is a pretty good one. I've been impressed how well our stock CRV with ATs does on forest service roads and other light offroading. It gets us to the places we like to camp and carries the things we need. If I leave the roof rack in the garage and pack a little carefully we can get 25mpg real world on trips. The more gas prices rise, the less enviously I look at the big Toyotas.
Oh yeah, our patriot is not the best on gas but it's a hell of a lot better than any of the toyota v6 or v8 platforms. If a full size is needed, the F150 5.0 beats them all. We average 11-12L / 100 km on the highway with ours. I had a tacoma out for a day and a bit and that was going 13-15 on the highway. Also, people claim the ecoboost is better than the 5.0 on gas. It's on par while puttering around, spool up the turbos and the milage takes a crap where the 5.0 stays the same.
 
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I personally think that if gas prices keep rising, that overlanding will fade quickly into a memory of the past. The one thing I notice when visiting countries with very high gas prices is the lack of big vehicles AND the lack or RVs (motorhomes, trailers, etc). You see a few, just not many. Anyone remember what happened to the RV industry in the US the last time fuel prices spiked? It was not good!!

Overlanders love toys. You just can’t take all those toys in a Corolla!!
 

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I personally think that if gas prices keep rising, that overlanding will fade quickly into a memory of the past. The one thing I notice when visiting countries with very high gas prices is the lack of big vehicles AND the lack or RVs (motorhomes, trailers, etc). You see a few, just not many. Anyone remember what happened to the RV industry in the US the last time fuel prices spiked? It was not good!!

Overlanders love toys. You just can’t take all those toys in a Corolla!!
(Back in 1998 we drove our Jeep Wrangler up into Canada. As we drove through Montreal I couldn’t help but notice that we were in, besides service vehicles, about the largest vehicle on the highways. Hmmm) . To your topic, then.
Well, that wouldn’t be a bad thing would it? The price of petro does sort things out a bit. One is either dedicated to the hobby and will prioritize things a little differently and keep getting out and about, or not. From 3.5 to 4.5 is roughly a 27% increase in cost per gallon, ( national average ). I know we will keep going and I’ll spend less money on my other hobbies.
 

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Well, that wouldn’t be a bad thing would it? The price of petro does sort things out a bit. One is either dedicated to the hobby and will prioritize things a little differently and keep getting out and about, or not.
Respectfully, for many, it's not about spending money here or spending money there. This is their "all in" hobby and, other than equipment, which can be scrimped on, the number one cost is fuel. I count myself fortunate that I live close enough to the Ozark Mountains that I can do a nice trip on 2 tanks of gas. Imagine those that have to use 2 tanks, minimum, to just get to the trails.

One might say, "Well, choose a hobby you can afford." That's not the point. The point is, this is a hobby they could afford two years ago.
 
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I love my GMC Sierra 1500 AT4 with the 3.0 Duramax diesel. It has 12k miles and 25 mpg on highway with an average of 22mpg for the life of the truck so far.
Not bad! Even my gas 5.3 liter '14 GMC Sierra can top out at 29.9 mpg on any given 25 mile stretch. Thats not the norm, though. Longer term, it does tend to dip a little lower, especially since I daily drive it to work and theres slow traffic half the way
 

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I just ordered the Long Range America 17 gallon auxiliary tank for my Jeep Gladiator that already has a 22 gallon main tank. I’ll have a capacity of 39 total gallons which will be perfect for long overlanding trips in Mexico, Canada and Mexico I have scheduled. My MPG is still not good and will only get worse with the added weight but it is what it is. I will no longer have to carry the 11 gallons in rotopax I do now in the bed freeing up space.
I'd like to look into one of those for my GMC
 

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Aerodynamics are top of the list sooo....

No roof rack, nothing hanging outside the vehicle.... period. Manufacturers are pretty good at cd efficiency thing. ADD anything outside kills gas mileage, range.
Tires, keep them stock. Adding diameter, rotational mass, unsprung weight kills economy and range. Forget ego if you want to run 350 miles on a tank.
Speed, the last real component. Unless you buy something so ugly it is a hyper miler..... speed, anything over 50mph kills range.

Any other discussions are just guys trying to justify an RTT or lifts and 33s or driving fast.

The Holy Grail to extending range is as old as the automobile.
Clean aerodynamics.
Minimal rotational mass.
Speed..... rather lack of speed.

There are no secrets.

View attachment 225232
I will say this, though. I can get 420 highway miles out of my 25 gallon tank easily. Often more than that if I'm gentle on the skinny pedal. I do have a Trac Rac on top of my camper shell, but I'm talking with nothing on the rack. I try to keep everything tucked in under the shell. As others have said, anything jutting out or up will tear that number down.

If I set the cruise to 55, I can do better than that. But man, it sure is painful feeling like you're standing still

Once we were driving the 212 from around Spearfish, through the CroweAgency on to Billings Montana. Not a lot of gas stations along that route. Speed limit of 80 but sometimes we would see pickups doing 55-60. I got frustrated til it hit me. He wasnt going any faster because he probably didnt start the long stretch with a full tank
 

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I will say this, though. I can get 420 highway miles out of my 25 gallon tank easily. Often more than that if I'm gentle on the skinny pedal. I do have a Trac Rac on top of my camper shell, but I'm talking with nothing on the rack. I try to keep everything tucked in under the shell. As others have said, anything jutting out or up will tear that number down.

If I set the cruise to 55, I can do better than that. But man, it sure is painful feeling like you're standing still

Once we were driving the 212 from around Spearfish, through the CroweAgency on to Billings Montana. Not a lot of gas stations along that route. Speed limit of 80 but sometimes we would see pickups doing 55-60. I got frustrated til it hit me. He wasnt going any faster because he probably didnt start the long stretch with a full tank
That's as fast as the patriot can go loaded....ha ha. I kid, but once past 60mph, the MPG drops drastically.
 

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Generally speaking, the TFL Truck and TFL Off-road YouTube channels are a great resource. They review all of the popular trucks and SUVs available in the USA. I particularly like their comprehensive towing tests for trucks.
I disagree. I consider TFL uninformed clickbait garbage but to each their own. Worst yet is the algorithm that, for some reason, constantly jams their content in front of me haha.

This was my old Subaru Outback. Depending on the speed I was able to range from 21 to nearly 25 looking just like this. Quiet, comfortable, and 12” of ground clearance. Off roading a newer Subaru has a learning curve since there are nannies you can’t 100% disable but I went all over in that thing.

26F2B779-87D6-45B2-9B2A-A695416EA92B.jpeg
 

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Go French style - a small cheap second hand SUV and bash the hell out of it. The best off road car in the world is the one you don't give a shit about.
 

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I disagree. I consider TFL uninformed clickbait garbage but to each their own. Worst yet is the algorithm that, for some reason, constantly jams their content in front of me haha.

This was my old Subaru Outback. Depending on the speed I was able to range from 21 to nearly 25 looking just like this. Quiet, comfortable, and 12” of ground clearance. Off roading a newer Subaru has a learning curve since there are nannies you can’t 100% disable but I went all over in that thing.

View attachment 225739
I am very seriously considering an older Subaru Forester for my DD. Some Geolandar AT's, small roof rack for the kayaks, and very minimalist gear inside. Keep the GMC Sierra, which is my current daily, at home except for the big hauls.

Either that or an older, early to mid 2000's Toyota Tacoma 4 cylinder single cab.

Trick is, since I didn't have these before the price increase, I have to try to make sure the price of the vehicle and insurance will be less than the difference in fuel costs over the next. Say year or two.

Better to remain with a sipper at all times. I knew that but disnt act fast enough.
 

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I am very seriously considering an older Subaru Forester for my DD. Some Geolandar AT's, small roof rack for the kayaks, and very minimalist gear inside. Keep the GMC Sierra, which is my current daily, at home except for the big hauls.
I Had Forester 2004 model, the 2l petrol engine. Had an average of 11l /100 km on trips, that is about 21 mpg I think, nothing on it, stock size tires and a 2 inch lift. Worse than my current LR4 diesel, that has like double the horse power, size and capability . Go diesel or go really small and light if fuel economy is a huge issue.
Subaru is not really light on fuel at all.
My DD is a small Toyota hybrid, I will keep it until the wheels fall off. Does about 40-50 mpg. No matter how bad things will get, I will be able to afford it. At least where I live, the monthly costs in fuel, insurance and annual service are cheaper than a bus pass.
 
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