Just finished up my first road trip in my "new" '95 PSD from Burton, TX to Cleveland, TN. We covered 2050 miles and used 111 gallons of fuel for an average of about 18.47 MPG. My best tank(s)ful showed 22 MPG, but that was not an accurate average because the dang pump shut off before I could get a complete fillup, which to me is when it is nearly running out of the filler tube. Of course, THAT made my next fillup give an average of 16 MPG. Most of the trip was made with the cruise set at 73-76 MPH. We made a detour in NE Alabama to see Desoto Falls and Little River Canyon through some twisty turny hilly roads and we hit some pretty heavy stop-and-go traffic on the interstate a couple of times.

The truck ran flawlessly, not a bit of trouble. I checked the oil after the first 600 miles and could not tell that it had used a drop. By the time I got back home it looks like it might be 1/2 quart low. For the most part, EGT's were around 700* with a 1-2 lb. boost @ 73 MPH and trans temps ran just below 150*. When the cruise control compensated for going up a hill EGT's would get as high as 900* and once briefly hitting about 1050*.

I owe a debt of gratitude to all of you here for helping me get my truck in such condition so that it was able to make this trip easily and without incident. Some of you may recall that when I first got the truck it was leaking oil at a rate of one quart in 75 miles. I also had pulleys breaking off and fuel lines sprouting leaks. In particular I'd like to acknowledge the efforts and advice of Rubber Duck, strokin'_tatsch and plowhand, and to Neal 97 250 for giving me his cell number in case of emergency. Glad I didn't have to make the call.

Yep, I knew that it was a good truck when I bought it. I'm confident now it's a good solid truck that will carry me many more miles and many more years.

 

Congrats on the succesful trip and glad it went fine for ya.
Glad you didn't have to call either but keep the # in case.

 

Glad you had a good trip...as much as I travel,I found that keeping RPM under 2k will make a world of difference(even on acceleration)....Best tank I have had was 24.5 with the cruise set at 64 per GPS.

 

Yes, I noticed that below 2000 RPM there was no boost, and I suspected that mileage would be much better there. But I'm willing to sacrifice mileage for speed, and 18+ MPG looks pretty good to me. Some day I probably will go for a "maximum mileage" trip, when I Have more time.

 

[quote=Norton72;6831057] But I'm willing to sacrifice mileage for speed, [quote]

I Feel the Need for Speed!!!!!

Glad that you had a good trip and that you're oil problem is solved. There is nothing better than tooling down the interstate in a truck that you love to drive.

 

I forgot to mention, I did have one little fender bender. We stopped in Slidell, LA for some jambalaya and were at a red light. There were a lot of cars waiting to turn onto the road from the right, so when the light turned green I let a couple of them go. As I started to roll forward I saw that the next vehicle waiting to come out was easing up also to see if he could jump out in front of me. I was watching him hard to make sure he would stay put when a car coming from the oncoming lane decided she would try to turn left in front of me, and she ran up under my front bumper. We were both barely moving so I figured damage would be slight. She pulled back out from under my bumper and I could see that her hood was folded up pretty nicely. I had no damage at all. In fact, see how the passenger side of the front bumper in my signature is slightly turned down on the corner? The driver's side used to be the same way -- it's not anymore. The girl knew she was at fault (she said she thought I was going to let her turn) so we both just drove away.

If you're ever in Slidell, LA I highly recommend Camellia's Cafe.

 

Sounds like the leafsprings stopped her. I drove my truck into the trunk of a towncar. All I needed was a bumper. Both quarters were folded out on the towncar and everything in between was lost. I was in it so far that the trunk lid put a small scratch on the top of my hood where the lid bounced down on top of it. You could see where the springs slid over the bumper and went into the trunk.

Oooops