First Long Road Trip in the 08 Mountaineer

[spcole71]

1st post.

Heading south from Dearborn to Asheville on Friday. Looking forward to the trip. Looking to shake the cobwebs off and get some miles on her.

600+ miles each way.

Three kids in the second, 1 Baby car seat, 1 toddler car seat and a booster, it's a snug fit, but seems to work.

I pushed the tire pressure upto 40lbs from 35 hoping to get some better fuel economy. The best I have ever gotten was 23 mpg (@ 65 mph lol) on 96 coming back to Dearborn from Lansing.

Gas is looking cheaper in Ohio and get better the further south you go, as far as I could determine. $3.65 - $3.75 is better than $4.00

Any thoughts on the gear change from 4th to 5th ? I can get into 5 at 45mph but the revs seem a little high at just around 1750 rpm. I have gotten it down to 1250 rpm at 45 mph driving like a grandma. But it does not want to stay there too long. Is there a TSB for not changing gear into 5 at a reasonable speed ?

Second Row head rests. Is there a way to remove them and reinstall them when needed ? The toddler car seat seems to sit awkwardly against them.


Fuel Efficiency tips: Any product, tried and tested that would work well to increase the mpg's ?

Profile:

08 AWD Premier V6, 5spd
- Built 03/28/2008
- 2nd Owner
- Daily commuter, pop-up puller !
- Earth / Green Metallic (Brown)
- Sirus and Sync
- 20" Wheels (Pirelli tires)
- 3500 lb Tow
- Roof Rail Cross Members
- Cargo Liner
- no power pedals
- no reverse sensors
- no navigation

- Current mileage ~ 22300 miles.
- Daily commute is 14 miles round trip

Stephen

 

[lynchy wa]

G'day Stephen, don't know much about 4th gen's but welcome.

 

[BrooklynBay]

Welcome to this forum! You should replace the transmission fluid & filter.

 

[spcole71]

We drove the 1200 miles in 21 hours actual moving driving time. Avg ~ MPG 21.7. Average speed ~ 58 mph ie grandma

Paid $260 for gas with about 10 gallons ($40) left in the tank on arriving home.

I started with the Pirelli's at 35psi on the way there and then at 40psi for the trip back. I could feel a difference on good roads and it was a a little smoother. Bumpy roads were pretty rough. They can go upto 44psi under load.

Kept over filling the tank to get all the gas in and upsetting the gas station attendants :}

After each fillup on the trip the miles to empty kept going up. The best miles to empty and the last one I got was 466 miles. Normally around town it's 270 miles.

Also looking for a bike rack that for the trunk or the hitch that I can also tow with.

Have a great day.