ways to improve my 94 EB 4x4 in Colorado?

[TheFlyKneeGrow]

I recently moved from Austin, Texas to Boulder, Colorado - and my old Exploder has been sucking serious wind in terms of hill climbing (mostly highway with some dirt/snowy roads) and general fuel efficiency (which seems to hover between 13mpg and 15mpg).

I'm wondering what sorts of things I can watch, modify, etc in order to improve the overall performance of this truck in this altitude and environment (snowy/icy roads in winter, steep roads in general, and light off roading)? At present my truck is stock, though I'd consider some modificatioins if the need and argument are strong enough.

I have some follow-up questions regarding wheels/tires and suspension and lights, but I'll save those for another thread so this one stays focused.

Thanks.

 

[Tbars4]

...:scratch:...Texas to Colorado and your location still says Phoenix...

...You can find some useful info by clicking the "How To" in my signature...

..You might also want to click this link, poke your head in, and say hello...
http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=233455

 

[little x]

The most noticable improvement on the hills will be to regear to 4.10's

 

[Elessar65]

Helping it breathe better will definitely make a difference. Intake, exhaust, and a programmer/tune. Also, since its an older truck (or even if it wasn't) change ALL your fluids to full synthetics. Diffs, TC, Tranny, Oil. That will make more of a difference than you would think. Synthetic fluids aren't cheap, but will pay for themselves in the increase in gas mileage and less wear on your engine, etc.

 

[410Fortune]

How many miles?
Automatic or stick?
2wd or 4x4?

Boulder eh? how are you liking it? Lots of awesome wheeling up around there!

welcome to CO and I hear Austin is the nicest part of Texas

breathing mods are a must for CO, your stock intake is very restrictive, but first lets get it in a good state of tune before we go crazy with power adders

Congrats! You just lost about 6psi of manifold pressure moving up here! Big diff between sea level and boulder thats for sure! but the good news is you can run 85 octane with no ill effects!

any current mods to the truck we should know about?

 

[Elessar65]

You can get 85 octane? The lowest I have ever seen is 87. I miss the old days of living by my local 1/2 mile track and being able to pump 112 octane leaded race fuel right into my bike at the local station. Worked great for the old YZ 250, don't think i'd want to try it in my X though. Anyway, enough thread-jacking. 410 is correct, get everything working as good as possible before you open up the airways on your truck. If you are at high altitude and you want to make real power I have 2 words for you, Got Boost?

 

[410Fortune]

yup 85 and you can run it in anything that says 91+ with no ill effects, not enough oxygen to take advantage of anything over 91 really so its $$$$ down the drain

 

[Elessar65]

Well, always something new to learn. I probably would have seen 85 octane if i had ever taken the direct SoCal to Indiana or back route, but it always seemed to be winter and I was perfectly happy to take 40 all the way to Memphis then turn North. Never got above about 6000ft. and then only when i crossed the divide.

I definitely understand about not being enough O2 though. Mountain Warfare school was a B*TCH!