Desert exploring FZJ80 mileage/range (1 Viewer)

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Ugggggghhhh
For those of you going down the baja, or death valley, or similar expedition type desert wheeling, how do you decide how much fuel to take? What offroad range does a fully loaded expedition FZJ80 have (with a stock tank) and how do you decide how much extra fuel to bring? Do you assume it's going to average 8mpg? 5mpg? Any rules of thumb you use when calculating?
 
With a combination of highway and off road, I use 10mpg for my calculations. My 65-70 MPH MPG is about 12-13 with my gears and tires.
 
My question would be for how long? Even my simple camping trip to death valley was not much in a stock Suburban......

IMO kninda vague on the question.
 
I'm not asking for a specific "how much fuel should I bring on a trip that is 500 miles and 3 days." I wan't to know how you CALCULATE needed fuel for ANY trip that
-does not see a gas station (or pavement)
-sees a wide range of speeds and offroad conditions
-uses more fuel than the stock tank can hold

I guess the real question is "how do you decide how many jerry cans to bring?"

I understand most people don't go on trips that are longer than their tank can hold, and if they do, they get an aux tank (or stop at a gas station). But gas stations aren't everywhere and not everyone can afford an aux tank.
 
Well I'll take a stab at this one.

Know your vehicle. Your MPG will not drop drastically as soon as you start your trip. Always follow rule #1: don't make major changes just prior to a big trip. You will have time to calculate your actual milage on test trips with a typical load. Use your number for the calculations.

My trips down Baja are planned so that I can miss every other fueling point. You just never know when they will be out. Don't forget landing strips as a fuel source. I have used av gas more than once when the local stations were out. I have never needed more than two jerry cans on my trips down. YMPGMV.

HTH:cheers:
 
Is 100LL acceptable for our catalytic converters? I know it will work in a pinch, but is the lead content so low that it won't hurt the engine?
 
For those of you going down the baja, or death valley, or similar expedition type desert wheeling, how do you decide how much fuel to take? What offroad range does a fully loaded expedition FZJ80 have (with a stock tank) and how do you decide how much extra fuel to bring? Do you assume it's going to average 8mpg? 5mpg? Any rules of thumb you use when calculating?

I do this type of wheeling you describe, mostly, and in the places you're describing. Your mileage will vary wildly depending upon a number of factors, of which you could damn near write a book about, including but not limited to:

--Weight in vehicle, passengers, gear, mods. More important in technical, slow situations, or gains in elevation, as opposed to highway speeds.

--Drag. More important at highway speeds, and dependent also upon the profile of your vehicle. Roof rack? Lift? Both are major reducers in gas mileage at highway speeds.

--Your Driving Style. Baja 1000? Expect shockingly low numbers. Grandpa Sunday Driver? Expect unexpectedly high numbers, and expect to be late for dinner.

--Terrain. Graded desert tracks, where you can build a nice little momentum and feather the gas through the soft parts? Great. "Mex 5" style desert tracks where you have to slam on the brakes for a soft sand vado entry, then hit the gas to get through the vado, then slam on the brakes for the boulder field, then jam back on the gas to get up to harmonic speed for the corrugations? Bring an extra jerry can, you're gonna need it.

--Level of infrastructure inherent to the route. Baja has lots of places to get gas, whether it be a Pemex station or Abuelito's 55 gallon drum behind the corral. A single 20L jerry will almost always be sufficient in all but the most inefficient, low range vehicles. However, I can find plenty of places to run out of gas here in So Cal, like Death Valley, or along the Mojave Road.

I have a 96 80, moderately built. No roof rack. My driving style has earned me the nickname "Señor Slowpoke". I keep my gear minimal and light. I never pack above the window line, and keep the weight low, strapped down, and to the center. I air down 25% on harsh desert tracks, and 50% on highly technical stuff.

My personal expected fuel mileage numbers are, fully loaded, one passenger, full tanks, according to a technicality scale of 1-10:

0. Highway/fast tarmac: ~12-14 mpg
1-2. Very smooth, graded, predictable road: ~10-12 mpg
3-4. Non-technical "piste" with occasional obstacles, such as soft sand: ~8-10 mpg
5-6. Lightly to moderately technical "trail" mixed with "piste" as above: ~6-9 mpg
7+. Highly technical to severely technical trail: ~5 mpg or less.

Again, those are my numbers, and as always, your mileage may vary!!! Get out, get packed, do dry runs and test those numbers.
 
You might want to post this in the Expedition Builds forum to get more input.
 
Figure 8-10MPG. I would always make sure I have at least a 5 gallon gas can just in case for baja. Of course depends how deep and far off payment you want to go.
 
in our 60, we planned 10mpg and **always** carry at least 5 gals of fuel. Saw a guy lose 40gal+ when rock split his long-range tank. He was trying to scrounge fuel off of anyone who would loan it as with 40+ gallons.... "Why carry a jerry can?"
 
I used 50% fuel efficiency for my offroad calculations. So if i was traveling 100mi on highway and 100mi off and I got 10mpg on highway I would carry 30 gallons of fuel, 21gallon range onboard fuel tank, 10 extra in cans plus a safety net of however much you need.

I got this info from bill burke's recommendations.
 
Loaded like this for extended soft Northern Nevada Blackrock area that included playa (soft silt) for miles at a time, hard pack dirt, slow speed dirt work, fighting through snow drifts and some mud. I averaged 10 mpg.



This was gear for two people, fully armored, 4.88's, 35's, 24 gal aux tank, you get the idea (heavy).

Same load, doing much more techical wheeling, lot more 4low action I averaged 8 mpg.



Smooth, relatively flat "piste" type roads, similar loads, I have seen as much as 16-17 mpg at speeds in the 55 range.

Jack
 
Well I'll take a stab at this one.

Know your vehicle. Your MPG will not drop drastically as soon as you start your trip. Always follow rule #1: don't make major changes just prior to a big trip. You will have time to calculate your actual milage on test trips with a typical load. Use your number for the calculations.

My trips down Baja are planned so that I can miss every other fueling point. You just never know when they will be out. Don't forget landing strips as a fuel source. I have used av gas more than once when the local stations were out. I have never needed more than two jerry cans on my trips down. YMPGMV.

HTH:cheers:

Having flown in Baja for a few years as a bush pilot & guide, don't count on getting AV Gas at air strips. Frequently, the few fields that have AV Gas in Baja can be out. Remember all that stuff has to be tankered in trucks from the Pemex refinery on the mainland of Mexico. I would always call the Mexican airfields before flying out of the US before to ensure an adequate supply. However, I have never had trouble finding fuel while driving in Baja.
 
I expect 50% fuel economy and take an extra jerry can beyond that. Nothing worse than being stuck 100 miles from nowhere without a soul around for days...unless you planned it that way, then it's perfect. But it is nice to be able to leave when you want to.
 
I'm about the same as locrwln1 as far as MPG, not as good on the road though. I feel you can never have too much gas:lol:, you just never know. I find myself always needing more. With just the factory tank I would take a minimum of 10 extra gallons even just going for the day, and toping off at last gas. I've added an aux tank that will hold 28 gallons. I will keep my can carrier as well. The last thing I want to worry about is running out. Especialy when the nearest fuel could be well over 50 miles away, thats a 2 day walkabout. There are times we camp over a 100+ miles from any service. I like to have enough to explore/hunt/4wd for 3+ days and have enough to get back to the nearest fuel. Knowing hours of operation of the service station is a pluss as well. Some remote service won't be credit card ready. Ask me how I know:mad: My wife wasn't there on this trip and by the time I was in cell service she was:mad::crybaby: and had allready contacted the sheriff department. It's not like I'm a great catch:meh: (crazy woman)

p
 
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I'm about the same as locrwln1 as far as MPG, not as good on the road though. I feel you can never have too much gas:lol:, you just never know. I find myself always needing more. With just the factory tank I would take a minimum of 10 extra gallons even just going for the day, and toping off at last gas. I've added an aux tank that will hold 28 gallons. I will keep my can carrier as well. The last thing I want to worry about is running out. Especialy when the nearest fuel could be well over 50 miles away, thats a 2 day walkabout. There are times we camp over a 100+ miles from any service. I like to have enough to explore/hunt/4wd for 3+ days and have enough to get back to the nearest fuel. Knowing hours of operation of the service station is a pluss as well. Some remote service won't be credit card ready. Ask me how I know:mad: My wife wasn't there on this trip and by the time I was in cell service she was:mad::crybaby: and had allready contacted the sheriff department. It's not like I'm a great catch:meh: (crazy woman)

p

I agree, Spressomon has a 25 gal aux tank as well, we both rolled into the nearest gas station on fumes on our 8 mpg average. I now carry an extra 5 gal jerry can, just in case. I agree that you can't carry too much gas. But that is one of my ocd issues. :grinpimp:

Jack
 
hd-t diesel motor
its like every gallon has a little extra 1/2 gallon buddy tagging along
especially at low speeds

and in a pinch, you can run on cooking oil, which is widely available just about anywhere
 
yup, 8-10 mpg offroad sounds right.

Worse I've had was somewhere around 5-7 all the time in deep sand.

In serious trips like deserts etc, if by myself (not recommended and only with serious backup plans in place) I'd want to have at least enough gas to go *back* to civilization at any point on the trip, and then some extra. Just too easy to dead end in washed out road, landslide etc. Maybe only 20 miles from your destination or a road, but 20 miles on foot in the desert is not good. Plus you can get lost etc. And with extra gas you can run the engine, the heater, get electricity, make fires, signal, cook, get warm etc.

With more than 1 truck, it's much safer and much easier, of course. Everybody carries a bit and in a pinch you share, put it all together to send somebody out etc.



Most flexible approach in my opinion is a bunch of cans. I'll take that over the long-range tank any time.
 
In Baja, I always carried 10 Gal. extra. I only ever needed to use 5 (180 mile offroad loop)
I never liked buying gas out of a 55gal. barrel in Catavina, after the station ran out.
 

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