leaving your gas cap loose on a OBDI vehicle will not turn on any light, there is no monitoring system for it, but on a OBDII it will. i figured that i would mention it

 

When I moved from Lake Havasu AZ to Friday Harbor WA I tested mpg. I did it in an 84 2wd extended cab EFI with a canapé and a single axel u-haul trailer. Trailer weighed 3500 pounds and the truck only weighed 3100 pounds loaded. It was slow up hill and too dam fast down hills. I got better mpg with better fuel and drafting large trucks helps a lot. I almost doubled my mpg when I drafted a truck for 150-200 miles. I stayed really close to the back of him. He didn’t mind as I would occasionally pull out to the side and look at him in his mirror and give him the thumbs up and he would just smile and wave as I slide back in behind him. We traveled at 50-65mph for three plus hours. It is not recommended to fallow that close but neither is doing 100mph with that kind of weight either. By the way u-hauls suck at any speed over 60 they wobble and hop back and forth.

 

yeah thats a really bad idea to draft semi's, but thats really cool that the driver was down with it. but whenever i see people doing that on the freeway i smack my head and wait for an accident.

 

that's weird full service is mandatory. what would happen if you insist on pumping your own gas? can you make them get you snacks from the shop as well?

 

i believe there are some exceptions to the rules, i think if its an considered an exotic car or a motorcycle you can pump your own gas..

 

hahahahaha ^ i think they would tell you to leave, thats a good question about the snacks though!

 

The only problem I have with manditory full service is when "do you want it topped off?" Means "do you want me to pump it down the side of your rig?"

Its just a way to make sure jobs exhist for high school drop outs

Erich

 

I tried drafting a semi one time on the freeway and it was a BIG mistake.

One day I'm following this semi, trying to draft him to save on gas, and all of a sudden he swerves over into the #2 lane to avoid a big piece of plywood laying on the ground. I was about 10-car lengths behind him so I wasn't all that close to the back of his trailer.

His bonehead reaction to swerve over the piece of plywood instead of just running over it allowed the plywood to get sucked up beneath his trailer which carried it in the air towards the front of my truck!

The plywood hit me head-on pushing in my front bumper, gouging up the grill and slightly denting in the leading edge of the hood on my '88 PU. I had to slow down and practically go off the road into the emergency lane to get the plywood to release from the front of my truck due to wind pressure.

I'm pretty sure if I was in a lower profile vehicle like a small Honda or a sportscar, the plywood would've slid over into the windshield when it hit the hood.

This was a good learning lesson though. NEVER ever follow a big rig semi to draft them on the highway. It's just not worth the risk if they decide to swerve over to avoid something laying on the road and/or if they release a big rubber chunk from one of their retreads.

 

Even if its a motorcycle, they still have to pump your gas. My dad has a 00' Harley Davidson Softail Deuce. Even though its illegal, he will not let ANYONE touch his bike to fill it up when he rides in OR. He does it himself. He gets leery when they touch his Suburban to fill it up. Half the attendants dont give a rip whether they scratch your rig or not. I do NOT like the full service thing. The "more jobs" thing is bull too. Gas prices would go down a touch too if they eliminated attendants.

Ian

 

it'd be cool if the attendants put on a show each time they fill up your tank. i mean a full on song and dance production with showgirls and props. each week would be a different theme. and for an extra dollar they'd do exteme stunts, like with tigers and poisonous darts. ooh, and circus music in the background. man, that'd be rad.

 

I'd prefer the Comedy Gas stations,where a stand up comic tells you jokes as he's pumpin' gas.

 

wow, we dont have ANY full service stations down here....I mean NONE. Of course all gas is over 2 bux a gallon with diesel leading the way on price...