10 mpg help

[Christian P.]

A roof rack will take easily 1 mpg on the freeway. I calculated the difference many times on the way up to Tahoe on my 4 Runner, and this is just with a Thule rack and mountain bike racks.

It's not the weight, it's the wind resistance.

 

[stewwalker]

I'll have to do a test run with my rack off. It sure does seem like a pain to take it on and off when ever you need to use it. Has anyone figured out a way to quick mount/disconnect a roof rack?

 

[FellowTraveler]

Your issue

Your final drive w/3.42 x OD ratio & w/o figuring in tire diameter would be 2.56:1 (you are past this perhaps now 2.32:1) made worse by not calibrating VSSB to correct speedometer and transmission shift points. If you have the 14 jumper version of vssb I can tell you the proper settings for tire gear change.

3" lift 33" diameter tires if wide and hurts you too, all 1990's c/k series can fit 35" w/o any lift whatsoever but fender cutouts and Bushwacker flares are a must. If you must stay w/33" tires then narrow are best 255/85/16 e is a good choice.

Air Tabs (I have no affiliation) can give some correction by reducing drag over 40 mph, can even be put on roof to eliminate any drag from rack and or load on rack as long as not packet too high. W/air tabs the rear window will stay clean.

A good transmission w/transgo reprogram w/1,200 stall converter would do wonders too. Some aftermarket builders can even multiply converter output ratio too.

 

[bajajoaquin]

How much money are you willing to spend to save gas money?

What you need to look at is your marginal fuel cost. If you have a 25% increase in mileage (a pretty big return, by the way), what will that cost you? Every 1,000 miles, it will save you 25 gallons of gas, roughly $100. If you spend $1000, you need to drive 10,000 miles to come out ahead.

I'm not saying to not do it, but do it understanding the costs.

 

[VicHanson]

And I'm complaining about 15 mpg with my Isuzu!! I can get 15 if there is no head wind and I'm not in the mountains, but only if I don't go over 55 mph. Going up to 65 drops it down to about 13 - so I just drive slower. I'm retired and in no hurry so it isn't a big problem for me. Can't argue with a 2 mpg savings without spending any money for mods. Now waiting for the price of diesel fuel to go down again!

Vic

 

[Fireman78]

Yup... that's what I get too. Hence the reason for a beat up old POS Subaru for grocery getter /soccer practice duties.

 

[bldeagle10]

i would go broke if i drove the burban. as it is im tight for cash driving the jeep that gets anywhere from 18-20 depending how i drive.

 

[stewwalker]

To be honest I cant justify spending over 1000 dollars in mods just to get a few more mpg. I would rather spend that money on gas. Now if 1000+ bucks got me 30 mpg I would do it in a heart beat, but I just don't see that happening on a TBI chevy. I guess I was hoping that some one had a miracle cure for gas guzzlers...

Now days, I seem to be riding my bike every where.

 

[cwsqbm]

My last big truck got 12mpg on the highway, and I was able to more than triple that by driving my little econobox. With the length of my commute then, I could have bought a new economy car, including insurance, gas, taxes, license, etc, and still been ahead financially. Get a used car and really save the money.

And that was when gas spiked to $2.50! My current Dakota gets much better mileage, especially if driven the speed limit, but my biggest move was moving close to work. My mortgage payment is less than what gas would have cost me now in a big truck. The two extra hours a day of free time was nice bonus too.

 

[southpaws3]

gas mileage

i have 35s w/ 4.56 gears, 5.7 w/230,000 miles i live west of denver co in the mountains @ 6500 ft and get 15-17 mpg on hwy--10-12 in town . i put a MSD 6al ignition plus distributer,installed larger capacity tranny,oil coolers my sub is 94 k1500 SLT. i did remove the tranny lines from the radiator so it is seperate now w/electric fans. i run 10/40 valoline oil. i don't have supsension lift i have 3inch body lift w/ trimmed fender flares

 

[Little Red]

To be honest I cant justify spending over 1000 dollars in mods just to get a few more mpg. I would rather spend that money on gas. Now if 1000+ bucks got me 30 mpg I would do it in a heart beat, but I just don't see that happening on a TBI chevy. I guess I was hoping that some one had a miracle cure for gas guzzlers...

Now days, I seem to be riding my bike every where.

If you are willing to spend 800 to 1000 dollars why not get a diesel engine and get almost twice the MPG. That would be the only thing that is going to significantly improve your MPG’s. If you are lucky you can find a 6.2L for around 400 – 600.

 

[Dave Kay]

There maybe another option for poor your mileage but not sure IF it can be incorporated into your fuel injection type system; years ago, back in the early '80's to be exact, a friend of mine did a propane tank conversion on his '70's model Dodge truck which had a 440 ci carb-ed gas hog of a motor. The trick he did was to use a crossover valve that would turn off gasoline feed and turn on propane--- on the fly--- and therby increasing his range on a tank of gasoline. He claims that a trip from his house to Vegas (approx 260 miles) could be done on ONE tank of gas plus about ONE-HALF tank of propane, quite a feat at the time!

Of course he had easy access to propane because he worked for the county at the vehicle repair yard. Propane and/or natuaral gas DO NOT get the same mileage as gasoline BUT----- it's a heck of a lot cheaper per gallon unit.

my $.02 cents:coffeedrink:

 

[expedition4x4]

I feel your pain, I have 35" tires and 3.42's is terrible on mpg and performance