Better MPGs?

[Jawman]

Goin to college and need to start savin money. I'm gettin around 11-12 MPG on my 96 Chevy 1500 and would like to see that number increase greatly. Any thought/ideas?

 

[am92]

What size tires are you running and what gears do you have? The wrong tire-gear combo can kill gas mileage. Besides that, exhaust systems can help a little if you keep your foot out of it. A custom tune can get you about 1-1.5 mpg. Electric fans can sometimes help with mileage too. All of those things are somewhat expensive though so it will be up to you to decide if its worth the initial cost

 

[BadBowtie 98]

^ Everything he said, and Cold air intakes can also increase mileage. My volant gives me about 1 Mpg more

 

[chevy_man]

Tune-up. New plugs, check your wires, new cap & rotor, new air filter, fuel filter, synthetic oil front to back (trans, t-case and diffs will compliment the motor) has been shown to give 2-5% (not much, but it's something). Not a bad idea anyways as synthetics have been proven many times over to cut down on wear. However dex VI is like $8/quart and I've been getting valvoline synthetic gear oil for about $12/quart, so be aware of that. If you do the trans pop a new filter in while you've got the pan off.

Do you have the replacement injectors or the original poppet style? I picked up 2mpg with the new delphi ones over my stock poppets, mostly because the poppets were sticking open and running it rich as ****. Rock-auto has them for $300, which includes the new spider, injectors, and regulator. Think I spent another $60 in gaskets and did my whole intake and valve covers with fel-pro's.


Otherwise; gearing and tire selection. If you don't drive anything more than a gravel road get a decent highway tire in a stock size. Mud-tires and even a lot of a/t's now are heavy as hell, and have higher rolling resistance.


And number 1 rule for mileage is keep your foot out of it. Drive like a little old lady and it'll be better. I can make my truck get anywhere from 6 to 12 around town depending on how nice I am to it.

 

[Snotrocket]

What do you consider greatly? The 350 in your 96 will never hit 20mpg even on the highway.

 

[bluex]

What do you consider greatly? The 350 in your 96 will never hit 20mpg even on the highway.

^ this. Buy a civic or something if you need good gas mileage. Mine pulls 16 very consistently. That's probably the best you can hope for. I had an 07 gmc an it only got 18....

 

[Blue95]

^ Everything he said, and Cold air intakes can also increase mileage. My volant gives me about 1 Mpg more

The factory modded setup could yield a bit more and be free, your intake will take years and years to make up that money spent.

 

[norad848]

It also depends on the "personality" of the truck. Now I'm referring to newer trucks. (GMT 800/900) On the highway, I've heard of people getting the estimated 21, but I've also heard of guys getting 16-17. These are also stock trucks, with 5.3's and they don't drive agressivey or anything.

 

[3linkedchevy]

Tune-up. New plugs, check your wires, new cap & rotor, new air filter, fuel filter, synthetic oil front to back (trans, t-case and diffs will compliment the motor) has been shown to give 2-5% (not much, but it's something). Not a bad idea anyways as synthetics have been proven many times over to cut down on wear. However dex VI is like $8/quart and I've been getting valvoline synthetic gear oil for about $12/quart, so be aware of that. If you do the trans pop a new filter in while you've got the pan off.

Do you have the replacement injectors or the original poppet style? I picked up 2mpg with the new delphi ones over my stock poppets, mostly because the poppets were sticking open and running it rich as . Rock-auto has them for $300, which includes the new spider, injectors, and regulator. Think I spent another $60 in gaskets and did my whole intake and valve covers with fel-pro's.


Otherwise; gearing and tire selection. If you don't drive anything more than a gravel road get a decent highway tire in a stock size. Mud-tires and even a lot of a/t's now are heavy as hell, and have higher rolling resistance.


And number 1 rule for mileage is keep your foot out of it. Drive like a little old lady and it'll be better. I can make my truck get anywhere from 6 to 12 around town depending on how nice I am to it.

THIS!!

I was able to get 14-15mpgs in my '97 with a 4:63 gear ratio. Always stayed up on the maintenance and tune ups. I haven't done the injector swap yet, but that will be one of my first to-do's when I get it home.