Bowtie Brody's Namesake 96 454

Supercharged111 · Mar 23, 2019

Christian Steffen said:
You guys must do a lot of city driving, or slowing down and speeding back up? Supercharged, you're truck is probably just going to be a pig but i'd really expect the 2500s to do better. When i used to DD my truck I'd get 12.5 or so depending on weather, though this is 15 hw miles each way with limited stops. Highway cruising i can get 14 pretty easily as long as i don't go over 70. Granted to get these numbers I do my best to stay out of it, if I'm driving aggressively its a different story.

I have my fingers crossed the alignment will help with mpg (had 5/8" toe in before), but also not holding my breath. 10 is all I ever expected out of a truck with 4 29" tall tires and 4.10 gears. 8 is not caused by an "aggressive" tune, the harder it runs the less it works to push itself down the road. 13.5 from Brody though is impressive. Mixed my 1500 gets about 12.5, highway maybe 14. May as well have an NA big block in the damn thing.

Christian Steffen · Mar 23, 2019

Supercharged111 said:
I have my fingers crossed the alignment will help with mpg (had 5/8" toe in before), but also not holding my breath. 10 is all I ever expected out of a truck with 4 29" tall tires and 4.10 gears. 8 is not caused by an "aggressive" tune, the harder it runs the less it works to push itself down the road. 13.5 from Brody though is impressive. Mixed my 1500 gets about 12.5, highway maybe 14. May as well have an NA big block in the damn thing.

Elevation also doesn't help you. @BNielsen do you have 3.73? That with 285s probably doesn't help.

For reference I run 265/75s on 4.10s, and my drives are usually pretty flat.

BNielsen · Mar 23, 2019

Christian Steffen said:
Elevation also doesn't help you. @BNielsen do you have 3.73? That with 285s probably doesn't help.

For reference I run 265/75s on 4.10s, and my drives are usually pretty flat.

Yup. 3.73 on 33s, not the best combo, and it's a mixture of hills and flat ground around me.
I've been debating on dropping in 4.10s so it's closer to a stock ratio on 285s

Supercharged111 · Mar 23, 2019

Christian Steffen said:
Elevation also doesn't help you. @BNielsen do you have 3.73? That with 285s probably doesn't help.

For reference I run 265/75s on 4.10s, and my drives are usually pretty flat.

On the highway it actually (theoretically) does help. At least when empty. Less wind resistance. The stretch of I25 from Colorado Springs to Denver is posessed, I get record mpg in any car I drive there. It's something else. It also hurts cooling ability since there's less air to carry the heat away from the radiator.

Mangonesailor · Mar 24, 2019

Christian Steffen said:
Elevation also doesn't help you. @BNielsen do you have 3.73? That with 285s probably doesn't help.

For reference I run 265/75s on 4.10s, and my drives are usually pretty flat.

I used to get about 12.5 to 14 with the black box and 0411 with my last commute/road trips. 20min highway, 10min city to work for me. If I pulled PE out of it with my current commute I'd expect 11-12, as Its 15min 55mph backroads with LOTS OF HILLS, 3 stops, and a roundabout. I'm also on 285/75/17's (33.5") with 4.10s. I'm surprised BK gets as good a milage as he gets with a similiar tire combo and 3.73s.

Maybe I could play with my shift points and see about getting it to stay in gear a smidge longer to keep from lugging in the next gear up. Not sure yet.

Christian Steffen · Mar 24, 2019

Yeah so I think if I drive get my truck in similar conditions as you guys I'd get similar mileage. I do have it set to pretty rarely enter PE while driving, I think I had it set to 50% throttle for PE and 2800 rpm, so I have to be pretty aggressively passing before I enter PE.

I also keep the tcc locked pretty much all the time I'm in 4th, unless I'm going pretty slow.

BK 4.10s would be nice for some stuff, but I'm not sure it's worth the work of swapping.

BNielsen · Mar 24, 2019

The 4.10s was just a thought; I've never come across a truck in the junkyard with a 4.10 front diff and full float anyway.

It seems like my mileage is going down now, I filled up last night after going to look at a couple houses; 7.5 miles to the gallon. And I was driving pretty mild the whole time too.
I wouldn't complain about that mileage if I had the capability to lay down black strips and pass anything that ever existed on the highway, but I don't.

98chevy2500SS · Mar 24, 2019

4.10s are a really nice gear ratio, on my 98 I have 4.10s and they are pretty awesome w/ 265s!

With the 285's + 3.73s, your basically at 3.42s, you are going to notice the 4.10s over your current 3.73s if you're going to be pulling stuff in the future along with the bigger tires. :waytogo:

Its kinda weird why your truck has 3.73s when it has a big block, and most likely a FF.

The parts 3/4 ton truck I got for my 98 had a 350 with 14SF and 4.10s. Weird... I always thought a big block + 14FF had 4.10s.

BNielsen · Mar 24, 2019

98chevy2500SS said:
4.10s are a really nice gear ratio, on my 98 I have 4.10s and they are pretty awesome w/ 265s! With the 285's + 3.73s, your basically at 3.42s, you are going to notice the 4.10s over your current 3.73s if you're going to be pulling stuff in the future along with the bigger tires. Its kinda weird why your truck has 3.73s when it has a big block, and most likely a FF. The parts 3/4 ton truck I got for my 98 had a 350 with 14SF and 4.10s. Weird... I always thought a big block + 14FF had 4.10s.

From what I've seen there's no real common pattern for gearing for the 3/4 tons, some trucks got 3.73s, some got 4.10; and I was thinking the 4.10s for that exact reason, so it'd be back to 3.73 on the 33s.

I'm just curious as to if it's worth the effort to swap them out.

Christian Steffen · Mar 24, 2019

BNielsen said:
From what I've seen there's no real common pattern for gearing for the 3/4 tons, some trucks got 3.73s, some got 4.10; and I was thinking the 4.10s for that exact reason, so it'd be back to 3.73 on the 33s.

I'm just curious as to if it's worth the effort to swap them out.

If you went through route of finding a take out front and rear it may be worth it. It really will be hard to overcome the torque difference otherwise. As awesome as 285s look, ever consider swapping to 265s?

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