upgrades on my first 96 k1500

[RHamill]

More horsepower isn't necessarily bad in most cases, with more horses, it's less power the engine has to exert to get up to normal driving speed, but gears (Tranny & rear end) and tire sizes play a big factor also.

 

[silverado13]

More horsepower isn't necessarily bad in most cases, with more horses, it's less power the engine has to exert to get up to normal driving speed, but gears (Tranny & rear end) and tire sizes play a big factor also.

this is true when referring to "freeing up" power, from the factory there is some restriction on the intake and the exhaust that you can free up BUT more horse power when referring to something like a cam can have the opposite afffect, also what you need to take into consideration is if your like me.....more horse power only leads to a heavier foot, if you are looking to get better mileage on the high way, a new rear end is not a bad idea, i had a 96 Z71 that had 3.42 in it and i recorded it at 21 mpg on a highway trip, now the truck i have now has 3.73 and doesnt fair so well, mostly because it has a long list of problems. and trust me people i know all about big gas bills, my truck hasnt had a full tank in atleast a year

 

[RHamill]

this is true when referring to "freeing up" power, from the factory there is some restriction on the intake and the exhaust that you can free up BUT more horse power when referring to something like a cam can have the opposite afffect, also what you need to take into consideration is if your like me.....more horse power only leads to a heavier foot, if you are looking to get better mileage on the high way, a new rear end is not a bad idea, i had a 96 Z71 that had 3.42 in it and i recorded it at 21 mpg on a highway trip, now the truck i have now has 3.73 and doesnt fair so well, mostly because it has a long list of problems. and trust me people i know all about big gas bills, my truck hasnt had a full tank in atleast a year

A lot of us probably haven't had full tanks in years, I believe one member said a pump shut off at $80.00 for him and he wasn't full yet (Dropped93 maybe?).

Yeah rear end gears are a bit tricky for fuel economy. But really the people who give trucks a bad rap are the ones putting 35's on trucks with 3.42s and running stupid exhaust setups that don't do anything for the HP output. You know your speaking to an idiot when they say they are running open headers for less "compression"...... that happened today at Wesco, a kid in a white F150 with blue stripes told me he has open "headers" when they were manifolds, and he was running them so he would have less compression so it would free up the air output, because somewhere he heard that the more exhaust going out, the better for the engine, which can be true, if it's the opposite for the air intake. I was ready to tell him why everything he said was wrong, but I remembered my windows were down and I saw a van pull up to the next pump. So I left the station.

 

[dirtridinz71]

I actually gained a little fuel economy after my cam, intake, tune and TBI mods, the truck jsut cruises better now.
Best I have got was 15mpg on the highway with cruise set at 2000rpm (around 65 to 70mph), thats with 4.56 gears and 35" tires.

 

[Tinbender59]

here is something to ponder, maybe someone can shed some light on this. I had a 1976 El Camino that got 15 to 16 at 70 mph, then we came home from Seattle on furlough from the Navy. I set the cruse on 95 from Denver Co to Salina Ks Made 1 stop for gas, and got 19.8 mpg ???? MY 1986 TPI camaro got better millage at 76 than it did at 70??? My father had a 1979 ford 1/2 ton with a 460 (special ordered) that got 19mpg at 75mph any ideas on these weird ones. Not all of my experiences have been this way, had a '95 6.5 diesel that would cut millage in half from 65 to 75, I do not own it any more!!!

 

[silverado13]

no clue. and thats odd that the cam gave you better gas mileage, garuntee that if i rebuilt my engine id get dramatically better gas mileage, my engine has 241,000 miles on it and its defidently worn out

 

[Tinbender59]

no clue. and thats odd that the cam gave you better gas mileage, garuntee that if i rebuilt my engine id get dramatically better gas mileage, my engine has 241,000 miles on it and its defidently worn out

that is nuts man! 241k on the original mill! every one that I have had with that kind of clicks did not make it, but I have been told that I'm kind of hard on things LOL

 

[silverado13]

its still running and runs pretty well considering i have a few sensors out but i garuntee if i ran a compression test, itd show that this engine is in worse shape then i think