Gas Mileage
#1
Gas Mileage
I am thinking of buying a 04 Chevy Silverado, V8, 2 Wheel Drive, short bed, single cab.. I need to get maximum fuel economy out of this truck. I seen the Hypertech Programmer will this help? Would a Cold Air Intake Help? Would a K&N Air filter help? Would MSD Coil Packs with upgraded wires help? Would any of these mod's help fuel economy? Anyone have any other ideas? The truck I have been looking at has a tonneau cover, I was also thinking about getting a Gear Vendor's Overdrive unit.. www.gearvendors.com.. $1000 in mods? The Hypertech is $300 and the cold air is $80 and K&N is $50.. On the other hand the Gear Vendors Overdrive unit is $1500... Anyone else have ideas? My 06 Equinox won't pull the 34' Boat I bought for the summer.. Equinox=Gas Mileage.... It might pull it around town, but I know it will struggle getting it out of the water even with the AWD..
#3
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I believe there would be very little benefit from MSD coils and upgraded plug wires, stock ones work just fine. I have to agree with Dan on the Hypercrap stay away from that. Your best bet would probably be to get a custom tune from someone like Wheatly or Nelson. Do a search if you need more info on them you should find plenty of info. If you really want a handheld unit the Diablo Predator's are better than Hypertech and you can still get custom tunes done with one and have a little ability to make some of your own adjustments on things. Of course you could always buy HP Tuners and do your own tune. To sum it all up getting your computer tuned for maximum efficiency is probably the single best thing you can do to get better millage.
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All of the mods you listed will show a MINIMAL increase in mileage, if anything. I haven't seen anyone use a Gear Vendor's unit on a late model truck but it's possible that I am mistaken. Your best bet would be to contact a reputable PCM tuner (Nelson Performance, PCM for less, etc.) and request a mileage tune for your truck. It sounds like you are not interested in performance so getting good mileage from your truck is possible. There are little things you can do to help mileage too. Check tire pressure regularly, keep your foot out of the gas, run stock wheels instead of 20's, etc. After the tune, I bet your truck will see 19/20 in the city and upper 20's on the highway.
#7
How would I know what rear gear I would have if I bought this truck? Would I be able to look it up by RPO codes? Where would I find them? Would a 3.23 pull the boat out of the water? Do they have a 2.73? LOL... But I don't think that would have enough grunt to pull a yard of dirt up a hill, but maybe I'm wrong.. I'm a car nut.. I have a 86 Iroc Z-28.. So I know more about maximum torque and horsepower, not fuel economy.. I haven't owned a truck since 97 and that was a 88 silverado and it had a 3.73 with a 350 TBI.
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#8
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the lowest they made was 3.23's and that was in the 05-up trucks(don't quote me on that).
Yes there are RPO codes in the glove box. Do a search for them. I know they have been posted before. If not, set your cruise control on 70 and tell us what your rmps are at in 4th gear OD.
Yes there are RPO codes in the glove box. Do a search for them. I know they have been posted before. If not, set your cruise control on 70 and tell us what your rmps are at in 4th gear OD.
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In my truck, when i had the 2400stall, i got 23mpg on a couple short trips. So i would have to say with a RCSB, you should beable to get the same. You have the 5.3 or 4.8?
Ive towed 9000, 10000lbs with my truck.. Not to bad, but it wasnt on long trips or anything.
I think there was a discussion on here about the Crusing RPMS. But IIRC if you stay under 2000rpms, Say 1900rpms thats where your best Mileage will come from. Anything over 2000 and i think it goes into PE mode... Im not sure about all that, just what ive read..
Ive towed 9000, 10000lbs with my truck.. Not to bad, but it wasnt on long trips or anything.
I think there was a discussion on here about the Crusing RPMS. But IIRC if you stay under 2000rpms, Say 1900rpms thats where your best Mileage will come from. Anything over 2000 and i think it goes into PE mode... Im not sure about all that, just what ive read..
#10