I have a 93 2500 Suburban with a 454. I bought it because I need it. I have 5 kids and woman, plus I needed something to pull the HD to the track. I am not looking for chicken soup from chicken **** but looking to make low cost changes that pay for them self is a reasonable amount of time. I always drive like a grandpa because I don't like paying for gas after driving the company truck for 5 years and not spending fuel money unless I take the HD to play.

I put new plugs, wires, cap, rotor, and the oil was new when I bought the truck. It got 9.05 over 260 mi. with 45 being hi way and the rest around town.

I bought for $55 shipped to the door a Cherry Bomb Vortex because I was looking for great flow and quiet being the family hauler. I removed the cat and factory muffler and installed the Vortex. The new setup is 30 lbs. lighter and I videoed 0-60 runs before and after. As perfect as possible everything was identical in the two videos besides the muffler(weather, weight, same road) with a small(.5-.7) gain from the muffler.
Before

After


I only went 89 mi. so far with none on the hi way. With city only I just got 8.9 and this millage is with the whole family(6 of us) for 25 mi. or so vs. before I had no more then 3 kids plus me. I am not taking any gains to the bank quite yet but evidence would point in the positive direction.

Future plans include
Synthetic fluids in the motor, and rear end. Trans eventually but not sure when.
E-Fans
Making a CAI of some sort possibly using the factory box, possibly not.
High flow filter weather drop in or custom.
Any weight I can remove will come out but I really don't think i have much if any. Spare tire is about it. I work for a tire company with service trucks(I drive one) so a flat is no issue unless out of town.

 

fuel economy in a BBC burb is possible?

 

We are going to see! Again not looking for hybrid numbers but just a few over what I had before. I am hoping for .5 of better from the muffler and thinking the CAI can be good for another .5, e-fans seem to be able to gain 1-2 easily, fluids might get something small but who knows.

I am considering a diesel swap but don't think it is going to be economical. If I could do it for $3000 it would pay for it's self in around 2-3 years but I don't think $3000 will get a D-Max of any millage under the hood and coming up with all the cash at once isn't easy.

Some quick info on the swap. If no swap then a $1000-$2000 car might make sense for when I don't have more then 4 of the family. But that car is going to cost $20 a month to insure($480 for 2 years) plus any maintenance. That means If I could come up with it $3500 for the swap it pays(at the end)the same as $3000 and not buying a car over 2 years. Any towing makes the swap pay at least twice per mile as it would for empty miles. I am probably not going to swap a D-Max in mostly because I don't have the upfront money. The swap would be economy minded plus the cool factor and pulling event a light trailer is much nicer in a D-Max then the big block.

 

5 kids and woman! Just have the poor girl push the Burb over the hills!

 

Well three kids are mine with my Ex-Wife and two girls are hers from a previous relationship. So she only gave birth to two girls.

I did forget another fuel saving step is aluminum wheels. The stock steel with the 90s hubcaps are the uglies stock wheels ever. They are also heavy as hell and hurting economy big time!

 

TB spacer will actually help since its TBI. . .

 

I am probably going to do a spacer at some point.

 

Pump up the tires to near max pressure. 65-70 psi in the rear,50 to 60 in the front. Drive 55 -65 mph whenever you can, you burn the same amout of gas @ 45 . With the downshifting it does at that speed, you will probably pick up 2 or more mpg doing that alone.

 

I have the tires around the highest psi for comfort. If I remember 55 front and 65 rear. So I could go up a bit for fuel ecconemy but it just really starts to ride like hell.

 

I've always heard that you get the best mileage at the lowest speed that the torque converter clutch will stay locked in top gear.