need help 100$ fillups every 2 weeks

I have a 92 3500 454 with 4.10 rear end and auto overdrive trans looking for all info to better milage I only get 8 around town and 14 on the hwy but cannot sacrifice power or torque any suggestions

Sounds about right for what you have. I get about 16-17 gallons, about $35-40.00 a tank and lasts about a week at 17mpg in my 350. You would have to reduce gear ratio, weight, Cubic inches, compression ratio, TBI size, Fuel flow, usually manual transmissions get better milage but hard on the leg around town a lot. Could change over to Diesel fuel. Nothing would help much that wouldnt be costly and something you dont want to sacrifice.

I had a 66 chevelle I customised with a 408ci BB Chevy and tunnel ram w/4.11 gears that got about 8 miles a gallon on Cam 2 fuel. Big motors with big gears get little fuel milage-just the way it is! sorry, I wasnt much help, but if you want better milage you have to give up something a little bit anyway. I would go with some 3.73 gears and next time you buy tires get bigger diameter tread. Some of the other guys in here may know what to change to reduce fuel flow into the TBI. Good Luck!

Put a high flow exhuast on it, and an upgraded intake. I get 20mpg with my 350 on the free way, with a flowmaster, and a K&N Drop in...and I was hammering it...

My 98 454 dually 4WD gets 6-7 towing and 10 empty.

well I have noticed that all the other duallies run a 215 75 r 16 where I am running a 235 85 r16 and I also get the same towing as empty no matter how heavy I pulled a ford backhoe to viginia through the mts and still avg 13 on hwy and some in town I have got headers true duals and a kand n is nextI would like to get a little closer to the 20 mpg mark on the hwy since hwy is my main driving on it and also has anyone tried one of those 502 ht crates are they any worse on gas since i am at 218k now i know a motor is in my future

You drive a 5500 lb truck with a 454 and 4:10 and you are complaining about 13 mpg. The only way you are going to hit 20 mpg is to get a new diesel.

Exactly why I went with a 2500 with a 350. Add some airbags and I tow anything you do with better mpg.

All you can really do with your current set up is drive it lightly and maybe give a tune up.

If you increase your cubic inches to a 502 you will use more gas! Old tow trucks used the Chevy 400 small block because it was built for low end torque(pulling motor). You will still get a good top end and less gas usage. Also, was a good reccommendation to open up the exhaust. The less the backpressure from the exhaust the more Horsepower you gain ( this is why racers of all types run with headers only). First go with biggest pipes that will fit and a flowmaster. Good Idea.

Blue4x4...how would higher gears (numerically lower) and bigger tires get you better fuel milage?? If anything, go with like 4.56 gears or put slightly smaller tires on. I would not do both though.

And again, I don't think you know much about exhaust. You need to have some backpressure on regular engines. If it was turbo'd, then you'd want little to no backpressure...but that's another topic. And not all "racers" run straight headers. Most of the time you are required to have at least some type of muffler. Huge pipes are just as bad as pipes that are too small.


bigd7315, that milage really isn't all that bad for the type of truck you've got. I'd first do something with the air filter (like a K&N) and a GOOD exhaust system with new mufflers and Catalytic Converter(s)

i have true duals now with glasspacks on 2 1/2 in pipes with cats and running 235 85 16 tires and getting thr kandn tommorrow

Options are as follows:

1)Get a new President that isnt in the Oil business.

2) Get another vehicle

Good luck.

A new president isnt going to give you better gas mileage.

And if you get another vehicle you will then be paying to put gas in two vehicles not to mention insurance and maintanance.



Anyone know what it takes or how much he would need to spend to add the Propane option to this truck of his? My neighbor ran propane in his car for 3000 miles and his oil is still real clean. He said finding a place to fill up is the hard part though.

I've successfully got my 3500 7.4 running on propane via drilling and fitting 8 injectors + 2 vaporisors and a 230litre tank in the bed. Works perfectly.

I can get propane for next to nothing in bulk...

Extreme but it saves me a fortune!

-Craig

So what did the set up cost and how much is it to fill that 230liter tank? How many miles on a tank?

I was just joking dont take me seriously.

Actually though I own a car lot and I have had many customers with SUVs and Trucks, coming in and buying $3-6,000 4 bangers just to save some money on commuting.

A Year ago At $1.20 A gallon commuting in a truck was reasonable. At $2.30-3.00 a gallon it is a waste of money and a 2nd car to commute will pay for itself a hundred times over.

"A Year ago At $1.20 A gallon commuting in a truck was reasonable. At $2.30-3.00 a gallon it is a waste of money and a 2nd car to commute will pay for itself a hundred times over.[/QUOTE]


Get a Cummins and convert it to run on Vegtable oil. Then you go arround to the restraunts and get fuel for free.

In 98' when I went to V8's I new I could afford it even if gas went to European levels. I want power and protection, and I knew I'd be sacrificing fuel effeciancy.

Goingbig- :banghead: Its as simple as a bicycle when it comes to gears. Take a 10 speed and shift to a lower gear ratio by going to a sprocket with less teeth on it, on the rear hub, and then for every time you peddel around once you will have gone further, and as I said with less RPM. Back to Bigd7315 problem this would help because the motor with a 3.73 gear compared to your suggested 4.56, the engine would only be doing 1800 RPM at 55MPH rathur then 2600-2800RPM at the same speed. The more Rounds the motor makes the more gas you will use to fire each piston more often each minute! In this example aproximately 800-1000 more times each piston must be fired each minute. Thus, a lot more gas used to travel the same distance of 55 miles in one hour.

Because he pulls heavy equiptment, he does not want to sacriffice the 4.10 gear that helps him on starts from a stop. I doubt he will want to go to a smaller gear ratio, but it WOULD help a lot.

Bigger tires-same principal, each time the axle goes around once the bigger tire will travel a couple inces or so(depending on tire diameter change)further.

I dont know a racer that uses a muffler. A quiet race car-that is a concept they researched. They still have backpressure because they have to have an exhaust manifold of some type. But they go with as big a diameter as they can. It increases hoursepower thus you get more power with less pedel. That is why it would help on gas milage.

I am not sure which web site it is at but I have seen a gear ratio and tire size chart that tells you what the best gear ratio to use with your size tire. It was at an off road supply site like desertrat.com or 4x4wholesale.com When I find it I will be back. You will then have any gear ratio vs gas mileage question answered.

Here is one. Isnt the one I was looking for but it will help anyone who wants to go bigger.

www.samsoffroad.com/samsoffroadsto/GearRatioGuide.htm

I have 2 other cars a 92 sonoma w the 4.3 and a 92 camaro w the 5.0 so the other car thing is fine I am looking to get thid truck to get better mileage than it is now and more friendly for hauling cars across the country a propane kit is out I am gas only because the propane is scheduled to go up this month

I am looking at putting a spicer 6 speed in it does anyone think this will improve mileage and does anyone have a 5 speed dually gas to give me some figures on there mileage