Gas Mileage

I drive a 97 Cheyenne 1500 V8 5.7L. Great engine, 122,000 miles, runs like a champ. I recently got some brand new buckshot mud tires installed and everything was fine, until I noticed the fuel gage needle dropping like I was running a Stealth aircraft. DAMN no one warned me i would get half the mileage with just simply gettin new tires. Anyway I used to get around 18-21 mpg with the old tires and now i get around 13-14. It sucks really bad and I can't afford gas anymore. So I was wondering if there was anything I can do to compensate for the mudders, or do I have to go back to regular tires. Thanks for any feedback.

I am going to assume that the new tires are substantialy taller the the old tire. Having said this, you need to regear your diff(s) down to compensate for the taller tires. There is a formula that is used but I do not know it. Maybe someone here has it or you can maybe find it on a 4x4 site. Good luck.

what size are your old tires and what size are your new tires??

well they are not that much bigger. The new mud tires are 31 inches and the old ones were 235/75 R15 so i assume they are about 29 inches. I'm not sure its that big of change that I would need to change my gear differentials, ya think? Im looking for a cheap way to save gas!!! Thanks for the help.

...stay out of the throttle? There may be another problem that just happened to present itself at the same time that you got new tires. Won't O2 sensors that are going bad cause bad gas mileage? Something to look into...

if you drive with your tailgate down, it will help save gas if you put it back up. Saw this myth get busted on Mythbusters a little while ago.

Im looking for a cheap way to save gas!!! Thanks for the help.

buy a geo metro.

Yea, I'd go with buyin a geo metro i love those cars..and I'm looking for one at the moment