Fuel Mileage Improvement

With gas @ $3/gallon where I live, I need some ways to increase the gas mileage of my '96 K1500. Keeping it has always been a struggle, but I'm not letting it go very easily.

I already have a K&N intake, dual straights, and keep up with regular vehicle maintenance. I also limited the amount of aftermarket stuff to keep weight down.

Any ideas that won't cost more than they are worth?

I was thinking about replacing the bumpers (their rusting out) - would plastic bumpers instead of chrome do any good?

Thanks!

I'm assuming you have the 5.7 Liter??

Practically speaking, I think that you would be extremely hard pressed to measure any real difference at all in fuel mileage (even in a very controlled experiment) from switching to a lighter bumper. Figure that anything you could lift by yourself, or even with the help of a buddy is not going to make any measurable difference in the fuel economy on that rig. Now if you're sporting a 4.3Liter, you *may* be able to tell a difference. Even then, you'd be hard pressed to justify the purchase from financial considerations, I'd imagine.

I take it you weren't looking for "sell it and buy a geo metro" advice? :D My '92 accord gets 28-30 mpg :D My '90 Silverado K2500 gets 14-15mpg and about 75% of my driving is on the freeway at 75mph.

Nah, buying a Geo isn't what I wanted to hear right now. I was considering a 2000 Blazer b/c it produces 190 hp and can tow 5,000lbs. But then again, it only gets 3 - maybe 4 - mpg better than my truck. For that minimal of a difference I might as well keep my truck.

I'd agree with you there. Even with the 13-16mpg difference between my Accord and Silverado, that computes to roughly $0.10/mile cheaper (assuming $3.00/gal) to drive my Accord. Gotta rack up about 20-30k miles even at that extreme rate to justify purchasing a cheap economy car in the $2-3k range. That's *at least* 1-1/2 to 2 years payback period, given the quantity of driving that I do. And those savings are very negatively offset by having to pay for insurance and repairs on the additional vehicle.

Yep, vehicles are the worst possible financial investment. Too bad they're so dang necessary :D

Do you have a tonneau cover? That will help (a little). I used to drive 250 miles a day when I had my truck and I could get about an extra 50-75 miles out of a tank when I drove with mine on. To me that would be a justifiable cost because it also adds to the look of the truck! Also, plastic bumpers are garbage (on trucks) in my opinion.

If you get in the right lane and set the cruise control for 60 mph you will gain at least 2 mpg vs. going 75. Another bonus is no more speeding tickets.

I take it you don't live in an area with 75 mph speed limit zones? At 75, I'm NOT speeding, and I DO normally travel in the right lane whenever possible*. I'm also not so anal as to go 60, just to pick up some slight benefit in fuel economy. Besides, there's added danger in going that slow in a 75 mph zone anyway.

Also, it has been my observation with my truck (and I record the fuel economy at every fill-up), that I get 14-15 MPG regardless of the load and/or driving conditions. Whether the majority of the miles are in the city or on the freeway makes for up to a 1MPG difference is all. I've *never*, in two years, gotten less than 13.5MPG or more than 15.5MPG on *any* tank of gas.

*A reasonable thing to do in this area of Arizona, most of the time. Unlike California and most likely other places, where it's pointless to be in the right lane on the freeway unless you're a very slow moving vehicle or need to get off, as 99% of the time, you will get "clotheslined" (my term for when you move over to the slow lane to be courteous and let someone by, and end up having to slow way down because that person doesn't pass you quickly enough for you to get back over in the fast lane before you approach a slow moving vehicle in the right lane)

Check out http://www.automotiveforums.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=761851

I haven't done a proper mileage test for my car since I've been back (I replaced the O2 sensor before I left, the one I got was bad and set the SES light 50 miles into a 1,012 mile drive, boy was I nervous the rest of the way :)) Anyway, I was getting 22.2 miles per gallon (with a bad O2 sensor showing about 30 mV continuously) and normally get about 32 MPG mixed city-highway. After modifying my car, I was getting 36.9 MPG. The best I'd ever got with a good O2 sensor before was 36 MPG going 65 MPH for the entire tank. Right now I have 300 miles on this tank of gas, and the guage still says 1/2 tank. It's a 13 gallon tank, which means I'm getting roughly 35.6 MPG. Since it's a GM, the guage is way off, and 1/2 on the guage is really about 1/3 of the tanks volume. I disconnected 2 of 3 sensors from the Optomizer while determining that the O2 sensor was bad, and wanted to leave them unhooked for a while to make sure that this O2 sensor was good. I'll be reconnecting them on Saturday and doing a proper mileage test. I'm expecting at least 45 MPG.

It doesn't work as well on larger engines, especially in heavier vehicles, but it will definately help.


One really easy and cheap way to improve gas mileage is to inflate the tires to the maximum shown on the sidewall.

You guessed it, webbch, I'm in California where the speed limit is 65 or 70 mph. In the right lane, trucks and cars with trailers are limited to 55 mph, so at 60 you are not an obstacle most of the time.

I drive to Seattle, Denver, Tucson, etc. and 60 is not at all crazy slow based on my experiences in the western states.

My '90 Suburban is shaped like a brick, so aerodynamics are a big factor in fuel mileage. Going slower is easier on all mechanical components, too.

Safe and profitable travel to you, however fast you choose to drive.

It's funny you mention Tucson, as that's where I work. On the section of I-10 that I drive on my way to work, it's a 75 mph zone, and the only people driving anything under 70 are truckers and the elderly.......and you apparently :D

When I first moved to Arizona from Oregon (where I grew up), I thought it was fast as well. Now when I go back to visit I find it amazingly slow to be limited to 55 or 65. I suppose if I was a trained race car driver, 75 would feel very slow :D