Z71 with 4.10 rear axle

[ellayebee]

I'm looking at buying a 2003 Tahoe Z71. It has all of the options I want, but it has the 4.10 rear axle option instead of the standard 3.73 rear axle.

What are the pros and cons of the 4.10 versus the 3.73 rear axle?

[rjmc]

The 4.10 will have your engine turning at a higher rpm. It will accelerate better and may be better at towing because your engine will be closer to its power band. It will also lower the already poor gas mileage. Hope this helps.

[bowtiebandit]

Thats about it in a nutshell..if you have no intention on ever pulling anything I would wait for a 3:73 model. 4:10's just burn up way to much fuel if you'll never use it's capabilities.

[Pro-Hawk]

Speaking of the 4:10 and 3:73 gears vs better gasmileage.

I had a stock 96' 4X4 Tahoe (4dr) 350ci with 4:10 gears and the 29.5 gallon tank ( supposed to be 30 and Chevy got sued over it). I would get around 358 miles per tank in town and started off at 475 on the highway and got down to 425 per tank. The dealer tags for the truck said I think 16 town and 18 highway but I have to dig the paper work out on it. Everything under the hood had not been touch in 4 years except a new battery and oil changes. This truck could roast the tires without me trying to do it.

Now for the weird part.

I now own a stock 04' Z71 Tahoe ( due to someone murreding our old one). Its got the stock 3:73 gearing and can't accel for crap. Its got a 26 gallon tank which is 3.5 gallons of fuel less then my old one. In town I get 258-275 miles per tank of fuel and on the highway 350-370 miles. Now I'm going by when the low fuel light comes on and when it does I have between 2-3.5 gallon of fuel left in the truck. Also the dealer tags show this one to be around 13 mpg in town and 16 on the highway. The avg meter deal says it is around 13.5 all the time.

With that long page of crap can anyone explain why my old 96' with 4.10 gears got way better gas mileage than my new one with 3:73 gears?

Thanks
Ray

[DC Plasterer]

Are you certain the 04 Z71 has a 3:73 rear? I just got one (a 2004) and I thought the Z71 package came standard with the 4:10

[Pro-Hawk]

I'm not for sure but its a dog and a half compared to my old 96' 4x4 Tahoe with 4:10s / 260hp. My old one running like crap would roast the tires with little effort. My 04' Z71 want sqeak the tires unless I power break it and I'm sure its got more power than a 96' tahoe??

[keoni1978]

Standard is 3:73

[Pro-Hawk]

The dealers tags says 3:73 with mpg at 14 city / hwy 18. I'm a little to lazy to dig out the dealer tag for the old 96' Tahoe but the response has to be 4:10s in it.

[surpluseller]

I have a 97 tahoe with 3.43 gears and the best mileage that I get is 12-13mpg...These trucks are just heavy and suck alot of gas...My dad has the same truck same engine with 3.73 gears in a 2wd and gets 16-18mpg...4x4s just suck gas I guess...They are higher and heavier....

[Pro-Hawk]

Originally Posted by surpluseller

I have a 97 tahoe with 3.43 gears and the best mileage that I get is 12-13mpg...These trucks are just heavy and suck alot of gas...My dad has the same truck same engine with 3.73 gears in a 2wd and gets 16-18mpg...4x4s just suck gas I guess...They are higher and heavier....

My 4x4 96' Tahoe with 4:10 gears w/350 got 16-18 and that is what the dealer tags says also. So I'm not sure why your 2WD 97' 3:42 gearing got worse. I will say your 97 gets about as good of gas MPG as my 04' Z71 Tahoe