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Gas Mileage stinks

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BobinKY

Member
My sone recently bought an 02" GMC crew cab, four wheel drive with the crew cab. He got the 6.0 litre gas engine and the 3/4 ton suspension on the half ton chassis. He recently got back from a road trip where he got 12.5 MPG on the interstate running the speed limit empty. I have seen other posts on here about some of you folks getting chips that improved mileage, particularly in diesels. Does anyone know any tricks for getting some respectable gas mileage out of this rig? He doesn"t have the money for an aftermarket overdrive or anything like that, nor do I think it would be indicated on a four wheel drive vehicle. Any thoughts would be appreciated.
 
Give us a few more specs about the truck. Diff ratio? Engine HP? Was it broken in before the trip? Have you tried the milage? Sometimes the low milage is due to driver habits. What kind of tires? Air pressure in tires? What grade of gasoline? I switched one time from Good Year tires to Michelin and got 2 mpg increase. Tom
 
There are a few things that you could look in to. A cold air intake by K&N will add some horsepower and MPG's. The MPG's will only be added if he keeps his foot out of the pedal. I had one on my V8 Chevy and it gave about 1-2 MPG's depending on how I drove it. Another thing that will help on the highway is a Tonneau Cover. Some say it doesn't help, but my gas mileage improved 1 MPG after adding mine. You could also get the computer flashed or get a computer programmer like a SuperChips. These help out but are costly. Again, the programmers add more power as well so unless you drive it conservatively, you won't get any gains. After buying all this will you end up with savings in the long run??? My finding is yes if you plan to do a lot of highway driving and keeping the truck for a few years.
 
Bob,

This was the "re-new" year around this outfit; Geeze! 7 years goes fast!

Anyhoo, I traded for a new Power Stroke and the wife for a new Navigator.

Okay, fast forward: Pickup sees a constant 14 and the wifes car will "nudge" 17.

Now, what I did was to shut off the fuel readout on the pickup and it "kinda" makes the hurt go away some if I can't see it. Out of sight, out of mind? Just plain parking the dirty rat helps the most. :>)

Wife doesn't put on a thousand miles a year, so that one doesn't smart quite so much, but still.

These new vehicles just plain suck when it comes to mileage. Everyone is bellerin' about it.

I mostly drive my old beater Chey 'cause it'll go two weeks on a tankful of fuel. Go figure.

Allan
 
First of all it's not exactly an economy vehicle, so I wouldn't count on any "significant" gains. Tonneau cover, tire pressure, driving habits, computer reprogramming, etc. can all help. The cold air suggestion is probably good for HP, but I wouldn't count on any mileage increase from putting "denser" air into the motor. The fuel injection systems nowdays account for air temperature, and adjust the amount of fuel accordingly. Back when we used carburetors you could pull HOT air into the carb and realize a slight increase due to faster and better atomization of the fuel, but this was at the expense of horsepower. You might also consider using synthetic oil for another fraction of a MPG. Maybe you should take it on a road trip and see what kind of mileage you get. Might give you an idea of how gentle your son is with the throttle......
 
On my 7.3 ford powerstroke (2003) I put a k&N intake, 4inch exhaust, and a superchip program. Last week on a trip to Arkansas pulling my 20ft 3 axle trailer empty I got 20mpg. Loaded with a jd D I was getting what Allen gets. I like my powerstroke!
 
I like the Power Strokes too.

However, this new one gets 13.8 to 14 wheather it's loaded or bone empty. That really torques me off! :>(

It's almost as if "high fuel usage" was built into the newer ones. What's wrong with that picture anyway?

Allan
 
You guys should quit complaining. Because of the fact that we keep pushing more fuel per mile through these engines, they are putting out less emissions (some day I would like someone to explain that to me)so, there will be less global warming which means the the polar bears won't have to swim in 80 degree water within the next five years. Now, don't you feel better?
 
If your son doesn't need a huge truck, maybe he should downsize. I have a commuter truck I use for my drive to and from work which some weeks due to my required travel can be up to 450 miles. The truck is a 2006 Chevy Colorado, extended cab with 4x4 & 5 cylinder engine. With a cold air intake, tonneau cover, 2.5inch exahust, and computer flash I am getting 27.5 MPG on the highway. I also run 87 octane. In the winter it drops a little bit from having to warm it up. The lowest I have gotten with it is 20 MPG pulling my 4 wheeler. Not bad for a pick-up with 4x4, although it is not a work truck. I save my big truck for only the times that I need it.
 
GM dealer told me to expect 12 tops on a 6.0 and 10 on an 8.1 with allison tranny. I wanted a 3/4T when I bought my last truck, but settled for a regular 1/2 extended cab shortbox 4x4 with a 5.3. I consistently get 17mpg with it driving 30 miles each way to work. Now glad I have the 1/2 ton. If you need a 3/4 ton, go diesel.
 
I get 15 MPG on my 91 ranger 4 wheel drive with 4.0 6 in it. You should tell him if he want 30 MPG get a sports car.
Walt
 
I would complain about the mileage too, i get anywhere from 13-14 with my 1993 GMC Serria, two wheel drive 350ci, what i did was in the winter i take off the fresh air intake and turn the air filter cover upside down, and it sucks in hot air from the engine compartment, in the summer i flip the air filter cover back to the right way but i leave the fresh air pipes off. if i"m pulling a trailer in the summer i put the fresh air pipes back and i get better gas mileage if i drive 60 instead of 55. it works pretty good.
and i have mud tires on the back too. i didn"t even spend any money because i didn"t need anything.
but now i have a hydrogen gas seperator and hydrogen gas is sucked into my throttle body. but that is a complicated process and it will get you better mileage and power.
 
I ask myself why it takes a heavy duty truck, four wheel drive with the crew cab. and a 6.0 liter gas engine, running empty to go from point a to point b?

Face it if he only needs transportation, he sure is hauling around a lot of scrap metal for the ride. Add some pulling power low gears, and replace some of the gasoline with oxygenating compounds like alcohol, and it starts to add up, or down.

Remember a number of years ago when almost all the pickups running around were 4cylinder Toyotas and Nissans? When an American truck came with a v-6 except unless when special ordered with something larger.

It's the American way. Spend money!

Even with gas approaching $5 a gallon, TV commercials still praise the mighty horsepower and crew/club cab. Add all the extra size for safety, and the ability to see over the guy in front of you.

I found out last weekend why so many had purchased these off road 3/4 ton 4X4 super trucks. So they could haul that one big load of a 56" flat-screen home from the store!

If these off road 4X4 super trucks are so tough why do they stop and creep over the measly little speed bumps in every parking lot?


Sorry to drop a load in your thread but if he want mileage, loose weight and drop some displacement.

I guess if you wait a year or two he could drop $75,000 and get a new hybrid pickup with astonishingly good 16mpg
 
Heck, I'd love to get mileage like that with my 1988 F250 4x4 with the 351W . Ever since I bought it I've only gotten between 5 - 7 mpg . So don't feel too bad . God bless, Ken
 
My 97 chev 1 ton 454 vortec gets 11-12 unloader, 7-9 loaded. So, unless I am hauling something, the "big macho" truck sits there and I take my old 93 which gets 15-17mpg, or we take the mighty minivan. If he doesnt like the mileage advise him to get a more practical vehicle. It amazes me how many big heavy duty trucks I see all over the road, only hauling a driver or a few buddies. Our minivan will pull a atv on a trailer just fine. Have him downgrade till gas prices come down, unless he needs the truck for hauling, then have a second , less manly truck.
 
My experience has been if you want the horses, you have to feed them.

I had
4.8 liter 99 GM extended cab 5 speed--avg 19mpg

5.3 " 01 " AT " 15.5 mpg

5.3 05 " " " " 15.8 mpg

The cheapest way to improve mileage is to slow down. Interstate speed limit is between 75 and 80 mph depending on where you are. I never drive that fast unless I am in the Camry.
 
I'd say that mileage is about inline with what my truck gets.
I finally gave in and bought a Honda Fit to drive back and forth and let the truck sit. I haven't ran it much yet,but I don't think it is even going to get as good of mileage as it should or the older (late 80's early 90's) cars did.
 
My "01 with the 5.3 has gotten between 17-18 empty since new. However, if I use the "Tow/Haul" feature (whenever I"m actually working it) I get more like 11-12 mpg.
The daler told me that the 6.0 got the kind of mileage your talking about, and I have a brother in law with a new 3/4 ton Chev. that gets that kind of mileage.
Economy wasn"t part of the engineering plan when they put that package together!
 
I am sure there are chips available for that truck, check at your locale parts store for aftermarket stuff. But keep in mind if there is any waranty left on the truck it may be voided by installing a chip. There are some newer chip manufacturers out there that sell chips that will erase any record of them being installed when you remove them though.

As mentioned in earlier replys, slowing down will make a difference. My 05 Dodge 3500 with a cummins/6speed will hover around 19mpg empty if you keep her around 2000 rpms, 12-14 mpg pulling a 24' goose neck with an MD and 70D aboard. Run the crap out of it like you had to be there yesterday and it will drop to 14-15 empty/8-10 loaded. With the price of diesel as it is she only comes out to play when really needed and sometimes on "date" night when driving the old minivan just doesn't look good!
 
The best way to maximize the mileage out of a 3/4 ton is to make sure its a company truck. We've got some guys who get about 800 miles/wk per 0 dollars out of their pocket.
 
That mileage sounds right for the 6.0 gas.

Not much you can do to improve mileage with chips.

Only ideas that may help a little are changing to a smaller highway tread tire. Those all terrain truck tires get heavy. A gear swap to a higher ratio may help also. In the end, you may get your mpg up to 14-15..
 
Either cut the muffler off of it or do nothing.

Computer chips are stupid. If the factory saw more opportunities to engineer for better gas mileage, they would have done so.

Bottom line is, if he wanted gas mileage for ROAD TRIPS ONLY- he should have bought anything with a 4 or 6 cylinder engine in it. Either that, or borrow a car.

There are no miracles for gas mileage- just common sense.

It is every day that I hear of someone trying to get better gas mileage out of something with a V8 in it, even after they put monstrous tires on it.
 
Wow. 27.5. That settles it. My next truck will be a Colorado/Canyon. I like my S-10 a lot, but it's gettin' up there in mileage. Congratulations on your fuel mileage.
 
That's what I was thinking. Perhaps a Suburban.

No, I would probably rather keep my wife, well, and my life if she was to read this.
 
Probly has a 4.10 rear end, lousy milage.

People still just dont understand the effect that has on milage, and blame it on the engine.

Kinda tuff to change it with 4wd, have to change both. I had an OLD F-100 with a 352 in it, got 10-12 mpg, changed the gears to 3.07 (i think it was) and got a steady 25mpg at 75mph on the hiway. and that was back in 1976. I've been buying trucks based on that rear end ever since.
My current 1997 K2500 6.5 turbo Diesel gets 20+ at 70mph, and its got 230,000 miles on it. It will still pull a loaded trailer just fine, yes the mpg goes to hell when hauling but i dont pull most of the time.
 
That's about what most 4x4s get or worse. Just a chip isn't going to help so check the gear ratios to see what you have first. With 4.10 or 3.73 just not going to get good milage at all. Have to change both to something like 3.40 or 3.07 but then you'll be whining about it won't pull a load or go up a hill. I put 3.07 in a short bed 2wd and got it up to 25 mpg with a 350. If you want better mpg in a truck have to sacrifice power or squint your eyes and take a slap to drive a little foreign one.
 
All those "little foreign jobs" are all grow'd up and bragging about 300+ horsepower too.

I went looking a couple years ago for a base, simple, 4cyl import PU and they were almost non existent then.
 
That sounds about right for that engine. I have a 2004 Z71 with a 5.3 and get 19 to 20 GPM on the interstate. It drops to 15 GPM pulling the enclosed 6X10 trailer with the bike in it.
 
If you had a 352 that got 25 MPG in anything - regardess of the gearing - you could probably get rich on it - since it's a miracle. It should burn more fuel than that just sitting and idling.

I've got four diesel trucks right now with 3.08 axles and none can get 25 MPG.

I had a 1964 Sunbeam Tiger sports-car (Carol Shelby designed) with a stock small-block Ford 260 V-8, two-barrel carb and 3.07 axle coupled to a four-speed manual trans. Whole car only weighed 2200 lbs. It got 22 MPG with it once on a long trip. And, that was a lot lighter and more aerodynamic than any Ford
pickup. And - I was a member of a Sunbeam Tiger club and knew many other owners. All reported the same sort of mileage and some had 2.70 rear-axles.

My little Isuzu mini-4Wd truck with a 2.2 diesel gets 27 MPG at best.

My best 6.2 diesel (379 cubic inches) in a 1/2 ton Chevy 4WD truck with 3.08 axles and a four-speed manual with a .7 overdrive gets 24 MPG at best.

I went with my dad in 1959 to pick up the only new car he bought in my lifetime. It was advertised as Ford's best fuel-mileage rig. A two-door business coupe (as they called it back then) with the "Mileage-maker Six" that was 223 cubic inches. Three speed stick on the column, manual choke, high rear-axle ratio, and windshield wipers that ran off the fuel-pump and stopped whenever you stomped on the gas pedal. He verified once, on a 400 mile highway trip at 60 MPH that it got a whopping 19.5 MPG which he thought was pretty impressive. Maybe at the time, it was.
 
About right with the mileage. 30-40 years ago when trucks were trucks with carbs and points.The same weight and HP vehicle would get 3-4 mpg. And been in the shop all the time for service.
My truck is very similar and has averaged 12.5 mpg over the past 50,000+miles.That incluides putting around, extendedhighway trips and trailer towing.
I suspect sonny has a heavy foot as mine gets 14.5 to 15 mpg on extended highway trips at 60-65 mph.
Has there been anything added to the truck such as a cap, mudflaps, brush bar etc? Are the tires airedup as per the instructions on the door sticker?
 
I must be getting old, almost 40, but, I can remember when:

My 1986 Ford 3/4 ton van with a 6 cylinder 300 c.i gas engine got 3 mpg in the winter and 8mpg in the summer. And to think I put up with that long enough to get 250,000 miles on it. I sold it to a guy who put another 75,000 mile on it, than the engine blew. That truck was the picture perfect rust bucket, but, man if those walls could talk! If the van"s a rockin".....NEVER let your son get a cargo van for his 1st vehicle!

Roger
 
That old 352 was the "Best" engine Ford ever made...!
I had one in a '55 Ford with a '55 Merc Overdrive in it (Police Interceptor engine).
Official economy run, it got 24.11 MPG, or 47 "Ton Miles" per gallon..
Cols, Ohio to Ft Knox, Ky in 3 hr 45 min with no fuel stops..
I did have a small Holley 2-barrel carb, jetted on the lean side, tho..but it did about the same with a 4-barrel on it too..(AFB).
My '79 F-250 460 auto and with a cap gets 12.5 empty..Sure, with 10,000 lbs on the back (2-axle bumper trailer) it gets 6..but that is fair enough for the work it does..!
I do have a Holley 4-barrel (750) jetted no richer than it needs to be..
It got 4 MPG with the original carb..
Ron..
 
I have a 3/4 ton 6.0, and the numbers sound about the same as mine. It just isn't a economy vehicle. I think this truck weighs close to 5,000 lbs, empty. It is nice to pull a big trailer I have, fun to drive. But the fuel milage sucks. It is what it is.
 
My 7.5 liter/460 cu.In. Ford Fuel injected , Dually 350 Ext.Cab with a new Cat Converter,full tune up, 5 speed Manual gets 13 MPG empty and 7.5 MPG with my 35' Fifth Wheel RV,My travel Friend has a Dually Chev 8.1 with Auto Trans towing a 32' fifth wheel RV and he gets comparable MPG while another Fellow I know has a Dodge 2500 V-10 Auto Trans towing a 28'fifth wheel and his MPG is comparable so? I'm not complaining or bragging. I think the numbers are common to the type vehicles and thier use we put them to.
 
Same truck. I get 14.5 on the highway at 60 mph. Yes, it's mileage isn't that great but I got it to haul tractors and grandkids and it sure does that well.
 
That's about right for that truck. GM puts 4.10 rear ends with that engine and it will suck up the fuel. I have a 2001 with 8.1 and a 3.73 that will get 14 empty at 60 MPH and about 9 pulling a 30 ft gooseneck with 9,500 on it. I buy diesels now - but if I were to buy another gas job it would be the 8.1 with a 3.73 (and allison tranny). GM pushes the heck out of the 6.0 and 4.10 - that's all you'll see on the lots. People think because it's only a 6.0 it'll get better mileage then the bigger brother - but that's not always the case.
 
Yeah, and the big 3 and the oil companies are holding hands and laughing all the way to the bank!!! In 1987, I bought a new one ton Chevy, 454, 4spd., 4.10 rears, throttle body injection. 6-7 mpg loaded. Couldn't afford to feed it. 12,000 miles on it, I pulled the elec.fuel pump out of the tank,and put a pump on the motor where it belongs, replaced the TBI with a quadrajet carb, advanced the timing a couple of degrees and 'lo and behold, fuel mileage never fell below 12 mpg. If the big 3 wanted to build a truck that would get 30 mpg. they would do it. Back in the '70's there was a guy that built a carb. that would get over 50 mpg. One of the big 3, I think it was GM, bought the design from the guy for several thousand dollars....and that was the end of that.
 
Man oh Man! After reading the other posts I guess I feel lucky when I was driving my 3/4 ton 49 Chevy. I got between 25 and 30 MPG on the hwy with the big 17" wheels and the ol 216 4 speed. And that truck would haul a load. I made lots of trips from Indy to Chicago, Dayton OH, ! It would go 65 on the interstate with the big wheels and the 4:57 rear but it would take its time getting there also. It floors me that with all the years of engineering the mileage has gone down so much even on a regular newer truck. I just got a 71 Chevy Custom Camper 3/4 ton and checked the mileage yesterday and it got 9, but there is carb work to do still. Seems to me those 67-72 trucks with 350s got 15-16 when new.
 
I find it odd that people think they can run 65 mph with a heavy truck, 400 ci engine, 4.5 rear axle and get good gas milage.My 96 Ford F150 4wd got 19.3 on a 100 mile trip.Auto transmission with over drive.Keep it between 45 and 50 and get 19 mpg.As good as many older cars got.My truck has a 351 v8.Most peoples driving habits are stupid.Saw a big Ford pull away from the stop sign here.The engine was roaring,he pulled into the post office 800 feet away.Another stupid habit is coming up on stop signs at high speeds and piling on the brakes.Big trucks with big engines running 70 mph will use a lot of fuel.
 
i got a 05 chevy 1/2 ton w/ 5.3 an 3.23 rear ends pull a 28 ft. fifth wheel rv around the ststes an a 25 ft. flat bed goose neck hauling my tlb that weights 15000 an get 8 mpg w/ that, 12 to 15 w/ the rv an 18 to 21 empty
 
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