more mpg out of suburban

[imiceman44]

I really doubt a square carb'd burb got that mileage. Lots of people's speedo's are off...especially in that age, when there was no way to verify via GPS>

Well if it were 2wd, kind of stock height or lowered, I wouldn't doubt it.
I had a brick of a chevy van 1979 350 4bbl, I worked the carb to open the secondaries later, and really worked the carb, and it was a low miles engine 80k original miles, I got 19 mpg on highways, but as soon as I hit hills, it dropped to 15 because of the 2.73 gears with 31" tires.
So in certain circumstances I believe it's possible, but not an average.

 

[dhcomp]

Well if it were 2wd, kind of stock height or lowered, I wouldn't doubt it.
I had a brick of a chevy van 1979 350 4bbl, I worked the carb to open the secondaries later, and really worked the carb, and it was a low miles engine 80k original miles, I got 19 mpg on highways, but as soon as I hit hills, it dropped to 15 because of the 2.73 gears with 31" tires.
So in certain circumstances I believe it's possible, but not an average.

Fair. But, i think more guys lie about mileage than the do about the size of their d_ _ _.

 

[imiceman44]

Fair. But, i think more guys lie about mileage than the do about the size of their d_ _ _.

Are you saying my d*** is short.

 

[dhcomp]

Are you saying my d*** is short.

If you tell me your burb is getting 30mpg......yes

 

[Jester1]

I have a 79 2wd trailering special.2500 454 th400 410 14bff and we average 14 mpg. I find keeping it tuned, dual exhaust, and changing the fluids to synthetic has brought it up from 10 mpg since I bought it.

I have also heard with a vehicle that heavy stepping down in motor size will only make it work harder thus more fuel. I think I would focus on a well built 350 with some good aftermarket parts, reduce the interior friction port and polish, regearing the rear, change the fluids to better quality and keep the fuel system clean. Others may disagree, but that is my .02.

 

[4xcrazy]

I'm not positive on what kind of mileage this thing gets, because the spedometer quit working recently due to cable issues, but I do know it gets much better mileage than my 4" lifted one on 35" tires & 4.10's.

I put $30 worth of gas in it last week and did a pretty decent amount of running around, I can honestly say it lasted much longer than the 4wd Burb.

Thinkin' agian,, it has to do alot with air resistance being cut from under the truck.

Well, and the lack of extra weight from another axle, transfer case and much larger tires.

 

[shady]

my 88 with a few things done gets 13-14 ish now at 65-70 on the highway. its fighting to do that speed with the 33/3.73 combo though. I'm pretty confident it will hit 16+ if I go to 4.10's and give it a little MORE power.

Its only a theory but by the research I've been doing for a while online and in perfomance/truck mags,
The key to these things is keeping the peak torque down near 2000-2500r's and final drive at 65 in there too for best MPG. that way it works less and needs less skinny pedal to hold that speed. Plus their not race trucks so peak torque at 5500 rpm is useless.

 

[kgblazerfive]

You guys are killing me today must be my mood , if you want to get better mileage buy a Honda, if not suffer with mid teen's like the rest of us. Heck my 85 gets like 9 so I'm grate full for the 14 in my 98.

 

[Keitha]

You guys are killing me today must be my mood , if you want to get better mileage buy a Honda, if not suffer with mid teen's like the rest of us...

You took the words out of my mouth (except I was going to suggest a prius or scion or some other crap-box)

 

[black dawg]

You guys are killing me today must be my mood , if you want to get better mileage buy a Honda, if not suffer with mid teen's like the rest of us. Heck my 85 gets like 9 so I'm grate full for the 14 in my 98.

Does honda make anything that a family of 7 will fit in? NEEDS to be 4x4 and have some extra room.

What is wrong with trying to make what you have work better?

 

[dhcomp]

Does honda make anything that a family of 7 will fit in? NEEDS to be 4x4 and have some extra room.

What is wrong with trying to make what you have work better?

Pilot.

And nothing wrong with trying to improve what you have, just need to be realistic about expectations, and what it costs for minimal improvements.

 

[black dawg]

Pilot.

And nothing wrong with trying to improve what you have, just need to be realistic about expectations, and what it costs for minimal improvements.

is 13mpg basically in town a reasonable figure to shoot for?


and my wife would kill me right after I killed myself for buying an import.

 

[dhcomp]

is 13mpg basically in town a reasonable figure to shoot for?


and my wife would kill me right after I killed myself for buying an import.

Not saying the Pilot was what you wanted, but it does meet the criteria.....
You're also talking to the guy that just bought a K2500 burb with a big block though.

13MPG in town might be a little optimistic, depending on how you drive.

13-15 freeway is a more likely goal.

 

[4xcrazy]

Gas costs for me, when younger, used to be just whatever it took to get the gas in the tank and to get me where I needed to go...

Now days with the price where it's at, and my choice of larger vehicles over smaller ones,,,, it's an expense...

expense as in, part of the weekly budget, I figure out what I or we need to do for that week, where I/we may need to go, put aside a certain amount of gas for whatever vehicle is getting driven. Usually the vehicles are the first thing to get gassed up when paychecks come in, just to be sure we have transportation..

So far, I've been pretty close with it weekly, but there are times when something does come up where more is needed, but that's where a buffer of about $20-30 comes in at, to get me/us by until next pay time

I don't know where I'm going with this, but to say, yeah, I just get use to the added expense of the bigger vehicles and certainly drive as little as possible.

just another thought, the '05 Avalanche here, 2wd, with the 5.3 is averaging 15.6, mostly surface street driving, no ac the past several months... So I'm not too entirely sure going with a new motor setup is really going to net you a significant increase in MPG, (except Diesel) maybe more power and reliability, but I know this Avalanche has to weigh about the same as the 2wd Burb, it's a heavy pig.

 

[black dawg]

Our family car burb before this one was a 91 1500 4x2 350 and 2.73 gears. The thing was amazing on fuel, 15-16 in town, never checked highway mpg but was easily 20ish at 65mph. odo was verified.
This same burb is now 2500 4x4 with no overdrive and still does better (dont have speed sensor yet so no accurate info) than my wifes burb(the family car) on fuel.

 

[kgblazerfive]

We bought a V70 AWD Volvo wagon it seats seven in case she needs it. However when the whole family goes somewhere we take the Suburban cuz it has more room.

 

[Blue85]

People throw out all kinds of numbers for mileage based on a certain fill-up or road trip or just a WAG. It's not just that they're trying to brag, they have actually fooled themselves. Most people don't even keep a consistent fuel log to really know. Much less actually post those facts on line. How many of us even have accurate odometers after 3 axle swaps, 4 gear changes and bumping up tire size 6 times in the last year?

 

[imiceman44]

I drive a truck for a living so keeping a log of everything is imperative, I also use GPS for speed correction and mileage tracking.
I also corroborate with google maps.
I rarely post mileage numbers but when I do, I specify if it's best mileage or specific highway only or the most common an average of 5000 miles or more.

People throw out all kinds of numbers for mileage based on a certain fill-up or road trip or just a WAG. It's not just that they're trying to brag, they have actually fooled themselves. Most people don't even keep a consistent fuel log to really know. Much less actually post those facts on line. How many of us even have accurate odometers after 3 axle swaps, 4 gear changes and bumping up tire size 6 times in the last year?

 

[DieselWarrior]

This...
http://www.4btswaps.com/forum/forum.php

Or, maybe an Isuzu diesel...


Just thinking out loud...
Andrew

 

[wildcatjason]

[

Or, maybe an Isuzu diesel...


Just thinking out loud...
Andrew[/QUOTE]

I have a build thread on that site. I swapped a 4bt in my 88 burb with a 5spd zf5 and 3.42 gears I run 19-20 mpg in town. The engine is virtually stock.