Ways To Increase Gas Milage In 04 2500HD

dizzle6988 · January 21, 2013

OK, so this could very well be a very beat to death topic but I'm going to lay out everything that I have researched so far so that way nothing is repeated in this process. So, I have a 2004 GMC Sierra 2500HD 4-door 4x4. It is the gas 6.0L. I love my truck and the way I came to get it, just means it was meant to be. So, I have done many hours of researching and reading online to figure out how to get just a few more miles per gallon out of my beautiful beast. The best thing that I have come up with is a combination of intake, exhaust, and tuner. All to the tune of just the parts and pieces not including installation but the tune of around 3,000 bucks. I'm all for doing it a bit at a time when I can afford to, problem being it will be 2 years before I start making money back on it in the savings at the pump. I drive my truck around town and on the freeway. It's Phoenix, AZ and that's just life. I also make a 50 mile round trip every weekend to go pick up my step daughter. Other than that I don't do a lot of driving. My wife uses the truck to get to and from work, I think that's about 30 miles a day round trip. I don't accelerate hard from a stand still and I don't misuse the power that my truck has. At this point in time I'm thinking to just start with small stuff and work my way up. And the first small thing I'm going to do is plugs and wires. I have 138,xxx miles on my truck but it's been miticulously maintained by it's only other owner. Thank you everyone for you time and I hope to get to know all of you really well over the life of my truck and my stay here on this wonderful forum.

Chris · January 21, 2013

Intake, exhaust, and a custom tune with handheld will run you under $1500

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dizzle6988 · January 21, 2013

Where is that coming from? It's like 300 for the tuner, intake is oh 250 and the exhaust covers the rest of it. I have to have performance cats in order to get the most out of doing it all. I wouldn't dare leave the stock ones on.

music · January 21, 2013

Just curious: What is your mpg now, what do you "expect" to get after spending $3k, and how many miles do you drive city/hwy? It's hard to imagine improving enough to get $3k back. The largest parameters that affect mpg are weight, height, tires, and the right foot.

Chris · January 22, 2013

You don't need performance cats. Are you going to be running long tube headers? I figured a cat-back system. Black bear performance offers a hand held tuner for $550. Its a tune custom tailored to your truck and driving style. A lot better than hypertech or superchips.

I ran their tune for a few years. I need to have them do it because the dyno tune I have is a little to aggressive for everyday driving. I run a 6.0 and 3.42 gears in a 1500. I have the intake, exhaust, and a tune.

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txab · January 22, 2013

What is your MPG now? What do you expect to get after all your mods? I'd love to see your math....

ATMINF · January 22, 2013

The stock cats are actually very good. They flow very well, the only time they go bad is when the engine is out of tune and runs rich and causes the cats to "go bad".

Chris · January 22, 2013

An exhaust for mileage I would go catback before doing headers and high flow cats. I view those for making large power

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dizzle6988 · January 22, 2013

So, I'm figuring in a 27 gallon gas tank, 12 maybe 13 miles to gallon. I'm getting less than 300 miles to the tank. There is my math, my other math is going on various sites and gathering prices and adding in shipping as well. I don't know about the cats but I figure that they would need to go as well. And I was talking about a personal programer that I put pre built programs into or custom tune my own. I have a light foot, I only have 31 inch tall tires and I get 12-13 no matter if it's on the freeway or around town.

markw8 · January 22, 2013

You might be very happy with the better performance if you do this. Not so much so with the mileage increase. If you can't afford it all at once, just keep spending a little every fillup. Like was said, 3k buys a lot of gas.

Mark

plumbob98 · January 22, 2013

It sounds like you share one vehicle. Have you considered taking that $3000 and buying a car that gets good milage? Then you both have transportation and you also save on adding more miles to your truck. Just a thought.

kstruckcountry · January 22, 2013

Magnaflow muffler, BlackBear tune, and call it good. You will never come out ahead by spending money to get better mileage with a pickup. And you'll be very happy with a tune and muffler swap.

dizzle6988 · January 22, 2013

I'm not looking for a huge milage increase. I only want at best 3 more miles to the gallon. I spend 3000 in gas a year now because of gas prices. If you figure I'm going thru a tank a week and at 60 to 70 bucks per fill up. 60 a week is 3120 a year. 70 a week is 3640 a year. I'm not opposed to what you guys are saying at all. That's why I'm on here to ask these questions. I don't have 3000 saved up. I was going to piece it all together as I go. First the intake, then the exhaust, then the tuner. I want the exhaust for the sound too. This is my first real truck. My first ever truck was a 75 chevy long bed that was beat to hell. Then I had a 77 K5 blazer. So I've had big trucks but not a big truck with a big engine. I love my truck there is no doubt about that. I just can't get my head around there not being a way to improve gas milage with this truck. I got the message tonight that I need an oil change, so that I know will give me a little bit of milage back. Maybe a mile at the very best. I don't recall in the paper work when the plugs and wires were done last so I know that's on the list right after oil change. You guys are all awesome, And I appreciate the help. I might do the tuner first and see what happens. I could do that as early as next month. And we will have a second vehicle soon. But that might be taken up by her dad who lives with us so he can get to work since his vehicle broke a long time ago. That's what put us into just one vehicle between her and I. I know that the reusable air filter saves me money in the long run. if I can go just half a week longer on a tank of gas that will give me a return after doing everything. But if the cost is much less than what I have found thenI'll make a return a lot faster. Oh and I'm not going for long tube headers. That has never been in my plans. I will say though that if I wanted more power I would do a spacer before I would do the headers. Less cost and less work.

I have a million ideas running thru my head on things I want to do to this truck but they are down the line even further. I mean I want a grill guard, change out the headlight and fog lamp bulbs to the brightest I can buy without going to LED. I would like to lift it only a couple inches just to get a more aggressive stance. I want the windows to be a darker tint and I want those tailgate lights that work as a brake light and turn signal. No real reason for them other than I think they look slick and I like them. At some point I want to do a touch screen stereo and to do a dvd ssystem for the kids on the headrests.

Chris · January 22, 2013

Contact black bear performance. Get a custom tune. Friends don't let friends buy generic. It improves drivability and is worth the little bit of extra money.

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