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Hello All,

 

I recently purchased a 2016 Chevy 1500 LT, with the 5.3 (AFM v4/v8). I'm looking to lift the truck sometime after next February when my wife gives birth to our second kiddo (don't want to have a lifted truck with a pregnant wife getting in and out). I'm planning on having SORS put on a 6" ProComp lift, 35" A/T tire, and wheel it (probably 18s). I'm keeping the factory step bar, and have a tool box with an open bed (no tonneau).

 

I'm looking for the best MPG possible, both before and after the lift and was wondering if anyone had any advice?

 

I'm thinking:

Flowmaster 50 series

Airaid CAI

SCT Programmer

 

Are there any other things that I can, or any better parts to use for a big MPG boost?

 

My driving is 50/50 city/hwy.

 

Thanks!

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To answer your question none. These K2 are already tuned for the best MPG possible.

 

Lifting, yup that will kill your MPG.

 

CAI does absolutely nothing, zip zilch bubcus for HP or MPG in these as the Factory airbox supplies more than enough air (the engine is a vacuum and cannot possibly suck more you would have to add turbo or supercharging to get anything increase whatso ever from intake.

 

Programmer will kill your MPG because every single one will say to run premium gas *GM recommends 87 octane for 5.3L

 

Flowmaster catback might actually help MPG marginally but with the $800-$1000 costs + install it would take years and years to see any return on that.

 

To answer your question if you want best MPG (which means spending the least) do not do anything.

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To answer your question none. These K2 are already tuned for the best MPG possible.

 

Lifting, yup that will kill your MPG.

 

CAI does absolutely nothing, zip zilch bubcus for HP or MPG in these as the Factory airbox supplies more than enough air (the engine is a vacuum and cannot possibly suck more you would have to add turbo or supercharging to get anything increase whatso ever from intake.

 

Programmer will kill your MPG because every single one will say to run premium gas *GM recommends 87 octane for 5.3L

 

Flowmaster catback might actually help MPG marginally but with the $800-$1000 costs + install it would take years and years to see any return on that.

 

To answer your question if you want best MPG (which means spending the least) do not do anything.

 

Thank you for your answer! I'm not trying to be abrasive, or appear like I "don't like your answer", but if that were true, why are so many on this forum talking about their increased MPG (especially after a lift), by doing some of these parts? I'm a little confused. Also, these parts do add horsepower, and with added horsepower and a lighter foot comes added economy, right? I'm a little confused. Have you ran any of these components on your truck to verify there are no gains?

 

Thanks!

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I have never in my entire life heard of anybody claiming better MPG after a lift. That's impossible.

 

It is exactly as ATL said. Your best MPG is with a stock truck. No doubt about it. The OEMs are looking for every tenth of a MPG to meet CAFE requirements. They aren't leaving anything on the table.

 

After all those mods you're going to probably be looking at a 30-50% loss in MPG. Expect 12 to 15 mpg tops.

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If anyone here is claiming any MPG after a lift I would like to have some of what they are smoking. Never going to happen.

 

CAI - 0 HP increase without a tuner and premium gas.

Catback - yes some HP increase marginally like 10HP.

 

 

One mod I can think of that would help MPG would be a toneau(?) cover as it would reduce drag on the box. But again with the cost unless you like the usefulness and looks it is kind of a waste too as it would take years and years of saving pennies per mile to offset it.

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running premium does help with mpg both city highway. With my calculations over 10k miles it is about an average of nearly 3mpg on the highway.

 

I do feel a difference in throttle response and smoothness at idle with regular and premium (93) and prefer to run premium.

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My mpg went up after installing my tune but since I have to run premium it's kind of a wash. CAI just sounds cool (I know I have one) and idk if it has actually helped coupled together with my tune (power wise). I don't have an exhaust but I can tell you on my old truck it made me get less MPG bc it sounded cool so I dumped the throttle more often. If you want to improve your mpg after lifting it, but keep in mind you won't get close to stock mpg doing this, you can always regear your differentials to give you "close to stock" performance. You'll have the pep aka it won't be sluggish but your mpg's ain't going to be near that of a stock truck

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running premium does help with mpg both city highway. With my calculations over 10k miles it is about an average of nearly 3mpg on the highway.

 

I do feel a difference in throttle response and smoothness at idle with regular and premium (93) and prefer to run premium.

 

 

Premium gas just burns hotter you should have more power but no real "MPG" gain considering the cost difference. ie) you would have got 1.3 miles out of the same dollar value running 87 octane. Dollar for Dollar you will get better "MPG" from lower octane.

 

*MPG in quotes because yes we know what it means but the real goal of MPG is to spend less on fuel. I like to think of it as Dollar Per Mile these days.

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Not to be rude to the OP but why in the world are you worried about mpg's if you are going to be dumping thousands of $'s into a lift and tires and then spend possibly thousands more trying to get an extra mpg or two out of it? Economically is does not make sense. Lifted trucks get crappy mpg's and that is how it is. You would also have to drive a bunch of miles to make up for the money you spend on after market air filters, tune, and exhaust in order to get your money back in mpg savings. Lift it and just enjoy it.

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When I say better MPG after a lift, I don't mean in comp to OEM. I mean; Lifted truck, no parts, 14MPG. Added some bolt-ons, back up to 17-18MPG. I've seen other posts on here claiming 19MPG with 35's. Just curious about what I could do.

 

For all of those who don't understand, etc... let me try to shed some light. I'm a commuter, but I want a lifted truck. I make enough money for it not to be a huge concern vs my wants. However, why shouldn't I try to get the best MPG possible? Maybe for you, it would take years for a return, but I have 200k+ on my 2013. I'm not naive in thinking I'll get better than stock MPG, that's not what I meant. I meant better MPG vs after lift with no parts.

 

I may have hit the wrong forum to look for help. Even though I'm asking a question with a financial metric (MPG), I didn't realize that I would get financial advice from others who know nothing of my situation. Didn't realize this was a financial forum, thought it was a truck forum.

 

Thanks!

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I've had 5 lifted trucks since 2010. The only thing that helped slightly was regearing. It's also one of the most expensive mods. I would say to do research on the weight of the tires and wheels you will be adding. You can help your situation by not putting a 80 pound mud tire. A 60-65 pound AT tire saves quite alot of weight that transfers to better mpg. I've seen those who claim they get back what they lost after lift, wheels, and tires, but I simply don't but it. I tried CAI, tune, exhaust, etc... on my 2014. It yielded less than 1 mpg improvement with a FTS 7 inch with 20x12 and 33's.

 

I wouldn't put alot of stock into what some claim about mpg. I've seen some claiming better mpg with a 6 inch lift and 35's than I ever got with a bone stock truck.

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When I say better MPG after a lift, I don't mean in comp to OEM. I mean; Lifted truck, no parts, 14MPG. Added some bolt-ons, back up to 17-18MPG. I've seen other posts on here claiming 19MPG with 35's. Just curious about what I could do.

 

For all of those who don't understand, etc... let me try to shed some light. I'm a commuter, but I want a lifted truck. I make enough money for it not to be a huge concern vs my wants. However, why shouldn't I try to get the best MPG possible? Maybe for you, it would take years for a return, but I have 200k+ on my 2013. I'm not naive in thinking I'll get better than stock MPG, that's not what I meant. I meant better MPG vs after lift with no parts.

 

I may have hit the wrong forum to look for help. Even though I'm asking a question with a financial metric (MPG), I didn't realize that I would get financial advice from others who know nothing of my situation. Didn't realize this was a financial forum, thought it was a truck forum.

 

Thanks!

Best thing in your case IMO is driving habits. You can check out lots of stuff on hypermiling where people pull crazy mpg numbers usually with stuff like hybrids or smaller engines but all the driving principals apply to any vehicle your mileage will just vary. I do not mean stupid likes like drafting on semis. But stuff like accelerating quickly and then coasting at speed long as possible vs accelerate slowly and stay at speed and not 4wd launching from every stop light.

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I've spent a lot of money over the years on 4 different trucks, all in the name of "more power and better fuel economy". In the end, I've always ended up with lower fuel economy because I can't keep my foot out of the gas. As others have said, the only mod that probably helped some was a cat-back exhaust but I had to be careful on the throttle because it's fun to listen to a cat back exhaust too!

 

That being said, if my next truck ends up being a GM I'll most likely get a tuner and an exhaust, but that's because a V8 sounds so good and I think the transmission could benefit from a tuner from what I've read. My decision will have nothing to do with fuel economy because the RTO is poor.

 

The best fuel economy "mod" I ever did was put Michelin A/T2's on my truck after years of running Bridgestone Revo's and Pirelli Scorpions and Yokohama Geolanders. I picked up a full 1mpg, their claim of low rolling resistance is no joke! They've outlasted the other tires also.

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Thanks for the answers.

 

I understand the foot in the throttle balance, but I think I'll manage it. I had a 600+ HP N/A car with amazing exhaust, so this truck really isn't anything that'll impress me with sound/speed. Sure, it'll sound good a better than stock, but it's not going to make me want to stay at 6k RPMs. Lol.

 

I'm going to try the items that I mentioned and see what happens. Worst case scenario, I blow some $ and maybe pick up some mild HP and cool sounds. We'll see.

 

I was hoping to hear about those items specifically pertaining only to MPG. Maybe I'll be the first to do proper a/b testing on them. Same drive habits, same fuel level, only modified parts. Surely I'll be disappointed at some points when I don't see any gains, and maybe I'll be surprised by others (along with some folks here).

 

Thanks again.

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There's 2 things that might help in your case. First, diff gearing. If you change gearing to compensate for the size of the tires your engine will work less hard and should gain mpg's and power. Second would be like Aldila mentioned tire weight. If it's mostly for looks get yourself lighter tires and it will help lots.

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