New guy, one month review.

[Imcrazy]

Those MPGs are pretty dang good.... I am lucky to get 22mpg highway if I keep my speed between 60-65, the roads are flat and there isn't a headwind lol.... I typically get about 18-20 mpg in mixed driving, I rarely get more than 21 hwy, or less than 16 in the city in 2hi...

 

Carefully ditching those 17's, try to keep your overall tire & wheel weight combo the same as stock or you'll suffer in the MPG dept. around town especially... Lift it or level it by lifting the front and your MPG is going to suffer on the highway.... Consider dropping the rear if you're trying to get it level...

[Doublebase]

5 hours ago, Colossus said:

Great review.   And some people in another topic wonder why GM doesn't up the HP on the 5.3L to be more.. "competitive" with the others.  Well the fuel economy you are seeing with the 5.3L is exactly why GM is leaving the HP alone.  In this day and age, fuel economy matters.  GM gets the best fuel economy vs Crapota, Nissan, Ferd, and Dodge.  That helps to sell trucks. 

My brother in law owns a Ford ecoboost, I guess the thing is "fast" but he's averaging 16mpg. I have no desire to own a fast truck, I just need enough power to effectively do everyday driving things. And the F-150 claims to get 23mpg. He took it to the dealer and asked them what was wrong and they told him, yeah that's about all you're going to get, sorry.

[Donstar]

The DIC may or may not be as accurate as hand calculating but it is convenient and useful in helping to monitor  driving habits.   Your impressive gas mileage reflects unloaded and (I will guess) mostly highway driving,  These numbers will change considerably with certain modifications, as suggested by other members.  I recently purchased a travel trailer and have been impressed with how effortlessly my truck pulls this brick but bothered by how much extra fuel is used to achieve this "effortless" feel.  The DIC helps me to reduce the hit at the pump.  Simple things like setting my cruise at a lower speed makes an immediate and significant improvement.  My additional fuel costs are temporary and are resolved when I unhook my trailer.  When you add larger wheels and raise your truck, increased fuel costs are more permanent.

[Loco-diablo]

The buzz you hear when opening the door is normal. I believe it IS in fact the fuel pump.

[aseibel]

14 hours ago, NWI Denali said:

Hand calculate your gas mileage at the pump and i bet you will be surprised. My DIC reads 10% optimistic. So if it says i got 22, i get around 20 hand calculated. Reads 8-10% optimistic like clockwork.

Yes, I can confirm that the DIC is always higher than actual hand calculated mileage. But 10% seems really high. I would report that for me it is usually within 0.5 MPG, so that's more like 2-3%.

 

Does anyone know the actual formula it uses? I assume it must be ignoring idling time when you remote start for example. When we hand calc, we only take the total miles driven divided by the amount of fuel burned. But if you ignore fuel burned during the idling time, maybe the DIC is actually more accurate for the time spent moving forward. When I'm plowing snow, for example, my average mileage per tank drops to around 12-15, but I don't even know if the distance I put on when in reverse is accounted for. You spend half the time plowing in reverse.

 

Anyway, take the DIC mileage with a grain of salt. There are so many variables that its hard to compare numbers with others.

[Grumpy Bear]

1 hour ago, Donstar said:

The DIC may or may not be as accurate as hand calculating but it is convenient and useful in helping to monitor  driving habits.   Your impressive gas mileage reflects unloaded and (I will guess) mostly highway driving,  These numbers will change considerably with certain modifications, as suggested by other members.  I recently purchased a travel trailer and have been impressed with how effortlessly my truck pulls this brick but bothered by how much extra fuel is used to achieve this "effortless" feel.  The DIC helps me to reduce the hit at the pump.  Simple things like setting my cruise at a lower speed makes an immediate and significant improvement.  My additional fuel costs are temporary and are resolved when I unhook my trailer.  When you add larger wheels and raise your truck, increased fuel costs are more permanent.

Very well written and on point. It deserves more than a like button. Even a broken tool can be useful in the hands of a skilled craftsman. i.e. you can turn very accurate parts on a very worn out lathe. The DIC may indeed have earned its reputation and yet it is useful as this craftsman has given example. Nice job Donstar, thank you. 

[Doublebase]

8 hours ago, Donstar said:

The DIC may or may not be as accurate as hand calculating but it is convenient and useful in helping to monitor  driving habits.   Your impressive gas mileage reflects unloaded and (I will guess) mostly highway driving,  These numbers will change considerably with certain modifications, as suggested by other members.  I recently purchased a travel trailer and have been impressed with how effortlessly my truck pulls this brick but bothered by how much extra fuel is used to achieve this "effortless" feel.  The DIC helps me to reduce the hit at the pump.  Simple things like setting my cruise at a lower speed makes an immediate and significant improvement.  My additional fuel costs are temporary and are resolved when I unhook my trailer.  When you add larger wheels and raise your truck, increased fuel costs are more permanent.

Very well said.

 

I think what I'm finding too is my commute, is just that, it's mine. I kind of own it, I know the roads, I know the hills, I know how far I can glide before even having to step back on that gas pedal. It's 80 miles round trip and when I'm pulling into work in the morning my gas mileage reads 27 mpg over the last 50 miles...when I pull into my driveway on the way home it reads 26 mpg. However on the weekends?? Different story, I'm in unknown territory and I'm doing a lot of short errands. Like this weekend - I probably drove 200 miles this weekend - and I only averaged around 22. I was thinking something was wrong, but then today I was back at my daily commute and I was right back up to 27.

 

You're probably right about the modifications, I'll have to figure something out because I can't stand the look of these 17 inch rims. 

[busydaddy]

My brother in law owns a Ford ecoboost, I guess the thing is "fast" but he's averaging 16mpg. I have no desire to own a fast truck, I just need enough power to effectively do everyday driving things. And the F-150 claims to get 23mpg. He took it to the dealer and asked them what was wrong and they told him, yeah that's about all you're going to get, sorry.

Your bil can’t compare his truck to the commercials (ecoboost mpg) unless he’s driving the same spec’d truck. The ecoboost I had with the 3.73 got the exact mpg the window sticker said I would. My current 5.3 with max tow will never achieve the highest mpg that GM advertises on their commercials nor would I expect it to. It is however getting exactly what my window sticker said it would.


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[Doublebase]

So I’m at the 6,500 mile mark (can’t believe I’m driving this much).

 

Great truck. Just brought it in for service (oil change rotation). Not used to having someone else do it but it was “complimentary “.

 

Fluid filmed it today. Planning on doing a twice a year program (I purchased five gallons).

 

Really no issues yet. Averaging 26 mpg

 

Edited June 19, 2018 by Doublebase

[L86 All Terrain]

Good review, be careful with that fluid film. I have heard it will react with the frame coating, Nox rust they call it. I have not personally tried it, but I know if it does come off you will have a very hard time obtaining any rattle cans of the Nox rust from Daubert chemical company.

 

I have found my 6.2L gets better mileage than my 5.3L, even with heavy 10 ply 33x12.5's, but my 5.3L does have 10 ply E loads on it as well but only 31" tall and I run premium in the 376 for what its worth. Maybe my foot is always trying to make it move like my 6.2L. Congrats on your purchase, sounds like you picked a good one. 

[Doublebase]

2 hours ago, 10SierraA.T. said:

Good review, be careful with that fluid film. I have heard it will react with the frame coating, Nox rust they call it. I have not personally tried it, but I know if it does come off you will have a very hard time obtaining any rattle cans of the Nox rust from Daubert chemical company.

 

I have found my 6.2L gets better mileage than my 5.3L, even with heavy 10 ply 33x12.5's, but my 5.3L does have 10 ply E loads on it as well but only 31" tall and I run premium in the 376 for what its worth. Maybe my foot is always trying to make it move like my 6.2L. Congrats on your purchase, sounds like you picked a good one. 

I did some tests with the fluid film before I tried it - and when I say "tests" I mean watched three other Silverado owners do it first - then I did it. Lol. I'll keep an eye on it though. Didn't realize it's tough getting the cans from Daubert Chemical?? Why?

 

Amazing that you got better fuel economy out of the 6.2, must be a fun motor to own.

[Doublebase]

Well I'm at 21,000 miles now (in eight months), no real problems yet, knock on wood.

 

I have fluid filmed the truck twice now - I've experienced no damage to the frame wax because of the fluid film - it actually seems to keep the wax supple. No rust whatsoever under the truck, yet. 

 

I just did a drain and fill on the transmission...sucked four quarts (or whatever it was) out and replenished it with new fluid.

 

I've added a catch can since my last entry, drain it every 2,000 miles or so. Everything seems fine, it catches stuff, I drain it. Nothing magical.

 

My gas mileage has dropped to 22.5 due to the constant cold weather I've been driving in since November. Great truck so far! It gets up and goes when you need it, and it's quiet and smooth. I honestly can't get over how quiet the interior of this truck is...quieter than my Lexus ever was (not kidding). The truck does kind of "fish bite" until it is warmed up. Not super thrilled with the transmission between the speeds of 30-40 mph...seems to hunt around as the AFM switches back and forth. But it's really small potatoes in the grand scheme of things. I may just skip my last "free oil change" at the dealer. I can't stand going there and I can't stand having an 18 year old lube tech putting my truck up on a lift, and dump cheap oil into the thing.

 

[Black02Silverado]

Nice information.

Changing out ATF like you did is a good thing. It’s not expensive and keeps the fluid fresh.

I keep track of my mileage using the Fuelly app. Basically it is the same as hand calculating. You put in the mileage, gallons and price and it calculates it out.


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[Doublebase]

2 hours ago, Black02Silverado said:

Nice information.

Changing out ATF like you did is a good thing. It’s not expensive and keeps the fluid fresh.

I keep track of my mileage using the Fuelly app. Basically it is the same as hand calculating. You put in the mileage, gallons and price and it calculates it out.


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I’ll have to try that fuelly app. And I agree, easy to change that tranny fluid out. Always done that as cheap insurance 

[BriDroid]

Are you dropping the pan to change the fluid or sucking it out with something through the dip stick?