gas mileage

leadpusher · July 19, 2006

i have a 2003 chevy 2500 hd crewcab 6.0 l with a 4.11 , only getting 11 mpg on a good day. i am considering changing the gearing to 3.73 or possibly 3.42 gears. the question is ? has anybody done this ? and what kind of increase in fuel mileage can i expect.

NothinButBowTies · July 19, 2006

It could be done, but you may want to consider a new tune. Bang for your buck it is probably cheaper. My vote is for Westers.

leadpusher · July 19, 2006

i bought a hypertec 3 tuner awhile back, big waste of money . no gain unless your going to race. i see you have used a tuner, did you gain mileage ?

mannymach1 · July 19, 2006

It depends if your doing strickly city driving or highway driving with no load. If its city driving, then swapping to 3.42 will gain you very little I think. But if you do a lot of highway driving (not towing anything), then the 3.42 will be beneficial. Additionally, if you tow, I would NOT change the current gearing.

I have a 2006 6.0L with 4.10. I get about 12 to 13 in the city and 13 to 15 on the highway. That mileage is with a heavy right foot.

leadpusher · July 19, 2006

It depends if your doing strickly city driving or highway driving with no load. If its city driving, then swapping to 3.42 will gain you very little I think. But if you do a lot of highway driving (not towing anything), then the 3.42 will be beneficial. Additionally, if you tow, I would NOT change the current gearing.

I have a 2006 6.0L with 4.10. I get about 12 to 13 in the city and 13 to 15 on the highway. That mileage is with a heavy right foot.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

the problem is..... these trucks run good and its hard not to push the peddle down.........

pm26 · July 19, 2006

It depends if your doing strickly city driving or highway driving with no load. If its city driving, then swapping to 3.42 will gain you very little I think. But if you do a lot of highway driving (not towing anything), then the 3.42 will be beneficial. Additionally, if you tow, I would NOT change the current gearing.

I have a 2006 6.0L with 4.10. I get about 12 to 13 in the city and 13 to 15 on the highway. That mileage is with a heavy right foot.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

the problem is..... these trucks run good and its hard not to push the peddle down.........

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

The peddle? No it's petal. No, it's paddle. No, wait, it's petel. No, wait,.......

OnyxMAX · July 20, 2006

whats that thing people always tell me.

"gotta pay to play"

i would get manual hubs befor droping the 4.10. if you have 4x4 if not then dang your mileage is... or the mentioned lead foot.

you gettting the milleage by DIC or fillit it up and divide the trip odometer method. because my dic will say 18mpg my tirp will say 16miles and my fuel used will say 1.0 to me that should be 16mpg not 18.

leadpusher · July 20, 2006

ahhh, it just sucks fuel down , 10 or 11 is max, towing is about 7 . need to buy a new truck and reconfigure the engine size and drive train. i'm told that if i change to a 3.73 ratio i will get about 17 % increase in mileage.

dewfpo · July 20, 2006

i'm told that if i change to a 3.73 ratio i will get about 17 % increase in mileage.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

DEWFPO

sc4808 · July 21, 2006

I've never seen a 6.0 that got decent mileage, trade it for a diesel before the resale value drops too much, and yes its going to drop as gas prices get higher, before long you won't be able to give the big V-8 trucks away.

redvett · July 21, 2006

With the new diesel fuel & emissions starting 1/07 its going to be painful to just buy any diesel along with 1 mpg lower fuel economy and 10 cents higher cost per gallon. New trucks (all) will carry a $2000 - $3000 increase along with the already $6000 option bring the diesel grand total to about $8-9000. Mighty pricey.

BTW no diesels (all MFR's)will be built between 10/06 & 1/07 to deplete all current stock of fuel and replace with newer low sulphur diesel fuel.

sc4808 · July 21, 2006

I run a 4.3L V6 in mine and have been happy with my mileage, which has mysteriously improved in the last 4 months, I just turned over 100K and am getting between 21 and 24 MPG on the highway.

I feel for the guys that have to run the 3/4 and 1 tons, those wallets must be hurting. My little 1/2 ton 4x4 suits me just fine.

dewfpo · July 21, 2006

I run a 4.3L V6 in mine and have been happy with my mileage, which has mysteriously improved in the last 4 months,

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Your area may have switched off of 'winter/oygenated fuels' to 'summer' fuel, hence the mpg improvement.

DEWFPO

OUMike · July 21, 2006

I run a 4.3L V6 in mine and have been happy with my mileage, which has mysteriously improved in the last 4 months, I just turned over 100K and am getting between 21 and 24 MPG on the highway.

I feel for the guys that have to run the 3/4 and 1 tons, those wallets must be hurting. My little 1/2 ton 4x4 suits me just fine.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

interesting. I get about 21 on hwy was well. 200k 4.3 2WD. What gear set do you have? What speed/rpm do you get 24 mpg?

sc4808 · July 22, 2006

It has 3:73 gears and LT 265/75R/16 tires, I get 24 MPG when on a 4 lane at 60 MPH, at 75 MPH on the interstate I get 20-22 MPG.

But here is the interesting thing, since the truck was new I have only got 17-20 MPG at best, it has just been in the last 6-8 Months that it has improved so much, I don't know what could have changed, I have been using synthetic oil the whole time and a K&N filter since new, and thats it. The truck has 105K on it now.

I can't explain it but I'm not complaining.

I used to get around 460 miles on a tank now I can get 525 miles if I drive it under the right conditions. Thats a huge difference.