how to inprove Gas Mileage on a truck?

[ThorRacing37]

I want to know how to get better MPG on a 2001 chevy 2500hd 6.0L it has an intake and Gibson exhaust and a bed cap... i here they get arounf 10.6 mpg.. i want to get anywhere from 15 -20 mpg...

[troutman561]

15-20.. hmm probably buy a new truck.....

[m.h.s.c.#527]

bigger tires

[gotwarrior]

keep your foot out of it... :D

[bulkdriverlp]

leave the truck stock, gently accelerate, dont go over 55mph. other than that buy an AVEO.

[Caseys 300ex]

I dont know what all come with the gibson but you could put headers on it.

buy a new truck

[gotwarrior]

Originally posted by Caseys 300ex
I dont know what all come with the gibson but you could put headers on it.

don't do headers.. all they do is leak all the time...

[clutch22]

put more air in the tires

[TheFontMaster]

Bigger tires will help a little. So will going easy on the throttle. Your looking to get twice the gas mileage you are now, I can tell you right now that won't happen.

[KXRida]

bigger tires will help, but you cancel everything out when pulling out. It requires more throttle (if you notice it or not) but in city driving bigger tires are not the answer. For highway driving, you could however go bigger on the tires and look into different gears.

[2001-400ex'er]

I know alot of people that actually put smaller road style tires on trucks for better mileage. Not sure if this is true but some tonneau covers say they will help your mileage too.

[mineralgrey01gt]

man its hard to pick up 5mpg, honestly man, get rid of the truck if your worried about that

[underpowered]

15-20 simply ain't gonna happen on that truck.

but what you can do is:
PCM tune www.gowheatley.com and tell him what you want done
headers, exhaust, intake will al help a little. bigger tires will not help unless the truck never tows anything or is always on the highway, they will hurt MPG in the city or towing.


but the biggest thing for fuel milage is driving style. YOU make the biggest difference of all. take off slow, obey speed limits, us cruise control whenever possible.

[Ace Sixx]

Originally posted by ThorRacing37
I want to know how to get better MPG on a 2001 chevy 2500hd 6.0L it has an intake and Gibson exhaust and a bed cap... i here they get arounf 10.6 mpg.. i want to get anywhere from 15 -20 mpg...

What kind of tread do the tires have? Highway tread will get better mileage than mudders. Also, regarding the bed cap...Mythbusters recently did a feature on getting more mileage out of a pickup and surprisingly, an open bed with tailgate up got the best results. Surprising, but true!

And, as others have mentioned previously, you have to keep your foot out of it. Gentle acceleration is the key.

Edited to add...15 mpg may not be possible and 20 mpg is totally out of the question.

[KXRida]

yea the best thing you can do is do easy pull outs and try to avoid using the throttle. If it's a manual, you could throw it in neutral or a higher gear going down a hill and not even touch the gas. At long lights or railroad crossings, I shut my truck down. My lifted ranger gets around 10mpg and my brothers is around 3mpg. Please give us some background on the truck if possible.


Manual or auto? tire size? gear ratio? lifted or not?

wow 3 mpg??that sucks!! Motorhomes get atleast 8-10..

im so happy my car get 27ish

[clutch22]

Dont worry about it and just drive....

[ThorRacing37]

lmao.. well i dont own it yet.. it my neighbors truck witch i could buy.. but i have 2nd thoughts... anyways its auto with thick tread (not road and not like super swampers , like in between)

[Aceman]

Originally posted by ThorRacing37
i here they get arounf 10.6 mpg.. i want to get anywhere from 15 -20 mpg...

Sounds like you'll have to tow it to get that.....

propane and a program

[firefighterjosh]

Buy a $300 beater car to drive around and keep the truck for races and hauling the quad

[KXRida]

Originally posted by Honda86
wow 3 mpg??that sucks!! Motorhomes get atleast 8-10..

im so happy my car get 27ish


yea I guess that's what a super cammed up, stroked, high compression engine will do haha. Also, it doesn't make it any better that it's in a lifted truck and can't be run on anything lower than 93 pump gas. In the summer he has to run AV fuel or race fuel.

[Mxjunkie]

Originally posted by Honda86
buy a new truck

A new truck wont do anything huge for a change, we had a gmc canyon with the " Gas sipping " I-5 and it made 16 around town 22 highway and thats the same thing our 06 silverado and my boss's 2007 is making with the V8's.. Even with the four cylinder mode the number's aren't too apealing, but better then 10 mpg I suppose! The only cool part is even when towing the gas mpg stay's pretty close 17-18 towing a 16 foot inclosed with two motorcycles in it going about 85 to newyork :devil:

[ShiftFMX]

You Drive a Big truck, just Accept the fact that your mpg is going to be horrible

[JJs450r]

i was gettin around 18 mpg in my truck and bought a super chip and it boosted it up to about 22 when i wasnt into the gas

[bradley300]

keep the air filter clean, switch to a full sunthetic motor and tranny oil, keep the rakes well serviced to make sure they dont drag and keep the proper amount of air in the tires.

on the mythbusters thing, there was an updated episode of that and taking the tail gate off and using one of those nets in its place got the best mileage, it wasnt by a whole lot, but it was the winner of all the things they tried

[NorCalRacer]

Electric fan if it doesn't have one already, and use cruise control.

[wishmasstir]

i put electric fans on my '99 tahoe w/350 and gained almost 2 mpg out of it. putting in new plugs/wires/cap and rotor will get the mpg up too

[400EXTRA]

nothin will do it