Quote:
Originally Posted by slowmover
IMO, just make the Bravada ready for sale. Elbow-grease cleaning energy (undercarriage, wheelwells, etc). What driving you do (14.5 to 18 = 20%) just keep up your new average . . that's work enough. The changes look nice.
The S10 is a cool & clean little truck. Add A/C if it is to be a keeper (or a stereo or whatever critter comforts you want). At that age, worry over wiring, age-related deterioration. It's a perfect candidate for an aerolid (like JRMichler) and some super hypermiling.
A real nice start for your thread.
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Thanks for the kind words. And yeah I am not planning on doing too much more with the Bravada and most of the stuff that I have been doing are basically free mods. Even the new grill didn't cost me anything since I already had the GMC grill from my old truck and the block I made from a piece of interior plastic trim from another old project. So even that was a free mod. As far as getting it ready to sell hopefully that should just be a matter of cleaning it up on a Saturday afternoon. Depending on who I am trying to sell it to I may leave it as is or try to get it back closer to stock. But since I still have most of the original parts it is just a matter of throwing them back on the truck.
The S10 I plan on keeping pretty much forever but I doubt it is ever going to be my primary vehicle. Even though I know it is not going to be driven a lot I still like modding it to improve its mileage and drivability. I'm honestly not too worried about installing A/C or anything like that because I really love the fact that this truck is just so simple. I did install a rudimentary sound system not too long ago which is basically a small audio amplifier attached to a 3.5mm cable and some speakers in the stock dash locations. It's certainly not going to win any awards for sound quality but it works just fine for now. Other than that I'm pretty happy with the truck, I mean obviously it still needs little stuff done to it, but I love just having something to tinker on. Oh and I have already been thinking about various ways that I could build an aero lid for it. That is actually something I have been thinking about doing for a few years now. I have a few interesting ideas but they are probably just going to stay in my head for a while.
Quote:
Originally Posted by oil pan 4
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Thanks! I feel honored
but yeah I see an e-fan as being a fairly significant mod, it really feels like I am killing lots of birds with that single stone. The e-fan is not only freeing up HP that is normally being wasted sucking air through a cold radiator but it is also allowing the engine to warm up faster and stay warmer especially in this cold weather. Also I have noticed that it allows the engine to rev up much faster which drastically improves the drivability and it is also probably going to even prolong the life of the water pump bearings. The best part is that it is just so simple that pretty much anyone who is mechanically inclined can do it. I think I have a total of about $60 wrapped up in this mod (used fan was $35 controller was $24) and I have no doubt that it can easily pay for its self. And honestly even if it didn't return a huge improvement in MPG it has already paid for its self just with the drastically improved drivability of the truck. Freeing up 4~5 Hp (I'm guessing) is a big deal when your engine only puts out around 92 to start with.
Quote:
Originally Posted by freebeard
3.42/3.73=.916
That's less than 10%. Increasing the rear tire size (for example 28" to 31") gives a similar result. It's not 4WD is it?
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It's just 2wd and yeah, that would definitely be one way to do it. But honestly for me it would probably be cheaper to just throw a junkyard axle in it than it would be to even buy two new tires. Besides once I get the taller rear end in it I can always take it further with taller tires if I want to later. Besides, trying to get a 10% change with tires alone would be crazy for me. The tires on it right now are around 25 inches tall, so to get a 10% change I would have to go to a tire over 28" tall. Which would be absolutely huge on this truck. Also I need to be careful messing with the gear ratios because this is a small truck with a small engine but I still haul stuff with it so if I go too high on the rear end it might not have enough engine to get out of its own way when it's loaded down.