[101Volts]

Originally Posted by elhigh

It's funny how accelerating more briskly than you might think is most effective, is more effective. I think it's because you spend more time cruising in the butter zone once you get past the acceleration stage.

Any aero mods in the cards for your Burb? They're aerodynamically disastrous, there's LOTS of low hanging fruit to be had, and any improvements you make will pay off in a big way if you use the truck a lot.

It's either staying in the 35-90 MPG on the instant meter or briskly accelerating, not lowering the average much and then having 200+, 400+, 600+ and even 1000+ MPG on the instant meter depending on the road.

When reading the SG2 I find using a (Top left, top right, bottom right) configuration of GPH-MPG then AVG works best for me. I don't use the bottom left for much, I alternate between fWT and intake air temperature. I was using LOD instead of GPH but that doesn't get as detailed as I'd like to read.

As for aero mods I thought of going all out (smooth hubcaps, partial kammback, higher hood, lower an inch or two, 'air dam' on the sides, etc) but haven't been going after it a whole lot. I had duct tape serving as wheel arch covers (full in rear and partial in front) but my Mother didn't like it so there it went. Something less "rednecky" would suffice however.

Originally Posted by slowmover

Aero only good for sustained highway, in general. Trip planning means most when the vehicle has huge penalties in acceleration and braking (I.e., the shortest route is often not the best route).

It's generally driven at speeds higher than 40, sees HWY travel fairly frequently and generally drives least 15 miles before getting to the first destination and sitting so it does usually get to operating temperature. It's not a short-trip (under 5 miles) vehicle.

Originally Posted by slowmover

OP needs to keep records. All miles and all gallons. Nothing else matters, especially not tank to tank variations. It's the average mpg that matters.

I was but then found the fuel tank leaked. I may have fixed it but am not sure if it's a fix which will last a while, the tank hasn't been filled up since before it leaked.

Originally Posted by slowmover

And bring the tires down to something sensible. My 8,000-lb pickup is at 55-psi F/R. Almost on top of recommendation. Braking and handling are better. As a result (and my tires go over 100k before replacement) my tires stay in better contact with the road, AND with a larger contact patch. A high center of gravity vehicle needs some sidewall "give". It also reduces the likelihood of punctures.

How's that? The rear tires call for 80 PSI on the doorjamb and 55 on the front. I can understand inflating to an appropriate amount of air to prevent abnormal treadwear, blowouts and have good traction though I initially thought the 55 figure was just for comfort in the front and the tires said "80 PSI Max" so I pumped them to 80 too.

Originally Posted by slowmover

. Take it to a CAT Scale and weigh all four corners with full fuel, driver plus gear always present. Pretty much any LR-E Load & Pressure Table will suffice, but tire manufacturer brand and model spec is best. That number plus 5-psi is about right. Heaviest load at either axle end determines pressure for that axle.

I'm clueless and don't yet know what this is for. Are you suggesting a way to find the optimal pressure and tire combination? I understand a CAT Scale is for weighing.

Originally Posted by slowmover

Best shocks and new body plus suspension bushings/ ball joints are important. As is elimination of steering slop. There's more money to be had in attending this approach.

The shocks are about 20.5 months old now with approx. 8.5k miles on them. I'm not sure the brand as the previous owner put them on shortly before I purchased the vehicle and the stickers came off but I do have what may be steering slop, when I brake hard the vehicle pulls to a side. It happened today even though I put the transmission in 2nd.

Originally Posted by slowmover

Fewer starts, fewer stop & go over a given set of destinations, and fewer steering corrections (is pretty much the recipe for a heavy personal vehicle).

More time with the vehicle at peak operating temperature and more time cruising in low fuel/high instant MPG readout, sure. I understand this. Reiterating; the vehicle usually gets to operating temperature before I shut it off again. I do let it idle a few minutes before shutting off to cool the turbocharger but I'm not sure if that's necessary or is something which only applied to other turbocharger vehicles.

Originally Posted by slowmover

All else is downhill from that (in effectiveness).

With this exception on a diesel truck: maintenance of coolant temp in cold weather. Good to see use of block heater, but an exterior mount grill cover, and an interior "winter front" which covers the heat exchangers for sub-40F temps covers all air temps down to cold. I go from two grill cover pieces to four as temps get below the need for A/C use (and overnight temps), to their removal and use of WF when temps no longer get above 40F.

I forgot to mention I do have a partial "grille" cover out of tape. However it's on the bumper and only covers one of the two holes. Still, thanks for the mention of the grille block considering winter's coming.

Originally Posted by slowmover

I have my doubts about cold air intake for diesels in pickups (except in highest temps and under a load), but leave that to the DD/GM crowd to figure out.

I don't know much about them either save for that it makes warmup time longer and that's part of why I use the block heater. It's limited though, it does help but won't get me to full operating temperature. I'd need something aftermarket for that.