2004 Silverado most bang for my buck?
 

I'm wondering what mods I can do to my Silverado to get the most bang for my buck. If you are going to say get a smaller car please don't post here. Looking for legit stuff I can do that seems almost seamless to the look of the truck...

I was thinking a grill block, but I want it to match the truck.
I was also thinking a partial underneath cover, possibly just covering the engine area... Would that help at all?

Yeah, a belly pan should buy you some benefit with almost no visible difference. Why only under the engine though? Why not the whole way?

Grill block can help some, but watch your temps to make sure you dont go too far.

Bed cover will help some too.

Driving mods are probably the biggest thing you can do for a big truck. Slow down on the highway and learn how to do the "driving without brakes" technique. Note: not literally driving without brakes, but rather minimizing use.

Some synthetic lubes (engine, tranny, axle) might be of some benefit too, as would low rolling resistance tires.

I live in and commute Houston daily. drive between 55-60 mph and pump up the tires to max sidewall those alone you will see fast gains. also the full belly pan will do alot and see if your truck still has the factory chin spoiler on it. After that look into the bead liner. on the fluids since it dont get that cool here for us we can get away with alot thinner oil than most.

Death, unfortunately I moved from Houston about a year ago. I live in Columbus, OH now... where it's freezing my butt off. I miss Houston and I'm desperately trying to get back, but looking to transfer within the Army or get a Civil Service job there... I like guaranteed work...

I want to start with just an engine underbelly tray to try to get the hang of doing stuff... I'm not even sure what material I should use. Can you explain why maximizing sidewalls will help gas mileage? I've always thought 36psi is great.. comfortable... Bed liners are expensive, so I'm not sure about that, at this point and time.

I'm was looking and there are two separate grill pieces, I'm thinking of blocking just one to allow some ambient air to cool the radiator and transmission cooler...

I think I understand what you mean by using the brakes wisely, almost like the whole hyper milling technique... I try to coast to stops and just tap my brakes rather than slam on them. Same brakes from 2004 still... about time to change them haha.

I'm doing this to save money, would putting synthetic oil really maximize anything to the point of saving money? Regular Oreilly oil is about 3 bucks, synthetic can run about 10 a quart. Would I get that back between oil changes?

Details on your truck? 2wd/4wd? What engine? What is your current mileage? Tonneau cover/canopy/open bed?

I've got an '03 Silverado. 4.8L, 2wd, ext cab long bed, work truck. I started averaging 15mpg (with canopy and roof rack) in mixed driving on my commute to low 20's this summer. I'm a little lower now due to winter and new tires that may not have been a good choice for mpgs (still not sure on that). Link in my signature shows what I've done (some pics have dead links, they were reposted later in the thread).

Grill block and partial belly pan made of black corex (similar to coroplast) made a noticeable difference. It was more effective in front of the grill than behind though.

My biggest improvement came from buying an Ultra-gauge. This allowed me to really see the effect of driving habits and keep close tabs on mpgs (my work truck doesn't report this at all). It's inexpensive and highly recommended.

2004 Silverado LS, 4.3L (V6), has about 87k on it. 2Wheel automatic (I got stuck in the mud the other day and had to get pulled out by an suv... I was embarrassed haha), as implied before I have no cover, it's an open bed, with TAILGATE up-that stuff is dangerous to leave it down lol. The truck is basically stock. Power everything. I just put new Yokohama tires on the stock rims, I believe their 17inch, maybe 16.

Some pictures
 

So I went back outside, in the lovely ohio weather we have (cold as hell).

Took some measurements and pictures

Picture of the grill:
http://holydiscussion.org/images/silverado/grill.jpg
Top grill is 38 inches across and 4.75 inches top to bottom

Bottom grill is 35 inches across and 4 inches top/bottom

I realize gaping space is disastrous for aerodynamics however, I must ask, which should I block? does it matter in the sense of which is higher? I know the lower your car is the better gas mileage you get cause less air is getting under it, but does that count here?

Second order of business is gaps in the bumper.
http://holydiscussion.org/images/silverado/bumper.jpg

What could I use to block these? would some spray painted duck tape work??

Third: Bottom of the bumper, where the underbelly would start:
http://holydiscussion.org/images/sil..._of_bumper.jpg

I'm sure I can do a mount for an underbelly, but I'm not sure I want to extend it too far, my concerns would be draining oil... (though I don't change it much hah)

Is there an inexpensive way to fill the gaps of the headlight housings?
http://holydiscussion.org/images/sil.../headlight.jpg

LASTLY!!!! The retched antenna, could I run a wire to the body and just bolt it there? Would that cause any kind of grounding issue? Would it cause any issues with the radio?
http://holydiscussion.org/images/silverado/antenna.jpg

Help me out here!!! I'm a noob at this stuff! :cool:

Leth, Just get a piece of 1/2" OSB and cover the back 4 feet of your bed, for $13 you have a half tonneau cover. I make a block of wood that fits inside the "Stake Holes" in the rear of the bed, you can lock it in place by putting a screw in the side of the block, then just run a screw down into that from the top, through the OSB. For the front part of the OSB you could use C clamps, or just make wood blocks to act as clamps with big screws again. It would only take a minute to get on or off once you have it figured out, and it would be a good aero enhancement.

http://ecomodder.com/forum/attachmen...7&d=1321672599

What is OSB? Not keen on using acronyms without first using the full words lol

Searching the internet came up with this... :D
Oriented strand board - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

ok I looked at it, I used this crap a lot when I did construction. Not the greatest material, how would I make this seamless in the truck though? That's what I'm aiming for, unnoticeable aerodynamic mods.

<Pictures snipped>

Did you check out the thread on my truck in my sig?
http://ecomodder.com/forum/showthrea...ado-11135.html

It's got desciption and pictures of my grill block and belly pan for my truck which is the same body style truck as yours. Pics reposted on page 5 due to the dead links.

With the grill block, keep in mind that there are openings in the bumper that direct air to the radiator as well. Because of this, I blocked almost my entire grill, and would have done more except I was concerned about blocking airflow to the tranny cooler (which is on the driver's side, right in front of the radiator).
http://ecomodder.com/forum/attachmen...2&d=1295207062

My belly pan extends back 4 feet, which is the width of a sheet of corex. This leaves the drain plug and filter accessible for oil changes.

I never did come up with a solution I liked for the holes in the bumper for the tow hooks.

They sell rolls of ~3/4" wide, adhesive backed, foam tape at home depot for insulation. This would likely fill gaps pretty well. I think others have used it on the forum. I'd recommend reading more and using the search engine for ideas.

As far as the bed cover goes, I made by own with some leftover exterior plywood I found thrown out at a construction site and some glossy exterior white paint. Cost about $15 and looks pretty good if I do say so myself. Don't think I posted any pics of that, but I can.

As far as the grille blocks go, darcane is probably the guy to follow since his truck is the same as yours. For other ideas you can check out what I did here:
http://ecomodder.com/forum/showthrea...wer-19810.html

As far as synthetic go, they'll probably do some, but they're not going to make a huge difference. When you figure whether or not it'll save you money keep in mind that synthetic oil generally gives longer oil change intervals. I use synthetic in my wife's Blazer because I change it myself and that way I don't have to change it as often. Don't forget that you can also synthetic gear oil in your axle. One of the advantages of synthetics is superior low temperature performance, so they help warm ups and cold weather performance. Ganted, like I said earlier, they're not going to buy you a ton. I definitely wouldn't go out and change to synthetic unless you're already due for a change.

As far as how high tire pressures help, the higher the tire pressure, the less the rubber flexes and absorbs energy when rolling. You can imaging if you had a solid steel wheel vs a wheel of foam rubber--the steel wheel rolls a lot easier. Same concept.

You might want to look into getting a block heater and/or an oil pan heater too. Helps with cold weather startups.

Dave, I took two looks at your truck and I applaud your work, it is beautiful, is that card board with some wrap on it? That grill block is absolutely seamless like I want! However wouldn't it make more sense to place it on the outside of the grill? As for a block heater I can't do, I live in apartments :(.

Again, BEAUTIFUL construction.

I apologize, Darcane yes I looked at your thread and it's very good! Your work is also very superb, what material is that?

Thanks! The material is called Thermo-ply. It's kind of a cross between cardboard and particle board. It's about 1/4" thick. It's used for sheeting houses. I'm not sure as I could have picked this material as "ideal", but there was a bunch of it that was thrown out at the construction site next door. Sheet metal or coroplast would probably be better but the Thermo-ply was free (and I'm cheap :D). I just primed it and spray painted it black. I'm hoping that keeps it from adsorbing moisture (so far it looks like it has).

Aerodynamically, it would be slightly better to put it on the outside of the grill. I put it on the inside for looks. I also did it to improve warm up times as well as aero.

Dar, can you send me detailed pictures and descriptions on what you did? I want to add your mod to my truck-with an addition, I'm going to try to paint it the same color as the truck ;-)

bump, Dar?

Least aerodynamic parts of an average car are the underside, the back and the wheel wells, you already said you are not in to anything that draws attention so lowering the truck to help fill in the wheel wells or covering them over is most likely out of the question but what about smoother wheels or hub caps, racing style moon disks or the plastic racing style disks? is there a stock wheel that is smoother that you can start shopping for for the next time you have to buy new tires?
Crawl under the truck and look at it and ask your self if the sides of the truck looked like that wouldn't you be worried about the air flow?

Read your owners manual and see what it says for oil change intervals, it's most likely 10,000 miles or so and at that point synthetic oils seem more practical, synthetic transmission fluid is going to last years and is being pumped around so a more consistent, smooth, fluid like a synthetic might just be the ticket.
I don't often recommend fancy spark plugs like the Bosch +4, but from everything I read about them they tend to work in larger, American style engines, like you have.

the way my vehicle works is it has a sensor within the crank, so whenever it needs to be changed it just blinks on my dashboard, it's average is about 10,000 miles. Putting moon disc would again bring attention, hubcaps aren't possible because I have rims on the vehicle. Unless you know of some sort of moon disc (not pizza pans) that connect to my rooms, that are safe, and won't roll off lol.

I appreciate your ideas though, and happy holidays!

As far as the smooth hubcaps, I've though of (but not built) covers attached by coupler nuts to the wheel studs. Many wheel studs, including mine, stick out past the lug nuts. I'm thinking you should be able to attach the covers that way without removing the lug nuts. If you couldn't get coupler nuts you probably could use regular nuts and some threaded rod. Might want to use some loctite too, to make sure they don't come off.

I would like to build thin clear plexi glass rear wheel well covers that can be used in road trips and could be removed for driving around town. They would attach with magnets or something so they could be installed and removed with in about a minute.
My suburban makes a lot of wind noise in the back and I think its coming from around the rear wheels.

Clear wheel covers would help for highway trips also. I would like to make some that attach and detach very fast too (maybe with magnets).

Diesel dave, since your truck has the 6 speed I am guessing it has the 6.7L?

Magnets are not strong enough to hold the covers on. You want something that locks it in place...Dzus fasteners, screws, bolts, etc... ;)

I am thinking lots of little rare earth magnets set in epoxy.

Bam with all respect intended you are absolutely wrong. Have you ever seen the magnets used in computer HardDrives? If you got an old broken hdd go ahead and take it apart, take one magnet and put it on your palm, take the other and put it on the back of the hand. It will be a pain to remove, or for fun put it on the tips of your fingers and watch how much skin will be torn off before you can get the magnets to release.

I thought of that actually, attachable/detachable rear wheel covers, except my concept was of ones that were plastic and matched the truck, much how the Honda Insight has them. I also thought because you don't want someone jacking them you would have to cut slits in your fender wells, and then install 3 locking mechanisms such as these:

http://www.yaotek.com/store/Assets/P...es/2050033.jpg

Or many wall lockers have ones that when turned a long pole is extended through a hole in the top and hole in the bottom, I think this would be ideal.

Also Bam take a magnet like that and put it on your oil pan, most newer vehicles (I know mine does) have magnets on the drain plug to collect metal shavings, if you put that on the oil pan of an older vehicle it will do the same, so when you drain the oil you get more bang for your buck.

If someone made fender well covers that looked good on my truck, and fit as well as the honda insight I would pay for them, I think I would pay as much as $100, maybe a little more.

Yes, I have the 6.7L engine, although some 5.9L's came with a 6-speed tranny (although it's different than the one that came with the 6.7L).

Well, at first I made a grill block out of black, corex (Corex is basically the same stuff as coroplast, and is typically used for political campaign type signs. You can buy corrugated plastic from most any plastic supplier or sign shop for $15-20 per 4'x8' sheet. It comes in a wide range of colors, probably even a close enough color to your truck) sheet and attached it to the back of my grill using zip ties and small metal plates I had lying around for reinforcement:
http://darcane.schoolforwinners.com/...illBlock03.JPG
I just started with cardboard, made a template, and then used it to cut out the plastic version. Pretty simple to do, really. It wasn't terribly effective behind the grill, I believe this was because it deflected and allowed air past it.

My second version was simply moving it to the front of the grill, which was more effective. And then adding a block to the lower part of the grill (leaving a hole for the tranny cooler):
http://ecomodder.com/forum/emgarage-...f0278771e8.JPG

I also built a belly pan. First, I made a pattern from cardboard, transferred to the corex sheet:
http://darcane.schoolforwinners.com/...ellyPan_04.JPG

Made a metal framework, held together with 1/4" screws, fender washers, and speed nuts:
http://darcane.schoolforwinners.com/...ellyPan_02.JPG

And, using more of the same hardware, mounted it in place:
http://darcane.schoolforwinners.com/...ellyPan_05.JPG

I also want to build panels similar to #3 here:
http://ecomodder.com/forum/member-ae...mendations.jpg
But I haven't found the time. This will be a little trickier since there isn't much to attach to right there.

You did a very nice looking job with that metal framework! :thumbup:

Thanks. It was simple, effective, and reasonably priced.

Durable too. Two years later and it's holding up great. My wife scrapped a curb with the lower part of the bumper and belly pan a little while back and it buckled just slightly, but nothing got ripped off or anything. It's not really a problem, and nobody but me would notice.

Hey Darcane, I did accomplish making the top piece, I'm going to work on the bottom tomorrow. Hey I have a website called houston-domestic.com; pretty much it focuses on domestic vehicles, would you mind registering and posting that how to there too? That is stupendously awesome stuff!

Eco mods have to be economical.

I disagree oil pan. I have found that sometimes spending money up front saves money throughout the use. I would be willing to spend up to $1000 in eco mods on my truck if it meant I saved $100 in gas a year. I don't plan on getting another truck; this one is nice and useful.

If Darcane put together a kit and sold it, I would purchase it (hint hint darcane), the reason being is because it's less hassle, the less upkeep I have to perform the better, my time is money, and I'm willing to spend money but not waste my time re-learning what someone else has learned.

That still sounds fairly economical.
I try to stay under $250 per MPG gained on the truck.
But take other preformance and drive ability gains into consideration too. Turboing my truck will cost about $1000 and will only give me about +2mpg if I drive it easy but I will pick up at least 100hp and well over 150 ft.lb of torque.

That under belly might cut down on road noise which is nice for long trips.

Great!

I'll pass though, I'm on too many forums as it is. Feel free to start a post there and link to here, if you'd like.