Grill block on a Silverado

[FastPlastic]

Looks good Very clean look for the underside of a truck

[BamZipPow]

Originally Posted by darcane

I'd like to find a clean way to cover the tow hook holes as well, but I haven't figured that one out. I want to be able to clip a cover in place and be able to remove without reaching around the backside of the bumper.

-Mike

I'd just make a cover from yer scrap coroplast and ziptie it to the hook. Yes...you'll have a little bit of the ziptie showing...but you'll git easy access to the hook if you need to.

[Fubeca]

Darcane - your truck is 2wd right? Have you noticed any mileage improvements from your grill block/underpan?

I'm debating what steps to take on my Silverado. Just for fun I taped a big piece of cardboard over the grill and drove a route that I drive fairly often. I wasn't expecting much but got surprisingly better mileage.

I've driven this route 3 times in the last 2 days in similar conditions (11mph wind, ~32 degrees). The two trips without the grill block I got 17 mpg on the trip out and 19 on the trip back. After taping the cardboard on, I got 18 on the trip out and 20 on the way back!!

I'm going to have to do some true testing now to see if it is really having that much effect. Engine temp was unchanged - but the transmission temp jumped from around 130 to 175.

[darcane]

Originally Posted by Fubeca

Darcane - your truck is 2wd right? Have you noticed any mileage improvements from your grill block/underpan?

I'm debating what steps to take on my Silverado. Just for fun I taped a big piece of cardboard over the grill and drove a route that I drive fairly often. I wasn't expecting much but got surprisingly better mileage.

I've driven this route 3 times in the last 2 days in similar conditions (11mph wind, ~32 degrees). The two trips without the grill block I got 17 mpg on the trip out and 19 on the trip back. After taping the cardboard on, I got 18 on the trip out and 20 on the way back!!

I'm going to have to do some true testing now to see if it is really having that much effect. Engine temp was unchanged - but the transmission temp jumped from around 130 to 175.

Yeah, it's a 2wd but it's still too early to tell. I don't use a scangauge, so I only know by refilling my tank and making the calculations.

What are you doing to get the mileage you are getting? I drive with a light foot and keep my speed down and that gets me about 17.5mpg in my normal commuting (roughly 50/50 city/hwy but I run into a fair bit of stop and go). You seem to be getting better mileage than me in spite of a larger engine and 4wd.

I'd keep a close eye on your tranny temps. I believe the tranny cooler is the rusty thing on the driver's side in this pic:

You may want to leave a slot in your grill block on that side to allow the tranny to cool off.

Mike

[Fubeca]

I haven't been doing anything too special. I've been trying to coast in neutral when possible, but I really don't do it that often.

I'm keeping an eye on the transmission temp, I think I'm fine as long as I stay under about 200. I think I will install my block in a similar fashion to yours, but in 4 pieces (in part because that is the size of my material ) That way I can remove as much as I need in the summer when the weather warms up or if I need to tow something heavy.

I've been very surprised and impressed with the economy of this beast. It has a few changes from earlier years (not sure when they were implemented in the history of silverados) like gap fillers btw the bed and the cab and an electric engine cooling fan.

I just bought it a couple of weeks ago and plan to do a few things and keep track of my mileage. All of my fillups thus far have been less than a tank just to see what the mileage has been like during some road trips and such.

I never saw better than 19mpg out of my last truck which was a Ford ranger 4.0 4x4 manual. So I'm thrilled to get better or equal to that!

[ECONORAM]

Looking pretty good darcane. Here is a link to some of the work I've done on my Dodge RAM: http://ecomodder.com/forum/showthrea...ck-1228-3.html
Not a finished project yet, but I can get 24 mpg on the highway at 65 mph now...

[Frank Lee]

Originally Posted by ECONORAM

Not a finished project yet, but I can get 24 mpg on the highway at 65 mph now...

Got gas log data anywhere?

[GoodOak]

I put this grill cover on my '09 Nissan Frontier for a couple days. Did a long road trip and have over 500 miles with it, but didn't notice any perceivable difference in mileage. Since this is my business truck I took it off, didn't want it looking too silly. Is it possible that it just wasn't helping at all?



My original plan was to get some plexiglass and use dual-lock velcro to stick it on front of the grill. This would look good, and be easy to remove, but I bet it would cost over $100 to get the plexiglass cut to shape. Perhaps I'll try affixing this sheet inside behind the grill instead, but I can't imagine that would be easy to remove when its time to tow.

Darcane: what material did you use for your belly pan? I may also try blocking the gap between the frame and the rails.

ECONORAM: What did you use to fill the gap between your cab and your bed?

[darcane]

Well, the tank was still 2/3 full, but I decided to fill it up this morning just to get some preliminary numbers. No significant change in mileage. However, we've also had a cold snap (high 20°s instead of low 40°s on the last commuting fill up) this week and I've had to spend some time letting it warm up in the morning so I could see well enough to drive. I'll report more over the next couple months.

ECONORAM: I had previously seen your post and it gave me some ideas for mounting the belly pan. You may notice I'm using the same predrilled steel flat bar, which I used 1/4" spring nuts and screws to attach everything.

GoodOak: I used Corex sheet (essentially the same as Coroplast) for both panels. I picked up several sheets for about $16 per 4mm thick 4'x8' sheet from a local plastic supplier.

[WantsMoreMPG]

Darcane,
I was just wondering if you've noticed any improvement or if you have any updates. I have an Avalanche which I'm thinking of doing the same thing, I figure at the least it should reduce the warm up time. If I remember I'll hook up my programmer tomorrow and see how many miles it takes to get to full temp (it stops at 188*F).

Thanks,
Jeff