The guys over at eco-modder are crazy

[NHRABill]

Originally Posted by vacationtime247

A cammed & supercharged 5.3 should do the trick ; ) Weight and drag play a role too to reach 30 mpg. Perhaps a set of heads (Vortec) might increase mpg and horsepower in that 95 Chevy truck?
VT247

It doesn't take much to get a LS1 to make alot of power with good MPG's.

My old tired 95' is still rocking the original TBI carb setup if I was to make a change I would swap on a TPI setup and gain 10mpg and 50+ HP making it more tuneable for both effiencey and perfomance(95 is still OBD1). I have plenty of parts to build her up but just not worth it Total cost for my truck including purchase price is running around $1200 -1300 I have to check my parts log.

Replacing a tire with a slow leak should get my MPG's back up. Overnight 1 tire falls from 40psi down to 12psi. I am driving slower and using tips I found in the forums and only lost a couple miles per gallon with the weather and gas change.

BTW: I do Love to watch the Trailblazer SS videos on youtube close to a 5,000lbs 4x4 doing 11's in the 1/4 mile and getting mid 20's for gas is frickin sweet.

[vacationtime247]

Replaced a few leaks on my rides recently too. Used the old water bottle with soap trick to locate the leak. Fill up the tire, spray it down with soapy water and wait to see the bubbled areas. Used a simple plug kit.
My 1993 Suburban is horrible on gas. But it fits the family (4) nice for long trips. It's got the 350 TBI too. Bought it for $800 with a bad 4L60E tranny. Had a 700R4 sitting in the garage so I swapped it out and it bolted right up. Easily rigged up a detent cable to the throttle body. The speedometer doesn't work but my GPS does.
VT247

[Grant-53]

If you can get 1 mpg more than anyone else at a 500 mile NASCAR race you are going to have a huge advantadge! SUVs were originally designed to go off road to the favorite fishing spots. Appropriate technology is about finding the right tool for the job. When I drove a '72 Cadillac hearse instead of a 3/4 ton truck, I had a 11 ft bed and got 13 mpg highway. Now I commute with a 36 mpg Geo Prizm. If I had the choice I would ride a bike to the bus stop, put it on the bus, and ride in the next city.

[ShadeTreeMech]

I own an Explorer (currently out of commision ) but its usefulness with the 4wd and it being a overgrown station wagon made it a lot of fun to own, EXCEPT for the hellacious thirst.

I could junk the thing; it needs a tranny, and the engine is likely shot. But I can't replace it with a similar vehicle with less of a thirst. So I'm planning to make a FrankenExplorer, by putting a turbocharged diesel out of a Jetta, or Golf, or what ever I can find around the 2.0L area, and designate it as the less than 55 mph and more than 20 mpg explorer. Sure it will be down on power, but not by much. The 4L v6 it had was rated at around 146 hp, 180 ft lbs torque, and that is well within the possibilities of a 2L diesel. It will be bit of a challenge, but with me learning how to build precision drilling fixtures at an aluminum die cast plant comes the knowledge to marry an efficient VW diesel to a brick of an American icon for fuel wastefulness. And at the same time I'll fulfill the christmas wish of one of my daughters.

When the explorer was running, we'd go wandering the dirt roads that surround us here, playing in the snow and mud, as well as going camping in a rather rustic campsite. A combination of the truck going out and us being a bit too busy for our own good made my daughter ask Santa for the tools to fix the "truck" so we could go camping again.

Some things suddenly become much more important when your daughter innocently asks you for such a thing.

[brucey]

ShadeTreeMech: You might want to think about a Cummins if you want to go diesel. The 4BT (3.9L) out of the bread trucks is real popular, and all the work has been done since I've seen them in rangers before. I've also heard of them getting low 30's highway on lifted pickups.

It's my back up plan whenever the K5 finally dies.

[ShadeTreeMech]

You must be thinking about this picture.

Fuel Economy, Hypermiling, EcoModding News and Forum - EcoModder.com - ShadeTreeMech's Album: stuff - Picture

That picture was my desktop for over a year, and I thought long and hard about putting one in. I am actually a forum member at 4btswaps.com and was long before I joined here.

Problem is, the 4bt is rather low in the sophistication, and weighs in at over 700 lbs. Fitting it in the Explorer is entirely possible, but for the engine you get I'm not sure it's worth it. Stock, the 4bt is rated at 105 hp and 200+ ft lb torque. The max rpm is 2800, but with the governor spring swap it can do up to 3200 rpm.

The 4bta nets 130 hp and about 250 ft lbs torque. With a few mods you can get a bit higher, but then I came across this YJ with a 3.3 QSB

Fuel Economy, Hypermiling, EcoModding News and Forum - EcoModder.com - ShadeTreeMech's Album: stuff - Picture

The specs on this smaller engine is similar to the 4bt, but is 200 lbs lighter. Then I looked deeper and realized the power available in the smaller diesels is rather impressive. So while I'm not yet decided on which engine I want, I know I want one smaller than the 3.9.

[Formula413]

Originally Posted by brucey

ShadeTreeMech: You might want to think about a Cummins if you want to go diesel. The 4BT (3.9L) out of the bread trucks is real popular, and all the work has been done since I've seen them in rangers before. I've also heard of them getting low 30's highway on lifted pickups.

It's my back up plan whenever the K5 finally dies.

I would second that idea. A 2.0 might hurt the vehicle's usefulness.

What year is the Explorer? I don't know how your state is but in MA engine swaps can be tricky because the car has to pass a plug in test if it's OBDII and the machine has to see the correct VIN in the computer.

I sometimes drive a 2002 Explorer at work. It has a 4.0 V6 also, but makes more power than the figures listed above. I got it just shy of 23 mpg under nearly ideal conditions, mixed driving was around 17-18 mpg. 5 speed auto, automatic 4WD.

[mcrews]

Originally Posted by cfg83

MetroMPG -

Crazy? CRAZY LIKE A BOX!!!!!!!!!!!!

2WSolraC

no nno no........CRAZY LIKE OUTSIDE THE BOX!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[comptiger5000]

The 4.0 V6 in the explorer isn't exactly a high power engine, so matching it with a diesel is easy enough. A 4bt is a known good swap, and still gets great mpg, particularly on the highway. I could definitely see 30+ mpg highway out of a diesel explorer (even a 4bt), especially if I managed to break 20 with a 5.9 liter gasser in my Jeep.

[ShadeTreeMech]

On many of the plus sides, it's a 91 (no obd II) we don't have vehicle inspections, and it's not an urgent matter getting it fixed. I realize lowering the amount of available power would have downsides, but I don't require much, since it would be mainly intended for its off road ability, and when you're in low range, horsepower isn't something you have to have. So long as I can get up to 55 and maintain it for the most part on the highway I'll be fine.

looking over the ebay listings is somewhat discouraging. Even a cheap diesel engine is around 2k and generally requires a bit of work. A good rebuilt 4bt is around 7k, and at these prices it makes one wonder whether simply replacing/rebuilding the 4L v-6 wouldn't be more cost effective. Or even just a more sophisticated v-6, such as the OHC v-6 available in later models of the explorer.

It's a shame diesels in the US are fairly rare.