new guy with a silverado

[slowmover]

Recently moved and now my daily trip to school has gone to 65 miles round trip

Do i really need a truck, well yes but only part time. I need it in the summer to haul my race car back and forth to the track.


This is a typical RV'er dilemma. Too much vehicle for what is really needed. Wish fulfilment taking precedence. Being vehicle-poor.

To have started at the beginning (first, as racing is more important than schooling; second, as acquiring a credential -- straight training -- is important than an actual education) it could have brought one to a different vehicle.

When the priorities are as above, what vehicle would have best suited? (is worth asking).

My goal is to improve mpg's while keeping the truck rather mundane looking. Some of the aero caps and other diy mods i have seen are great and i applaude you guys for taking that step but there just not for me.


The question is asked, and the priorities arranged, for when you come out of the closet. Otherwise, that description fits no racer or tinkerer I've ever met, heard of or read about.

Don't answer this, just keep it in mind. If one thinks that "an education" is just a piece of paper which does not entail any changes in ones life then what is received isn't worthy of being called educational. Edu-care. "One doen't care" = one hasn't developed the use of tools.

This site is a tool. Read around. Reading is active, not passive. One gains confidence in choosing a direction which is not that of the herd when the tools of thinking are applied. It isn't about bragging rights (fun as that may be).

Pre-conceptions are hobbling. Let them go as you go along.

Euromodder laid it out for you quite well as a start:

[1]Baseline the vehicle mechanically (records in depth),
[2] Learn to drive the fewest miles to accomplish the same ends (trip plan),
[3] Drive those fewer miles better (hypermile).

Otherwise, it is gearing and aero changes (past driver skill) as Big Dave points out.

That's it.

Welcome!!

.

[Diesel_Dave]

Originally Posted by boostalot717

dave heres my opinion on fans. The clutch fan (what my truck has), spins constantley even though the clutch is not engaged. My thought is just as any racer remove rotating weight from the engine to free up hp and tq. obv this helps with fuel economy when approaching grades. What i do know for fact is that switching to a electric fan and a simple 87 octane tune is a solid +2mpg on my platform, given the same application of the right foot.

Many hear bad results from electric fans because most think the bigger the better. Thats when someone ends up putting a giant pair of 3500 cfm fans on their vehicle pulling around 25-35 amps. A small electric fan and more importantly a PROPER fan shroud go a long way.

That being said i see your driving a 6-speed cummins, i would never consider taking the fan clutch of of mine. The drag from the fan is very minimal considering the very high tq low in the rpms.

I think there are different types of fan clutches. Mine is electronically controlled. I've checked and, from a cold start, it runs for less than 1 minute and then turns off completely. Mine never comes on. It's seriously been over a year since it's been on while I'm running. I looked into electric fans for mine, and I figured if it's not running, it's not costing me and FE. Of course a lot of that comes from how efficiently (cool) my diesel runs.

[boostalot717]

Originally Posted by Diesel_Dave

I think there are different types of fan clutches. Mine is electronically controlled. I've checked and, from a cold start, it runs for less than 1 minute and then turns off completely. Mine never comes on. It's seriously been over a year since it's been on while I'm running. I looked into electric fans for mine, and I figured if it's not running, it's not costing me and FE. Of course a lot of that comes from how efficiently (cool) my diesel runs.

Yes your fan clutch operates different than most gasoline engines. While yours produces almost no drag while not in use mine does. My fan still moves at water pump rpm whether the clutch is engaged or not.

I do agree with you that on your platform a electric fan would be a waste, although on my platform and every other temp driven fan clutch out there a electric fan and shroud is the way to go. Or if a electric fan isnt possible adapting a viscous fan will still be better than a standard run of the mill fan clutch.

[euromodder]

Originally Posted by boostalot717

I figured this would come up so...

When someone is driving a gas-guzzler, it has to come up.
Just to make you think about it
The final call is yours of course.

Do i really need a truck, well yes but only part time. I need it in the summer to haul my race car back and forth to the track.

How often is that ?

You're a full-time student, but only part-time racer - yet the (or "a") truck is only necessary for the part time occupation, but you drive it full-time ...
Putting those together, I'd say you don't really need the truck as a daily driver.

Any other options to get to the track ?
Like borrowing, or renting a truck, a van, or even an RV if you stay there for a few days ?

See, it's just the way you look at it - or the way you want to look at it

A new more economical daily driver doesn't need to be new.


I had to transport something (4' by 4') that doesn't fit in my 50+mpg wagon - so I rented a trailer.
Cost 13.5 euro, or the equivalent of only 9.75 L / 2.6 US gallon of diesel.
If I had a 30mpg truck instead , it wouldn't take me very long to burn through those extra 2.6 gal. ...

Unfortunatley i am a full time student and on a limited budget so keeping the truck and purchasing another car just isnt going to happen.

Being on a limited student budget, is all the more reason not to burn it on gas

I do some 60 miles per working day, I'm not on a tight budget, but even at 50+ mpg, fuel is still taking some 5% out of my budget.

[boostalot717]

Ok regardless of whether i need the truck or not this is how i look at the new car situation. Assuming my truck gets 15mpg and the purchase price of $5k for a new car.

A 40 mpg car would take 2.5 years to pay for itself.
A 30 mpg car would take 3 years to pay for itself.

I figured these on a 240 mile week at $4.00 a gallon.

Thats not including maintence items of the new car and other unknowns. Yes the truck will require the same maintence but atleast i already know the mechanical status of my truck.

Maybe i am looking at this wrong? I am all for a new more efficient car but it has to pay off somewhere in less than 2 years preferably less than 20 months.

[boostalot717]

The other side of the coin if i took my 15 mpg to 20 mpg (not that difficult had it there before) i would save $832 a year, which pays for my $787 of mpg upgrades to the truck.

[Domman56]

Look IT"S YOUR TRUCK. It's what you like to drive Don't let anyone change that there are multiple people on here who have trucks and get great mileage out of them and still tow and use them as proper trucks. Just Do the best you can with them. Those silverado mufflers are Huge and heavy, Get a smaller mufller Aftermarket Magnaflow or flowmaster or something. I'm NOT claiming you'll get better FE from the flow but you will save weight not to mention you'll be able to form your Belly pan easier that way, Keep your tires as high PSI as you can to bring down rolling resistance.

Make sure it's tuned up and running properly. You're already going down the right road looking into all of the Aerodynamics because that's where Alot of the gains in a truck are.

I didn't see Did you already say what rear gearing you were running? because there's a bit to be picked up there as well if your gears are more agressive than you need


I

[boostalot717]

Gearing in the truck is 3.42.1. thats as low as i would like to go. For everything besides economy the truck actually needs a slightly higher gear.

[darcane]

Originally Posted by boostalot717

Gearing in the truck is 3.42.1. thats as low as i would like to go. For everything besides economy the truck actually needs a slightly higher gear.

How heavy is your trailer? I tow a 5000 pound camping trailer with my wife's Tahoe (3.23 gears) and it does the job fine. It just won't win any races heading up steep hills. However, I doubt it would justify the expense of converting it.

Whether it it makes sense to buy a second car or not is your choice, but many of us (myself included) were in the same situation and went with an inexpensive commuter. If you want to stick with the truck, that's fine too and you can find a lot of good info on here.

I really wanted an HX, but my second choice was a late '90's Sentra. The 1996-1999 Sentra (any except SE) is rated at 39mpg hwy, seems to be pretty reliable, and can often be found for $1000-2000 in decent shape.

I don't know where in PA you are, but you could probably get this for $1000, which would pay off in about six months based on your previous examples.

[darcane]

Originally Posted by boostalot717

The other side of the coin if i took my 15 mpg to 20 mpg (not that difficult had it there before) i would save $832 a year, which pays for my $787 of mpg upgrades to the truck.

See my earlier post. I did exactly this with almost exactly the same truck.

And I didn't spend $787 on upgrades either.