Rolling junkyard SOS

[FastPlastic]

Just like to say welcome! I love seeing more and more SUV owners joining this group. Looks like there's plenty of room for improvement with the GMC Jimmy. If you do a decent amount of highway aero improvements would be a good place to start otherwise ditch as much weight as possible and work on the aero later.

A few quick/low cost aero mods
Roof racks a great start - Sounds like you took care of that already
Grill block - Partial block is easy/cheap.
Block tow hook holes - Noticed most jimmy's have them.
If you've got mud flaps - Ditch'em
fill in any gaps around lights/Panels - Weather striping I hear works great for this

More advanced/expensive aero mods
Wheel covers
Rear wheel skirts
extend the air dam down
Skid plate - Picked up up about 2mpg highway on mine
cover as much under body as possible - With 4x4's it's hard to do one smooth panel

Weight reduction
Ditch spare tire/Jack - Got AAA?
Any extra tools, oil, etc
Seats - If you're the only one in the car most of the time.

More expensive weight reduction
Lighter rims
Lighter Brake rotors
Lighter Flywheel


If you'd like to see what I've done on my Cherokee so far check out my post here.

Feel free to add to the list guys.

[Bullockracing]

LRR tires - BFG makes some all-terrains that made the official list, max inflation on the tires,
electric fan,
cut out the weight (seriously - like hulling your hood),
shave any trim (especially a roof rack),
get a high-flow intake,
replace the muffler with a straight-through model,
Get all the fluids changed with the best you can afford,
Most importantly - get a good tuneup - if it was free, it probably needs some TLC - plugs, wires, PCV valve, etc.

[Bullockracing]

Also, specifically for your truck, you can get underdrive pulleys from Summit Racing. My parents had a Jimmy just like yours, and it always ran great. Keep in mind that the 4.3 V6 is a Chevy 350 V8 with two cylinders shaved out of it. A lot of parts will interchange. Edelbrock at makes (made?) an aftermarket aluminum intake for the 4.3, and exhaust headers are available for that model, too.

Racing seats are a great way to shave pounds, too.

[Tony Raine]

yeah, at least the jimmy is a small suv. i think a free one is great. i'm not much of a chevy guy, but the 4.3 is a great motor. it sounds like you are off to a good start. i think the best thing with an SUV is just keeping it in good running condition. get some stock replacement spark plugs/wires. if i keep my explorer much longer i think i'll invest in an electric fan.

[ZupaChuffin]

For a small update i mocked up a temprory grill block with newspaper backing and tin foil cover. I covered the whole grill because above the license plate is a hole which air can come in anyway. It might last a week or so which is fine by me because i made it out of scrap. I just hope my car doesn't go into meltdown. The next thing i am going to do is remove the tow hooks and cover those holes as well.

A question that has been plaguing me is where to by abs plastic to build wheel skirts and such. Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated

[klrv6]

Did you flush and refill your cooling system yet?

[ZupaChuffin]

I'm not even sure how to do that. I guess ill have to read about it? do you mean just draining all the coolant and then refilling it?

[klrv6]

Originally Posted by ZupaChuffin

I'm not even sure how to do that. I guess ill have to read about it? do you mean just draining all the coolant and then refilling it?

Yes but, run something like prestone cooling system flush through it at least once. The bottle will have directions on it. I know that GM vehicles love a good clean cooling system. One thing to watch out for is if dexcool has eaten the intake gaskets, filler neck and water pump seals. I have had to replace them on our suburban, a friends and soon I will be doing a friends 2000 blazer with the same cooling issue.

Do you plan on getting a scangauge? This will teach you how to drive your truck for max mpg.

[ZupaChuffin]

.

[getnpsi]

I would write "for sale" on it in the liquid chalk with 'trades welcome' and see if anyone bites.