Saving fuel with 4x4

[ntvinh986]

Originally Posted by CHVYPWR

Hi all! I've been toying around with fuel mileage tricks recently and have been getting what I think to be good results. I have a '94 S10 Blazer 4x4, 4.3l automatic with 150,000 miles. I've had it for about 1.5 years now and have gotten a consistant 17mpg (one tank at 16 over the winter). What really got me started on this mpg kick is after I installed a Flowmaster muffler on it my mileage improved by 1.5mpg. That got me thinking, how much more can I get? I've added a few hypermiling tricks, and my last tanks was 20.6!!! For the tank of fuel I have now, I've lowered the front of the truck one inch, added air to the tires (up to 38psi), and removed the luggage rack off the top. I'm hoping to get to 21mpg in combined driving with this latest round of tricks.

Hi guys, Im a newbie. Nice to join this forum.

[GasSavers_GasUser]

Originally Posted by CHVYPWR

Hi all! I've been toying around with fuel mileage tricks recently and have been getting what I think to be good results. I have a '94 S10 Blazer 4x4, 4.3l automatic with 150,000 miles. I've had it for about 1.5 years now and have gotten a consistant 17mpg (one tank at 16 over the winter). What really got me started on this mpg kick is after I installed a Flowmaster muffler on it my mileage improved by 1.5mpg. That got me thinking, how much more can I get? I've added a few hypermiling tricks, and my last tanks was 20.6!!! For the tank of fuel I have now, I've lowered the front of the truck one inch, added air to the tires (up to 38psi), and removed the luggage rack off the top. I'm hoping to get to 21mpg in combined driving with this latest round of tricks.

I had the same exact truck, except the GMCJimmy version of it. Same drivetrain and everything. Bought it new in 94 and I put a lot of highway miles on it. Just did the routine maintenance and got 20mpg consistantly on the highway with it. That was with it running BFG A/T 's pumped to 38lbs for h/w use. Never ran car-tires on it. Never checked in town mileage or off-road mileage with it. I gave it to my Son in 05 with 200,000 miles on it and still running fine today except for the rusted out fenders (it is 15 years old). Overall a good truck with good gas mileage for a truck. It is heavy with a higher center of gravity built for off/on road use and towing of up to 5,000lbs and did those well. It is not a car. It was not built to be a car. If you can get 21mpg with it, that is absolutely fantastic for it I think.

Just my experience putting 200,000 miles on essentially the same vehicle you have.

[DarbyWalters]

Since a ScanGuage won't work for you...a Vacuum Guage might help. Basically driving techniques will yeild the best imporvement.

Lower your truck if possible.

Grill Block will/may help a bit.

Some Synthetic Fluids might give a bit better mpg.

Remove any toolboxes, recovery gear, ect. that you do not HAVE to carry with you during the week.

Converting to 2WD would do a bit but that might not work out for your lifestsyle.

[GasSavers_FordF150]

I only thought of this cause I just read it on another thread but if you OBD1 you can get a SuperMID. Does this help?
I guess it's like the Scanguage but a little different.

[theholycow]

AFAIK, SuperMID only deals in MPG calculations and can't show you other data (like sensor data and trouble codes). Better than nothing, still not quite as good as a ScanGauge or similar device.