A F/I 4.3 V6 in a 1/2 ton suburban?

[capev86]

i think that v6 is a little too underpowered for a full size truck unless you live in a flat area and never tow anything. my dad swapped his 87 burb from a 3.08 (ex texas truck) to a 3.73 rear and mileage didn't change.

his current truck, a 99 burb, will get 20-22mpg. factory fuel injected 5.7, 2wd, 3.42 rear. dang thing is taching 1600rpm at 60mph. even my taurus wagon is turning 2k at that speed. anyway...used it tow a (rust free) dodge aries parts car home to Maine from North Carolina last week. using overdrive and not pushing it on hills (so it doesn't shift down), i got 16+mpg. that was without cruise control (this is a base model truck) and just keeping it to a steady 60-65 mph on the flats.

just don't get me started about the @#$%& in Maryland who cut me off at the very last second to catch the off ramp (after 3 other cars passed me and then promptly got off at the same place...WTF????). the truck has good brakes, but towing that extra 3k dead load is not fun when you have to throw on the binders . and i thought MASS drivers were bad!!!

in contrast, my 72 Burb C20, 307, 3 on the tree and 4.57 rear would get 10-11mpg and even now it is like 13-14 with a 4.10 gear swap in the old HO52. can't wait to get my borg warner equipped saginaw installed.