Had to park the old truck (Dang gas prices!)

[FRENCHBLUE72]

I don't know what kinda milage my blazer get's but gas is 1:83 or so and I still drive my blazer everyday and I refuse to give it up..... I have put up with the gas price's going up and down every year and no matter what happen's people cannot controll it so screw it drive a truck and live life to it's fullest ...

[71Chevy4-speed]

$1.92 here and the drilling rigs and wells are less than an hour away...lol. Haven't given mine up yet. Rebuilt 350, Dual exhaust, 8 mpg...was, not sure what it is with the new exhaust.. little better I know. Either way its at least 28 miles everyday to school and back.

[Orence1]

Just my luck! Kids are finally out to the house and I can put together my dream truck. 72 Cheyenne powered by a 450HP BB. With premium prices at $2.00 and no end in sight I will be warming it up on Saturday morning, washing it, admiring it and parking it back in the garage. If the monthy power/water bills are not too high I might be able to afford a trip to Home Depot every few weeks. 402BB/TH-350/3:08. Getting about 6-8 mpg but not broken in yet.

[Jeepster376]

Originally posted by 68 Suburban
I guess I will give you a little idea what I have done. When I first got my burb, it had the original tired 327 in it. I found a freshly rebuilt L-48 350 out of a 76 Vette. Not the most High performance engine, but the price was right. I have switched to a HEI with an accel coil. I have synthetic Motor Oil and Gear Lube. An Edelbrock 1406 Carb that I have tuned for my engine. An Accel Re-usable air cleaner. Same princible as a K&N, but a hell of a lot cheaper. I think Amsoil sells the same air cleaner as the accel. I have re-curved the distributor and changed out the vaccum advance can for one more suited for my driving needs. My timing is set by ear. My truck also has a turbo 400 with a 3.08 rear end.

Thanks 68, that's the good stuff I'm looking for. I just got my truck on the road this week, so I don't have any numbers in yet, but if I can get 250 miles per tank (one weeks commute) or 14+ mpg I'll be overjoyed. I just put in a Mallory Unilite electronic ignition module and coil, new vacuum advance, tweaked timing and carb, new AC plugs. We'll see how it works. I have a Holley re-usable air cleaner on the way, as well as Mallory wires and new good cap and rotor. Synthetic lube is a good idea, I'll do that next. And then focus on the finer timing and carb tweaking.

I have 350/TH350 3.07 gears 4x4 and 35" tires. Cruises 65 mph @ 2100 effortless RPMs

[stelth2002]

You have no idea how synthetic rear end oil and tranny oil can improve performance and milage. Using it in your engine also helps.... think of other places like front wheel bearings and places like that too.

[68 Suburban]

Originally posted by stelth2002
You have no idea how synthetic rear end oil and tranny oil can improve performance and milage. Using it in your engine also helps.... think of other places like front wheel bearings and places like that too.

Oh yeah, I repacked the front bearings with synthetic Grease. Make sure you are running full tire inflation too.

[Jeepster376]

Originally posted by 68 Suburban
Make sure you are running full tire inflation too.

Yes, raising tire pressure made a 3-4 mpg difference in my cherokee.

[rolson1039]

Originally posted by skyhawk1
I know the feeling Terry, parked the 72 Burb last week (costs me about $20 per 100 miles) so I'm driving my 86 C-10 with the 4.3 V-6. Now I'm getting twice the miles for the money!

funny you should say that, i sent my 86 c 10 4.3 through inspection and they messed with the carb and all to get me passed emmissions and now she dont get bad mileage at all, but still not as good as the old 4 banger ranger, so i dont drive it all that often the ranger although cramped gets over 400 miles to a tank even when loaded, although nothing rides like our C10s lol

[jku72]

I'll back up 68 suburban.
My own 68 suburban get 18, and I think I may be able to squeeze a hair more, if I make a few changes, most notably switching to headers and dual exhaust. Synthetic helps, as does 3.08 gears, and constant fine tuning.
I think my best advantage, beyond the gears, is a high compression ratio. I dont drive my burb as a hot rod, by staying out of the throttle, I can advance the timing a bit and still stay out of detonation, which I always try to get as close to without having it happen, by adjusting timing.

[cdowns]

the milage for my truck on the highway @70-80mph is about 16.5 with the overdrive tranny and 4:10rear less than half that between stoplights
i'm using mobil1 in the engine and royalpurple in the tranny and rear, what also made a big difference was the K&N airfilter
never thought about the front bearings!! i'll give it a try next time i service the frontend.

[Robertofriends]

I drive from one side of Houston to the other every day to work. I fill up every other day at about $25. for Super. This baby's a '72 with a 350/350. It's got 46K miles. It sat at the farm for years before I got it last summer from my pa. I guess I'll stop driving it when they won't pay me to come to work anymore... or the ball and chain learns how much I pay to GET to work!!! lol.

[68 Suburban]

Originally posted by jku72

most notably switching to headers and dual exhaust.

Oh yeah, I do nave true dual exhaust with the cross over pipe. I don't have headers, and do not plan to put them on. Personally, I just don't like them.

[68 Suburban]

Originally posted by 68 Suburban
A couple of weeks ago when I went to go get the 74 Monte Carlo in Cali, I got about 17 pulling the empty dolly (It is a pretty heavy duty dolly).

I forgot to mention, that was with the A/C on. My A/C uses a Sanden/Seltec compressor which is a lot more efficient and puts less drag on the engine than one of the original designed compressors.

[proboner]

paid 2.25 for plus here, luckily i almost never drive my 69 and my 93 ford probe gt gets 35 to the gallon on the freeway.... pretty damn good for a poorly geared v6

[Bill72BB]

We just went up to 2.17 at Arco ,guess we will take the wifes car to Tom's this weekend for a family gathering ,

[Jeepster376]

Anybody gained mileage from a tonneau cover.

[71Chevy4-speed]

Jeepster..Drop your tailgate, or take it off. Helps mine a little.

[Terry Peerson]

Well, Gas prices just keep on climbing! The truck is in hibernation now. I only drive it if I need to haul something. Drove the bug for a week on $ 10.00 gas! Not too bad. I'm glad now that I didn't sell it.

T

[fatfords]

Prices actually dropped a couple of cents since my last fill-up. I paid $1.58/gal for 87. I don't drive my 72 too much, but have been getting right at 14.5 with a tired 350 and 700R4 with a 3.73 rear-end. I check my tire pressure each time I drive it and that helps, especially with a slow leak! I'm going to give the synthetic gear oil a try.

[Effle18]

I had a Dodge Ram and it was sucking gas and not fun to drive so I bought the 72 figuring at least it will be a blast to drive (and it is) but it is very thirsty. I try to ride my Harley as much as possible mainly because I enjoy it and you can ride year round down here but partially because of the gas situation...anyone pulled out a 350 and put in a 6, maybe a 4.3l? Hmmmmm...