In Need Of More Gas Mileage!!!

[droopy89]

Hey guys, i need more gas mileage, anything will work. Im getting a tonneau cover soon. Any suggestions???

[j894]

What is it like now?

[droopy89]

15-17 maybe a lil more if im really lucky, but most of the time its mid 15s and ive been easy on it for a few months now. But will the Tonneau cover help a little bit? Cause if its not going to help at all, ill just save my $200 for something else.

[20Xtreme02]

I don't mean to sound pesimisstic but there isn't much you can do if your vehicle is properly tuned and maintained. Your driving style has more to do with the fuel mileage than anything else. Your truck get the mileage it gets. You can spend a lot of time and money trying to improve it but only pick up 1 or 2 miles per gallon, which usually isn't worth the investment. Making slower starts from a stop, coasting as much as possible prior to braking, using high gear (or the proper gear if a stick) and loosing excess weight are your best options.

[droopy89]

So,... Tonneau cover and Weight Watchers pretty much?

[Sparky2263]

Keep air in the tires and keep the weight down.

[droopy89]

Weight Watchers it is! But that still dont answer my question bout the tonneau???

[Sparky2263]

Mixed results there. Hopefully you have good enough records you'll know if it helped or hurt. I've heard it both ways.

[droopy89]

Ive been keeping tabs on my mileage ever since i got the truck in april. So, ill have to get back to ya on that one. But, which is better fiberglass or vinyl tonneau, or does it even matter?

[Sparky2263]

Whichever is lighter!

:D

[Maximus]

Ive seen some data that says a Tonneau cover increases mileage some but there is also data that says that it doesn't make a difference.And even some that said putting the tailgate down can make it worse.I think if it does it's minimal.But look at the Craftsman Truck series of Nascar they all have something covering the bed and a spoiler at the end.And I would bet that if it didn't make a difference in the wind tunnel they wouldn't have them setup the way they do.I have seen them talk about it on some of the Nascar talk shows saying that bed cap helps with aerodynamics and the spoiler helps with rear down force for traction and better high speeds.One team even got fined pretty big once because their spoiler was just a wee tad taller than allowed and that difference helped them to front over the guys that were at Nascar limits.So if you ask me they would know more about making trucks go faster and get better fuel economy than anybody.Because fuel economy can cost you the race when it comes down to the end of it.I have thought about adding a Nascar style spoiler to my truck to see what kind of difference it would make.Not one of those Ricey F**king wings but a true functional spoiler.Maybe someday I will try it.Sorry for the rant just my opinion on it.

[Hammer Head]

Yea.. I run about 17-19 w/ my tanneau cover. I'm not too light on the happy pedal either.

[nomaboy]

i put the new 03' style injectors in mine and if i drive it easy/hard mix i get 18 mpg. before i was getting 13. truck ran a lot smoother when i switched too. may be somthing too look into since you have a 97.

[droopy89]

Then Ill get the vinyl tonneau, hopefully itll help even with the winter gas

[T Man]

I noticed a change when i put my checkmate tonneau cover on my truck, with the tonneau, exhaust, and intake mods, i went from 15-16mpg to almost 20...just a thought.

[SoulOnFire]

I watched a mythbusters episode where they did this, and they tested a tonneau cover, tailgate down, no tailgate, and a mesh tailgate and suprisingly the one that gave you better gas mileage was the mesh tailgate.

[20Xtreme02]

Did they happen to mention how popular those mesh tailgates are with the lowered-2WD crowd?!?

T-Man, you're an example of one of the more successful increasers of mileage. Most people don't make that big of a change, but it also shows what is achievable.

The tonneau cover is a good first step, There's some amount of aerodynamic advantage, it doesn't weight much and it looks good. How can you go wrong? As for which type, my dos centavos is to get the firmest one. The one that won't distort its shape under high airloads. I found my vinal one would do that at freeway speeds.

[T Man]

Checkmate fellas, and im not getting paid to say that either. They are tough, ive laid on it watching the stars with my ex several times.

Also when i put the lower vallance on my truck I seemed to pick up some mileage. Dont know why, but it sure happened.

[droopy89]

i put the new 03' style injectors in mine and if i drive it easy/hard mix i get 18 mpg. before i was getting 13. truck ran a lot smoother when i switched too. may be somthing too look into since you have a 97.

how much would a set of those cost? and im ordering a tonneau tonight or tomorrow morning

[nomaboy]

got mine on ebay for 300

[extreme gmc]

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=330052121884
i just bought this, i will tell you if it makes a difference. at most i could only loose 75 bux...

[droopy89]

Ive been thinking about one of those, not that particular one though, but let me know if it helps or hurts

[nomaboy]

those things are worthless on our engines. if you don't have fuel and air traveling through them (we don't) they don't do anything. they would work good on a carb or TBI.

[droopy89]

in that case, i wont get one,... but what about a intake plenum spacer???

[nomaboy]

the spacer, if i remember correctly, help a bit on the bottom end, but didn't do a damn thing in upper rpm power. which means it would be good for towing, and it may help on gas mileage if you drive conservatively.

[droopy89]

i might do that in the future, cause the cheapest one i can find is $300 plus