Whats you gas mileage on your squarebody truck?

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Memaloose

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My '75 K20, 350 V8 with quadrajet and TH350 with 4:10 gears, single exhaust gets 10-12 mpg at 60 mph. While 4x4ing in the desert, I get a little better, possibly 14-15 mpg. That's all you'll ever get. I've had other 70's Chev pickups with 350's and 400's, all the same mileage.
I love that VW diesel, I just saw one on Craigslist last night. My daily drivers have been 1984 Chev Citation with 2.8L and 4 speed, 1994 Geo Metro, 1.0L with 5 speed, it got 51 mpg at 55 mph and 41 mpg at 70 mph. Right now, I drive a 2018 Nissan Versa sedan with a 1.6L and a 5 speed manual, it gets 39+ mpg and even has a/c! My other daily driver is a 2007 Yamaha 1700cc Roadstar Warrior, it averages 46 mpg as long as you keep it under 75.
You'll do yourself a big favor by not driving your truck every day, you'll have a lot of extra money driving a little car.
 

Vbb199

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My old 90 suburban with a stock tbi 350, 700r4, 3.08 rear and stock tire, 235/75/r15? Got 20-22 on the highway.
I don't know how, but it did.

I calculated based off a empty tank, refill (at the time was about $100 or maybe more for a 40g gas tank)

Drove to the beach, (3-3.5 hour drive), minimal driving for the week I was there, some town driving, the next Saturday, I went to fill up on my way out to go back home, only put under 30$ in.... I sat down and calculated it up, came up with a number somewhere between 20-24.
I couldn't remember the exact gas prices, so I just estimated.



Now my 89 burb, with a low mileage HO350, 700r4, 3.42 rear with a 31x10.5x15 tire... Idk, but it's not very good mpg... Seems like I'm putting 20$ in every couple of days lol.
But I travel alot for my job.
 
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Goldie Driver

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11.69 MPG on a 61 mile highway trip at 67ish MPH, A/C on.

Only additive was roughly 20 gallons worth of MMO (not sure how many ounces per 10 gallons they recommended- I use the bottle markings) .

No 20MPG, yeah, but not bad for a TH350C with a stock 1980 350.
 

QBuff02

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truck had 3/4 tank sunday morning, drove it to town and back and ran a few other errands.. figured right at 75-80 miles driven, now basically on "E". Soooo... about 5-5.5 Smiles per gallon. 4.10 gears, 33" tires and 2,800-3,000rpm cruising speed on a healthy big block isn't really conducive to "fuel economy" and that's alright with me!
:shrug::driver:
 

Green79Scottsdale

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My old 90 suburban with a stock tbi 350, 700r4, 3.08 rear and stock tire, 235/75/r15? Got 20-22 on the highway.
I don't know how, but it did.

I calculated based off a empty tank, refill (at the time was about $100 or maybe more for a 40g gas tank)

Drove to the beach, (3-3.5 hour drive), minimal driving for the week I was there, some town driving, the next Saturday, I went to fill up on my way out to go back home, only put under 30$ in.... I sat down and calculated it up, came up with a number somewhere between 20-24.
I couldn't remember the exact gas prices, so I just estimated.

Let me play devils advocate here... You based your mileage off of the amount of dollars $$ you estimated you spent relative to the amount of time you estimate you spent driving?
 

Vbb199

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89 Suburban R1500, 79 C10
Engine Size
350, 502
Let me play devils advocate here... You based your mileage off of the amount of dollars $$ you estimated you spent relative to the amount of time you estimate you spent driving?

No sir, it was based off of 200 miles, but it was roughly a 3.5 hour drive.

I cannot recall the price of gas at that time at this very moment, I just calculated it then, when the prices were fresh on my mind and came up with something like what I said, 20-24. I don't remember exact numbers at this very time and place. I just know the truck got excellent gas mileage for a 30 year old truck.

Better than my s10, which got no more than 15, and better than my suburban now.
 

Vbb199

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So let's say it was an even 120 to fill up my tank, and let's say it was an even 40 gallons. Because I recall to the best of my knowledge, from maybe 3 years ago, it was maybe 120$ to fill up the tank.

That's 3.00$ per gallon.


And let's say it took an exact even 30$ to fill it back up when I went to return home.

In that 200 miles I traveled to get to SC PLUS the additional maybe say, 30 miles I travelled during that week, that gives me a total of 230 miles travelled since I filled up back home in NC.

With that exact 30$ I spent to fill back up before my departure home, that would've given me 10 gallons of gas, assuming SC gas was the same price as NC gas.

That comes up to about 23 MPG


At the time and place, with better recalled numbers on how much I spent, how much gas was, I came up with something probably like 22 MPG, maybe.

The majority of the trip to the beach is spent on a LONG LONG highway, running like, 65 or 75 mph
 

Grit dog

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:beatdeadhorse5::beatdeadhorse5::beatdeadhorse5::beatdeadhorse5::beatdeadhorse5::beatdeadhorse5::beatdeadhorse5::beatdeadhorse5:


Just let this thread die please!


No, I want to hear about 21, 22 and 23 mpg out of old gas sucking V8 trucks.....lol.

My only comment is my dad used to say. Most men lie about 3 things...
The size of the fish they caught.
The mpgs of their truck....and
The size of their ____!
 

82sbshortbed

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No, I want to hear about 21, 22 and 23 mpg out of old gas sucking V8 trucks.....lol.

My only comment is my dad used to say. Most men lie about 3 things...
The size of the fish they caught.
The mpgs of their truck....and
The size of their ____!

Yeah, wait till you've been on here for a while and when this keeps being brought up again and again I think you might change your mind. Lol

If you buy a square body truck and expect good gas mileage you're a fool. I went from a wee 05 to a BBC 454 and gas mileage never came into the decision. Just torque and horsepower is all that matters. Lol
 

Vbb199

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No, I want to hear about 21, 22 and 23 mpg out of old gas sucking V8 trucks.....lol.

My only comment is my dad used to say. Most men lie about 3 things...
The size of the fish they caught.
The mpgs of their truck....and
The size of their ____!


Yeah, because a guy with a 502 ci big block in a truck gives a f*ck about mpg (me)

I'm not 50.

Cute thought though.

I could care less to compare shlongs with anyone here over what mpg their **** gets
 
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idahovette

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Yeah, because a guy with a 502 ci big block in a truck gives a f*ck about mpg (me)

I'm not 50.

Cute thought though.

I could care less to compare shlongs with anyone here over what mpg their **** gets
On the comparison deal.....THANK YOU,,,,THANK YOU,,,,,,THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!
 

SirRobyn0

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11.69 MPG on a 61 mile highway trip at 67ish MPH, A/C on.

Only additive was roughly 20 gallons worth of MMO (not sure how many ounces per 10 gallons they recommended- I use the bottle markings) .

No 20MPG, yeah, but not bad for a TH350C with a stock 1980 350.

I have been on and off with MMO, but never used it in the square body. I'm curious what you feel the benefits are. Besides fuel do you like to put it in the oil?
 

Goldie Driver

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Engine Size
350
I have been on and off with MMO, but never used it in the square body. I'm curious what you feel the benefits are. Besides fuel do you like to put it in the oil?


I added a quart for 1 or two oil changes - I think it acts like a cleanser as that oil came out really dirty ...

I just add a few ounces now to the oil when I feel like it while topping off.

In the gas, though, I use it pretty religiously. Thanks to EGR, my # 6 & 8 are weak cylinders, and I think it helps boost compression and power, which for this truck is actual pretty laughable. :D

Nonetheless, on the way over to Mont Belvieu this past weekend I went over the Fred Hartman bridge, which has a pretty severe uphill slope. With the MMO, the engine did not seem to strain as much.

On the way home, I took 610 and went over the Houston Ship Channel bridge. Not quite as severe a slope, and she struggled some.

May all be in my mind, but for like $ 3.49 a bottle , it can't hurt.
 

SirRobyn0

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I added a quart for 1 or two oil changes - I think it acts like a cleanser as that oil came out really dirty ...

I just add a few ounces now to the oil when I feel like it while topping off.

In the gas, though, I use it pretty religiously. Thanks to EGR, my # 6 & 8 are weak cylinders, and I think it helps boost compression and power, which for this truck is actual pretty laughable. :D

Nonetheless, on the way over to Mont Belvieu this past weekend I went over the Fred Hartman bridge, which has a pretty severe uphill slope. With the MMO, the engine did not seem to strain as much.

On the way home, I took 610 and went over the Houston Ship Channel bridge. Not quite as severe a slope, and she struggled some.

May all be in my mind, but for like $ 3.49 a bottle , it can't hurt.
Like you I'll use MMO in engine oil when it needs a little extra cleaning, I'm pretty good about changing the oil so basically that means only when I've bought a used vehicle. I'll have to try MMO in the gas on the next few tanks and see if I notice anything.
 

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