Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Hunting Truck

My old 4X4 3/4 ton hunting truck, Chevrolet Suburban, has gone from 12-13 miles per gallon down to 8-9 MPG. Have had the carburetor overhauled, engine tuned up, it doesn't use oil, I am beginning to think it's the tires or the quality of the gasoline. It's rated for 91 octane and this cheap stuff is 87 octane. Anyone else having this problem? It came with 9.50X16.5 tires and I changed them out to 265X75RX16. Any experts out there that can help me and Boggy would sure appreciate it. <P>What kind of mileage do you get on your 4X4 trucks-- no

I'm on my third Dodge with Cummins engine.They have all got from 17 to 24 mpg.That's 4x4 and 5 speed trans.One was one ton with auto trans and not 4x4.It got 17 also.The co.had a couple of Fords with Powerstroke.They got around 14 and werent 4x4.<BR>Wife has a little Mazda 4x4 auto trans.It gets 17 but wont pull anything.

NO, change your air filter to a K&F, they are much more expensive but worth it. Replace your PCV valve and your spark plugs (wires too if it's time). Small inexpensive things that should help. Does it idle rough? You might have a hose loose or cracked on your carb.

Sonnie, during the times of year when the oxygenated fuels are required around here- October through March- my 93 GMC goes down a couple MPG and doesn't have nearly the power it normally does. Pulling my trailer those times of year is a real pain in the butt. <BR>Spike had some good ideas, you might also try using an octane booster or buy premium gas. I found my truck got a little better milage with the premium gas, but my ignition computer will adjust for the low octane, so I can't bring myself to spend the extra money on the expensive fuel.<BR>One other thing, are the new tires the same diameter as the old tires? If they are different, it is possible you are getting the same or similar gas milage, but your odometer is lying to you because it isn't accurate due to the different tires. If they are different, the speedometer gear in the tailshaft of the transmission can be changed out for the correct one at your dealer.<P>Let us know how you come out- Sheister

I am working on the problem. I inherited a still in good condition when the last boot legger here died last spring. I am gathering dried cow chips and fabricating a cooney to sling underneath the Suburban. Have about got the piping on the still converted and the boiler reinforced for pressure. Just have to drill and tap the intake manafolds. We are going to boost milage with steam power.<BR>BCR

Probably not the tires, they are basicly the same diameter. Have you tried an octane booster additive? That might help. All I can think of except I think Spike means a K&N filter, they are washable and reusable for 1 million miles.

Heck Boggy, we can do that with the hot air you and I blow out around this campfire. We reallllly need some help or we need to drill a well on your place. [img]images/icons/wink.gif" border="0[/img] -- no

Spike, -- I serviced most of the GM dealers in Dallas for many years, one of the companys there treat me like an employee,(discounts and moonlight repair). They changed the plugs and wires when they tuned it up about six months ago, had the carb overhauled down here in East Texas. Have mud and snow tires on now, 265X75RX16 larger than I thought. Had them rotated and balanced today, going to Canton in the morning to see about a new set 235X85RX16, think I will drop the, off road tires, only use them a couple of weeks a year and don't need them in Texas. Have chains if it get's that bad. <BR>Shiester, -- when are you coming fishing? You must wait till spring now, too hot here for anything but catfish and crappie. Pulled into the public boat ramp next to the highway when I was trying out the balance job on the tires and some dude had tossed out 21 channel catfish on the grass, they were about 18" and pretty fish, already spoiled before I got there and down at the waters edge was twelve more carcasses. That's the kind of dudes we need to catch and make examples of. If they eat them it's different but to waste them boils my blood! <BR>Boggy and I are going to make a dent in the trout population in Colorado, will probably gain ten pounds on this trip. Going to take Boggy up on Bristol Head and show him a moose, camp in the valley and let the coyotes run deer all night with their songs. Haven't hunted that country in 16 years, but took a friend up there about five years ago and saw moose. That's a high alpine meadow where you can see for miles down it and about a mile wide with grass knee deep, no trees except around the edges. I have set on the rimrock and watched small airplanes fly beneath us when the clouds are not in the valley. That's about 11000', not too high but still not low, across the valley we hunt up to 12400'. Probably some of the guys around this campfire know where I am talking about. -- no

Sonnie, its hard to believe, but the off-raod tires may be costing you more than you think. I have 2 sets of rims and tires for my Dodge, a set of Michelins for road use, and a set of BF Goodrich Mud Terrains for hunting camp. My mileage drops 1-2 mpg with the mud tires (Yes, they are the same size on the identical factory alloys). Thats why I swop them out when not actually going to the hunt club (3 hr drive each way) regards, badger. [img]images/icons/shocked.gif" border="0[/img]

if your truck is s'posed to run on 91 octane, then putting 87 thru it will cost you some mileage. also, as an engine wears you will experience loss of performance.<P>a quick way to regain quite a bit of that performance is to install an msd 6a ignition system, and an msd blaster (or similiar) coil. this is a capacitive discharge ignition and puts out multiple strong sparks per cylinder, vs. a weak pulse from the factory ignition. especially if your gm has the hei ignition on it. also, an msd type ignition allows you to gap your plugs bigger, which means stronger, longer spark, which means more fuel is being burned, and less wasted out the exhaust.<P>the k&n air filters are awesome and worth the money. if the guys i race with run an air filter, bet your bottom dollar they are using k&n.<P>that's all i can think of off the top of my head. good luck.

Badger, I still have the 16.5 rims but too poor to buy tires for them. The tires on the truck are beginnig to sing and vibrate pretty bad about 70-75. Would have Boggy drive up there but he runs faster than I do. He taught me a lesson on the 4 wheeler, don't want him behind the wheel without tranqualizers. Especially if I am sleeping in the back.<P>Big Time, -- I will take the filter out and see what it does without spending the cash for something I may not need. Fram filters have brought me a long way. If it improves I will be waiting at the door for the supply house to open. Thanks, -- no

NO, How many miles are on the engine? High mileage means wear and that will cost you in fuel. If you have AC it will cost you too. New plugs, wires, and a distributor and rotor button will probably help some. The K&N air filters will help some too. They can give you a few more horsepower and they have a million mile guarantee. If your new tires are taller than your old ones it will make more difference than most people think. If there is a lot of difference in tire size it can even make your speedometer and odometer read differently. I went from 31x10.50x15 to 33x12.50x15 tires and it made a world of difference. I had to do a gear swap in the front and rear from 3.07-1 to 4.11-1 to get back the power and mileage I lost when I added the bigger tires. Another thing a lot of people don't think about when they add bigger tires is bigger tires mean more weight. I get between 12 and 16 MPG with my 1/2 ton Chevy with a 350 and 4 speed trans, sometimes less if I do a lot of stop and go driving. What kind of a carb do you have? Sometimes even a rebuild won't help a worn out carb that much, it might need replaced. If you get new tires check out the BF Goodrich Radial All-Terrains. That's what I have on my truck and I've got almost 40,000 miles on them and they're still going strong. They are a good tire for people who do most of their driving on the road but they do very well off-road unless you get in deep mud.

Just one other little thing, if you loaned your rig to your buddy, cause you would never do this yourself...Right... and he went out stump jumpin and bent up an exhaust pipe so it was kinda squished and flat lookin you will be loosin power and be forced to press on the go peddel a little more thus using more dead dinosoar juice.<P>Bullwinkle.

Instead of letting Boggy sacrifice a good still,why not employ the one method to increase fuel milage that has stood the test of time,been used all over the world,and the results are limited only by your creative capacity:<P>LIE ABOUT IT!

It is too late for this year, but if Boggy is half as good at making whiskey as he is at telling tales then he needs to sell those cows and start raising corn and buying sugar. Then you could trade some of his product for gasoline along the way and everyone would be happy. Or if you got snakebit or stuck in a snowbank, you would have survival material on or in hand so to speak.<P>I've heard they make some good moonshine in Texas. And that's all I know.

Mama's grandpa left Tennesse for Texas with nothing but a wagonload of whiskey for rattlesnake bites and another wagonload of rattlesnakes.<P>Ever who started that lie about good moonshine in Texas was ignorant of "good","whiskey",or geography!

One last thought from me. Does it have a catalitic converter? If so they can plug up and cost you BIG time in power and milage if not up to snuff! <BR>Good Luck.

if you pull the air filter, be forewarned that your carb may suck something undesirable into your engine, and that is not good.<P>also, if you are running w/o an air filter, your air/fuel mix on your carb will be affected...<P>my hunting rig is a 77 f-150. there is no cat on it, and it has a (heavily modified) 351w that generates in the neighborhood of 450 hp and 500 ft/lb of torque. tires are 35-12.50/15 and it is running at 10-12 mpg. it has the msd ignition on it (which does help), holley carb, edelbrock intake, and that's about it for easy bolt-ons. everything else may require the engine coming out of the truck (at least a little) for things like headers, cam, etc etc.

Gene:<P>I don't claim to be an expert on sampling moonshine, but I have had numerous tastes over the years of various products, and by far the smoothest and best I have ever tasted came and is still coming from the easternhalf of Texas and that is all I know.<P>Big Time:<P>Unless I misunderstood him, I think Need One wants to Drive to Wyoming, not launch his suburban there. Sounds like a nice engine you've built up there. Think what you could do with a big block. LOL<P>Need One:<P>They sell new ones every day, why don't you support the American economy and spend some of your spare change on one? LOL

CAT,I stand corrected on the moonshine.I should have known that those Eastern Oklahoma makers would have had to learn their trade somewhere.That Oklahoma stuff was good as N.Carolina and that's GOOD.<P>Imay have to reconsider my opinion of EAST TEXAS.I've always seen it-like most WEST TEXANS- as a buffer zone between us and ARKANSAS.[ grin]<P>I see the game dept is going to let us kill a buck in a western one buck county and another in an eastern one buck county this year.I guess it's another step toward one-world government.