90 s-10 4.3l-need some help

[no_doz]

i looked up the gas mileage of a 90 s10 with a 4.3l and an auto tranny and it claimed that it was 18 city and 23 highway. well my question is, if i remove the bed completely & replace it with something very light (maybe just a cover for the frame), and removed weight in a couple other places, is there anyway i could bump the highway mileage to 27 mpg? if not, would doing that weight reduction & then getting different rear-end gears accomplish this?

thanks, Doz.

[patgizz]

no. it's just not possible. maybe in a 1200# locost LOL. bed doesn't weigh enough to make a difference and then you lose any weight over the rear wheels for traction. rear end gears are a tradeoff at this point unless you've got a 4.11 in there, the overdrive is already knocking your cruising RPM down, dropping too low would put you too low in the powerband and you'd be chugging to keep up and burning as much/more gas.

[Canyonero]

That's still way better gas mileage than my '90 Trooper with a 2.8L, I get 15-17 MPG. That means that I pretty much hate you.

[Stewart G. Griffin]

First of all, measure the MPG yourself. Don't rely on estimates. I think you'll find you can do better than 23 without doing anything to the truck. I got 20 with a silverado.

Depending on the emmissions laws where you're at (actually, more precisely, where you have the truck registered at) headers and dual exhaust will help emmensely.

Type and brand of tires make all the difference in the world. I would be looking at michelins if you want 27 MPG.

Much more later.

[no_doz]

thank you so much man, i appreciate it!

[geoffinbc]

Tire pressure, tire weight, tread design, sidewall and stiffness all make a difference to rolling resistance. So good tires properly inflated make a difference. Alignment will also make a big defference. Obviously the condition of the engine and the state of tune would be one of the largest factors to mileage.

Also synthetic oil! I get 76 more KM per 60L tank of gas. My whole drivetrain is synthetic. I get 20 MPG easy in the city. I could get much more if I was easier on the gas.

[no_doz]

thanks guys, im preparing to do all of this to my truck once i get the cash (soon!), also im wondering if any of you know the rear end gear ratio that they used in the 90's camaro iroc-z's? (the ones with the 350s lol). also would anyone happen to know the weight difference between a 4.3 and a 350 (rough difference, 100lbs, 150, 200)? thanks guys!