Gas Mileage

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Matthew Jeschke

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Okay, so I got my 2001 Tahoe about a year ago. I didn't expect it would get great mileage, however, I am utterly surprised at how poor of mileage it does get.

When I was a kid my folks had a 1996 Chevy Suburban 4x4. We used it on long trips. It got 18 to 20 mpg NO JOKE on the highway. I was so surprised. Had a small block 350.

Now I have this smaller tahoe, it is the Z71 setup (not sure if that means different gearing too). Also has the 5.3 L. It gets MAYBE 14 MPG. Many times when I fill up is 11 or 12 MPG.

It does have BFG K02 tires on it. Although I'm assuming that's only partly why it's so poor mileage.

Curious, what kind of mileage are you guys getting with your Tahoe and suburbans?
 

Tonyrodz

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Okay, so I got my 2001 Tahoe about a year ago. I didn't expect it would get great mileage, however, I am utterly surprised at how poor of mileage it does get.

When I was a kid my folks had a 1996 Chevy Suburban 4x4. We used it on long trips. It got 18 to 20 mpg NO JOKE on the highway. I was so surprised. Had a small block 350.

Now I have this smaller tahoe, it is the Z71 setup (not sure if that means different gearing too). Also has the 5.3 L. It gets MAYBE 14 MPG. Many times when I fill up is 11 or 12 MPG.

It does have BFG K02 tires on it. Although I'm assuming that's only partly why it's so poor mileage.

Curious, what kind of mileage are you guys getting with your Tahoe and suburbans?
That's not too bad. I'd have to guess I'm maybe getting 11-12 on the highway, but I have a bunch of mods done. Tires that are aggressive will affect mileage. Have you done a tuneup lately, including all fluids? That'll also affect mileage. How's your frontend? Alignment good? Any codes?
 
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Matthew Jeschke

Matthew Jeschke

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That's not too bad. I'd have to guess I'm maybe getting 11-12 on the highway, but I have a bunch of mods done. Tires that are aggressive will affect mileage. Have you done a tuneup lately, including all fluids? That'll also affect mileage. How's your frontend? Alignment good? Any codes?
I have changed oil, transfercase fluid, sparks look good, new radiator and coolant, front diff gear oil, new wheel bearing passenger fnt, prob a few other items.

I need to do rear gear oil... and frnt diff has bad passenger side output shaft bearing.

All new brakes.


I am just so suprised get so much worse mileage than the old suburban.

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Doubeleive

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sounds about right I probably got about the same in my 00 xl BUT..... I had a heavy foot, sometimes it was very heavy, longer non stop trips of course gave better results
 
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Matthew Jeschke

Matthew Jeschke

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sounds about right I probably got about the same in my 00 xl BUT..... I had a heavy foot, sometimes it was very heavy, longer non stop trips of course gave better results
Just crazy, i never would have dreamed GM would have gotten worse mileage from smaller motor and lighter truck.

Thanks for confirming

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temper

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What size are those KO2's? I just went from stock 245/75-16's to 285/70-17's, and was getting around 15.8 mpg with the old tires. I've only gone through one full tank of gas since putting the new tires on, and calculated the mileage right around 13 mpg on that one tank. I expected to maybe lose 1.5 mpg, not nearly 3...I'm hoping it's just a fluke. It's summertime and I don't let the truck warm up like I do in the winter time, so not a lot of idling right now, although I was troubleshooting an AC issue and restarted/idled a bit for that.
 
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Matthew Jeschke

Matthew Jeschke

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What size are those KO2's? I just went from stock 245/75-16's to 285/70-17's, and was getting around 15.8 mpg with the old tires. I've only gone through one full tank of gas since putting the new tires on, and calculated the mileage right around 13 mpg on that one tank. I expected to maybe lose 1.5 mpg, not nearly 3...I'm hoping it's just a fluke. It's summertime and I don't let the truck warm up like I do in the winter time, so not a lot of idling right now, although I was troubleshooting an AC issue and restarted/idled a bit for that.
Lt265/75r16 they are indestrible beast of tires. I may go with the michelin 10 ply e rated nest time they have less agressive tred but are rated for fuel economy.

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temper

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I'm no tire guru, so I don't know about the ratings. But I do know that LT tires are heavier than passenger rated tires, so if the Michelins are P rated it should help your mpg.
 

Doubeleive

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A lot of it depends on your driving style, if you baby it around town and only go 55-65 on the freeway with a nice steady pedal your mpg will increase, me personally time is money and my time is worth more than a gallon of gas so no sense going slow, luckily I work from home. lol
 

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