[Shop-talk] Improving truck performance

[John Innis]

Lets find out for sure what's in the truck now.  Look for a RPO sticker in
the glove box, post a list (or just a photo of the sticker) and we can look
up all the options installed on the truck at the factory.  Then you can
decide where to start your upgrade path.  Just a warning.  The cheapest and
easiest path is usually to go buy a bigger truck.  I had the same
experience with my 1/2 ton Suburban.  I loved it till I had to pull a heavy
trailer up hills on the interstate.  For my situation a 3/4 ton Suburban
with a big block motor solved all my issues without ever turning a wrench!

On Sun, Apr 2, 2017 at 6:53 PM, Dave Cavanaugh <cavanadd at frontier.com>
wrote:

> I have a 2004 GMC Sierra half ton, 2WD extended (not crew) cab.  I believe
> it has a 5.3 Vortec engine, automatic transmission, unsure of the axle
> ratio. I'm the original owner, and it has about 74,000 miles on it.  Other
> than the tires and radio, it is completely stock and is in generally very
> good shape.  It fits my needs, and has been totally reliable to date, and I
> plan to keep it for the foreseeable future.   It also has a Leer fiberglass
> canopy on it right now, but it'll probably come off when I finish my move
> later this year.  It's not my daily driver; I typically use it to pick up
> lumber, construction supplies and other routine truck duties.  I typically
> don't do much towing, and  I have never been unhappy with the performance
> until last year when I started making multiple trips from Washington to
> Utah, usually towing an 8 to 12 foot UHaul trailer with my shop stuff in
> it.  This trip includes several mountain passes and quite a bit of
> elevation change.  The truck performs OK, but not great.
>
> I don't have a boat or RV, and I'm not trying to turn it into a one ton
> hauler; I would just like some suggestions as to possible mods I could have
> done to the engine to improve the performance and, if possible, improve the
> gas mileage.  It generally gets about 16 MPG on these trips.  Any ideas?
>
> ---
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