Im new to this stuff so bare with me. I have a 2004 silverado Z71 all stock (for now). With the rising gas prices I was looking for any advice on upping my MPG and fuel efficiency. Aslo Im looking to get lift in the next few months so im going to need all the help I can get. Thanks.

 

If your looking to lift it your probably also gonna be interested in getting bigger tires later on down the road. Both are going to reduce your fuel economy. Also for the most part, an exhaust system is generally gonna result in atlest a 1-2mpg drop depending on your truck and how you drive.

Howeverone way to increase itis adding a better intake setup on their. A drop in K&N air filter is gonna help a bit if you'll stay out of the throttle. A cold air intake is going to help a lot more.

You might check this out: https://www.truckforums.com/m_17037/tm.htm
This is basically the cheap/free mods you can do to gain power. I don't recommend cutting the muffler off and your not going to see a gain by removing the insulation under your upper intake plenum. But the others are pretty good.

 

MPG considerations and lift kits aren't exactly the best of bed fellows. In fact, one might go so far as to say they're antonyms.

Man up... Bust out the ol' credit card and wipe the tears from your girly man eyes. : ) We must all be prepared to make sacrifices to follow the American dream of driving a truck.

 

for mileage like charger said do some sort of modification to the intake, get a throttle body spacer, and make sure your tires are properly inflated. thats about all you can do.

if you go for a lift i wouldnt recommend a body lift. they dont actually provide any extra ground clearance and imho they look likecrap. depending on how big you go you might want to regear as well to make up for the bigger tires.

 

What gears do you have?

 

Lift kits, Bigger tires, = More weight, less aerodynamics, more HP to turn bigger tires = Not a good combination, but good luck, as we all wanna make our trucks LQQK good. I'd love bigger tires with a lift of some sort, but 1st of all, with gas prices, not a good idea, and 2nd of all, i just got married 3 yrs ago, and wanna keep it that way, and wifey had all she could do to get in my truck before i put the nerf bars on, with a lift, she'd never get in it (Hmmmm, theres a thought....... J/K). Is the LQQKs of a lift / bigger tires worth the losses? Not in my opinion. Good luck in your decision. Jim