Spikes Silverado Story

[CamaroSpike23]

2006 Chevy Silverado 2500HD 6.0L


If you remember, I had a 98 F150 that I managed to push past the 200k mile mark. after some issues with the transfer case back in January, my wife and I decided it was time to move onto something better. and with a child on the way, I needed a full 4 door truck to fit the carseat and whatnot. so we traded in "Adrienne" for the Chevy (she hasn't told me her name yet).




To do list:

Spark plugs DONE!



Seafoam gas and oil DONE!



Change oil to RP and wix filter DONE!



Change rear diff fluid to RP DONE!


Wheels


Tires DONE!

Clean engine and engine bay

Headlight retaining pin.

New Carrier Bearing for 2pc Driveshaft


Electric fan conversion


Custom CAI and new Air filter will follow the E-fan conversion for clearance reasons


"Underskin" to reduce turbulence under the truck at speed


Gear ratio change








BIG projects that I'm still debating on:

6 speed Allison transmission (The 4l80E is great, but I want an allison... lol)

twin turbos or a supercharger considering the engine is running 9.4:1 compression. Turbo's would be easy to fit into the engine bay or if I wanted a rear mount system, there's plenty of room. havent fully decided on either of those as the truck makes plenty of power down low and with the 4.10 gears, turbos might work better.

Duramax/Allison swap.... 5 year pipe dream...lol

[CamaroSpike23]

after attaining an average of 10-12mpg both city and highway, I decided enough was enough. considering that my current job requires me to drive just about 100 miles one way to work, something had to be done about the fuel mileage in the truck. the 4.10 gears arent helping matters, but I'm not going to swap them out (just yet).


first things first, changed the spark plugs
.
highway/city combined fuel economy went from 10.3 mpg to 11.8 mpg


Spark Plug pics. starting with #1 cyl and going thru #8


as you can see, some of them are corroded/worn down to a nub, and the others had plenty of arcing and buildup/contamination on them.

[CamaroSpike23]

second thing was seafoaming the truck.

( videos in work)


after seafoaming the truck and changing the oil from conventional to Royal Purple 5w-30, fuel economy went from 11.8mpg to 14.2mpg.

[CamaroSpike23]

next steps include:

changing the rear diff fluid to RP and possibly a larger capacity diff cover

electric fan conversion

custom CAI

possibly some "underskin" to reduce turbulence under the truck at speed, possibly a rear gear change (still haven't decided).




long term considerations:

6 speed Allison transmission (The 4l80E is great, but I want an allison... lol)

twin turbos or a supercharger considering the engine is running 9.4:1 compression. Turbo's would be easy to fit into the engine bay or if I wanted a rear mount system, there's plenty of room. havent fully decided on either of those as the truck makes plenty of power down low and with the 4.10 gears, turbos might work better.

another thought that popped into my head was a Duramax/Allison swap.... 5 year pipe dream...lol

[CamaroSpike23]

Also at some undetermined point down the road, I'll be swapping out the stock 16" wheels to something a little bit taller with some better tires.
something like this
considering I do tow and haul lots of random stuff on a regular basis and the soft sidewalls of my current tires arent helping things. not to mention the 500mile roundtrip I make for reserves each month.


I dont have a whole lot of cosmetic ideas for the truck, tho a 2-3" lift might come at some point down the road. a new grille is in the works, just havent found one I like yet.

[Da Hose]

I think the only thing missing from your build thread is.....ME

[CamaroSpike23]

still missing it... lol

dont make me get Greg Norris after you again.

[Mojave]

Nice work! The truck looks great and I have never seen plugs that worn in my life (lucky I guess). The gains after the seafoam and RP is amazing. Please post the video. I have thought about doing that on my Dodge Ram. Already did the 16 spark plugs and it had almost no noticeable difference.

Maybe a seafoam and go purple in the rear gear (3.92). Looking forward to more ; )

Or maybe just get a new Chevy

[CamaroSpike23]

Originally Posted by Mojave

Nice work! The truck looks great and I have never seen plugs that worn in my life (lucky I guess). The gains after the seafoam and RP is amazing. Please post the video. I have thought about doing that on my Dodge Ram. Already did the 16 spark plugs and it had almost no noticeable difference.

Maybe a seafoam and go purple in the rear gear (3.92). Looking forward to more ; )

Or maybe just get a new Chevy

I've got about half a dozen vids that I'm working on compiling for the seafoam oil change... but windows movie maker is not working right now...

but yeah, the plugs were most likely stock, and the oil was conventional and well past its prime.

[Mr Twisty]

A 572 BB with 8-71 blower will give you a big change in fuel mileage

[Mojave]

Makes sense that they were stock with that kind of wear. I would be thrilled if I could get my Dodge back to 14mpg. It is a fuel pig.

Checking things out on their site

Originally Posted by CamaroSpike23

I've got about half a dozen vids that I'm working on compiling for the seafoam oil change... but windows movie maker is not working right now...

but yeah, the plugs were most likely stock, and the oil was conventional and well past its prime.

[bossbunny]

[CamaroSpike23]

Originally Posted by MisterCamaro69

A 572 BB with 8-71 blower will give you a big change in fuel mileage

hah, yeah.... no.

why change the current engine out of there if I want big power? I can slap an 8-71 on the LQ4 thats in there

Originally Posted by Mojave

Makes sense that they were stock with that kind of wear. I would be thrilled if I could get my Dodge back to 14mpg. It is a fuel pig.

Checking things out on their site

big thing to watch is your right foot. start driving with your big toe.

another thing to look at, which I need to add is any noticeable difference between regular and premium gas consumption.

[Mojave]

I have tried everything and there seems to be no way to get around the fact that it weighs 6700lbs