1998 Chevy Silverado 5.0L Poor Gas Milage

[ljcheck]

Why am I only getting 8 mpg when pulling my boat(3500lbs) @ 65mph?

[xcr440]

Probably all you are going to get. What's your mileage empty or not pulling?

[rp7x]

wrong gears for towing

[big_bill]

IS IT A 6.0? 3/4 TON? THOSE TRUCK LIKE TO DRINK THE JUICE. your post says 5.0

[wisangler]

That sounds right on par with what you should get.

The 305 (5.0) and 350 (5.7) were gas hogs, but were good motors, especially the 350.

My 350 used to average about 12 not pulling anything. With my boat, I was 8-9 as well and that boat was probably in the neighborhood of 2500 pounds. You have the smaller V8 and 1000 more pounds. Plus, 65mph is going to make a huge difference. You're probably turning high 2000s, if not 3000 rpms to do that.

[bouncer]

Stay out of the throttle! Run it 55 to 60 and you will see a big difference in mileage.

[bouncer]

One other thing you might want to do is have it tuned by Justin. His Blackbear tuner is getting great reviews.