Is it worth downsizing from a full size to compact pickup?
 

So with gas where it's at, I'm starting to consider selling my truck. It's a 99 Silverado Extended Cab with the vortec 5300. Normally gas wouldn't bother me because my commute was always less than 10 miles but this summer I have a real job and will be commuting 100 miles a day. I need something that has towing capability, so I still want to stay in a truck, just something that gets better gas mileage. The only problem is, the smaller trucks I'm looking at(Tacoma's, Frontiers, Rangers, ext,) don't seem to be all that impressive with their MPG ratings.

If I were to sell my truck, this is the goals I'd be looking for:
-Ability to tow ~3000 lbs
-4x4
-back seat
-22+ hwy mpg

I don't know if you'll be able to get 22+ mpg and tow 3000 lbs comfortably and have 4x4 with too many vehicles. I've been able to get around 18-19 mpg with my short bed reg cab 01 Z71 on highway trips. With a manual transmission and upgrading to electric fans from the factory clutch fan you might get close to 20-22 mpg. I don't think the V6 pickups will be able to tow 3000 lbs easily and you would probably still need a manual trans to get the 22 mpg. Maybe a V6 pickup with a supercharger will be able to tow and get the highway mpg, but then you might have trouble staying out of the throttle.:nod:

Dmax with efilive tune, +20mpg highway.

Are you going to be towing that much weight FOR work? If so, you won't see any benefit in fuel economy.

Whether you're towing or not, with that much mileage daily, you're going to be hating life in ANY truck. My commute is 86 miles round trip, five days a week, in a 2002 VW Jetta wagon that gets 28-30 mpg. With a 13 gallon tank, I STILL have to fuel up every three days at about $40 per fill.

Just a thought from someone who's been there, but judging by the term "real job" and the Rutgers avatar, I'm just guessing you're in school and either starting out in the "real" world come graduation, or just working a summer job. If it's the start of your career, you may want to consider getting something better on gas for commuting and save for something used to tow around whatever toy is around 3000 pounds. If it's just a summer job, you need to decide if you want to spend most of the money you earn on fuel. Sorry...old man's perspective. The other option would be a 6 cylinder truck, but like I said...gas will suck anyway.

I planned on a 6 cylinder truck and threw the 3000lb towing capacity out there. Realistically it would need to be able to tow say 1500 lbs every now and then. And yes, I'm still in college and this summer I have an internship which is why I have the long commute.

Jeff- I didn't even think about the electric fan conversion. I will look into it. Basically if I could somehow squeeze 20 mpg outta this truck it would be enough for me to consider keeping it.

Another option: I could keep the truck and split driving with my camaro. Even with the H/C package it gets 23 mpg but the car has minimal rock chips on it and I really would like to keep miles off it if I can. It also doesn't have AC.

Why not look into getting some really cheap/crap civic? im sure you could spend less than a grand and get one that will survive a summer that you can resell come september and make most of your money back

This option would be what i would go for, granted if i had the money to drop on another vehicle

EDIT: http://cnj.craigslist.org/cto/2968895686.html its ugly as sin but it would do its job...

This is exactly what I did. Got a 2002 civic for $900. 31mpg all city driving. Liability only insurance is only like an additional $50 a month too...

I already have 2 vehicles. I had 3 for a while and it's just useless imo. I'm trying to set myself up for the future. I don't want a temporary fix. I've wanted to keep the silverado until atleast the end of college(2 more years), so if I replace it I'd like to replace it with something that I could count on to do the same/meet the versatility of my current truck.

i was driving my father in-laws '03 silverado 1500 ext. cab 4x4 z71 with the tow package and 4.8l back and forth from phillipsburg to fairfield (150 miles round trip) every day, with the tune, cai, headers and full exhaust i was averaging almost 23-24 babying it windows down no ac cruise set to 70. i couldnt believe it but its true. that truck still gets great mileage now on the highway with meatier tires (21-22mpg) if you baby it at 65. also depends on what gas you run. i dont care what anyone says it does matter, the ethanol crap eats your mileage away. i only run shell now since i worked at a few different gas stations plus drive company vehicles and saw my mileage dissappear with crap gas in my workvan. just throwing it out there.

plus i can still tow a ton of weight with that truck and get not too bad for a little 4.8l fuel mileage

get a tune in it the 5.3l should do better since its more motor for the same weight.

IMO meeting in the middle like you are trying to do is a poor decision. I think you will be unsatisfied with the couple more MPGs you gain when you realize all of the versatility you lost with a full size. And to be honest, youre in college, college kids need temp fixes, in a perfect world you could set yourself up for what you need in the future right now, but you dont know what youre gonna need, if you wanna trailer that camaro in the future a compact truck aint gonna cut it

These are just my opinions on what I'd do. I have my project camaro, a silverado, and commute to college. I originally wanted a compact so i could haul my go kart and quad around but i went with a full size because i do a lot of scrapping along with some towing time to time so it made more sense in my situation

cheap commuter is a good way to go. chances are that when your done with it you will recoop your money. the other option is to do some upgrades to the truck to free up some MPG's

Drive slower.

You can tow your jetski with your camaro.

If you absolutely need a truck I would keep the one you have unless you need to free up cash. I sold my Ram 1500 to pay off my wife's jeep, I really never did "truck" stuff with it so I don't really miss it. My short term plan didn't turn out so great and I ended up spending more money to fix my replacement vehicle.

I used to average about 18-19 on the highway with the Hemi and about 12-13 around town. My dad recently bought a Ranger (2005ish) and he gets an average 16mpg.

Just as an FYI, Josh (jerzlt1) is pulling down 20mpg average with a 2500 diesel, just tuned, my 2500 with bolt ons does 17mpg average and that is strictly around town.

If you can't get your gasser to do above 20mpg, you drive it to fast. How much would a free flowing exhaust and economy tune run ya?

Keep your truck, buy a cheap sport bike, ride it when its nice and watch the numbers balance out.

Just a thought. The compact pickup trucks are on their way out. The colorado and maybe the frontier/equator are the closest things. Ranger will be over after this or next year (or maybe already gone? not sure). Tacoma and Dakota are mid size trucks now and you might as well be in a fullsize.

Ranger is gone already. Next Dakota and Colorado will be a uni-body. you basically have two choices for a good mid-size and that is the Tacoma and the Frontier

They have to be new?

In my extended cab 4.3 S10 I'm getting 20-21 City. No real highway numbers.

I have a Z85 which has the increased towing capacity.

I noticed you want a backseat. Theres a guy on the S10forum with a crew cab thats getting about the same mileage as me.

I would love a Holden Colorado..

Already has a flowmaster muffler on it. Idk if the flowmaster on the trucks get the same reviews as the ones for the LS cars though. I'll have to see about a tune though.

So 100 miles@day x 5 days x 12 weeks (summer) = 6000 miles

Some quick math:
So how much effort and cost do you want to put into save ~$510?

keep tire psi high, use your cruise control to stay near the speed limit, lighten up on the throttle off lights.

I got a black bear performance tune. Its awesome. And only $200

No, it will not be worth it. You will not gain much in the way of fuel efficiency, and going nuts won't save you much, as Scott did. Luckily I saw his post before I had to do my own calculations :lol:

Beat me to it. You may be really over thinking this. A beat box beater is totally NOT worth it, as the first time it breaks down you are probably throwing all of your savings out the door.

You know I totally agree with you and I had done the math before making this thread. It's just recently I've had family members trying to convince me it's the right idea. I think I will look into a tune and possibly the electric fans and be happy with 18-19 mpg.

Being a car guy I'm sure you probably stay up on your maintenance but as Scott said make sure your air pressures are high, your air filter is clean, etc.