So, I bought a fraken-truck off Craigslist.
87 V10, originally a 305, might be a 350 (haven't pulled the alternator to run the codes), turbo 400, np208, 10 bolt front, 12 bolt rear, 4" lift, 33" tires.
I originally thought I had the stock 700R4 and thought that would be a good fit for my uses for the truck, but when I had the truck in at the local differential shop for repair work (the rear diff was completely destroyed- even tore up the casing) I was told I have the three speed turbo 400.
I know this is supposed to be a beast of a tranny, just a little disappointed because I would have liked a little more flexibility in taking this truck on the highway. The shop did me a really big favor and since I am running 33" tires on top of the high altitude here (over 6k feet), we did 4.10s in the newly rebuilt front and rear differentials over the original 3.42s- they reconfigured my speedo for the new ratio and tires. The RPMs at just regular highway speeds seem to run pretty high- and I can only shudder to think of what they would be if I attempted to go 65-70.
I know mpg is going to be crap regardless, but I think there is something else major going on because it shouldn't be this bad.... I filled the passenger tank up about a month ago and almost all of it was gone with only about 30 miles of city driving- if that. The motor seems to run fine, just a little hesitation and a slight miss when cold- hard starts when hot. All of this horrible mileage was with the crapped out rear end and the 3.42s. Just filled up again, so I will have to see if there is any improvements with the rebuilt drivetrain, but I still need to do a tune-up.
If I really did only 30 miles on a 20 gallon fill-up, they alludes to 1.5 miles per gallon. I was under the impression I should be at least in the 8-10 mpg range. Anyone seen that kind of crappy mileage? I will need to do a more accurate assessment of the gallons used per miles travelled, but it can't possibly be that bad and still be normal....
Really beginning to wish for that 700.
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