I’m looking at an '84 chevy stepside with three on the tree. is the gas mileage much better than my '89 scottsdale with a 350?
Wow-- that must have been close to the last year for the straight six and 3 on the tree. I have a ‘76 chevy 1/2 ton 2wd with the 250 and the ol’ three-on-the-tree. It’ll usually get close to 20mpg on the highway, although I mostly attribute this to the fact that the transmission is geared so low that you don’t really want to cruise much over 55 or 60. I don’t know how much the truck changed over time-- my '76 was the first year with a catalytic converter but other than that there’s not really much in the way of emissions equipment.
actually, i owned an '89 chev with 3 on the tree several years ago… nice looking truck… my guess was that it was a factory order… thanks for the advice.
Look closely at the '84. The 6 cyl that year had an ‘integrated’ head that was prone to crack.
that 250 straight six great motor easy to work on had one in my 79 nova
Your original question was about the mileage - what do you get with your '89? The 250 might not be a lot better, depending on how much you have to carry.
when i owned the '89, gas prices weren’t a hot topic… so, i’m not sure
Well, gee, seeing as how both of these trucks were apparently available in semi-recent times, lets look at www.fueleconomy.gov
Pretending it’s a 1985, a half-ton 2wd truck with the 4.3 and a 3-speed is rated 16 city, 19 highway. A 1989 half-ton 2wd with the 350 and a 4-speed is rated 12 city, 16 highway. Also keep in mind these are under the “new” ratings, so the old system had both trucks with 2 more MPG city and 1 more MPG highway. I’ve found that with my driving style I usually get closer to the old system on the highway.
The 79 model used to get 23 on the highway.