Pulling 3000-6000 lb trailer a little over 1000 miles a week I am getting about 12.5 - 13 mpg. I also see a lot of black smoke on heavy initial acceleration. Maybe not a lot but it is noticable. I drive mostly 60-65 mph everyday. I know my mpg is significantly higher when not towing but I was hoping for better than I'm getting. Had the IP replaced about 14k miles ago. How do I check the amount of boost I am getting as I can see from reading other posts it might be part of my problem.

Simple, add a boost gauge thats the best way, have to monitor it and see where it rides, other than that find somebody with a scanner to ride in the pass seat with you, gauge would be best, you get to keep it and you don't need a second person to watch it.


Some black smoke on initial accel is completely normal, all of them do, takes a couple seconds for boost to spool up to burn all the extra fuel. Unless the truck smokes after the first few seconds, excepting shift points, then theres probably nothing wrong with your boost levels.

Where exactly do I put the gauge inline? I'm a novice on diesels, pretty good with gassers so I think I can figure it out, but where do I hook it up? thanks.

Just to be sure you might want to become familiar with the Vacuum wastegate opperation. It should pull a steady 15"Hg at idle at the WG actuator. 25" at the solenoid(driverside valve cover).




















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anywhere between the turbo and the intake manifold would be fine, I simply drilled a hole in the top of the intake and ran a small tube (all the fittings/tubing came with the kit from Banks) through the firewall to a gauge on the dash.

Before tapping intake for the boost tap make sure to pull the upper intake, do your drill/tap work off engine, your engine won't digest the chips very well, with 4:10 final your mpg nos are in the ballpark

Pulling 3000-6000 lb trailer a little over 1000 miles a week I am getting about 12.5 - 13 mpg. I also see a lot of black smoke on heavy initial acceleration. Maybe not a lot but it is noticable. I drive mostly 60-65 mph everyday. I know my mpg is significantly higher when not towing but I was hoping for better than I'm getting. Had the IP replaced about 14k miles ago. How do I check the amount of boost I am getting as I can see from reading other posts it might be part of my problem.


First get a good exhaust you will get more power and better MPG and only help your engine. if your pulling 1,000 miles a week after awhile your exhaust will be paid for by fuel savings. If you get 1 MPG better at $1.75 gallon and an exhaust cost of $500 it will take you about 57 weeks to save enoguh to pay for the exhaust.Edited by: 16gaSxS

My dad just did a road trip in his 96. it's a k3500 cc it weighs the same 4.5 tons that mine does, automatic,4.10's has the same 33x12.5 tires, he runs 10k ohms on his MAP, 3" straight same as mine, but stock timing. He did 18 mpg empty over about 400 miles. I've never gotten close to that but I get 15.5 loaded or not.

612 miles on this tank, right at 30 gal to fill so I'm right at the 20 MPG mark.

Pulling 3000-6000 lb trailer a little over 1000 miles a week I am getting about 12.5 - 13 mpg. I also see a lot of black smoke on heavy initial acceleration. Maybe not a lot but it is noticable. I drive mostly 60-65 mph everyday. I know my mpg is significantly higher when not towing but I was hoping for better than I'm getting. Had the IP replaced about 14k miles ago. How do I check the amount of boost I am getting as I can see from reading other posts it might be part of my problem.


First get a good exhaust you will get more power and better MPG and only help your engine.* if your pulling 1,000 miles a week after awhile your exhaust will be paid for by fuel savings.* If you get 1 MPG better at $1.75 gallon* and an exhaust cost of $500 it will take you about 57 weeks to save enoguh to pay for the exhaust.

how much mpg gain can you get with a new exhaust? What are the good ones???

My MPG went up 1 mpg with a 3" mandrel bent staright pipe (can be seen on "my truck pics" post). It also incresaed the turbo noise and gave my exhaust an open note I didn't know a diesel could hit. Sounds like a hotrod diesel to me. Power seems easier to build, I can hear even a slight miss in the engine (when there's problems) and when I floor it it roars!


The best exhaust to get is anything that's 3" or 3 1/2" mandrel bent downpipe and either stays the same diameter or gets bigger as you go back, let's say 3" to 3 1/2" to 4" would work. Summit has the cheapest downpipe and crossover kit I've seen at under $90. I paid $170 just for a downpipe, made the rest.Edited by: quantum mechanic

My MPG went up 1 mpg with a 3" mandrel bent staright pipe (can be seen on "my truck pics" post). It also incresaed the turbo noise and gave my exhaust an open note I didn't know a diesel could hit. Sounds like a hotrod diesel to me. Power seems easier to build, I can hear even a slight miss in the engine (when there's problems) and when I floor it it roars!


The best exhaust to get is anything that's 3" or 3 1/2" mandrel bent downpipe and either stays the same diameter or gets bigger as you go back, let's say 3" to 3 1/2" to 4" would work. Summit has the cheapest downpipe and crossover kit I've seen at under $90. I paid $170 just for a downpipe, made the rest.








Might be an interesting post to see what people think are the better exhaust kits out there and how they affect performance. Ive just been googling the various exhaust kits out there for my truck, and have noticed a HUGE difference in products offered. Some are just muffler back, cat back, and some are the whole deal. http://www.dieselplace.com/forum/smileys/Shocked.gif Plus besides obvious quality differences, some offer more than just exhaust (intake and filter components). Too bad there isnt a testing site that reviews them all for us.

My MPG went up 1 mpg with a 3" mandrel bent staright pipe (can be seen on "my truck pics" post). It also incresaed the turbo noise and gave my exhaust an open note I didn't know a diesel could hit. Sounds like a hotrod diesel to me. Power seems easier to build, I can hear even a slight miss in the engine (when there's problems) and when I floor it it roars!


The best exhaust to get is anything that's 3" or 3 1/2" mandrel bent downpipe and either stays the same diameter or gets bigger as you go back, let's say 3" to 3 1/2" to 4" would work. Summit has the cheapest downpipe and crossover kit I've seen at under $90. I paid $170 just for a downpipe, made the rest.





Hey QM


First: I got the package thanks


Second: You have just a 3" all the way out the back,

For now. I would put a 4" if I had one. The other thing I considered doing is getting a 3" Y and putting a second 3" like the one I have right next to it.Edited by: quantum mechanic

I guess I could settle for just a 3" for now but maybe I" see what else the muffler man can come up with.

3" is sufficient, back pressure won't be a problem, above that is over kill, but certainly won't hurt anything either.