Diesel F150

[S L Dave]

I just read that Ford is going to have a 330HP, 550ft/lbs torque 4.4 L supercharged diesel in the 2010 F150. Available next Summer.

I am thinking that if I owned 40 acres in Texas...I could grow and process my own biofuel for a diesel engine and never have to give another penny to the middle east.

[Chaps]

I doubt that Ford will be making the engine compliant with biodiesel but if it is you would be better off making your bio from used cooking oil than growing a crush crop.

[S L Dave]

Hey Chaps...
I thought that all diesel motors could run McFry oil with minor mods. No?

[Chaps]

Unfortunately the new diesels are so tweaked out for emissions control that the manufacturers won't honor warranties if you run biodiesel and I can't imagine trying to get the new engines to run on straight waste vegetable oil. I don't know how it is all going to shake out, go to thedieselstop.com and check out their alternate fuels forum for lots of discussion on the topic. I run biodiesel in my 86 F350 and my 94 Powerstroke no problem and could convert them to run waste cooking oil if I wanted to but don't count on doing either with a new tech F150. Those things are designed to run on low sulphur petrodiesel only AFAIK.

[welder]

I just read that Ford is going to have a 330HP, 550ft/lbs torque 4.4 L supercharged diesel in the 2010 F150. Available next Summer.

I am thinking that if I owned 40 acres in Texas...I could grow and process my own biofuel for a diesel engine and never have to give another penny to the middle east.

Dude the new motors don't run Veggie oil and basicaly no Bio.

Now if I could score a 7.3 PS or a early 5.9 cummins we could talk. :)

[S L Dave]

Oh well...it was a thought.

[welder]

Daddy'O and I have spent HOURS talking this over and it may still happen.

[BrianW]

I'm running a '93 F250 with the old IDI 7.3l turbo diesel. The back fuel tank needs replaced, and once that's done I'm going to run WMO (waste motor oil) rather than veggy oil in that tank.

[JETTYWOLF]

I just read that Ford is going to have a 330HP, 550ft/lbs torque 4.4 L supercharged diesel in the 2010 F150. Available next Summer.

I am thinking that if I owned 40 acres in Texas...I could grow and process my own biofuel for a diesel engine and never have to give another penny to the middle east.

Why the hell would Ford do such a stupid thing...and we wonder why the US auto makers are always in dire straits?????
Make a V6-gas engine super charged whatever it takes, that has the pulling and yanking power of a big Diesel, and gets 40 MPG on the highway and you'll continue to have the #1 Truck in America. The Ford F-150.

I'm a 3/4 ton kinda guy, but would consider a 1/2 ton then.

[M1911]

Make a V6-gas engine super charged whatever it takes, that has the pulling and yanking power of a big Diesel, and gets 40 MPG on the highway and you'll continue to have the #1 Truck in America. The Ford F-150.

Sorry, but that isn't going to happen simply because it is impossible to do so.

Ford is working on a turbo V6 for its trucks, but there is no way it will get 30 mpg, let alone 40 mpg. Even light-duty pickups like the F150 is heavy. Furthermore, it has a large cross-sectional area, so it has a lot of aerodynamic drag. Maybe they'll get 25 mpg highway, but you won't be pulling 10,000 lbs with it.

There is no free lunch.

[JETTYWOLF]

If they wanted too, they could come up with about anything, I'm sure.
It's all about Dollars and cents.

It's okay the Japs will do it someday first probably......again.

[M1911]

If they wanted too, they could come up with about anything, I'm sure.

Nope. It is about physics. If any of the automakers could build a full-size truck that would get 40 mpg at a reasonable price tag, they would do so. They would own the market and make billions (as opposed to losing billions at the moment).

Gasoline engines are already quite efficient. They've already got the low-hanging fruit. Changes from here on are going to be small percentages. For example, direct injection (which is starting to show up in some engines) gives another 10-15% efficiency. Turbocharging can add a bit more. Six and seven speed transmissions can give another few percent. But the reality is that a fullsize truck now gets about 15 mpg. Marginal increases are not going to get us to 40 mpg in the same size and weight vehicle.

Clean diesel technology will give 20-30% added efficiency. Unfortunately, the tier 2 bin 5 EPA regulations are difficult and expensive to meet, and they also reduce fuel efficiency. That isn't going to get a fullsize truck to 40 mpg either. For example, the current diesel one ton trucks are getting well below 20 mpg right now.

The only true game changer on the horizon is the Chevy Volt, which is an extended range electric vehicle. With a 40 mpg range on batteries alone, the mileage could be truly spectacular for those with commutes of less than 40 miles per day. But that is going to be a small, light car with excellent aerodynamics. And due to the cost of the batteries, it is likely to sticker near $40k. Putting that technology into a truck would likely require three times the size of batteries, resulting in a cost far above $60k.

There is no silver bullet. If the US, Japanese, or Euro automakers had a such a bullet, they would have fired it already.

Realize this: the Toyota Prius is a small, light car with excellent aerodynamics and far less than 1/2 the frontal area of a pickup truck. And in practical usage it only just beats 40 mpg. If the Prius can only barely do better than 40 mpg, there is absolutely no way a fullsize pickup can do that.

[JETTYWOLF]

Okay 30-35....I wasn't being LITERAL.

Then re-invent the truck or car....that ole 1978 VW shaped like a box got better than 50 MPG on the Highway, sometimes. I asked my dad who drove it back and forth to work about it today as we drove down the road going to eat breakfast, watching single women driving monster SUV's to work at 8am.

And still we look at all the car dealerships that line Jacksonville's main thoroughfares and never see a single tiny diesel 50 MPG car in any lot.

Wonder what the deal is, back in 1978 we were running out, and today we're still running out.

Total bullsh-t!

[S L Dave]

Good point Dave. Still running out of oil!!


If you pick up a newspaper from 1927, 1933, 1948, 1956, 1963, 1980 and 2008...jumble up all the front page articles...you couldn't tell where they belonged.

Same crap different year.

[Ironwoodtuna]

My old surf rig with a Ford Diesle 7.2 Navistar, TORQUE, BALLS & BIG AS TIRES!!! 39" x 19" on 15" 8-lug rims...Built her from the ground up.

[welder]

7.3 L

COOL TRUCK, what did you do with it ? Still around?

[S L Dave]

Marty...you always have cooler $hi^ than I do.

Awesome truck. I had a 79 Bronco that I would take on the beach on long island and south jersey to surf fish. I miss east coast fishing...and dunkin donuts coffee.

[Ironwoodtuna]

Here are some of my other trucks I built over the years all were made by me into 4x4, none came with 4x4.
1964 Chevy Panel Delivery, 2x2 6cyl. made into 4x4 withV8 350 vette motor and I did the flip noses.




2x2 Toyota with a Jeep I pit under it full roll cage, custom top. etc


1960 Bison Curbside Bread Truck 2x2 then 4x4

[Ironwoodtuna]

This 1989 Ranger truck did have 4x4 when I got it, but I jacked it up, dual shocks, big tire & rims,



Then I made the front and rear wrap around bumpers and tire swing rack in the back out of steel diamond plate, bunks inside with milk crates full of plugs under them. etc., etc.



An here is the toyota on a good night on the cape...look inside after you see the fish on the ground which came out of the cooler...it was time to get a hotel room that night!

Look at the sand on the cooler straps, from the truck being so low with all the fish in it it dragged on the beach in some of the gruves!






Here I am Drysuiting off Block Island, hand sewn surf bags, custom self built rods and lures, notice the waterproof strobe light on my back, S/S hardware on my belt and eel bag. I make and modify everything I own....guess that's why I got the nickname the "MODIFIER!"

[Ironwoodtuna]

I Got tired of the police chasing us off the 3rd Wantagh Bridge at night. So I built these BRIDGE HANGERS to be like a down vertical tuna pulput only it was a Bass Bridge Pulpit. The was a hoop at waist height, the two arms hooked on the bottom rail and a 7' 3" galvanized pipe went doen to a 18"x18" foot platform, Suckers were heavy, but worth it. We used heavy Harnell rods and Squidder with 50# Micro and a Al Anderson custom bucktail. Big Bass came to those casts.

[welder]

Marty, thank God your still alive.

[Ironwoodtuna]

Welder, What are you saying there???

I use to Surf fished 7-days a week, 9-months a year, then one night a hurricane was coming in so I took the night off and went drinkin, I flipped my truck, dropped 8-milk creates full of plugs spreading thousonds of lures on the parkway, while my other friend tried to go out on the jetty during the storm and got washed off and died and my other friend got stabbed in a fight, all because we couldnt go surf fishing for just ONE night!

If you want to se more truck picturs go here: http://picasaweb.google.com/martyl.mcmi ... ckPicutres



What did they say...30-and stupid! Now I am 50 and just plain nuts!

[welder]

I know a crash when I see one

And I see alot of things :)

[M1911]

Then re-invent the truck or car....that ole 1978 VW shaped like a box got better than 50 MPG on the Highway, sometimes. I asked my dad who drove it back and forth to work about it today as we drove down the road going to eat breakfast, watching single women driving monster SUV's to work at 8am.

And still we look at all the car dealerships that line Jacksonville's main thoroughfares and never see a single tiny diesel 50 MPG car in any lot.

1. The old VW didn't get anywhere near 50 MPG on the highway. Overall average was 20-25 mpg combined. http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index ... 209AANL6Mw

2. The old VWs would not meet current crash protection standards. Not by a long shot. The heavy structures and extra width required to meet side impact standards results in much heavier cars. And the six airbags add weight too, along with ABS, etc. The VW Golf today weighs over 3000 lbs. That reduces fuel efficiency.

4. The old VW beetle was completely gutless. 0-60 in around 14 seconds. Top speed of maybe 80 if you were brave enough.

5. Cars from the 70s will not meet today's emission standards. The current (and upcoming) standards are incredibly stringent.

6. Diesels are coming. But the small diesel cars you see in Europe won't meet the US EPA (and CARB) standards. Tier 2 Bin 5 is incredibly stringent -- far more stringent than current EU standards. Until a couple years ago, the auto makers simply didn't know how they were going to get diesel engines to meet Tier 2 Bin 5. The technology to do so has just been invented in the last couple years. Current turbo diesels cost at least $1000 more to make than a similar power gas engine. The emissions gear required to meet Tier 2 Bin 5 adds at least another $1000 on top of that. In addition, that emissions gear costs fuel economy, reducing the diesel advantage from 30% over a gas engine to maybe 20%. $2000 buys a lot of gas. I'm a big fan of small turbo diesels. But given how diesel is now $.80 to $1.00 a gallon more than gas in many markets, and the fact that the diesel engine is going to cost a good $2000 more than a similar gas engine, I don't think the economics work in favor of the diesel.

Don't blame the car makers for this mess. This mess lies squarely at the feet of EPA and CARB. We need a sensible emissions standard -- a single standard, achievable standard across the nation. CARB needs to be abolished, permanently.

Finally, CAFE has always been a completely idiotic policy from the get go. It is very hard to get people to buy something that they don't want, which is the basis of CAFE. A far more sensible policy is to change what people want to buy.

That is easily achievable by using simple micro-economics. The demand for gasoline is a function of its price (though there is a lag time): as the price for gas goes up, people buy less of it. In particular, they start shopping for more fuel efficient cars. We've seen that in the past year as the price hit $3 and sales of large SUVs and pickups tanked. We could have (and should have) started the movement away from SUVs and trucks years ago by simply increasing the gas tax over time.

[JETTYWOLF]

It wasn't a beetle, a 78 diesel VW rabbit, on a hiway. Blew head gaskets all the time. I think it was a coverted gas motor. Problematic, but efficiant.