Smaller tow vehicle...

[MNice]

I'm getting real sick of $500 per month gas costs so I'm thinking of a getting rid of my truck for a car. I have a 14' boat so it's not exactly like I need a pickup, I would guess boat/motor/trailer would be around 1000#. does anybody have first hand experience at towing a smaller boat with a front drive car. Specifically looking at a Pontiac vibe with a tow rating of 1500#.

Thanks for any input.

[Fishin4Life]

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If you go on Ford UK web site they sell the Ford Ranger with a turbodiesel that does 45mpg...... why cannot have it here ? We make the whole truck here, just import the motor.....

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I want one of these. that would be perfect!

[BigWadeS]

well for who knows how long they will be made here

[BobT]

I wonder how the European emmission control standards compare to the US, in particular, California? It's known that all of the changes made over the years to comply with these standards have an effect on the mileage. I remember when catalytic converters first came on the market. Many were disabled because of the drop in mileage which in some cases was very significant.

I still have a hard time believing that a vehicle that gets 16mpg with emmission controls produces any less atmospheric polutants than the same vehicle without the controls getting say 25mpg. I don't have any proof that removing all of these additions would double mileage but it certainly would increase considerably.

It seems that if I burn 50% less fuel, I'm putting 50% less polutants into the atmosphere.

Bob

[Fishin4Life]

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It seems that if I burn 50% less fuel, I'm putting 50% less polutants into the atmosphere.

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That is my thinking also

[Jaybob]

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It seems that if I burn 50% less fuel, I'm putting 50% less polutants into the atmosphere.

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That is my thinking also

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Thats true of CO2, the 'greenhouse gas' some people are so worried about. But emissions regs also include unburned hydrocarbons, CO and NOx which require revised engine operating perameters and equipment which have effected fuel efficiency negatively but raised power levels.

The really fuel efficient engines in the 80's were puting out less CO2 (due to superior mpg), but quite a bit more NOx and other pollutants.

I'm all for a Diesel in a midsized or half ton truck. Shouldn't be long...

TODAYS DIESEL NEWS

[Fishin4Life]

I am for it in passenger cars too! I really would like to get my hands on a volkswagen diesel, but it seems they are hard to come by. And when you find them the price is high compared to Gas

[Gus]

I had a 98 VW Jetta TDI. Mileage was exceptional (45-55mpg usually a 500 mile range on a tank), power was good when it was not broken. In my opinion we really really need the 50ppm sulfer diesel fuel rather than the 500ppm we had when I owned the car. I had all kinds of problems with the EGR system and soot clogging the intake and head. Spendy to get worked on too. Nobody out there would touch the TDI except the dealer. My hopes are high we will get better diesels SOON! The new 07 regulations should help. My other gripe is the Diesel pumps were always filthy. You needed rubber gloves and booties to keep from getting diesel on your hands and shoes while filling up. I'm not sure what about diesel makes it so hard to fill into a car or truck but man are the pumps filthy!

[Gissert]

Regular petro diesel tends to foam a lot, so when the filler neck trips the pump handle, fuel splashes out. This is even more common with the big rig size nozzles. Once it is on the pavement/concrete, it becomes very oily and does not evaporate like gasoline.

You are correct that a good diesel mech is hard to find. Luckily I know a couple.

The low sulfer fuels are great when it comes to emissions, but the fuel tends to have a lot less lubricity, and this can be hard on fuel lubed injector pumps. This can be overcome with an additive such as Power Service.

While I dont run a smaller tow vehicle, my Dodge Ram with the Cummins diesel has been a good rig, and gets excellent milage when unloaded.

Lately, I have been running 99.9 percent biodiesel. So far I am impressed. It has been about a dime or so cheaper than petro-diesel, and it smells like a turkey fryer. I notice almost no black puff out the tailpipe when shifting gears on the on ramps. It does seem to have a little less MPG though. I wont be able to run the 99.9 bio much past September when the weather cools off.

I've had good luck with the 20% bio blend, and the milage is on par with regular petro, perhaps even a tad better.

[Fishin4Life]

Can you run the Bio in the winter with a fuel tank heater? Or does it just turn into a pain in the a**?

[DTro]

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I also towed a 800 lb trailer with a 1000 lb lawn tractor 300 miles through western WI and SE MN hills and still got 22 mpg @ 60 mph

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That's one heck of a lawn tractor

[Valv]

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I am for it in passenger cars too! I really would like to get my hands on a volkswagen diesel, but it seems they are hard to come by. And when you find them the price is high compared to Gas

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To compare the vehicles from Europe to here go to the UK site of the brand you want, it's all english.

Check the Ford Focus, there's a model that does 70mpg....

My folks have a small Ford tdiesel and spend $ 20.00 bucks /month in fuel......

[Fishin4Life]

Wow thats cool. Do they live in the UK or do that have the Ford diesel here? If they have it here where did they get it? I would be interested to find on, would be worth the extra $$

[Valv]

Mi folks live in Milan, Italy. I wish we had cars like that here....

[ZapBranigan]

Val.V. Just a quick question. I ran a older 87 Ford Ranger back when they were really cheap. It had a tiny 6 2.7 I think. 5speed stick. Anyway I towed a 16 foot Lund Rebel for years with it. It had way too many miles on it but it seemed to tow fine. I even ran it in fifth once I got it up past 45 mph without issue. My question is while loading and unloading how do you keep the Truck in place? Mine rolled back almost everytime. Scary stuff. That little 2.7 didn't have enough compression to hold her down while cranking up 1000 lbs on it. The parking brakes were never designed to work well in reverse. If you've ever taken those rear drum brakes apart you can see why.-- And I know you have--. This would be my only issue with Std tranny tow vehicles. Smaller ones anyway. It was a pain. It finally broke me and I switched to Auto. Any way just something for all to consider before going to a stick to tow.

[Fishin4Life]

I towed with a 92 4x4 S-10 blazer 5 speed. Never had her back into the lake on me. I usually left her running too. That was when I had an old 60's fiberglass boat. The P brake held supprisingly well. I wish I could get that truck back. Best vehicle I ever owned.

[rundrave]

I tow my boat(fiberglass) with a 2.7L 4cyl toyota tacoma thats a 5spd. I have had no issues whats so ever loading, pulling etc, the parking break works fine even on the steep ramps, great gas mileage too

[Gissert]

100 percent bio will gell up somewhere aroud 40 degrees. I am not sure what the gell point is on the B20 blends.

I imagine a fuel heater would work. You would also have to make sure the stuff in your fuel lines, filter cannisters, and injector lines would stay warm also. Not worth the risk for me. I'll just run a blend of fuel that will stay liquid for me when it gets cold.

[Valv]

I've heard that the 24valves injection pumps have problems with Bio/Veggie oil, you have to use a 12valve motor/pump. What do you have ?

[Gissert]

Valv,

2001.5, ETH motor, six speed.

I did a lot of checking around before I ran the bio, and could not really find anything that would discourage me from running it. Fuel pressure going into the VP44 pump is still good.

I did notice that the fuel pressure dropped a couple PSI after my first tank, but that was just my filter catching all the petro gunk in the tank that was getting dissolved from the bio. Changed the filter, and it has been good ever since.

I suppose if I squeak the VP44, I'll wonder if I caused it with the BIO, but the pump does have 204K on it. I know I am on borrowed time......

[uffdapete]

That's one heck of a lawn tractor

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A real lawn tractor - John Deere 425 w/54" mower and snowblower.

[DTro]

It must be, if you can pull an 800lb trailer at 60mph through the hills with it

[Valv]

Gissert, wow that's good. I was asking since we all know the VP44 is not the happiest pump in this world, and I did read somewhere they were discouraging 1998.5 to 2002 motors to use veggie oil.

Do you have a lift pump near tank ? I added a Holley Blue just in front of it, and eliminated any chance of blowing my VP44 due to lift pump failure. I also have 220k miles....on a 53 block.

[hondavxr]

Europe has a lot of turbo diesel cars that get 50+ mpg. Honda has a turbo diesel Accord in Europe that gets 65 mpg. The reason why US is not getting these cars, we had cheap low quality diesel here in the states. Many manf. think that us Americans would not like the ticking sound of the diesel motors. Rmemeber that the blue hair ladies are a dominant force in the auto market.

[Gissert]

Valv -

Oh man, a 53 block! Well, if it has made it this long, you must have a good one. Cummins has been pretty stand-offish in their endorsement of using bio or bio blends in the ISB and older applications. They now say B20 is ok in the newer common rail applications. I think the real reason is more realated that the VP is a very fussy critter.

I dug around a lot on bio fuel groups, and saw that enough people were having good results, so I decided to try it. The lube factor is the real reason why I wanted to try it. First, I would fill up with a half tank of B20 on top of a half tank of petro. Works great. I did that for a couple of months, and then in early June I was near empty and filled up with a tank of B99.9. It ran well too, even quieted down a fair amount. No noticeble loss of power, and it smelled great! I have about 3000 miles on the clock with various blends of B20, B99.9 and petro. Once the weather starts cooling down, I will go back to a mix of B20 and petro.

One thing I did notice is the B99.9 does not seem to read very well on my fuel pressure gage. I have the kit I bought from Geno's garage. I ran a grease gun line from the Schrader valve on the VP44 to the remote sender, and then ran the wires to the gage in the cab. On B99.9, the fuel pressure tends to read lower, and fluctuate a bit. I thought my lift pump was going bad again, so I ordered another. In the meantime, I filled up with petro diesel, and the fuel pressure readings returned to normal. The next week, I filled up with B99.9 again, and the reading decreased once more. Ran about 300 miles, topped up with petro, and the fuel pressure was back up. I wonder if the viscosity of the bio is acting different through the Schrader valve to the transducer?

So, now I have a new lift pump in my boonie box. I really should break down and get the FASS system and be done with it.