oh man, rich, thanks for the link!!! i was reading that at work last week, but closed it out b/f bookmarking it! that scott dalalin guy sounds like he knows what he's talking about. i did have a chance to exchange an email or two with him, so that was nice that he responded.

like the toyota forum, there's a lot of regurgitated opinions from people without the first hand experience. that is not to say that the opinion is not valid, but i tend to listen to those who have gone through the experience. hope no one takes offense to that little bit

that said, i did about an hour's worth of research on making biodiesel and i just can't see myself building even the smallest of small things in my already cramped garage. however, i am still going to keep an open mind and keep researching *both* options. thanks to all for their pro-bio diesel feedback and opinions.

edit: oniondip: thanks for the post. that is a good perspective that i did not consider re the "work" on the outside making the biodiesel vs the work that might happen to your engine if you're not careful.

on another note....not that my wife drives my decisions, but i think she'd be aghast if she saw converted water heater tanks w/ a burner underneath one of them . the nice thing though, is that she's totally behind the project. and i have the luxury of time and gas mileage savings on my side as my truck only gets 16mpg. not bad, but not great either.

well tomorrow, i am off to the dmv to register this. Ah, the dmv i should be getting some parts from the dieselgiant guy as well as rusty this week in time for the big maintenance weekend. I'll be researching more on the tensioner issue and i'll try to find the ones that are relevant and piggy back on the existing threads.

thanks all,
bob