Posted inside an earlier thread but, I am looking for suggestions for any pick up trucks that are diesel and can run WVO.
My son who is pretty big (6'5" and 250 ish) is 17 today, and barely fits behind the wheel of my 300D...wants to run on oil....
I know dodge cummins D is an option but they may be too pricey for his 1st ride....Tryin to keep it in the 3-5K range max....
Thanks....

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'87 924S
'81 280SEL

Sold ->

81 300SD -
93 300E w/ 3.2
85 300D-
79 300SD
82 300CD
83 300CD - CA
87 190E 5 spd
87 Porsche 924S

"..I'll take a simple "C" to "G" and feel brand new about it..."

If you will go to Frybrid.com and read, including the archives, you will find a wealth of info & links to diesel truck sites where they discuss the reliability, etc.

My kid bro that turned 16 on the 5th of September is 6'6" @ 345 and fits behind the wheel of my F150 okay. They had 6.9s, 7.3s, and 7.3 turbos in the 250/350s... IH motors seem pretty durable.

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I'm not a doctor, but I'll have a look.

'85 300SD 245k
'87 300SDL 251k
'90 300SEL 326k

Six others from BMW, GM, and Ford.

Liberty will not descend to a people; a people must raise themselves to liberty.[/IMG]

Austin,
Go to TheDieselStop.com and do some research on their archives.
These guys and gals are every bit as helpful as the folks here on the Mercedes site and just as passionate about their oil burners.

I've had a NA 6.9l F-250 for 7 years, and the site was indispensable to help me learn the ins & outs of keeping it running well. I have no intention of getting rid of my '85, it has ZERO cab rattles and is tough as nails. Brake parts are cheap, the engine lends itself well to turbocharging with aftermarket bits, and the interior says TRUCK, not some wussied up modified car interior. Replacement inside door panels are available from JC Whitney, and with plastic/vinyl paint from your local automotive paint store, interiors can come back looking great.
Just watch out for the stock glow plug controller-they get wet, short out and burn out all 8 at once while you're going down the road.
Replace it ASAP with a pushbutton and you'll be good to go.
The 7.3's had water jacket cavitation issues, be sure if you're looking for a truck of this vintage to verify that the cooling system was well maintained with water wetter or something like that.
Happy Hunting,

__________________
Nate Stanley
(Currently Benzless)
1985 F-250 6.9l 170K
2009 SCION XB 36.5K
2003 LS430 78K
2012 Kubota B 2320

I had a 1983 6.2 which I bought new, took to the Middle East, drove the crap out of, brought back here, drove the crap out of, gave to my teenager son who drove the crap out of it, and who finally cut a telephone pole in half with it, I rebuilt the front end, and finally it blew a head gasket at which point I had to put it out of its misery. Besides, my son was happier driving my 1975 300d than that old truck.

I now have a 1982 6.2 with 150k miles on it. I just had to put a new injection pump in it for $900 but other than that both truck's engines have been bullit proof. I ran this last one on WVO and it did pretty well except that since I didn't caustic wash the grease it tended to plug up the tank and injection pump strainer.

The 6.5 is the same engine except it has a turbo. In my opinion turbos are just something else to go wrong and cost you money. My '82 6.2 can go from zero to speeding ticket as fast as any truck I have ever driven.

Stick with an IDI (doubt you'll find much else in price range) The 12 valve cummings are what you'd be looking at, Not the 24 valve. Otherwise both GM and Fords conversions have been done. Also check out biodieselinfpop.

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1999 E300DT (131,800) 154,000 Black on Black SOLD

2006 CLK 500 coupe Capri Blue on Grey (zoom,zoom)
47,000mi

04 VW TDI Passat 80,000mi
(Techno)

How to eliminate oil dependency through market-driven approaches.
“We could cut oil use in half by 2025, and by 2040, oil use could be zero,”
The Sound of Diesel Speed
Ode to MB

Thanks, sort of new to diesels...what's in IDI vs DI?
I've been browsing on ebay listings and cummins are 10K and up...
fords F150 250's are less....Are they any good for WVO?
Saw a few nice toyotas....

__________________
'87 924S
'81 280SEL

Sold ->

81 300SD -
93 300E w/ 3.2
85 300D-
79 300SD
82 300CD
83 300CD - CA
87 190E 5 spd
87 Porsche 924S

"..I'll take a simple "C" to "G" and feel brand new about it..."

I love my IDI ford.
IDI is indierect injection, VS direct injection. It has to do with where the fuel is injected in the cylinder (DI) or a pre-chamber (IDI) The DI ford is known as a Power Stroke. (1994 up)

You can tell an IDI because like the MB it will have lines running to every injector from a pump mounted on top of the engine. These are very reliable, and can make loads of power. There is not much of a differance in power from the 6.9 to the 7.3.

My 1990 F-350 runs SVO and pulls the 34 foot 9000lbs travel trailer great! Get a turbo model, or one with an aftermarket turbo. the N/A are not what you want, and turbos kits run about $2000.

There are many of these around. The dodge will have a little more power, but the Ford is a better all around truck in my opinion.

You will also want to get a trans with an over drive, or it will not go more than about 60. But with a teen, maybe you do not want the OD?

Good luck.

Doug

And the dieselstop.com is great! for these trucks

International made some diesel scouts and travelalls in the late 70s and early 80s. (scout is like a bronco, travelall is like a suburban). They also made a pickup, I think it was called a terra, but I could be wrong on that. They pop up on ebay everyonce in a while, and if you go to Binderbulletin.com, sometimes they show up for sale on the forum. Depending on condition they go for up to ~$5K. The sheet metal in them generally is horrible. Those who drive them swear by them, but owning an IH is I think a worse disease than owning an MB. We owned two gasser scouts, decided to switch to diesel for the ability to run WVO, heard about someone who put a MB diesel engine+tranny in a travelall, started looking for wrecked MBs for an engine to put in ours, then realized why bother with the truck - just get the Benz. Anyway - scouts/travelalls are fun and your teenage son would think it very cool. (sold my 2nd gasser scout to my teenage cousin. she's the envy of all the boys in her school...)

I bought a 93' 12 valve cummins a year ago on ebay for 6k. It is in tip top shape, or was. I am using it for my work (landscaping). It has gotten its' fair share of bruises now. Mechanically it has been sound though. It is a GREAT truck. Engine does not leak or use oil at all and is one strong truck. Gets 22 miles per gallon unloaded on highway doing about 65. I have had a powerstroke before and gave me nothing but problems. I am ordering parts currently to put the cummins on veggie as well as my 83 240d. It is second though since I drive the truck more.

I think the cummins is a much better/durable engine than ford/chevy anyday. Just look at the prices on ebay and it will tell you. You get what you pay for. However, some of those prices are very high. If you look around, sometimes you can get a great deal on one that is in great shape. Around 4k for one with 170k - 220k miles and in great shape. It takes time though

That is just my opinion and experience with it though......

Yeah i have and seen good things from the 6.9 IDI both NA and Turboed. In fact I helped my freind install his turbo into his 6.9 as well as rebuild the beast AND put in a new ZF5 tranny (matches really well with the 6.9) And as to the 7.3 and the 6.9 both ar ethe same engine one the pistons are bored a little bit more heard can break sooner than the 6.9. The only thing is if you get a F- series with the stock 4 speed horrible milage and you top out at about 75 with a tailwind. Other than that they are awsome rigs. good luck to you

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81' 300SD AKA "Big Helga"
84' 300D Euro spec (Veronika)
85' 300D NonCalifornia (Heidi)

"We shall not fail or falter; we shall not weaken or tire...Give us the tools and we will finish the job."
-Winston Churchill, 1941

"I'll have a Chinchilla!"