Fuel Economy, Hypermiling, EcoModding News and Forum - EcoModder.com - View Single Post - Noob starting at 19.6MPG in '00 Ford Explorer

cajunfj40 · 11-18-2019, 12:17 PM

Hello aardvarcus,

There's a reason I changed my nic to "Eco-wall-o-texter"...

I don't have a welder. Any thoughts on the ethics of selling White Car dirt cheap as-is with a warning about the exhaust leak?

The mud tires for Green Truck are 32", not 37". I haven't taken a sawzall to the body to fit 37" tires, and I'm not willing to pay $250+ per corner to get them either! I figure they won't be good for economy, but might not be as horrible as they otherwise would be due to down-revving the engine more. Plus, I already have them, they are "free".

Hello MeteorGray,

Hence my desire to try them out. I hear all the time about how bad mud tires are on pavement, but I've never experienced it. I have the chance to do A-B-A testing. I've dealt with rock-hard economy high-mile-life-at-the-expense-of-traction tires that push on corners in rain, let alone snow/ice. Also RWD on ice/snow and the resultant fishtailing. So I can go into it with appropriate caution, at least.

Other notes:

Just spent an entire Saturday under the truck. The first few hours was fine - got the front caliper bolts/brackets all cleaned up and threadlocked and torqued to spec, plus re-torqued the rear bolts (not loose). After lunch was a disaster. I noticed the parking brake cable was too long. I thought "Oh, yeah, I mixed in a few cables from the Black Truck ('97 vs. Green Truck is 2000), so maybe I need to swap the primary and intermediate cables". So I did that. 5 hours and much swearing later, the parking brake cable is now TOO SHORT. Grr. Also noticed that the rear leaf springs are starting to take an S-curve shape. Probably due to over-tight lower shackle bolts, preventing rotation of the spring in the shackle. No hardware store locally had long enough replacements.

So I'm looking at ~$150 in sensors, ~$52 in parking brake cables, unknown in bolts/nuts and another weekend swearing under the truck. I also ought to seal up that leaking thermostat housing. The housing itself is fine, the manifold has pits in it, so I need to drain, clean, add RTV, and re-seal. After Thanksgiving, because I've got stuff to do to prep for Turkey Day.

White Car needs the aforementioned exhaust work or a warning to buyers. Need it gone. Might call and see what I can get for it as scrap. I can pay $50 to Craigslist and maybe get $400 and a lot of hassle for it, or sell it cheap as scrap for a lot less hassle. Hate to scrap a useable vehicle that gets over 30mpg that just needs a few bucks worth of parts, but the hassle-factor is getting to me.

I'm just about "done with" all this. Taking up all my time, and not really giving back anything. Loud, smelly, rusty, and when I look at what all I've spent on Green Truck, I could have paid for a 3-4 year old used econobox by now - and gotten a lot more around the house stuff done. I can't sell it as-is without fending off low-ball offers all day long because no 4WD in winter. If I get the 4WD and the parking brake working, I can probably private-party it for $1k. Still a big loss, but it'll be GONE and someone will be driving it rather than it being scrapped. Black Truck can be winched out on a flatbed and scrapped. Not sure if I'll get anything for it or have to pay or whatever. There's a scrapyard not far out of town, so I'll probably call them.

No more rusty vehicles. I'd say no more internal combustion, but my "must get to work" requirements involve "surprise, you have to drive an extra 45 miles today in -20F weather in the snow and there's no charging/block heater plug at the alternate location", and I can't afford a *new* EV with sufficient battery capacity to handle the cold-soak - and none of the used ones at a reasonable price point can hack it.

11-18-2019, 12:17 PM	#44 (permalink)
cajunfj40 Lurking Eco-wall-o-texter Join Date: Dec 2015 Location: MPLS, MN area Posts: 128 Thanks: 0 Thanked 65 Times in 45 Posts	About ready to give up on the whole thing. Hello aardvarcus, There's a reason I changed my nic to "Eco-wall-o-texter"... I don't have a welder. Any thoughts on the ethics of selling White Car dirt cheap as-is with a warning about the exhaust leak? The mud tires for Green Truck are 32", not 37". I haven't taken a sawzall to the body to fit 37" tires, and I'm not willing to pay $250+ per corner to get them either! I figure they won't be good for economy, but might not be as horrible as they otherwise would be due to down-revving the engine more. Plus, I already have them, they are "free". Hello MeteorGray, Hence my desire to try them out. I hear all the time about how bad mud tires are on pavement, but I've never experienced it. I have the chance to do A-B-A testing. I've dealt with rock-hard economy high-mile-life-at-the-expense-of-traction tires that push on corners in rain, let alone snow/ice. Also RWD on ice/snow and the resultant fishtailing. So I can go into it with appropriate caution, at least. Other notes: Just spent an entire Saturday under the truck. The first few hours was fine - got the front caliper bolts/brackets all cleaned up and threadlocked and torqued to spec, plus re-torqued the rear bolts (not loose). After lunch was a disaster. I noticed the parking brake cable was too long. I thought "Oh, yeah, I mixed in a few cables from the Black Truck ('97 vs. Green Truck is 2000), so maybe I need to swap the primary and intermediate cables". So I did that. 5 hours and much swearing later, the parking brake cable is now TOO SHORT. Grr. Also noticed that the rear leaf springs are starting to take an S-curve shape. Probably due to over-tight lower shackle bolts, preventing rotation of the spring in the shackle. No hardware store locally had long enough replacements. So I'm looking at ~$150 in sensors, ~$52 in parking brake cables, unknown in bolts/nuts and another weekend swearing under the truck. I also ought to seal up that leaking thermostat housing. The housing itself is fine, the manifold has pits in it, so I need to drain, clean, add RTV, and re-seal. After Thanksgiving, because I've got stuff to do to prep for Turkey Day. White Car needs the aforementioned exhaust work or a warning to buyers. Need it gone. Might call and see what I can get for it as scrap. I can pay $50 to Craigslist and maybe get $400 and a lot of hassle for it, or sell it cheap as scrap for a lot less hassle. Hate to scrap a useable vehicle that gets over 30mpg that just needs a few bucks worth of parts, but the hassle-factor is getting to me. I'm just about "done with" all this. Taking up all my time, and not really giving back anything. Loud, smelly, rusty, and when I look at what all I've spent on Green Truck, I could have paid for a 3-4 year old used econobox by now - and gotten a lot more around the house stuff done. I can't sell it as-is without fending off low-ball offers all day long because no 4WD in winter. If I get the 4WD and the parking brake working, I can probably private-party it for $1k. Still a big loss, but it'll be GONE and someone will be driving it rather than it being scrapped. Black Truck can be winched out on a flatbed and scrapped. Not sure if I'll get anything for it or have to pay or whatever. There's a scrapyard not far out of town, so I'll probably call them. No more rusty vehicles. I'd say no more internal combustion, but my "must get to work" requirements involve "surprise, you have to drive an extra 45 miles today in -20F weather in the snow and there's no charging/block heater plug at the alternate location", and I can't afford a new EV with sufficient battery capacity to handle the cold-soak - and none of the used ones at a reasonable price point can hack it.