Diesel Conversion/Hybrid pickup
 

Hello All, I'm new to ecomodder but have always been one at heart, i have finally found my people! Anyway I was sitting in my 1986 Toyota pickup the other day and happen to see a duramax in front of me and a prius behind me and i thought to myself what if diesel hybrid small pickup were to be created. This idea has since not left my head, i have no idea how this could be achieved. I know how to do each process separately, but not together. Any ideas? or am i just dreaming and being crazy.

I know of one such project underway: Ben Nelson's SuperTruck.
SuperTruck
It has entered another period of dormancy as Ben plays with his latest sparkly object, a Vetrix scooter that he's revived with salvaged Nissan LEAF battery modules.

I've heard tell of other hybrid pickup projects where a 4WD is split with an electric motor on the rear differential, and know of a Subaru Justy (AWD) that got a series motor spliced into the rear driveline. I think that technique would be equally applicable to a 2wd pickup using a motor with driveline yokes on both ends of the shaft, simply substituting for a section of driveshaft, but haven't found a documented example.

Super interesting, I've never seen anything like it, diesel conversions on their own are complicated enough. I hope he reactivates the project, would love to see the final product. I was also thinking what if the batteries were put in the bed and then covered with a flat platform, and the rest of the bed would be one massive solar panel? Would this be cost effective or even useful? Unlike Ben i dont think i would be using the truck for anything other than driving.

Ha! We've been waiting for you. Oops, that sounds a little creepy, sorry!

As for the solar panels: relative to the amount of electricity the truck would use to drive, they contribute very little.

Of course, how much they contribute to your total driving depends on your usage. EG: If you happen to always park in perfect sun conditions, and only ever drive a few miles a day, then you'd be driving on solar power a fair amount compared to a typical driver.

Welcome to the forum.

I'll echo MetroMPG about onboard solar, though Via Motors claims up to 10 miles per day of range from their solar tonneau cover, and if you want a tonneau anyway....
VIA Motors SölTRUX Solar Cover Option for Electric VTRUX

I get enough photons to energize my electrons EVen on just moderately sunny days around Seattle. 11-13 kWh of production from my ground-mounted 2.2 kW array provides enough to propel my i-MiEV between 31 and 53 miles per day, depending upon the outside temperature... I average 52 miles of use per day, so this modest array of eight 270 Watt panels has pert near filled the bill. Still in my first year of production, so I am yet to see how it balances out on an annual basis, but will have a second array in production before that first year is up!

Well, yes, but also due to my lack of skills and budget.

I'm happy to weigh in on any ideas. The problem with DIY hybrids is that they are more complicated than a dedicated single-fuel vehicle.

A simple way to do it is with a range-extender concept. Take an electric car and add a generator or something crazy like a pusher trailer. Running my electric converted Geo Metro as a Hybrid with an LP generator in the trunk actually worked relatively well, but it look up all the cargo space, was noisy (compared to an electric car) and had a few other limitations. That's part of what lead to the idea of a hybrid pickup truck is that it would be built as a dedicated hybrid in the first place.

I have been very tempted to convert my 1989 2wd Diesel Suburban to FWD
(in the real sense using a corvette or caddy transaxle)
and then use the rear end to add EV :)

I think though it would be easier just to buy one of the street legal Japanese Kei trucks.

Ah well.

Lately I've been thinking about the viability of a FWD conversion for full-size trucks. Would rather fit the engine transversely, but it seems like the only transaxle suitable for that and currently available back there is from the Ram ProMaster, and I'm not sure if it would last long backing a V8...

I think around here the only thing suitable are the FWD caddilac transaxles from the mid 80s, mostly automatic, I thought there were 4 speed MTs for v8 fwd at some point.

Hmm, will have to look

DIY hybrid pickup for sale...
 

This amazing little project truck is for sale in Olympia, WA for $2200, worth way more in parts alone.

Hybrid Project

seattle.craigslist.org/oly/cto/5048631828.html

I post it now because I have too many projects and a good buddy got 'divorce eyes' from the wife when he showed her the ad...

No affilitation, I just hate to see an ambitious conversion project die.