Hard Case In Florida

[smaridge01]

Hi All.

This place is great. I'm so glad I found my way here. I have to tell you though, I have lost hours and hours in these forums. Soaking up more data in an hour than I could learn in days elsewhere. Thanks for that. I hope I can return the favor somehow.

Meanwhile, I joined because I'm sick of being dependent on oil, and while I figure out some way to create a battery powered vehicle for myself, I want to reduce the oil I use for my personal transportation. That's where the hard case comes in. I drive a 2000 Dodge Ram 2500 w/V10 8L gas engine. I love the truck and the load capacity, but the 9 MPG hurts.

One part of the plan is to get into a '10 Prius soon I hope. Also, I am looking for all the great tips on here that might apply to a full sized pickup truck. Yeah, I think there is a ScanGauge in my future.

PS. I like battery powered because, as we convert to all electric, we have the opportunity to recharge those batteries with wind, solar, and other renewable resources.

[RobertSmalls]

Hi, Smaridge. There are lots of people here trying to squeeze more mpg out of their pickups, and I'm sure, with a little effort and a few mods, you could increase your fuel economy 30-50% - Imagine 14mpg!

I think the Prius, perhaps converted to plug in, would be a great idea. It can do at least 98% of the jobs that most people ask their full sized pickups to do. For the other 2% of the time, I borrow or rent a truck or minivan.

Whatever you decide to drive, I hope you find some useful information here, and post up some innovative mods of your own.

[Thymeclock]

PS. I like battery powered because, as we convert to all electric, we have the opportunity to recharge those batteries with wind, solar, and other renewable resources.

Yep, it probably will make you feel pure. And you won't need to dirty your hands with any nasty, smelly gasoline. Some feel good about being part of a progressive movement.

But what do you think the power plants that deliver your electricity run on? (Hint: your electrical power is probably not made with the alternatives you mentioned. But since you don't see how it is produced, the electrical power that is delivered to you looks clean and pure.)

It reminds me of the old joke about sausages: those who enjoy sausages and laws should never witness how either is made.

[smaridge01]

Originally Posted by Thymeclock

Yep, it probably will make you feel pure. And you won't need to dirty your hands with any nasty, smelly gasoline. Some feel good about being part of a progressive movement.

I don't so much care if I am part of a progressive movement... I just want off the oil. Not sure what you meant by the 'nasty, smelly gasoline' comment. I used to love working on cars, and gas engines... but times change.

Originally Posted by Thymeclock

But what do you think the power plants that deliver your electricity run on? (Hint: your electrical power is probably not made with the alternatives you mentioned. But since you don't see how it is produced, the electrical power that is delivered to you looks clean and pure.)

Don't kid yourself that I don't know that the electricity I get is made with oil, coal, and so on. But if you look past the immediate thoughts that pop into your head, you can find out that the electricity from the grid is created more efficiently than the power that comes from burning gasoline to run your car. So no, the power that comes from the grid does not look at all clean and pure to me. I spent three years living off the power grid, and still couldn't get away from oil.

That's why I said we have the 'opportunity' to use renewable sources, not that we would be. And hey, then we can get into a whole new discussion about the invested energy used to produce the new technologies. And then we can talk about the toxic crap in batteries, and it goes on and on. So we have to start somewhere, eh?

[smaridge01]

Originally Posted by RobertSmalls

Hi, Smaridge. There are lots of people here trying to squeeze more mpg out of their pickups, and I'm sure, with a little effort and a few mods, you could increase your fuel economy 30-50% - Imagine 14mpg!

OH STOP IT!! Now I am going to have dreams all night about actually seeing a two digit number on my Avg. Eco. gauge!

Originally Posted by RobertSmalls

Whatever you decide to drive, I hope you find some useful information here, and post up some innovative mods of your own.

Thanks for the welcome, and I can only hope to find some way to 'give back to the community' here, what with all the excellent information I am finding.

[Thymeclock]

Your signature line is: "There was life before oil, there can be life without it. "

That hints a bit at a progressive or crusading spirit. The implication is that life would unquestionably be better without oil.

Life before oil was more nasty, brutish and short (for most people, for many reasons) - hardly as utopian or bucolic as some today might like to think of the past. Oil and other advancements relieved us of a life sodden with soot and horse manure.

[smaridge01]

Originally Posted by Thymeclock

Your signature line is: "There was life before oil, there can be life without it. "

That hints a bit at a progressive or crusading spirit. The implication is that life would unquestionably be better without oil.

Life before oil was more nasty, brutish and short (for most people, for many reasons) - hardly as utopian or bucolic as some today might like to think of the past. Oil and other advancements relieved us of a life sodden with soot and horse manure.

Thymeclock, you seem to read a lot that isn't written. My signature indicates that I believe we can live without oil. It's that simple. No doubt that oil brought wonderful things to our lives, but it is going to run out, no matter how badly you want to cling to it. Also, it's a big part of the bad things going on in our environment right now. I have no delusions that I will be an oil consumer to the end of my days, since it is so deeply ingrained in so many facets of our lives.

BUT... life AFTER oil is not going to be anything like life BEFORE oil. We have many OTHER wonderful technologies now that almost guarantee life after oil will be much better than life before oil.

The good news is that it's still a matter of personal choice. You don't have to do a thing about it if you don't want to. It sounds like you don't like the idea of change. If you are lucky, you can drive a gas-burner the rest of your life and not have to change. Leave it to somebody else.

Thanks for your good points.

[cfguy2000]

Originally Posted by Thymeclock

Your signature line is: "There was life before oil, there can be life without it. "

That hints a bit at a progressive or crusading spirit. The implication is that life would unquestionably be better without oil.

Life before oil was more nasty, brutish and short (for most people, for many reasons) - hardly as utopian or bucolic as some today might like to think of the past. Oil and other advancements relieved us of a life sodden with soot and horse manure.

Before oil the sky was blue and clean. Horse manure is fertilizer that can be used to grow healthy crops. Car emissions are toxic. Before oil, cancer was virtually unheard of.

Because of oil, many peoples lives are cut short (pollution, war). Gas is a considerable part of most peoples budgets, and can lower someones standard of life instantly when prices go up. (Remember $4 /gallon gas?)

Quality of life means different things to different people. Right now I live in Texas, which has about the worst air quality in the US. So to me, quality of life here is not good.

[Thymeclock]

Originally Posted by cfguy2000

Before oil the sky was blue and clean. Horse manure is fertilizer that can be used to grow healthy crops. Car emissions are toxic. Before oil, cancer was virtually unheard of.

If you believe that, you must be profoundly ignorant. Read historical accounts about what train travel was like with wood burning locomotives. Read accounts of what living in any city was like with FAR dirtier forms of heating. Horse manure in the streets was not pleasant to live with. People died much younger than today and rarely went to doctors. Cancer itself was not known as a diagnosis, so it is an assumption to think that cancer did not exist then. No one knows whether people might have died of it or not. As most people today tend to do, you are viewing the past through rose-colored glasses.

Because of oil, many peoples lives are cut short (pollution, war).

Oil causes WAR? Wars have existed since the beginning of time. You can blame human nature for that, not oil.

Gas is a considerable part of most peoples budgets, and can lower someones standard of life instantly when prices go up. (Remember $4 /gallon gas?)

So you are insinuating that oil causes poverty too? You can blame politics and government policies for that. Oil does not cause inflation, government does - they print what is in your wallet!

Quality of life means different things to different people. Right now I live in Texas, which has about the worst air quality in the US. So to me, quality of life here is not good.

So if it is so terrible, move someplace else.

[MadisonMPG]

This thread went south quickly.

Good luck on the conversion.