Plans - months off (and job dependant) but plans
 

Hi everyone, I'm new here - but been a lurker for several months. First I'd like to give a lil bit on me - and then we can move on to my plans.

As most everybody in the ecomodding way is - I've started learning to reteach myself driving lol. Living in the country thats a bit easier than the city I assure you, while I may only have two or three routes to get somewhere the traffic is light (to the point of nonexistance) so I've learned to take my time more often and watch the tachometer to keep engine at the lowest possible revs without lugging an engine.

I used to drive a 98 S10 LS Ext. Cab - but blew the head gasket and warped the poor aluminum head in the same moment. This will in time be the experiment vehicle. For the time my wife and I share her Ford Fusion (automatic, wife cant drive a stick) and its night and day between me and her driving. I average 33-35mpg in it stock where she averages around 28 with her driving habits (I'm working on that guys).

Hopefully I will get into a field I'm applying to soon and will have the ability to start my plans - but here we go with the plans.

98 S10 Ext Cab (For the time being we shall refer to it as Frankenstein).

I had a 2.2L 4cyl in it mated to a auto tranny, hated that motor it was underpowered for what I needed but since I will be getting a newer truck for work horsing figured I needed to use this one for the commuter fix.

I'm setting a goal high people - I want 55+ MPG out of that truck. I know it will be a work of patience, and love (not to mention money so pray on my acceptance into what I've applied for).

Step one - I'm tearing that truck down to NOTHING lol. If its in it, its gone.
Of the deletes, I'm removing everything in the cab (dash, rear jump seats, all trim, a/c workings, but will leave a radio - I love music too much and I'll accept those few pounds lol). People we are talking about me essentially building a truck from scratch.

The bed will also be removed and I plan to fabricate a bed myself for the truck with a aero topper.

Engine/Tranny wise - I've seen results of people who have swapped small diesels (50-70HP) into S10s with results of 45MPG nothing else done but engine and tranny to a 5spd, this is raising my hopes as I plan to make a much lighter and more aerodynamic bed as well as deleting all the extra weight I can. I know it'll be as slow as can be (I'd be more likely to get 0-60 on a bicycle in 10 seconds than the truck in the end lol) but I'm looking for FE not worrying about speed.

Anyways I just wanted to introduce myself and give my ideas, I know it is going to be a long job and will depend on my job situation, but I'm hopeful, I think we all have to be. Any ideas and or comments are welcome, I plan to post a "idea pic" of the truck shortly for people to see.

Subscribed. The question always arises in hopeful threads like this, so I'll ask it. Is there a reason you couldn't just get a cheap, efficient car and have a better starting point around 40 MPG? If you find an old (Saturn) SL1 in decent shape, or pick one up with a blown engine and rebuild it, you could probably keep the truck and use the car for your usual commute. I'm not debating that it's nice to have a truck for lots of reasons, but most people don't need them for their daily commute. Of course, it's good to have your tow/haul vehicle be as efficient as possible, but I think it would be hard to get a decent ROI if you didn't drive it very much.

The cool thing about diesels is that more power doesn't have to mean more fuel consumption. You don't have to torture yourself with a 50-70 hp engine if you can find a TDI that makes 140 hp for cheap enough. Huge diesels in trucks are less efficient because there's significantly more internal friction, but as long as you keep a small displacement, you can have an engine that makes just about as much power as you want (thanks to turbos).

As far as aero, it's usually worth the money to lower trucks. If you look underneath, I'm willing to bet that rear differential is sitting right in the windstream. Tucking it up closer to the body almost always helps a lot with efficiency, and lowering springs for your truck can be had for pretty cheap.

Good luck with the job and the truck. I'm interested in seeing how this turns out.

I was planning on a similar build but with a 5speed s10.

http://ecomodder.com/forum/showthrea...ild-21949.html

There's a link with all the ideas i had on building an efficient s10 without swapping the motor, but i lost interest in the idea

welcome devil!

Pump up the tires most run in the 40s psi.
worth a few mpgs along the way.

Thanks for replying guys.

To answer the original reply concerning why not getting a Saturn SC1 or something of the like. Yes I know how fuel effecient they can be and how easy it is to find one cheap (infact looked at one months back).

I guess I need to go into further detail. I've been working in the construction field and am hoping to get into the onshore drilling soon so my "new vehicle" will be a truck as well, (Been looking at a Nissan Frontier). Crappy mileage, as all trucks have but even if I get into the drilling work, on my off weeks I'll be doing construction and would be in need of a good truck.

Now for reasoning of reworking the S10 is this.

There are several reasons behind wanting to rework the S10.

1.) It was my first truck - I'll always love that truck even if its a love/hate relationship. It no longer runs, and the 4cyl was always underpowered in that truck my best MPG had been 25mpg when I was driving 300+mi interstate on weekends. Sure a small diesel will be just as if not more underpowered, but I would gladly sacrafice brute strength for FE.

2.) My wifes mother is disabled and needs a wheelchair/walker and various other things that are hard to get into a small car. For this reason her parents own a 2010 Ranger, but it makes it hard for my wife to just go out with her mother whenever they want. Fixing up the S10 would give them an option to do that you'd be surprised how hard it is to get a wheelchair and walker in a ford fusion trunk, leaves the backseat for any purchases, and even less than that should her younger sister tag along.

3.) We rely on a Christian food pantry during the seasonal off of my construction work from time to time, they have really been a rock on which we've stood over the years. They try to do home deliveries to the elderly but rely on volunteers transportation to do so and most cars will only get 1-2 deliveries in them at max. We'd both like to be able to return the help they've given us over the years by volunteering our services. I've noticed they are always needing delivery help as most people given gas prices wont make a delivery out of their normal route, if I could get this truck up to a decent 45mpg or higher I wouldnt sweat such stuff and would be able to get more deliveries in per load.

So theres lots of reasons - I expect everyone just wants FE, but I look at the truck as how it could impact my family's life (and in the case of volunteering, others). Its going to be a long build without doubt, as I've said it really relies on my getting into the drilling field as we would have the spare cash for me to start it. But I'm also a firm believer that unless you put something down on paper (or in this case the internet) you'll forget your dreams and let them fall by the wayside. I look forward to hopefully in the coming months (should the job work out) being on here conversing with you all on the build and showing any progress I might have with it.

Welcome to ecomodder / out of hiding in the closet.

Say 7L/100km ... that's pretty good already.

Pretty steep goal with a truck.

The automatic will need to come out of it then.
It won't need some mods, it'll need most them or all... :eek:

For many (many) on here, the idea is to sink less money into the car ;)

Slow alone won't do it.
You'll probably also need to gear the truck for that slow speed (50-55 tops ?) so it can maintain that speed at an efficient rpm (well, the engine won't run efficiently, but it'll rev so low it won't use much fuel anyway).