I have two trucks and am trying to decide which to keep and which to sell. Whichever one I keep will be converted to veggie oil

Both are 6.9 diesels. xcab, 4x4, auto tranny, 8ft bed and worth about $2000.

The first is an 87. I have owned it for about a year. Overall it has been pretty reliable and I have had enough time to get pretty familiar with it. The 4x4 hubs need to be repacked. The rear brakes are aweful and need to be redone. The vacuum pump or possibly a leak that I haven't found may also be adding to the brake problem. The interior is in really good shape except the front seat, although it has the advantage over the 86 of being able to adjust the drivers and pass sides independently. It has a spacer and extra leaf spring which is nice since my dream is to be a farmer and I frequently fill the bed w/ stone, straw, etc. It has nicer tires too. Doesn't leak oil. Front tank leaks air at fitting though. Not a big deal since I would be pulling it for the veg conversion anyway. Smokes on startup when cold. The compression test was pretty good with all the cylinders about the same. Borg Warner transfer case. I like that it sits higher than the 86 and the cab seems to have more headroom too. I think the main thing it has going for it besides the extra weight capacity and nicer int/ext is that I'm familiar with it.

The other is an 86. Body is a little rougher, but nothing a little bondo, a new grill, and elbow grease won't take care of. except where the bedrails have rusted away some. bedliner. older style exterior, running boards. less headroom in the cab. The interior is rougher too. I know chrome won't get you home, but I do work at some pretty nice homes and need to. 2 new fuel tanks. The injectors have a ring on them that says they were rebuilt in 04. The po (who was a little shady) claims the IP and the tranny were rebuilt at the same time, but said he threw away the paper work because he didn't plan on selling the truck. The IP looks real clean and I think it was, but I question the tranny because it leaks some. The engine leaks a little too. Not a lot, but enough to make me hesitant about parking in a customers driveway (I'm a self employeed painter). It has a nice engine driven plow (a big plus since I am considering moving to a rural community in the north east) He said he only used it to plow, but is getting out of the plow business. Not sure what transfer case it has, but it is different then the borg warner on the 87. I completely redid the front brakes and repacked the 4x4 hubs when I first got it. Compression test was pretty good, but one cylinder is about 35 psi less then the average. I got new front shocks but didn't open the box until I had messed up the old ones removing them. they are way to puny and will need to be replaced, especially if it is used to plow, but I had to install them at the time. One thing that I am concerned about is that at some point it overheated (must have been bad because the temp gauge actually melted some!) The po claims it happened before he owned it but it was pretty low on coolant when I got it. I see a little corrosion on some bent radiator fins, but it held coolant when I filled it. I have never seen it smoke. Has 2 block heaters, but po says it always started up even in freezing snowstorms without using them. I belive this since he kept it at the mall parking lot he plowed with it. Has power windows, which I dont usually care for, but do in this case since I can't reach the pass side in the 87 while driving. Main drawback is compression test, radiator, and that I'm not as familiar with it. Main advantage is rebuilt stuff, power windows, ability to work on it while I drive the 87, and plow.

The 87 is my daily driver. The 86 is not currently registered. The advantage of this is that I could convert the 86 to veg while I drive the 87. Idealy I could try to take the best of both trucks to make one nicer truck also, but I don't have a great place to work on them and I can't keep both here for much longer. Plus it is getting colder and I won't be able to work on it outside much longer.

So, I would love to hear your thoughts on which to keep, or if you think it is worth the work of combining them. whew that was longer than I expected, hope I remembered it all.
Thanks

 

Funny I have had a 91' and a 93' together for over a year now. One automatic the other standard. I love driving them both.

Having two trucks allowed me to start experimenting with alternative fuels and I got both trucks on B40 Biodiesel.

Sure glad I had two running trucks when I froze one up three weeks ago and did some IP damage due to the frozen biodiesel on the 91'.

In your case it is a tough call.

To bad the two trucks are two different body styles.

If the veggie set-up works you will wish that you had converted the 87 in the end. It if turns out to be more of a headache, doing the conversion on the 86 probably would have been a better idea.

Note, you virtually need no modifications to run Bio-diesel if that is an option for you, and you can switch for and back as you please to regular diesel with Bio-diesel.

As you probably already know you need to keep your fuel, lines, filter and IP warm, veggie fuel, more so than a heavy biodiesel blend will have a strong affinity to set up on you even at temperature near the normal freezing point for water. Believe me I learned the hard way in the last six weeks.


Seb......

 

I chose wvo because I didn't want to have to make the fuel every month. plus I'm embarassed to admit that I failed chemistry 3 times in a row. Though I am a different person now than I was in High School and could probably manage the chem I still like the idea of only filtering and dewatering. Plus I've already sunk a bunch of $ into the veg components. (just got my fphe today feelin good)
I was also toying with the idea of installing everything on the 87 and waiting to the last day to actually hook up the coolant lines. But I keep thinkin about those rebuilt injs and ip. The reason I like the idea of the plow so much is not because I'm worried about getting snowed in, but because I'm considering going back to college and it is in a rural area in VT where plowing could be a viable option to help pay the way. (I'm 25 and not about to go live in a dorm). I've never plowed before, but am pretty tool savy and am sure I could figure it out.
But I sure do like the 87 nearly perfect interior

 

You probably have a 1356 Borg Warner in the 87.
The 86 is a 1345 Borg Warner.

Vermont and veggie are not going to be a good combination in my opinion.
In fact I have been plowing snow for many years and would never consider doing a veggie conversion. You have to start and go when the snow flies, if you subcontract to a larger company when the phone rings, you better be ready to roll. Only a couple times of no show and you will be replaced. People get very irrate when the driveways and parking lots are not clear when they try to use them. They don't want to hear my truck would not start or run. When they hear that the second time they will be looking for another snow removal contractor.

From your side of the story, 2 or 3 AM in a raging snow storm is no time to have fuel problems. There are not many people out there driving around to give you a ride to somewhere warm.

 

I'd be starting on diesel though. So if the truck will start on diesel it should be able to run on veg once the coolant is warmed as long as I have done a decent conversion. And if not I could always still run diesel since it is a 2 tank setup.

 

Kyle,

Here is a recent lesson I learned on biodiesel that may help you.

When my B40 mix froze about 4 weeks ago and re-thawed it left behind a residue of a greasy waxy built-up in the filter and possibly my rear tank (don't know yet, Most likely residual glycerine).

The problem you are going to have with veggie oil is that you can't let it freeze or it will start to separate once it thaws. Veggie oil has not had its glycerine removed and will partially separate out if you freeze the oil.

So starting/shutting down with diesel will be ok; the only problem is that if the veggie oil does freeze overnight, the next moring you will have all kinds of solids in your tank after it thaws that will not re-melt readyly and will quickly plug up your filters. You would have to make sure your veggie tank always stays hot. (i.e. plugged in with a heater when the truck is not running)

I would suggest you take a bottle of your filtered veggie oil and put it into a freezer (say @ 10 F to 20 F) overnight and then thaw it the next day at room temperature. My experience has been that you will get some solid deposits at the bottom of the bottle that won't thaw or re-mix readily and will plug up your filter.

The biggest challenge that all the oil-based biofuels will have to overcome is how to keep them from freezing down to the same temperature that diesel fuel is good for. Once they freeze they tend to separate and form solids that plug up filters.

I like the idea of using your truck to ploy and make some extra cash for school; I am just not sure if the added complications that veggie oil brings would be worth it unless you had it set-up just perfectly.

As a last note, when I froze the B40 in my 91' I broke the advance piston lever on my IP when I applied the throttle to start the truck. I ended up getting the whole pump replaced. It takes a lot of plowing to pay for a new IP. I thought I was being careful but a recent cold snap caught me off guard. I got my 93' switched back to diesel in time but was too late on the 91' and it froze on me overnight.

Best of luck, and don't let what I said above deter you from going for it, just be careful thats all....

Seb........

 

Yes I agree about starting on diesel and switching to WVO after you are up to temp.
And I also know what you are saying about shutting down on regular diesel.

Now tell me where all the veggie oil from the tank selector valve, up the fuel line to the lift pump, on up to the fuel filter, over to the IP, over through the injector lines, and back down the return lines to the selector valve goes when you switch tanks?

Every drop of it that is returned goes into the regular diesel tank. All it takes is one chunk of solid grease getting sucked into the fuel line at 10 degrees and your truck is dead in the snow.

After many years in the business, I can tell you that is not an acceptable risk when you have people counting on you being there on time every time.

For over ten years, when there is 3" or more of snow on the ground I have left the house at 12:00 midnight and spent the next 12 hours in my truck plowing.
A foot of snow is 18 hour days for 2 days.
32" is 18 hour days for two weeks, everyone that knows you have a plow calls then.

Something else to consider about plowing snow.

Regular auto insurance does not cover accidents or damage while plowing snow.
You have to have commercial insurance to be covered.

The snow removal rider on my policy costs me 1500 dollars a year.

 

There is no reason it has to go back to the diesel tank. I have 2 valves to work with. I plan to put the supply valve up in the engine compartment so the amount of fuel line shared with the diesel will be minimal. I don't have a mechanical pump anymore. I have 2 12v pumps closer to the tanks. And I will have 2 seperate dedicated filters.
I'm sure there is no doubt that plowing is a learned skill and that it is not as easy as just strapping a plow to the front and puttin it in 4 wheel drive. I'm sure it will take time and mistakes and cost $ til I get it down, all I'm saying is that wilh some practice I'll be able to make some money on the side to help me through winter months when my painting work dies back.