yeah so gas is killing my wallet so and e85 here in Terre Haute is alot cheaper
so
wht needs to be done to my truck so i can run e85

 

I can tell you that with e85 you will see less miles per gallon. I do not know what all you would have to do to the truck to make this work.

 

E85 will supposedly eat through the rubber and metal we have in our trucks. Anything that is regular metal, ideally, should be made of stainless steel, and, as an example, my flex-fuel Caravan has a plastic tank. It's got special alcohol-compatible rubber lines, too. But there was a group in Minnesota that ran an unmodified, gasoline Chevy Tahoe on E85 for 100K miles and it worked out OK, so whatcha gonna do?

Now, can YOU run YOUR truck on E85? Sure. But it might not like it very well, so be forewarned. I don't reckon it'll hurt to try it once. Use five gallons or so, and see what you think. That way, if it doesn't work out for you, you can fill it the rest of the way with gas and it'll be just fine.

If it works out, keep an eye on your metal lines, and your tank(s). At 21 years, in Terre Haute (and I've lived there, so I know), you're in Rust Country whether you're using E85 or not. That's gonna be your worst enemy, but if the tank(s) and lines are OK to begin with, you shouldn't have too many worries.

And if you don't work the truck too hard, your mileage shouldn't drop off too drastically; it's not like our trucks get the best MPG anyway! It's not a fair comparison, but I can get 20 MPG over the road in the Caravan on E85 if I use the cruise and stay at the speed limit. On gas I get 23-24. So it's not bad, and it does average out as far as cost goes. MPG is a big tool used by the anti-ethanol folks to pooh-pooh it. However, it's clean, it's green and it's (as you've noted) cheaper. Plus it's American, and I like that.

Now, if I could only convince MY local gas stations to carry it, I'd be happy! As it is, I can only find it when we drive across Missouri or come to T.H. to visit my relatives there. Someday, I tell myself, someday ...

 

Yeah funny stuff E85, is 85% Enthanol and 15% Gasoline. In the racing world of running alcohol's you have to make the mixture richer, and the heat value of alcohol fuels is way less than plain ole gas. I think this is how they are pricing all our fuels now, and why diesel is more expensive than gasoline. The price is based on the heat value of the fuel.
And that is why your E85 would be cheaper. And like the one guy says the Miles per gallon will be less. Because a lower heat value fuel won't do the same work as the higher heat value fuel will. All alcohols soak up water as well, so in humid and damp climates you have to watch that, hmmm gas stations may like that they can add some water to the mix and save some bucks. The end user will just notice more reduced power on the watered fuel and not even know whats causing it. Anyway its still all win win for the oil companys, you burn more of it and they get to sell more of it. So why then would you even want to use E85?

 

Believe me I have nothing against Enthanol. I live in a Minnesota and have visited a couple plants one wet and one dry. But I also know that if you are switching for pure cost it will not be what you expect.

 

Your engine computer will not be able to compensate the fuel mixture enough to reach stoichiometric ratio of E85, and thus the engine will run pretty lean on E85. This would be a greater concern to me than whether or not the seals and fuel lines will hold up to the alcohol.