Diesel Ranger

[Cummins_Ranger]

My best advice is:

Have a fat wallet and a second car to drive for a while. Your going to spend quite a bit of money, and take a lot of time.

Check out 4btswaps.com, Theres some good info on there for diesel swaps.

I agree with snoranger. It took me about a year from start to finish, a credit card or 2 and of course a good friend or relative to help you on those winter nights trying to line everything up...

but the outcome, i F'n love it! and 4btswaps has a wealth of info, i have a build thread over there along with 3-4 other rangers.

 

[adsm08]

It comes stock with 85 hp but can get into the 140 hp range with a little work.

At which point he might was well swap in a 2.9 for all the power it will have.

 

[superds]

The power curve is much lower on the b3.3 compared to a 2.9. All of that stock 85 hp is available around 2600 rpm. The people that have done the swap are pretty happy with it but they also know it's not like swapping in an engine with big block power. They mainly like it becuase it has adequate power for a commuter vehicle and excellent fuel economy.

 

[bobbywalter]

At which point he might was well swap in a 2.9 for all the power it will have.

2.9's dont run on oil.



depends on what type of truck you have as to what engine would be ideal. that and your actual intended goals.


if i thought it would take a year to do an engine swap......hell, if i thought it would take more then two months of saturdays to do an engine swap....i would not do it.

my reason was for economy of operation overall with good low end. i did not want less then 4.0 ranger performance at the end of the day. problem i had was the truck was 5400 pounds with a sbf in it pre swap....at hi tune in excess of 300 hp. pretty hard to replace that with a tdi engine.

i also had a donor that cost me nothing. so the donor did the donating and i was rewarded with continuation of use of my big ugly ford.

in one light, i saved so much money over the last three years directly compared to its previous powertrain i can buy a new truck.

the reality is, if i was not able to cost effectively swap in the diesel, my truck may as well had been shipped off to a junkyard as it would have just sat around and rotted as i am unable to afford such a fuel gobbler that it was with the sbf. that reality sux.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

They mainly like it becuase it has adequate power for a commuter vehicle and excellent fuel economy.

So what is the advange of spending all the time and money of swapping a diesel engine into a pickup that can only be used as a car?

Cars that get 30mpg+ are stupid common and they burn a cheaper fuel (AKA gas) without touching a thing. If you want a diesel they get even better milage yet.

 

[bobbywalter]

So what is the advange of spending all the time and money of swapping a diesel engine into a pickup that can only be used as a car?

Cars that get 30mpg+ are stupid common and they burn a cheaper fuel (AKA gas) without touching a thing. If you want a diesel they get even better milage yet.

depends on how many miles a guy drives on the whole for most people to do a swap....

okay....you have an ol 2wd 4 cyl wheezer ranger. runs on cheaper gas, gets 25-27 freeway...21 average driving easy.

you swap in a 3.3. average goes to 25-28 and hiway goes to 35-36.


you mix used auto trans fluid/oil with your diesel to around 30 oil 70 diesel...


your engine is already beat in your ol truck...and in need of a refresh anyway.

take 4-5 grand to do a complete diesel swap verse 1800 for a fresh 2.3.


you drive 35k plus a year....

not sure where a diesel will lose in that situation.

 

[superds]

Some people like to modify their own vehicles. They don't like to be limited to factory options. Maybe the guy really likes the Wrangler, or S10, or Explorer based on the body configuration but doesn't care for the engine and would rather have something different. Maybe they do it for the sake of saying it can be done. I'm sure all the people that have done it have their own reasons for wanting it.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

depends on how many miles a guy drives on the whole for most people to do a swap....

okay....you have an ol 2wd 4 cyl wheezer ranger. runs on cheaper gas, gets 25-27 freeway...21 average driving easy.

you swap in a 3.3. average goes to 25-28 and hiway goes to 35-36.


you mix used auto trans fluid/oil with your diesel to around 30 oil 70 diesel...


your engine is already beat in your ol truck...and in need of a refresh anyway.

take 4-5 grand to do a complete diesel swap verse 1800 for a fresh 2.3.


you drive 35k plus a year....

not sure where a diesel will lose in that situation.

If I drove a lot I would get a car, my college roomate's Focus got 37-38mpg easy on the highway, could probably get two of them older Foci before one of them engines is paid for still sitting on a pallet. A car is 10x the cruiser that a pickup can ever hope to be, ride nicer, handle better, catch less wind... a pickup can't match it. A diesel VW car can flirt with 50mpg.

It would be different if a guy could actually do something with the truck than just reap the milage benefits and drive it like a car.

There are a ton of little ag engines out there that I would rather experiment with and actually risk getting a usable truck out of the deal.

I would do something along these lines, they have videos on the left side:

http://www.shadetreeconversions.com/

Some people like to modify their own vehicles. They don't like to be limited to factory options. Maybe the guy really likes the Wrangler, or S10, or Explorer based on the body configuration but doesn't care for the engine and would rather have something different. Maybe they do it for the sake of saying it can be done. I'm sure all the people that have done it have their own reasons for wanting it.

They can do it for whatever reason they can come up with, it just doesn't add up to me. People said the same thing about my engine choice with my Ranger and I am as happy with it as the 3.3 guy is so take it for what it is worth. Just to me, for something as boring as MPG, if an OEM can do it better I would rather go that route and leave my creativity for something a little more exciting.

 

[snoranger]

85.. you've got yourself a very compelling argument there, but if someone is going to tackle a diesel swap themselves, they are usually a hands-on kinda guy (or gal). They more then likely use the truck for a little more then just commuting.

I'm a homeowner, I use my truck all the time. There fences to be fixed, a waterfall the needs to be rebuilt, rock garden that needs to go in, deck that needs to be repaired, the basement is going to be refinished, $75 delivery charge for my recliner that cost $10 in gas to pick up instead.

Lets see what those homedepot runs would look like in my car.

Driving 22k miles a year, that diesel pick-up that gets 30 MPG and cost me around $5k is looking like a much better choice.

 

[Rose2300]

I think a Landrover 300 TDI would be cool, they have loads of torque,I've got one in my Discovery

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

They mainly like it becuase it has adequate power for a commuter vehicle and excellent fuel economy.

85.. you've got yourself a very compelling argument there, but if someone is going to tackle a diesel swap themselves, they are usually a hands-on kinda guy (or gal). They more then likely use the truck for a little more then just commuting.

Not my words

When I hear "adequate power for a commuter vehicle" I don't think monster tree skidder or mini semi truck. My brothers '68 VW with a 1600cc flat four has "adaquate power for a commuter vehicle" It will get you there at the speed limit and that is about it.

If something happened my F-150 it would probably be replaced by a car (Mustang, not ideal for milage but I want something fun) and an older F-250/350 that I won't feel bad about letting sit until needed for my towing and winter driving. Kind of a conundrum there, diesel would be nice for towing but gas would be nice for winter...

 

[snoranger]

The power curve is much lower on the b3.3 compared to a 2.9. All of that stock 85 hp is available around 2600 rpm. The people that have done the swap are pretty happy with it but they also know it's not like swapping in an engine with big block power. They mainly like it becuase it has adequate power for a commuter vehicle and excellent fuel economy.

Your words, not mine

His words, not yours or mine.

I think my Cobra has "adequate power for a commuter vehicle"! Around 350HP. 17 MPG @ 90 MPH for 1 whole tank of gas. Thats better then my underpowered SOHC Explorer at 65MPH.

 

[superds]

Yes, I did say that about "adequate power for commuting". Not going to deny it. Of course, as you both have demonstrated, that can be interpreted different ways. One of the guys in that thread I posted has an GMC S15 and lives near Chicago, commutes into the city every day. He claims it has enough power to keep up with 80+ mph traffic and has no problems merging onto the interstate.

I'd like to do a diesel conversion into an RBV someday, haven't decided on an engine yet, but I'd like it to be my do nearly everything vehicle, so it has to be 4x4 since I want to use it for offroading as well as driving to work in all weather conditions. That, and I just like RBVs. I wouldn't be as happy driving a econo box during the week and switching to an offroad vehicle on the weekend.

 

[snoranger]

I'd like to do a diesel conversion into an RBV someday, haven't decided on an engine yet, but I'd like it to be my do nearly everything vehicle, so it has to be 4x4 since I want to use it for offroading as well as driving to work in all weather conditions. That, and I just like RBVs. I wouldn't be as happy driving a econo box during the week and switching to an offroad vehicle on the weekend.

Thats kinda the idea with my 4bt swap. Its going to be a DD/commuter, kid hauler, trailer tow vehicle, HomeDepot run, (hopefully) 30 MPG 4x4 vehicle (when the weather is bad, I dont have the luxury of taking the day off!) . The only thing it will be spared from is off road duties, I have my lifted 94 limited for that.

I could never drive an econo-box commuter car, I never commute alone. I always seem to have an engine, trans, rear, old BBQ grille, other large dirty/ greasy item that needs to be moved.

 

[CHKNFKR]

Do what makes you happy, its your truck. My dd moonlighting as a tow rig is a 2wd 5-speed 7.3 psd. It gets amazing milage for an 8,000lb truck, gets me where i want to go when i want to go there. It pulls everything i ever ask it to and the milage never drops. I'm a diesel guy. Everyone asks why i'm building a big block gasser for the ranger, i tell them "because i want to."