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Tractor Talk Discussion Forum

Diesel Ford Ranger commuter truck

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Merlin in Rushf

04-24-2008 07:24:37




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Hello! I have been considering for quite some time the idea of installing a Kubota or similar turbocharged diesel engine into a Ford Ranger 2WD, to use as a work/commuter truck. Anyone tried this yet? I have seen it done with Cummins 4BT's in Ford F-150's and Chevy 1500's. Even with soon-to-be $5.00 diesel fuel, 45-50 MPG would be nice! What are your thoughts?
Merlin




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02XLT4X4

04-25-2008 10:16:22




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 Re: Diesel Ford Ranger commuter truck in reply to Merlin in Rushford, 04-24-2008 07:24:37  
I just found it:

Link



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02XLT4X4

04-25-2008 10:14:49




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 Re: Diesel Ford Ranger commuter truck in reply to Merlin in Rushford, 04-24-2008 07:24:37  
Here is one with an Izuzu diesel:


There was an Explorer out there that someone put the Cummins in. The engine was so tall they had to cut the crossmember that holds the TIB/TTB suspension together and rebuild it. It was a lot of work, of course I can't find the article on it.>Link



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Chris in SK

04-25-2008 09:58:46




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 Re: Diesel Ford Ranger commuter truck in reply to Merlin in Rushford, 04-24-2008 07:24:37  
Maybe look at the European models as a guide. The current UK/Eurpean Ford Ranger is available with a 2.8 turbo diesel I think, and most have 4 door crew cabs now. When I lived in UK, I ran diesels. LR Discovery 2.5 TDI, Jeep Grand Cherokee, 2.5 VM TD, and others. Most got around 28 – 30 MPG city, 35-38 HWY. All standard trans and would tow 6000 – 8000# if you stirred the stick. That’s Imperial gallons. I think you would be hard pushed to match these figure with an engine swap.

Europe was in the same place the US is now, 20 years ago. Now probably 80% of all trucks and suv’s are diesel. Beware of trying to install ag / ind diesels in trucks. They don’t have the rev range for the truck tranny. I saw a few conversions tried that didn’t work out very good, and needed overdrives, transfer case gears and diffs changed to get them to work.

Personally I think you need to look for diesel engine and tranny as a complete unit. I was thinking about importing either a complete vehicle, or a front clip (engine, rad, trans etc) for a conversion. So far though thinking about it is as far as I got.

Chris

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RodInNS

04-25-2008 05:28:03




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 Re: Diesel Ford Ranger commuter truck in reply to Merlin in Rushford, 04-24-2008 07:24:37  
I've given it some thought as well. I think that the 4BTI could be fitted easily enough. I also think that you could probably fit enough sensors and pickups to the new engine to actually keep the cab in stock trim rather than hacking it apart to get a tach an speedo like some guys do...
The thing that is troubling me is the gear ratios and the transmission. I have a 5 speed, 4x4. This truck has 4.10 axles.... yes, I was dumbfounded when I learned it has 4.10's! No wonder the mileage sucks. So here's the problem. When you stick a set of 3.55's in there to get her tach'd down to 1600 at highway speed, then you're going to have a very VERY fast first gear.
I'd think you really need a T56 transmission with the bull low first gear to make this work any ways well.... and then you got to figure out how to mount a transfer case.
I do believe that you need some combination of faster gears in the rear end or the double overdrive transmission, or both to get any mileage out of the combination. I think about 40 mpg is all you could hope for from a 4BTI with the right gearing, and probably about what you're getting now if you don't change the gearing.

I'm actually thinking of hopping up a 3 cylinder Ford should I ever get around to trying this, but that's because I like the engine. A 4BT would be a lot easier to find...

Rod

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TVB

04-24-2008 21:14:04




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 Re: Diesel Ford Ranger commuter truck in reply to Merlin in Rushford, 04-24-2008 07:24:37  
I had the same thought I'm not much of a gear head or I'd try it. Food for thought- a small diesel engine in a small or mid sized pick up would get great fuel mileage, yet none of the auto manufactures are offering this right now, things that make you go----- --HMMMMM MMMMM M



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TX656

04-24-2008 19:22:43




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 Re: Diesel Ford Ranger commuter truck in reply to Merlin in Rushford, 04-24-2008 07:24:37  
That's freaky. I've had the EXACT same thought. Someone has to have tried this already.



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jose bagge

04-24-2008 16:25:23




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 Re: Diesel Ford Ranger commuter truck in reply to Merlin in Rushford, 04-24-2008 07:24:37  
I have a deisel Isuzu P'UP ( same as a Chevy LUV) 4x4 with about a trillion miles on it- drive train is bombproff and outlasting the frame.The folks that owned these things were real fans of them- 'bout the same size as a Ranger. I'm gonna swap it into an old military flat fender jeep as soon as i figure out how to deal with the independent front axle



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Roy Suomi

04-24-2008 15:16:23




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 Re: Diesel Ford Ranger commuter truck in reply to Merlin in Rushford, 04-24-2008 07:24:37  
How about the governor in the industrial diesels..Aren't they prone to kick in on pulls enough to mess you up with the throttle ?? It would be fine if only governor would be for red line rpms..What's you thoughts on this ??



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Davis SC

04-24-2008 12:56:19




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 Re: Diesel Ford Ranger commuter truck in reply to Merlin in Rushford, 04-24-2008 07:24:37  
I saw a Dodge Dakota, with a Cummins BT4 transplanted in it.. Guy did a nice job installing it. He said he was going to change the axle gears, since it was running at redline at 70 mph. As it was, he said he was only getting 26 mpg. Higher gearing should help that.



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Tom B...IN

04-24-2008 11:45:49




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 Re: Diesel Ford Ranger commuter truck in reply to Merlin in Rushford, 04-24-2008 07:24:37  
How weird is that. My truck is an 04 screw F150, but last night I took my dogs for a ride in "their" 84 ranger. While I was drivning along I was thinking about how cool it would be to put a small diesel in it, make your own bio-diesel, and find a 5 or 6 speed. I think that would be awesome.

Tom



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jdemaris

04-24-2008 10:07:56




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 Re: Diesel Ford Ranger commuter truck in reply to Merlin in Rushford, 04-24-2008 07:24:37  
I doubt you"re ever going to see 50 MPG. Even my diesel Chevy Chevettes and diesel Volkswagens don"t get that high of an average. The Volkswagen can get a little better than 50 MPG on long flat highway runs with the 1.6 diesel. The Chevettes with 1.8s get a best of 48 MPG - and both have overdrive.

I had several diesel Rangers and Chevy S10s. The 2WDs - Ford and Chevy had 2.2 liter diesels and both got around 35- 38 MPG on the highway. I"m still driving two 1985 Isuzu PUP 4WD diesel trucks - both with 2.2s. They average around 30 MPG overall, and get up to 34-36 MPG on highway runs. Neither have overdrive - just four speeds. With overdrve, they"d do a little better.

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JDknut

04-24-2008 09:01:26




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 Re: Diesel Ford Ranger commuter truck in reply to Merlin in Rushford, 04-24-2008 07:24:37  
I might be wrong, but I believe Rangers used to have Diesels as an option in the early 80's. You might check into one of those.



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IaGary

04-24-2008 07:42:13




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 Re: Diesel Ford Ranger commuter truck in reply to Merlin in Rushford, 04-24-2008 07:24:37  
Will it increase your mileage by 25% to put in a diesel?

If so go for it.

Gary



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T-Rev

04-24-2008 09:54:09




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 Re: Diesel Ford Ranger commuter truck in reply to IaGary, 04-24-2008 07:42:13  
I also thought they used to have diesels, so looked it up.

The Ranger was introduced in mid-1982 for the 1983 model year. Available engines were the 72 hp (54 kW) 2.0 L and 86 hp (64 kW) 2.3 L OHC four-cylinders, a four-cylinder 59 hp (44 kW) 2.2 L Mazda/Perkins diesel, and a 115 hp (86 kW) 2.8 L Cologne V6. In 1985, a Mitsubishi-built 2.3 L turbodiesel with 86 hp (64 kW) replaced the Mazda diesel engine...

I"m not sure what happened after that. If I could buy a 59hp diesel truck today I would, those early Rangers were real simple and nice. A friend had one that had been hit by lightning, ran fine but had some screwed up guages.

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tlak

04-25-2008 04:30:44




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 Re: Diesel Ford Ranger commuter truck in reply to T-Rev, 04-24-2008 09:54:09  
The rangers with 4 cylinders were already real dogs, then one with another 13hp drop. May be good on gas but you might be going up a hill at 30mph.



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02XLT4X4

04-24-2008 12:08:10




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 Re: Diesel Ford Ranger commuter truck in reply to T-Rev, 04-24-2008 09:54:09  

T-Rev said: (quoted from post at 09:54:09 04/24/08) I also thought they used to have diesels, so looked it up.

The Ranger was introduced in mid-1982 for the 1983 model year. Available engines were the 72 hp (54 kW) 2.0 L and 86 hp (64 kW) 2.3 L OHC four-cylinders, a four-cylinder 59 hp (44 kW) 2.2 L Mazda/Perkins diesel, and a 115 hp (86 kW) 2.8 L Cologne V6. In 1985, a Mitsubishi-built 2.3 L turbodiesel with 86 hp (64 kW) replaced the Mazda diesel engine...

I"m not sure what happened after that. If I could buy a 59hp diesel truck today I would, those early Rangers were real simple and nice. A friend had one that had been hit by lightning, ran fine but had some screwed up guages.


The only downside for those older diesels are that parts are supposed to be really hard to come by. But if would ever find a good one for a good price I would get it.

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trucker40

04-25-2008 10:21:55




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 Re: Diesel Ford Ranger commuter truck in reply to 02XLT4X4, 04-24-2008 12:08:10  
I wonder if a person could make a head for a gas motor like a 4 cylinder Chevy to make it a diesel?Or maybe find a diesel head that would fit a Chevy 4 cylinder.Then you could find parts for the shortblock.Might need stronger pistons,but maybe pistons from a diesel motor could be found maybe that would work,rods too.Weak point might be the crank.I even thought about trying to melt iron and pour a block for a 4 cylinder of a good size for a pickup like a Ranger or S-10,that would fit somebodys diesel head design as long as it was simple like the old motors without all the electric gizmos on it.Didnt really think about a 3 cylinder Ford or Cummins.Seems like the diesel pickups that I drove,Chevy Luv,full size Chevy,didnt have enough power.Surely a diesel motor that has power can be built for a pickup like that.Chevy Luv was way under powered in my opinion but it got good mileage. A lot of it is in the gears.I think you would need to look at the spec sheet for an old Ranger with a diesel to get the right rear end ratios,and trans ratios.I dont think you can get high enough in the rear end and low enough with overdrive transmission in gas burner parts maybe without having maybe 10 speeds or something.Turbo and aftercooler and intercooler would help fuel mileage and horsepower.Full size Ford Broncos had a transfer case that was seperate from the transmission,so you could use a regular transmission,run a short driveshaft to the transfer case,then a driveshaft to the front from the transfer case.
Somebody that could make a diesel motor and a transmission that was overdrive enough to swap in a gas burner Ranger or S10 would be a rich man shortly if he could sell it cheap enough that people would buy it.

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