The hodgepodge, cheap, light, ecomodder pickup truck bench race thread!

Say I wanted a small pickup, for quick trips to lowes, maybe hauling a light load like a mower or something. But I was willing to swap engines, do drivetrain and body modifications to achieve the best mileage, while the truck remains a useful truck.

I'm thinking an older Japanese mini truck, anywhere between the late 70's to the early 90's. With a 1.9L VW TDI engine swapped in. I'm leaning towards Toyota since ACME Adapters sells a kit where you can use a 'Yota transmission with a TDI plant.

Lower the truck, not extremely low, but enough to get it out of the wind. Some sort of truck cap, maybe even a Kammback, but built hinged like a fiberglass bed cover.

Or maybe a lightweight aluminum flatbed, with some aero devices to decrease wind resistance.

After this, I'll go check out ecomodder. The side jobs thread has me thinking about pickup trucks, and the wheels got to turning and led to me wasting your time here.

Station wagon with removable vinyl roof instead?

Not cheap but I would like to put a 2.0 Ecoboost in a 4x4 Ranger. I would love to have a truck and 4 wheel drive and get good enough mileage to commute in.

For a small diesel I've seen small isuzus of about 2 liters on eBay for under $1000. I don't know what they connect to for a transmission though.

Mazda sold the B2600 with a diesel in it. But the gaser B2600 with a Kia FE3 bolted to the stock tranny, a stand alone, and aero mods could still be a 40mpg machine.

This is a good mental exercise, but none of the mods you are discussing would ever payoff on a truck that is for the occasional run to HD/Lowes or hauling a lawn mower. The best you'd get in that situation is A) Just buy some small 4 cyl truck and drive it as infrequently as possible or B) utility trailer behind a car.

That said, the TDI in something dumped low with mega aero might return o.k. fuel economy.

Has anyone taken the Honda IMA unit and put it in something RWD? The only RWD Hybrid I know of that isn't high-performance would be the RX400h, and that wouldn't work in this application because it eliminates the typical diff arrangement all together (basically just a Prius trans on its own where the rear diff would be)

In reply to ProDarwin:

I hadn't thought about it but there is a $200 Fiero in Craigslist...

So you want a TDI swapped VW pickup or Dodge Rampage, both of which are nearly bolt in swaps, right?

Leafy wrote: Mazda sold the B2600 with a diesel in it. But the gaser B2600 with a Kia FE3 bolted to the stock tranny, a stand alone, and aero mods could still be a 40mpg machine.

They did? Did we get a diesel b2600 in the states?

I think a properly tuned f2t b2200 would easily exceed 30mpg highway.

Swank Force One wrote: I think a properly tuned f2t b2200 would easily exceed 30mpg highway.

The main problem there is that it would be so tempting/easy to make it a 500 ft lbs tire destroyer instead.

oldopelguy wrote: So you want a TDI swapped VW pickup or Dodge Rampage, both of which are nearly bolt in swaps, right?

Except for the Rampage you need the super rare "I collect 80s Chryslers and I've never seen one" Chrysler trans with the VW bolt pattern. Unless you know something I don't.

A stock boost 2.2 turbo setup with a low gear 5 speed in a rampage should get you 30.

Geo Metro + sawzall, and you're done. Seriously. Do an image search for Geo Metro Pickup. It's an embarrassment of riches. A cornucopia even.

Swank Force One wrote:

Leafy wrote: Mazda sold the B2600 with a diesel in it. But the gaser B2600 with a Kia FE3 bolted to the stock tranny, a stand alone, and aero mods could still be a 40mpg machine.

They did? Did we get a diesel b2600 in the states? I think a properly tuned f2t b2200 would easily exceed 30mpg highway.

I got the generations mixed up. I can find parts for b2200 diesel in junk yards and the ranger generation b2600.

I was doing this purely as a mental exercise, although I may look into it further if you guys push me far enough.

singleslammer wrote:

Swank Force One wrote: I think a properly tuned f2t b2200 would easily exceed 30mpg highway.

The main problem there is that it would be so tempting/easy to make it a 500 ft lbs tire destroyer instead.

That's how you get the mpg.

The more power my car makes, the better gas mileage it gets. Not at WOT of course...

Wally wrote: For a small diesel I've seen small isuzus of about 2 liters on eBay for under $1000. I don't know what they connect to for a transmission though.

I'm not sure about the ones on eBay, but the S10 was offered with a 4 cyl Isuzu diesel in the 80's.

I had a 2wd regular cab s10 with the Isuzu diesel and a 5 speed. It would get 30ish mpg on the highway without any aeromods.

The problem is it was not a turbo and was underpowered.

Underpowered to the point that you could hold the pedal to the floor for the majority of the Wilbur Cross and Merritt Pkwy portion of the trip between MA and NYC.

You could get a diesel Ranger in the mid '80s.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=HEcH3gThpnU

Episode 14 Dirty Jobs: 1982 Datsun King Cab Diesel running on biodiesel. I think it was edited out but I thought owner claimed 50mpg but that seems high.

singleslammer wrote:

Swank Force One wrote: I think a properly tuned f2t b2200 would easily exceed 30mpg highway.

The main problem there is that it would be so tempting/easy to make it a 500 ft lbs tire destroyer instead.

That sounds like more fun than acting like a Prius.....

mndsm wrote:

singleslammer wrote:

Swank Force One wrote: I think a properly tuned f2t b2200 would easily exceed 30mpg highway.

The main problem there is that it would be so tempting/easy to make it a 500 ft lbs tire destroyer instead.

That sounds like more fun than acting like a Prius.....

Better aero = higher top speed, too!

Who WOULDN'T want a 200mph B Truck?

El Camino + Duramax?

Import a Japanese/Aussie diesel Hilux front clip and swap engine into USDM Tacoma/T100/Tundra. Been done a couple hundred times already.

There's a guy on Pirate4x4 that mixed and matched Toyota & Jeep parts to get a GM L36 3800 V6 into a Tacoma, and I recall he was getting pretty stellar MPGs for a Tacoma with no other aero/weight mods.

The problem with this exercise is that it is great as an exercise, but once you move it into real life, it isn't as wonderful. Crunch the numbers. If the truck would only do about 2500 miles a year, and only HD/Lowes runs, then just find any 4 cylinder truck and call it a day.

mtn wrote: The problem with this exercise is that it is great as an exercise, but once you move it into real life, it isn't as wonderful. Crunch the numbers. If the truck would only do about 2500 miles a year, and only HD/Lowes runs, then just find any 4 cylinder truck and call it a day.

Honestly if you're only doing a HD/Lowes run every month or two its cheaper to just rent the work truck from HD/Lowes or one of the F150s from uhaul.