fuel cost hurting any of you yet

An electrician bud of mine has a big ol' Dodge 2500 Cummins Turbo Diesel that he runs bio-diesel in. Pretty much it's used french fry oil, all cleaned up. Restaurants throw that stuff away. He gets better mileage and more power or so he says and it's better for the environment.

Might want to look into that.

Doc Holliday said:

An electrician bud of mine has a big ol' Dodge 2500 Cummins Turbo Diesel that he runs bio-diesel in. Pretty much it's used french fry oil, all cleaned up. Restaurants throw that stuff away. He gets better mileage and more power or so he says and it's better for the environment.

Might want to look into that.

Click to expand...

both of mine dodge cummins too. have lookat bio fuel,but not sure were I would find the time to oil from restaurants and make it.

Well, have you tried a super chip? We, my friend and I while in his Dodge, came across a guy in a dually Dodge 3500 who sparked up a conversation with us, asking us about the mileage the truck gets. My bud's is a full size four door with an 8' bed so it's pretty long, standard transmission. He gets up to 22.

The other guy said he put a chip in his and again, it's a dually four door, and he said he gets 28 with the new chip.

Might want to check that out.

I always wondered if those chips work. My dodge is probley too old for it though.

No time like the present to find out!

http://www.autoanything.com/performance-chips/install-superchips-on-a-truck.aspx

I dont think my truck is worth that upgrade. The chip costs more then the truck is worth.

Gary H said:

I dont think my truck is worth that upgrade. The chip costs more then the truck is worth.

Click to expand...

I know what you mean. I just sold my '98 F-150, $1500. Saving for a newer good used truck now, like an '07 or newer F-150.

Chicago is already there...you guys have it easy!

Just pay it and bitch about it. The f450 I drive is a diesel hog for sure but it tows so much better than just about anything else I have used. Double edged sword drive something with better mpg and make two trips or make one trip with bad mpg.

Cole

We are at 4.35 for deisel today, and 4.28 for 87. I figured that it is costing me about 5-10 per day more in fuel for each of our trucks, so I just add that in to our bids. I dont think anyone is going to care about an extra 20-40 dollars when the over all bid is in the thousands. I filled our Dodge (17-22mpg) today at $130, and our Ford (8-12 mpg) this morning at $119. Our large trucks (10mpg) are what hurts to fill up 420-450 per fill, but I am also charging more when I use those, so it doesnt matter to me. If I was working for someone and I couldnt raise my hourly rate, I would complain. However, I can raise my rates, so it doesnt matter to me.

3.55$ here

No one I know has had any improvements in mpg that made it worth the $. Performance, a little. Yes, you have to work it into the bids for everything, even reoccurring work. Prices are not going down in the short term.

Have the same problem here. I never paid too much attention to fuel costs until this year. I switched over to diesel trucks about 4 years ago, and after I did, diesel prices went up. I am convinced that whatever they are putting in the diesel is killing the mileage. All the guys around here running diesels are complaining that their trucks are not getting the mileage they used to. My F350 dropped quite a bit over the past couple of years, and my driving habits have been the same. My Sprinter, on the other hand, stays at 16-17 MPG city or highway, up and down hills. I took it to my hunting camp one time, 520 miles round trip, all highway; I was expecting to see some 20's, and got 16!

3.65 for gas and 4.09 for diesel. trucks get empty just have to fill them up , not much else to do. Not going going to start using horses.:no::laughing:

It was hurting me after it got above $2.50/gal

BPWY said:

Gary you are right to be so skeptical!


Many claims are made......... few can be backed up.
Even less can be duplicated by any one other than the original claimee. (Is that even a word?) :laughing:


A bump of 2 possibly 3 mpg is believable. Not 6.

How ever the biggest difference with mpgs is the actions of the driver's right foot. Adding a power chip to enhance the performance of a truck does not usually lead to wise actions by the right foot.

When you have plenty of power most all of us MEN like to play, at least a little bit.





Fuel is $3.80 to $4.05 in these parts.

Click to expand...

I was skeptical as well, even brought it up on a truck forum and everyone gasped in disbelief at the story yet none of them had one. And it's not just performance chip, there are programmers which run the motors differently such as in economy mode or trailer mode or whatever.

Never know until you actually have one, I guess.

We are at $4 for gas. I always had a gas car for trips I dont need a truck. On the big jobs they all laughed at such a tall guy driving a little car, while they drove the big trucks. I just say 40 miles to the gallon. That shuts them up.

We're doing the same thing for running back and forth. Driving Chevy Tahoes and 2500s may look nice and successful when you pull up at a job site or a bid, or pulling equipment, but its a waste of money when your just ping ponging across town all day. I'm not so proud.