Ever see anyone hauling scrap in one of these?

**taterjuice** · 09-17-2013, 12:01 PM

Originally Posted by MetalEarthRecycling

Heated by a 500 watt ceramic heater. they get warm enough and they fit right in where the heater core goes. a/c can be done, but usually you see them on the EV's that have have lithium batteries. Someday I will convert it to lithium. lithium batteries have bean dropping in price over the years and i'm hoping when my floodies start to die the lithiums will be affordable. Im a hypermiler so I hardly even run my a/c in my truck that has one. Its about saving frog skins but It is also a challenge to see how high i can get the mpg's. my other project truck is a stock ford ranger. I have started with aero mods and shooting for 40 mpg. it has been done before with the 4 cylinder rangers.

Wouldn't using the heater decrease you range dramatically ? No trying to rain on your battery cells or anything just curious. I hate fords but would definitely rock any little pickup that could get 40 mpg and still carry a 1200# payload. Got a 96 Nissan I bought to fix to help lessen my fuel costs. Don't need a 3/4 pickup to get 1 fridge.

**Bear** · 09-17-2013, 12:34 PM

Originally Posted by MetalEarthRecycling

my other project truck is a stock ford ranger. I have started with aero mods and shooting for 40 mpg. it has been done before with the 4 cylinder rangers.

Do you document, post to a forum, or maybe blogged your progress with the Ford?

**Bear** · 09-17-2013, 12:37 PM

Originally Posted by MetalEarthRecycling

Stock bumpers increase drag and act as a parachute sort of. I took bumpers off both of my trucks for aerodynamics and want to get a roll pan to help with looks. It isnt huge mpg gains from removing them, but just like with scrap every little bit adds up and if you do enough of the right aero mods to your vehicle you will get pretty big gains in mpg. Most of the mods that really increase mpg make a vehicle look super ugly though and you will get people laughing/staring. But when it comes to saving frog skins i dont care.

I'm guessing this is your Ford project, what do the mods look like on the front?

**MetalEarthRecycling** · 09-17-2013, 03:42 PM

Heater does reduce range a lot. But I built the mazda for a commuter truck to get to work & back (20 miles) with the ability to make an additional 10 or 20 miles for store trips/scrap yard. So if I run the heater & go straight to work & back I will be fine on range. EV's are not for everyone, but mine is for a specific purpose & overtime I will save. Havent started documenting progress yet, but will. Just got the ranger a couple of weeks ago. No that truck with the roll pan isnt mine, but this is:

So far I have built an air dam & partial grill block. Other mods: spare tire delete & excess steel associated with it, rear bumper delete, shortened antenna, tail pipe dumped over rear axle, passenger mirror delete, wiper delete, & steel rims replaced with lighter aluminum rims. next i plan to remove emblems, block more of the grill, fill in other gaps with weather stripping or something, smooth wheel covers, rear wheel skirts, & much more. I plan on making a build thread on ecomodder.com since that is where i get most of my ideas from.

**Bear** · 09-17-2013, 03:55 PM

cool!

Is that a Pepe' Lopez hood ornament? ; ) I've got a bunch of older wheel covers you might wanna glance at to see if they're anything you could use.

**MetalEarthRecycling** · 09-17-2013, 07:03 PM

A lot of people are using pizza pans for wheel covers. there aluminum, light, and cheap. Mounting them is the difficult part. if you got some smoothy wheel covers that have something to mount with I would be interested.

**Bear** · 09-17-2013, 07:24 PM

I'm really not sure what's there MER, I'll see tho and let you know

**MetalEarthRecycling** · 09-17-2013, 07:33 PM

Originally Posted by Bear

I'm really not sure what's there MER, I'll see tho and let you know

My truck wheels are 15" and 16". wanting to put smoothies on both of my trucks.

**Mechanic688** · 09-17-2013, 10:23 PM

Go to the "moon caps" from back in the 60's here is a link; Their all over Google.
moon hubcaps - BuyCheapr.com

**MetalEarthRecycling** · 09-17-2013, 10:40 PM

Thanks Mech. The prices are for one wheel on that website. They are kinda pricey which is why a Lot of people are using pizza pans & bolting them on. They do look better though.

**MetalEarthRecycling** · 09-26-2013, 11:31 PM

Originally Posted by Bear

Do you document, post to a forum, or maybe blogged your progress with the Ford?

Just started a build thread for the ranger here: Another Ranger being modded - Fuel Economy, Hypermiling, EcoModding News and Forum - EcoModder.com

It has some mod updates since this thread.
I will start a build thread for the electric truck as soon as i regain motivation to start modding it again.