The fuel price here was 3.93 today ang gas is 2.95 so I finally started driving my first gen gasser again. I have not driven it since I bought my diesel but I cannot see spending a dollar more a gallon. Both trucks get the same gas mileage so it it definately cheaper to run the gasser. I keep them both tagged so if the price ever comes back down I will go back to driving it. Why is it anyway that diesel fuel is more expensive than gas isnt it less refined?? The other part I do not understand is how come last week there was a 65 cent difference in gas and diesel and this week there is a dollar difference. I am sure we are all being taken for a ride somewhere here.

This thread will most likely get moved, but I wonder the same thing. The war is putting a major drain on oil reserves. JP 4, JP 5, diesel, home heating oil and kerosine are all real close together in the manufacturing process I have been told. I want to go into bio diesel but I don't have anywhere to put it and the start up money isn't there. ther are plenty of fast food restaurants around here and they all pay to get rid of used cooking oils.

I parked mine last November and bought a cng f150. CNG here is .63 a gallon:cool:

I agree, fuel is over $4.19 here and I can't afford to run it anymore, I've got a worn out '81 318 W250 that will be used for grunt duty from now until the end of time by looks of the economy.

I parked mine last November and bought a cng f150. CNG here is .63 a gallon:cool:

Sorry for the hijack, but I'm curious. What do you think of the CNG, for power, mileage, driveability and availability? Thanks.

I bought a 2001 F150 4x2 dedicated CNG, factory built engine and whatnot to run CNG only and it is great. I can go about 180-230 miles on a tank which deponds on the psi of the fill which is detrimined by the compressor output at the station and air temp. outside. The best I can figure I am getting 12-13 mpgge (miles per gallon of gas equiv.) The bi-fuel trucks can be a little more troublesome with all the mech. to switch back and forth plus the engine is designed to run on gas which results in less power on cng. Mine has plenty of power and really runs great. I bought it with 51k on the clock. There is also a state tax credit of 3k that I was able to take advantage of this year. There is a lot of info. on cngchat.com about state and fedral tax incentives. This is a clean air veichle so it allows me to drive in the metro lane alone and park for free downtown plus my fuel bill went from 100.00 + a week to 25.00 a week.

Still cheaper to pull my trailer with my dodge then my gasser chevy.

Andy

I'm picking up a beater '92 subaru wagon until the price goes down. It just doesn't make finacial cents:cool: for me to commute 76 miles a day in my truck and Erica (my wife) wants her car back.

Michael

What are you all gonna to do if it don't back down?

Same thing I'm doing now. Ride the bike, and use the truck when I need it.

just filled up going to go back to the old gas chevy unless I need to tow my trailers

Im gonna start driving my gasser a whole lot now but i need my good ol cummins for towing my race car so ill still use it alot but i aint never gonna get rid of it it is too good of a truck and its paid for. Could be worse we could be in a brand new cummins like my boss gettin 10 mpg towin with his 6.7 and payin for diesel and a $500 truck payment. At least the majority of our 1st gens are payed off so that saves us and we also for the most part get 20 mpgs.

Diesel is 3.75 a gallon here in Oklahoma City(the cultural center of the universe) and is not likely to get any better until they start making it from coal via the Fischer-Tropsch process. Several companies are trying to start up but have been delayed by environmentalists (tree huggers). The stock symbols for these companies are: RTK, SYNM, HW, SSL to name a few. The US has 25% of the worlds coal reserves, enough to last for 250 years. These companies say they can produce diesel for a buck a gallon. Call your US congress men and demand they push for this process. India, China, South Africa and Austrailia are already producing this type of fuel.

This fuel burns cleaner and has a much higher C-tain rating than petro diesel and un like bio diesel it can be ran 100% in all types of diesel engines as its lubrication properties exceed petro diesel.

don't forget the 270 billion barrels of oil in this country already- that we can't drill for because of the tree huggers ! this oil would be in alaska, off the pacific coast, the altantic coast and all the capped wells in this country. sorry to see you park the truck. i have been making and using bio for a year now. getting harder and harder to secure wvo because of the high diesel prices. "middle man" are going around to the restaurants and signing contracts with them-buying their wvo now and selling it to a local oil/gas distributor that sells it to a bio diesel company

I bought a beater last December for my daily commuting (work, school) looks like i am gonna half to make that thing last longer we just hit 4 bucks a gallon up here. I have heard about the process to make diesel from coal, just don't know that much about yet. I was trying to hunt down some B100 because that was usually quite a bit less a gallon then regular if you buy it in bulk, but the local supplier up here don't have it this year. Might be time to get a TDI jetta and leave the truck for trips to home depot and towing only.

I saw fuel at $4.45 today. I couldn't believe it.

don't forget the 270 billion barrels of oil in this country already- that we can't drill for because of the tree huggers ! this oil would be in alaska.....


you cant blame tree huggers, there are no trees where they want to drill![laugh]

besides, we are all talking about drilling in AK, and off the coasts, because all our oil is goin away, but what are we gonna complain about when all our land is goin away? and dont call me a tree hugger either, I am just an advocate of the original post in this thread....alternative fuels....[coffee]

It has been said that global warming is a tool to promote the demise of democracy and the US economy. This was said by Valcav Klaus, Pres of Czech Republic, he says Global warming a tool to defeat democracy.

It is true that oil is getting much more scarce but there are a lot of politics involved also. Viable alternative transportation fuels must be found. Bio fuels are produced in very limited quantities and could never replace petroleum derived fules on the scale of US consumption.

I'll keep my truck parked for the most part and reserve it for the trailer pulling jobs only.

Germany used gasoline and diesel produced by the Fischer-Tropsch process during WWII after the lost their oil fields. The Tree Huggers call it "Natzi Fuel"

I just paid 4.40 a gallon here in western mass today, even higher towards Boston.

[duhhh][duhhh][duhhh]


Tim

Diesel is 3.75 a gallon here in Oklahoma City(the cultural center of the universe) and is not likely to get any better until they start making it from coal via the Fischer-Tropsch process. Several companies are trying to start up but have been delayed by environmentalists (tree huggers). The stock symbols for these companies are: RTK, SYNM, HW, SSL to name a few. The US has 25% of the worlds coal reserves, enough to last for 250 years. These companies say they can produce diesel for a buck a gallon. Call your US congress men and demand they push for this process. India, China, South Africa and Austrailia are already producing this type of fuel.

This fuel burns cleaner and has a much higher C-tain rating than petro diesel and un like bio diesel it can be ran 100% in all types of diesel engines as its lubrication properties exceed petro diesel.

Biodiesel cn be run in all sorts of engines, and its lubricity also exceeds that of petro diesel. The only thing holding biodiesel back is the lack of a structured rating system on its quality.

All the tree huggin free willies out there will start feelin the pinch when their gallon of milk skyrockets, or there corn on the cob and veggie burger prices go through the roof cause the price of diesel is gonna cost our farmers and our trucking industry a bunch!! They(gas people) talk about their gas prices, 3.19 a gallon. Diesel makes this countries wheels turn, train, semi's, farm equipment, construction equipment....they don't here about that or think about it. Could you imagine filling up 400-500 gallons of diesel at these prices?

Diesel is at $4.10 a gallon here. I can't park the truck because it is my only rig but im not driving around very much anymore. I filled up the other day at $3.93 a gallon and it cost me $110 for 28 gallons-OUCH[yuk]

that is right- the worlds economy is an oil based economy! oil makes the whole world go around. plenty of land space left to go after the oil we know we have. great_big_juan is correct on that global warming hoax. all that is, is a political movement to raise your taqxes and control more of your life.john coleman, the founder of the weather channel 20 years back is thinking of suing al gore- he says the global warming hoax is the biggest lie the world as seen!!! we need to get back to basics. we are the greatest country in the world. we have oil in the country- we should not let a select bunch of people stop us. we will suffer as we watch china and india continue to grow theri economies. at what point will we allow drilling ?(again) 5.00 a gal?? 6.00 a gal??

I toured the Syntroleum plant in Tulsa last year, an overview of the Fisher-Tropsch process. If Coal-to-liquid were to ever take off, we could all breath a little easier that's for sure. Thank the EPA and politics for the hold up. [tapdshut]

Syntroleum (http://www.syntroleum.com/Main.aspx)
Coal-to-liquid (http://www.syntroleum.com/Projects_CTL.aspx)

I did something worse than parking my truck...I'm letting my wife drive it and I'm in her VW. Every day I get home I have to do a walk around just to make sure there are no dents or dings. Ever since she parked it on top of a Wal-Mart buggy I've been a little nervous.[nonono] Oh yeah, if you're in south Arkansas and you see a white ram coming at you and a little blond head just above the steering wheel, you might want to start heading for the ditch.[laugh]

I just paid 4.40 a gallon here in western mass today, even higher towards Boston.

[duhhh][duhhh][duhhh]


Tim

me too, filled up in westfield mass yesturday, Citgo was $4.09/gal, Getty was $4.13/gal, but i drove outta my way to pay $3.98/gal [laugh]

Bet this is working wonders for resale value of diesel pickups.

Mine is parked in the weeds.

I drove mine this morning taking the wifey to breakfast.
First time it's left the curb in two weeks.
Sitting with 5/8 tank again for another week or so while I drive the Wifey's gasser Landcruiser.

I still have 2 five gallon jugs of diesel in the garage that I bought when it was still 3.40 a gallon.
(Wish I had a 100 gallon transfer tank back then)



ALSO....merged two threads on this subject. ;)

Has nothing to do with the war in Iraq. Has EVERYTHING to do with speculation on the world market. Opec doesn't set the price. Exxon Mobile doens't set the price. President Bush doesn't set the price. Dick Cheney doens't set the price. It is set on the open world market. There is no shortage. Opec is right. They don't need to increase output. We cant refine anymore fuel! And of the fuel we CAN refine, we have to produce 50 different blends because the liberal enviro-wackos and the EPA have demanded it. We CANT drill in our OWN country. We CANT build new refineries. We haven't built a new refinery in 30 years yet we have how many more vehicles on the road? WE have created this monster. Don't blame someone else.

First time it's left the curb in two weeks.


I'm surprised we don't see more people doing it. [duhhh] Some people choose to go broke before parking there beloved rigs and driving something more economical. I seen the writing on the wall and swallowed my pride back in Dec, bought a gas saver and haven't griped about high prices since. The trucks have been in garage lockdown since December with the occasional sunny day drive to the store or a restaurant. True, prices are sky high, but I no longer cringe at the sight of the pump meter closing in on $100. My bill is now usually $28-$30 for a fill up. :cool: [guitar]

Moved twice, where to this time?

I honestly don't know what is going on, that is, where the money is going or who it is going to.

Through circumstance, I happen to own some British Petroleum (used to be Amoco) stock. I've owned it for about ten years, it has roughly doubled in price in that length of time. That is not a particularly outstanding return, about 7%.

When I bought my truck in '03, diesel was $1.30. Now, it's four bucks. Three times what is was, or a 25% annual increase. (That must be some steep demand curve!)

For me, I guess it's not the end of the world because I can just park it. However, the commercial world, such as railroads, truck lines, and farmers cannot do that. They have to either pay it or cease operations. That money to fund the difference in cost has to come from somewhere. If it can be passed to the customer, it is.

Everyday you hear some talking head yak about the condition of the economy but I hear very few correlate the cost of fuel to the economic downturn. Am I missing something, or are they? The United States economy is driven by fuel. Any unusual increase is going to send economic shock waves through it. Fuel is triple what it was five years ago and the economy is in the dumper. Hmmm....wonder if there is a cause and effect there? Of course not! It's the mortgage crisis, dummy! People are defaulting on their mortgages at a rate less than they were in the '80s and the Fed cuts the prime rate three times in two months and pumps money into Bear Stearns to keep them afloat. How does the economy react? It doesn't! Wonder if there's a cause and effect relationship there? Obviously someone thinks there is because they keep throwing our tax money at it!

I voted for Bush twice. Obviously, the man doesn't buy fuel. Someone asks what he thinks of $4 gasoline and his response is "Oh, is that what they say it's going to?"

I am being pinched pretty hard from all the increases in everyday staples such as fuel, food, insurance, taxes, tuition, etc. They're all increasing much faster than inflation (makes you wonder how they measure inflation). If--and that's a big if--I get a raise this year, it can't even begin to put me back to where I was a year ago, let alone two, three, or four years ago.

My CTD with a full tank of fuel was parked in our farm shop on Sept. 13/07 and it has not turned a wheel since. Last week I put it up on four jack stands in order to do some work under the truck, and I am in no hurry to take it off the stands. I may not drive it this year and instead wait and see what fuel costs are next year in 2009. We now stay at home mostly with fuel so expensive, but when we need transportation we use a 10 year old gasoline pickup that gets 26 mpg. My 20 year old carbureted 4 banger Mitsubishi D-50 still gets 35 mpg. We drive like we would crush an egg shell on the accelerator pedal while trying to conserve fuel.

Maybe the global warming gurus have convinced the politicians the sky is falling; thus, they are letting the petroleum industry increase fuel costs to force us to drive those hybrid hydrogen fuel economy vehicles. The oil companies are getting rich while the sincere but deceived politicians take it out on fuel users. If the economy goes bust it will be the politicians that cause the downturn by listening to the unscientific fanatic global warming mongers. They would better clean up toxic pollution in the atmosphere and water bodies than worry about carbon dioxide. I breath out carbon dioxide and trees use it and give off oxygen. We will get shafted in the left ear while they feed us a bunch of lies. What is new?

So, I just got my Passat diesel running. Have not had to buy fuel for the truck in over a month! However, it's time to start fishing again. But I have a bunch of buddies & we split the fuel. Makes it a little more palatable.
Also, the PAssat is getting ~38mpg around town. Not bad for a '96 diesel!

Tony

Has nothing to do with the war in Iraq. Has EVERYTHING to do with speculation on the world market. Opec doesn't set the price. Exxon Mobile doens't set the price. President Bush doesn't set the price. Dick Cheney doens't set the price. It is set on the open world market. There is no shortage. Opec is right. They don't need to increase output. We cant refine anymore fuel! And of the fuel we CAN refine, we have to produce 50 different blends because the liberal enviro-wackos and the EPA have demanded it. We CANT drill in our OWN country. We CANT build new refineries. We haven't built a new refinery in 30 years yet we have how many more vehicles on the road? WE have created this monster. Don't blame someone else.

I couldn't have said it better myself.......

Until we start seeing the hedge funds starting to lose money in the commodities market and start pumping it back into stocks, oil wont be coming down anytime soon. Oh yea the truck is in storage with the toyhauler, got 2 civics in the driveway now. Truck is only coming out on special occasions.

Would that special occasion be taking it to the dealer to get the tranny worked on flower?

I really hate to sound like this - but this parking the truck thing is exactly what the enviromentalist's want us to do. The more regulations they can impose, the more and more of "us" that " them" can get to mothball our "loud, polluting, and inefficient veichles" the more of thier own battle they have won.

Don't get me wrong - I can't afford to drive mine right now either, but what they are doing (search on Google for 2020 35 mpg regulaitons) looks awfully close to what was going on overseas in a very large nation under a much tighter grip than any of us wants to see. And this was all "liberated" several years back. Soon, we will be told what to drive and when, and even things such as electricity may be so high priced as to make it impossible for all but the very privlidged to afford. I hope this is simply speculaiton, but could any of us have forseen these fuel prices five years ago?

I hope this is simply speculaiton, but could any of us have forseen these fuel prices five years ago?

When the Government started taliking about "Cleaner, Reformulated Diesel?.......Yup, .......Stevie Wonder could'a seen THAT one comming.

When the Government started taliking about "Cleaner, Reformulated Diesel?.......Yup, .......Stevie Wonder could'a seen THAT one comming.

Or how about when Exxon and Mobil were allowed to merge?

The U.S. economy/government or what have you seems determined to yet again do whatever it takes to prevent people from driving diesel vehicles.

I know this is a Dodge forum so please don't jump on with brand bashing but a friend went to local Ford dealership to price a gas pickup and they told him they haven't sold a diesel pickup in two months and will not take delivery of any more as they have a lot full of them they can't sell. There is a dually parked out front that has been there for a long time with $9K discount on the windshield with no takers.

Whatever it takes...to kill the diesel. If it's not GM building total junk it's an 80 cent price spread.

Or how about when Exxon and Mobil were allowed to merge?

I can't vouch for Exxon/Mobil, but my BP stock has done absolutely nothing during all of this. In fact, it has gone down during the last few months.

people need to do the math then... if you are actually using them for work.

Still alot cheaper to pull my trailer at 14mpg then at 8mpg with a gas truck!

Andy

My chevy never got near the mpg that my CTD gets. That said, I still can't afford to use the Dodge as a daily driver at 4.19/gal for diesel. It's been parked for two week intervals since december and I get it out for a run on the odd weekend. Spending evenings racking my brain like the rest of you trying to figure out mods that'll push it closer to 30mpg .

The way I see it, oil is the new gold!! The government has to give the oil co.s permission to start drilling in Anwar using best available technology and then fix the price per barrel at $60 or $75 per barrel extracted and sit back and watch the oil markets fall. Reduce Anwar pumpage when the profiteers have learned their lesson. I don't blame the oil companies for this - their rate of return per unit has remained basically the same. Their increasing profits are prinicpally from increased volume of sales. Speaking of profits...who makes more money on fuel sales than the oil co.s? The government does with an average tax of - what? $0.40 per gallon?

Yeah we need greater refining capacity and a yeah we need to develope a larger variety of fuel resources and transportation alternatives but until then we can't afford to go broke waiting for the other alternatives to become affordable and available. These fuel prices are killing the economy! The wife and I are even talking about planting a vegetable garden this year and raising some chickens too! Geeze!

Guess I did not buy mine for a daily driver and would not want to even think of having to drive the rough riding thing 50 miles every day. Rides much smoother with a trailer behind... that is what I bought it for. The 91 Jeep Cherokee gets DD duties.

Though in researching lately if I were to get a new DD a Suzuki SX4 crossover looks pretty cool. Hatchback small wagon, AWD, 2.0L 4cyl that gets 30mpg.

Andy

These fuel prices are killing the economy! The wife and I are even talking about planting a vegetable garden this year and raising some chickens too! Geeze!


Not a bad idea! My parents have done both of these for years. I'm personally starting to cook at home much more than I used to, and sharing the load by cooking for and with other members of the small group I'm part of through church. Saves a lot more than I tought it would in terms of cost.

I drove the truck this morning - I need to take it from 1/4 tank to 3/4 or more today, I may just fill it full and leave it a while. All I can do is wait now, but I just want it to be ready when it's needed.

deliberate inflation of the dollar is the cause, IMO. If your salary doesnt rise with inflation, thats rather like theft if you ask me. =(

BINGO kawi!!!

Well...$99.80 later, from 1/4 tank, truck is full and has 36 miles on this tank. This could well be the s l o w e s t delpeted tank I've ever had. Noted the last time I filled up was the end of December. I really feel for you guys who have to use your truck daily...maybe some employers will start paying mileage...hang in there! I know I won't be driving it recreationally, which is too bad, as I still really like driving this truck! [duhhh]

Once the weather warms Ive got the biodiesel and stuff to help the cost. I was expecting this a couple years ago and started preparing.
The unfortunate thing is the methanol needed for biodiesel is at like +300$ which puts a big dent in the savings.
Veggie oil cant be run on a cold motor so thats a no-no for commuting to work.
Lots of problems to overcome with alternative fuels. :(

Veggie oil cant be run on a cold motor so thats a no-no for commuting to work.

I won't run it PERIOD! On the tdiclub.com, I've seen pics of melted pistons due to injectors leaking because the veg oil is too viscous. What you save in fuel cost, you spend in engine repair!

Now, I am researching BioDiesel quite aggressively. Next tank in the passat, I'm starting with 5%, then maybe 10%. Want to introduce it slowly to make sure I don't have any injection pump issues.

Tony

I won't run it PERIOD! On the tdiclub.com, I've seen pics of melted pistons due to injectors leaking because the veg oil is too viscous. What you save in fuel cost, you spend in engine repair!
Tony

Well thats what you get when you dont heat the stuff properly. Lots of horror stories.
I wont believe any of them until I see the temps they run when they switch over. Needs to be 160F or so to be safe.
If you dont heat it, you can get washdown from unburnt fuel that cokes the rings and contaminates the oil, causing major problems.
Of course if you watched your exhaust and had the oil analyzed regularly youd pick up on it before it caused damage.
I think water in fuel is another problem people underestimate until its too late.

my setup is heated from tank to pump and Im adding electric heat on the filter bowl and on the injection lines. I have a temp probe at the filter and at the lift pump to tell me whats going into it. doesnt get warm until its been on the highway for 10min or so. Lots of folks just switch over too fast.