First woodgas vehicle

phranq · July 25, 2022, 6:48pm

Many thanks all… apologies for all these basic questions

For now, the expedient path for me is to stick with Dodge Dakotas (though the C-10 vids looked good)

Here are my immediate options:

1995 Sport v8-5.2L 4x4
2001 Sport-QuadCab v8-4.7L AWD/4x4

Both appear to have minimal rust (hard to find in Canada)

If I get the 2001, is there much difference between it and the 1995? ie. MPFI, etc? Admittedly it has a smaller v8

In other words, can I use the book mods for the 92-95 on the 2001, with minimal tweaks & comparable results?

Again, thank you all for your patience in accommodating my questions. I hope to repay in kind, down the road…

ForbiddenTuna · July 25, 2022, 6:55pm

The distributor isn’t adjustable on the 2001 I think, @Wayne would know.

phranq · July 25, 2022, 7:16pm

Thanks Cody! Hmm… is that an issue with all 2nd Gen (1996-2004)? I was sure I saw someone here with a 1997 Dakota

Oh well, that saddens me somewhat as the 2001 also comes with a light-duty snow plow (needful in these parts)

Bobmac · July 25, 2022, 8:43pm

That would be mine in a heart beat. That’s a get out on the road truck.
Bob

Wayne · July 25, 2022, 9:26pm

Hello Phrang

Before buying a 4.7 you may want to read through the below post .

http://forum.driveonwood.com/t/2000-dakota/771/275

phranq · July 25, 2022, 9:54pm

Many thanks Wayne…

You had me at “Dodge 4.7 is the worst motor you could choose for wood gas”…

Well that’s settled then!

Bobmac · July 25, 2022, 9:58pm

I own a 2003 4.7 L 4 door Ram truck. Plastic intake. No wood gas for it.
Bob

phranq · July 25, 2022, 11:04pm

Thanks Bob - that seals it for me…

pobrien603 · July 26, 2022, 2:24am

I have a 1998 Dakota sport. It has a 5.2l (318 in it). It is 4 wheel drive. It is higher profile and catches more wind than the preferred 92 to 96 square bodies. I found some leaks in the piping and changed all the piping in the truck. It still is not the big road runner the square bodies are. You might look up Kevin DeLonay’s 1997 on here. The 1998 has the distributer but its under and against the fire wall. That makes it a bit harder to attach the adjustment cable.

kmrland · July 26, 2022, 3:38am

I got a 99 dakota 2 wd 318 motor, i have not finished yet, I think the timeing is same adjustable as the 92 too 96 prefered dakotas, hopefully no extra mods needed for timing adjustables. Though they buck a bit more wind than the smaller square body dakotas.There might be another guy named kevin that built a 97 dakota for reference, i have not looked up his build yet, it might be on the premium side of the web site though.

ccweb1 · July 28, 2022, 1:17am

After you have gone over the book, check out the wilbur smith build. Easy to find using the search icon. Although that was a v10 build it has a lot of upgrades from the book build… another one to check out is Marcus Norman v10 build. He has done an excelent job showing the updates in vidoe form. Really easy to follow.

phranq · August 16, 2022, 5:56pm

OK, I managed to snag a '96 Dakota in good shape… now on to the next stage… My question to the group is what are the minimum truck mods in order to perform a stationary gasifier-to-engine test? Since I have Wayne’s book, page #'s are welcome Thanks in advance!

ForbiddenTuna · August 16, 2022, 5:57pm

The air cleaner assembly, with the dampener to control how much air is going in. You can hook up the gasifier to the truck for static testing after that.

You can also find a more in depth showing on the Premium Library now that you have Premium.

phranq · August 16, 2022, 6:28pm

Awesome! Many thanks Cody! (and all others who have offered advice in past - you guys are a great group!)

ForbiddenTuna · August 16, 2022, 6:37pm

Just make sure you have a way to cool and filter the gas! I was assuming you’d already have that built by the time you want to test it.

For stationary tests to shut off gasoline you can just pull the injector fuse or the fuel pump relay. Obviously when putting the gasifier in you’ll want to set up switches.

Wayne · August 16, 2022, 6:47pm

What Cody said .

This video I am testing a truck before the gasifier was built .

phranq · August 16, 2022, 7:41pm

Based on your advice Cody, I’m focusing on the “Connecting Everything” & “Final Steps” sections (hopefully the air cleaner assembly is in there)

Of note, the Gauges page has 3 unresolved links:

Instrumentation page