Hi All, I’m looking a little further into gasification and was wondering what 4 door makes and models have worked well for gasification? Looking forward to replies. I’ve tried DOW searches but have a feeling there exists threads I haven’t seen.
A little more searching and you’ll realize that number of doors is irrelevant - what matters is engine/ignition design, and HP to weight ratio. Practical matters skew toward trucks due to open beds, and generally more under-hood tinkering room. I see no reason why a 93 Jeep Grand Cherokee with a 318 wouldn’t work as good as a Dakota of the same vintage, except maybe for the added body weight. @SteveUnruh has even said as much, and whatever Steve says concerning things automotive, you can take to the bank.
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I’ve always though an explorer sportrac would be the cat’s meow if you wanted to take the family along driving on wood.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Ford-Explorer-Sport-Trac-/301845462432?forcerrptr=true&hash=item4647643da0:g:rlMAAOSwGotWk~jl&item=301845462432
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Wood powered Caddy seems to work quite well…
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Hello Chris .
When considering a vehicle you may want to keep in mind some of the suggestions that Chris S put together on this link .
http://www.driveonwood.com/premium/woodgas-donor-vehicle/
Could you give us some idea of how you might be using the vehicle . If it is just riding it seems Herb’s Caddy is doing well.
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I started out with a "94 Chevy S10 4 door Blazer. Added a 3 ft deck on the back bumper. It did not take me too long to realize I was upsetting the handling and ride with the weight hanging behind of the rear bumper.TomC
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Good morning guys, just a couple of thoughts and I have never talked about this but doing a car with front wheel drive has at least three advantages over a pickup! One is all the starting and servicing is done at ground level, you never have to crawl up into the bed to do anything!
Another big advantage especially in cold winter time is that it is low enough that it can be backed into a standard garage door opening to work on, I have often thought if ild done a pickup I would be doing everything outside, I like a nice cozy shop!!!
Another big plus is that wood and tools and other stuff needed to keep things going can be kept in a dry secure place, the trunk!
Front wheel drive is a biggie, everything is up front leaving the back which is nothing but a trailer without the cumbersome hitch and hassle and tag along train of a trailer!
More then once I’ve had six people in the Caddy giving rides, try that in a pickup!!! My three and 1/2 cents worth!!!
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As far as adding weight to the back, I have never found it back heavy awkward! But the whole unit only weighs 400lbs, it has twice the surface area of cooling and twice the filtering sq ins of the standard WK, that was done more accidentally then on purpose but the fact remains and I think it does give an advantage, the temp Gage’s in final filter has never come off of the bottom peg that I have seen and I really like the idea of having twice the filtering!! One whole side of cooling and filtering could be taken off and just pull out of one side like all the rest but it would look uneven odd I think!!
I know the unit looks huge on the back but I don’t ever see it from the drivers seat and I don’t ever notice it from the driving aspects of the car!!
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Hi Herb, Tom, Wayne , Chris, Andy and Alex-
My goal is to have a truck that is gasified with four doors, the doors being for a 2 and 7 year old. We don’t really have a need for a passenger car as we are often hauling this and that to or from the farm. I’d really like my wife to be able to run the gasifier at some point as well.
Andy, I like the idea of the sportrac. I hadn’t thought of that. I had been looking at four door durangos.
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I believe the 4-door Dakota began in 2000, and the 5.9L engine ran through 2003, so you may have a 3-year window to play in that will get you something WK-compatible. The downside is that OBDII intrusions were steadily increasing in those years, and the onboard computer nanny may not allow you to play around with alternative fuel. From what I’ve heard, the 4.7L V8 is not as woodgas-friendly.
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The sport trac started in 2000 obdll , no dist, all were 4.0 v6 till 06 then 4.6 v8
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