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Diesel compact pickups that can tow?
by
bhtooefr
on 31 Dec, 2005 16:33
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What diesel compact pickups were there that can tow a 2,000 pound load?
For that matter, what diesel compact pickups were there?
I know there were the Rabbit trucks, Toyotas, and Isuzu P'up diesels, but what else?
Also, was there anything with a worthwhile automatic transmission? My mom will need a pickup sometime in the near future, and an automatic would be preferred, but she can definitely drive stick (she does drive my Jetta).
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#1
by
zyewdall
on 31 Dec, 2005 20:55
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Here's my standard email I send to people wondering about what small diesel trucks were available in the US. It will be very hard to actually find one, because they were last imported around 1985, and sell for 2 to 4 times the bluebook of a similar age gas pickup. I don't know what the towing capacity of mine is, but I think it's around 2,000 or 2,500 lbs. As far as automatic transmissions, I was under the impression that all of the ones from the 80's sucked pretty bad, and to pair one of them with an older diesel would be the ultimate in slow acceleration. Maybe I'm wrong. I've never seen any of them with an auto though.
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VW pickups came with a 1.6 liter NA diesel engine. Rated at 52 HP.
They are front wheel drive, with a unibody construction. A friend of
mine has one of these that is waiting for a new engine right now. The
same engine in a VW rabbit has suprising amount of power around town,
and can maintain 65mph on the highway if it's flat. If it's in the
mountains, it slows down to 45ish... The VW 1.6 turbodiesel would
also bolt up to the same tranny, although none came stock in these
pickups. People get about 40 - 45mpg in the pickups.
Isuzu PUP's and Chevy Luv's came with a 2.2 liter NA diesel engine in
the early 80's. Not complete sure of the years. I've never driven
one of these, but have heard that they are pretty gutless up at this
elevation. 62HP I think. They are known to be a bulletproof engine
that will run forever, but the bodies tend to rust out. I've heard of
getting 35mpg in the 4wd versions of these, but I'd suspect closer to
30.
Toyota pickups came with a 2.4 liter diesel in both NA and turbo
versions in the early to mid 80's. The NA version was gutless, but
the turbo is pretty quick I hear.
Mazda used a industrial perkins diesel in their B2200 (2.2 liter NA)
in the early 80's. 30+ mpg, but pretty gutless at this altitude from
what I hear. Around sea level it should be better. These were also
available in the ford ranger from '82 to '84. Known to run forever,
and it has gears instead of a timing belt even.
Mitsubishi made a nice 2.3 liter turbodiesel which was used in the
dodge ram50/Mitsubishi mighty max from '83 to '85, and the ford ranger
from '85 to '88. I have one of the Powerram50's with this engine, and
I like it. Plenty of pickup when the turbo kicks in. I can cruise at
65-70 on the freeway, and even go up hills pretty quickly with a heavy
load. 84 HP, but it goes up hills as fast as my 84 horsepower subaru,
which weights 1000 lbs less. I'm getting about 23mpg around town, and
26mpg on road trips. I have a shell with a roof rack, pretty
aggressive tires, and 4wd, so it's not as good as it could be. I've
heard of 35mpg for the two wheel drive version with less weight and
air resistance.
And I think that nissan made some four cylinder and maybe a 6 cylinder
diesel for the hardbody pickup in the early 80's. I don't know any
more details than that.
All of these are well made engines from what I've heard -- most do
have cast iron blocks and aluminum heads, so don't overheat them.
Obviously the VW is more available, due to using the same engine as
all the VW jettas/rabbits, etc. The others are all really rare, and
I don't know if you could find the engines to swap into a gas truck
very easily. I had to go to Yakima to get my mitsubishi, and it would
have sold for about $5,000 on the market (I got the family friend
special deal). Search Ebay for used japanese diesels -- I see a good
assortment of those going through, and they'd be somewhere near a
direct bolt in. They have alot of newer ones than what was sold in
the US -- probably more power, but sometimes the newer ones don't like
running SVO as well. I know of people who have run the old Isuzu, VW,
Mitsubishi, and Mazda 4 cylinder diesels on SVO and they seem to like
it. Mine is getting the SVO setup soon. I've been running it
on between B20 and B100 for the last few months -- clogged the fuel
filter once, but no other issues.
One other thing, is that you can buy adaptor plates to put a VW diesel
engine in a toyota pickup. A 1.9TDI would made a really quick and
efficient vehical out of an older toyota. but they're expensive. The
1.9 liter turbo diesel non-TDI VW engines were never sold in the US,
so you have to go to canada to get them. Little cheaper, and don't
require all the electronics of a TDI to put into something else
though. if you get a 1.9IDI VW engine, make sure it has the TDI crank
pully put on -- the IDI ones had some problems falling off after a
while, and people upgrade to the pully and crank from the newer TDI to
solve it.
Good luck
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#2
by
Justin
on 10 Jan, 2006 19:33
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ford will be bringing the ranger a diesel in i think 2009 from what I have heard through the grapevine, they have a 1 ton ranger in australia right now, i think 2.5 and 3.0 L
I have driven some of them and I might add they are a Nice little truck with some power to spare
Sorry this doesnt help you now but in a few years it might
later
Justin
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#3
by
bhtooefr
on 10 Jan, 2006 21:53
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The Ranger/B2200 diesels look awfully interesting, but they sound like they're rather gutless, for the old NA ones, and Rangers have NEVER been good at towing when they've got a stick shift.
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#4
by
Justin
on 10 Jan, 2006 22:19
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i am talking new direct injection 2.5 and 3.0 liter turbo diesels, they are quite powerfull and will spin the tires all day even with a limited slip rear end
the current model is based on the old mazda B2200, but the new ones are a whole new animal
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#5
by
bhtooefr
on 11 Jan, 2006 17:30
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Yeah, I know
FWIW, I know that they get the 2.5L Duratorq (IDI) turbodiesels over in Europe... seeing the HP differences, I suspect that it's one of two things.
Either one's an "ecodiesel" style turbodiesel, and one's a turbodiesel with a boost enrichment valve, or one's got a FGT and the other a VGT (I've seen that much of a difference between one model with a wastegated turbo and the same model with a VNT-style turbo, when it's offered like that).
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#6
by
Justin
on 11 Jan, 2006 20:52
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the new ones are a VGT turbo by IHI, nice turbo and it works well on a 1.6 VW diesel so far
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#7
by
stewardc
on 24 Feb, 2006 06:41
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How about something like the new Jeep Liberty. It has a really nice Mercedes diesel. Lots of power, too.
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#8
by
bhtooefr
on 24 Feb, 2006 08:06
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Well, this thread was dead, but...
My mom ended up getting a 90 Ranger with the 2.9 V6 gasser. And, no, a Liberty wouldn't work, first because it doesn't have a bed, and second because it costs $25k, not $2k.
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#9
by
Justin
on 24 Feb, 2006 08:07
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actually the diesel is not a mercedes engine, its an italian company, i forget the name pf the company but it is outsourced.
later
Justin
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#10
by
bhtooefr
on 24 Feb, 2006 09:30
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It's made by VM Motori.
However, VM Motori is owned by Detroit Diesel, who is owned by DaimlerChrysler. IIRC, the 2.8CRD is actually a Mercedes design.
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#11
by
stewardc
on 24 Feb, 2006 09:31
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Mybad. Jeep's 2.8-liter, four-cylinder, DOHC, sixteen-valve, direct-injection, common-rail, 160hp turbo-diesel is built by VM Motori, which is owned in part by Detroit Diesel, a division of DaimlerChrysler.
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#12
by
zyewdall
on 24 Feb, 2006 09:56
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How about something like the new Jeep Liberty. It has a really nice Mercedes diesel. Lots of power, too.
The othe problem with it is that it's only available with the automatic in the US. Except you said you preferred an automatic :? so maybe it's not a problem. I think the towing rating on the Jeep liberty diesel is actually higher than for the V6 liberty.
The Ranger/B2200 diesels look awfully interesting, but they sound like they're rather gutless, for the old NA ones, and Rangers have NEVER been good at towing when they've got a stick shift.
The old B2200 diesels in the US were gutless -- they are a 62HP NA engine in a 3,500 lbs truck after all. The new 2.5 and 3.0 liter TDI's should be pretty darn powerful. I've never driven the new diesel rangers, but I had a diesel VW Taro (rebadged '90's Toyota hilux with solid front axle still) in Africa, and that truck would cruise at 90 on the highway all day, or climb piles of rocks and sand with gusto. And got about 28mpg too.
My mom ended up getting a 90 Ranger with the 2.9 V6 gasser. And, no, a Liberty wouldn't work, first because it doesn't have a bed, and second because it costs $25k, not $2k.
The old pickups that weren't slugs (the 2.3 liter mitsubishi and 2.4 liter toyota) are going for closer to $5,000 if they're in good condition....). Less than a new Liberty, but not as cheap as a '70's F-250, which would be under $1,000... And get 12mpg.
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#13
by
bhtooefr
on 24 Feb, 2006 10:27
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Well, she decided that she wanted stick for fuel economy, ease of driving be damned, and then ended up with a slushbox
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#14
by
Justin
on 24 Feb, 2006 15:57
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to bad that the US isnt offering the diesel liberty with a manual trans, they are real nice 6 speeds in those diesels, I have driven one for my old company and they are really fun and torquey
later
Justin