I heard one of these guys talking on the radio with Clark Howard, an Atlanta-based, syndicated consumer advocte. The call came in response to Clark talking about the MPG his hybrid gives, and tips he offered on getting the best fuel economy. Things like using cruise control at times other than cruising the interstate, and trying to time your traffic lights.

Some of the information the caller gave is contained on the website, but what isn't disclosed, and I assume is included in the plans they sell, is that they used a Ford tractor motor. The gentleman said that it's well known that diesel tractor engines give great fuel economy, so they did all the research, trial and fitting, and as the website states, they reached an amazing mileage of around 50 MPG with a full-sized truck.

Another point that the man made is that GM actually produces turbo diesels for sale in European countries that regularly exceed 40 MPG, but they don't make them available here. Is this a choice GM makes, or is it due to The Sierra Club and other environmental groups. I seriously doubt that an American vehicle that gets 15 MPG puts out any less pollutants on a hundred gallons of fuel than a European version of the same vehicle that gets 40+ MPG.

http://www.shadetreeconversions.com/

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[This message has been edited by JazzMan (edited 12-04-2008).]

I don't know what vehicles or engines the man was referring to, but he said that GM sells the European version of the US vehicles, except that many of them have a turbo diesel available. Those are the ones he spoke of as getting over 40MPG. He could have been talking about cars, or trucks. I don't know since he didn't elaborate on it.

But according to them, they've created a dependable, street legal vehicle for the American roads, that runs on our inferior fuel, and gives three to 4 times what the factories are putting out. The technology is obviously there.

quote JazzMan:...The quality of diesel over here is less than in Europe, though it's getting better (and more expensive) as time goes by. ...JazzMan

That time has gone by & diesel fuel is now comparable to that in Europe, low sulfur. Diesel cars are coming from Europe.

Hmm... Perhaps it's the skeptic in me, but why doesn't he offer to sell the converted trucks himself rather than just selling the books at $50 each?

I got the impression they were in a different business. The conversion they did was due to their own rising costs. But you do raise a good question.

I just went back to their site and read some of it. They are in the small equipment refurbishing business, and they did the conversion for their own benefit, then decided to sell the conversion plans. When I heard the man talking on the radio, what he described seemed to be a long process with some trial and error fitting, with some parts having to be manufactured by machine shops. Additionally, you would need to buy the tractor engine and whatever transmission they used. Usually cheaper to do it yourself than to pay the markup for someone else to do it.