Fuel Consumption on older MV's

[Wolfy]

Was looking at a Dodge WC51 and M37 last weekend and thinking hmm theyre tasty.

 

This got me to thinking about buying a larger WW2-1960 MV but I'm really put off by the potential fuel consumption costs and noticed a growing trend of trailered MV's to shows which doesnt appeal at all....... so my question is this -

 

Is there anything bigger than a Jeep that gives 'reasonable' mileage. Or to put it another way is there any data on what vehicle gives what average mileage?

 

I know its all relative and older larger vehicles give less mileage etc... but still curious. :undecided:

[The Bedford Boys]

The Bedford MW I drive gives better mileage than Dad's Landrover s2a. But then again, the engine in Dad's landy is pretty tired.

[lightweight]

My Chevy returned 14mpg on the run back from Yorkshire where I bought it (around 280 miles). The 101 and the Lightweight never did much more than that, and I wouldn't imagine that your Jeep does either!

 

Plus of course, I occasionally had to make more than one trip to the W&P to get all the stuff up there - now I can get everything up there in one, so that's a saving.

[Wolfy]

That sounds very promising, I like both those vehicles too! :laugh:

[Tony B]

I can get about fifteen to the mile out of the Dodge, fully loaded on a run at about 40/45 mph. Mind you on a 64 year old vehicle you don't want much faster.Thats a lot more than a 101 ambulance, and close to a petrol series Land Rover.

[griff66]

ferret bout 10 mpg if very careful!

[The General]

I was thinking along the same lines. Is it possible/practical to convert the older engines such as those in the Dodge WC/Command car to run on LPG.

 

Cheers, Tim.

[Tony B]

To convert a T214 to run on gas should be easy. After all they wer ebuilt to run on nearly anything. Thing is the cost of conversion. You'd have to do a hel of a lot of milage to make it worth while. I have bene thinking, you can make Ethanol from biomass, lets all pool the lawn mowings! :-D

[ArtistsRifles]

Stalwart - look at around 2.5 mpg hence being trailered if further than a certain distance - for me that cut off is 40 miles as top speed is around 35 mph.

 

LPG not really viable IMHO as either the main fuel tank would need to be removed and replaced with a smaller one to accommodate an LPG tank but really to be viable the LPG tank would need to be up in the load bed behind the cab due to size - and then you are screwed for hull access to the braking system and central hydraulics.

[lightweight]

With the tiny amount of mileage I do each year, I would never recover the cost of the conversion, and of course you have to have a dirty great tank somewhere as previously stated.

Far cheaper to keep my speed down, besdes - when you're going slow you see more of the scenery, the truck doesnt rattle as much so its a more pleasant trip and its easier to stop quickly if you need to!

[croc]

I work on about 8mpg in the Explorer depending what I am doing with it, short trips and off roading use more longer trips when everything gets warmed up uses less. The show I went to last weekend cost about £70 in diesel for a 60 mile round trip a bit of off roading and a go at tractor pulling. I spent about £20 on food and Guiness.

If you think of it in terms of fuel cost it sounds expensive, but if you think of it as entertainment cost a weekend for less than £100 is really quite cheap.

[Toolman]

On a 100 mile run in the ferret I averaged 8mpg. Wasn't blasting it, just driving sensibly.

[ferretfixer]

Gentlemen, A thought to be borne in mind when thinking about Older MV's.

The Word, 'Thirsty' is bought up frequenty. This is of course true in most cases & obviously a consideration.

 

BUT,this must be balanced against the fact that engines in these classes of vehicles were designed & built in the days when engines were made to USE Fuel.

Ecconomy, was not a word banded about then, unlike today!

 

A Small, but Important Point. If I may be so bold!

[Rover8FFR]

I work on about 8mpg in the Explorer depending what I am doing with it, short trips and off roading use more longer trips when everything gets warmed up uses less. The show I went to last weekend cost about £70 in diesel for a 60 mile round trip a bit of off roading and a go at tractor pulling. I spent about £20 on food and Guiness.

If you think of it in terms of fuel cost it sounds expensive, but if you think of it as entertainment cost a weekend for less than £100 is really quite cheap.

 

I like this statement as it is absolutely spot on. These vehicles are our pride and joys. We have sleepless nights caring for them and everytime we are with them we get tremendous satisfaction. They are our hobby and passtime.

 

They cannot be treated in the same light as everyday transport.

 

Notwithstanding that as we all tighten our belts it does affect how much it costs to go to shows to participate and meet up with one another, so it must be considered. Using the example above in anyones book these days thats a cheap weekend. A lot less than a season ticket at the footy with food, or even a few rounds of reasonable golf, when you whey it all up. Well thats my opinion of course!

 

:-D:-D:-D:-D:-D:-D:-D:-D:-D:beer::beer::beer::yay::banana::banana::thumbsup:

[Lewis Garner]

Our Ferret probably does about 7-8mpg as mentioned, our GMC 353s used to get slightly better consumption at 10, possibly even 12mpg. Lovely truck, and gets you into WW2 events

[rbrtcrowther]

I've just spent the evening turning the fueling down on the explorer as it was over fueling and throwing black smoke out. My first run out over very hilly narrow tracks worked out at about 4.5 miles to the gallon:wow: My next run will be more sedate with the pump turned down.

[commander]

When ever we get any cars in the garage that have been missfueled in for a fuel drain the first thing we ask is how much petrol to diesel is the in the fuel tank if you get about a 10% mix we save this up and put in in the Dodges we run sure they smoke a bit till they have warmed up but if you mix it 50/50 with real petrol you have bought you start to get the equivalant of 28 to 30 miles to the gallon paid for who says Dodge owners are tight

Commander

[John Pearson]

Last mv I drove had a top gear, cross country designed fuel consumption of 0.1 mile per gallon: yes, 10 gallons per mile! Lower gears, maneovering (sp?) etc meant that in fact we used 7 gallons going about 50 yds forwards, turning round and 50 yds back again.

Mind you, it was 27 litre and 78 tons.

Come and see it at Bovington's Tankfest?

[Toolman]

Tortoise!!! That must have been a fantastic experience! How often is it run? And how well did it start? :-)

[John Pearson]

Tortoise!!! That must have been a fantastic experience! How often is it run? And how well did it start? :-)

Well done, 100% correct!!!

So far as we know, it last moved under its own power in the early 1950's. The engine gave a few spits and bangs when it was tried in the early 90's but from then until last November it was completely silent.

We have been working on it, on and off, for a couple of years (more off than on really, about 3 days each year!) and we freed it up, fixed various problems, new starter motor, some wiring etc. If fired a couple of times on its booster coil in November last year (that is on Youtube) then we took it to the workshop last month. We removed and serviced the magnetos and it started properly and was ticking over after about 30 seconds. It drives and steers a treat, two fingers on each stick and neutral turns on concrete with only a touch of throttle. Mind you the yard wide tracks took some bites out of the ground while doing it. We only drove it about 50 yds, turned it round and drove it back and it used about 7 gallons! At Tankfest, in lower gears, we expect to use about 15 to 25 gallons per lap.

I have just got home now after working on it again: tidying wiring, removing 'jury' rigging, tensioning tracks etc It goes very well for its size and age, controls are all fine, easy gearchange etc.

Oh and the engine sounds much better than a Maybach

[rbrtcrowther]

I watched a program years ago and a stalwart driver came out with this when asked what it was like on fuel....."Oh it's really good on fuel.......it uses lots!!" That about sums up playing with big toys. You can blow £30 or £40 in the pub so why not put it in your fuel tank instead?

[ArtistsRifles]

I watched a program years ago and a stalwart driver came out with this when asked what it was like on fuel....."Oh it's really good on fuel.......it uses lots!!" That about sums up playing with big toys. You can blow £30 or £40 in the pub so why not put it in your fuel tank instead?

 

 

Oooh - thats a good one - I shall have to remember that for the next time I get asked! :cool2: :cool2:

[Wolfy]

I can get about fifteen to the mile out of the Dodge, fully loaded on a run at about 40/45 mph. Mind you on a 64 year old vehicle you don't want much faster.Thats a lot more than a 101 ambulance, and close to a petrol series Land Rover.

 

 

Tony what Dodge do you have? WC51/52? 15 mpg is pretty reasonable IMHO

[Tony B]

Tony what Dodge do you have? WC51/52? 15 mpg is pretty reasonable IMHO

 

She is an ex Norwegian. The engine was changed in 1962 and has about 25,000 miles on the clock, and a Jolley electronice ignition. Other than that, I just take my driving seriously and don't rush. The other factor is she has freewheel hubs on the front.

[Wolfy]

Cool, will look our for you at W&P and take a look.