Shachagra- Family of 5 traveles Europe and Turkey, International 7500

[Overland Hadley]

Just as everyones expedition is different, each persons vehicle needs are different.


Personally my vehicle needs to:

-travel comfortably at highway speeds

-get decent fuel economy

-travel across rough terrain without getting damaged

-provide a living space that I find comfortable

-and it needs to be something that I can afford to make a reality, not just a dream for the future.

[shachagra]

An expedition vehicle is simply what gets you there. Back is optional.


It's not about the bike. It's not about the truck. It's not about the stuff. It's about the experiences.[/QUOTE]

That is great! I appreciate the sentiment- we always had the trip as the priority, not the truck!

[shachagra]

Doug- thanks so much for the info on South America. To be honest, after our trip I was too exhausted to think optimistically about a south american trip, but that is changin quick. Thanks for the tips on a trip south of the border. My wife and I used to hit Baja every year sleeping on the beach and eating lobster until we burst. I am ready to go again.
Your concerns- I do have a compressor for the air brakes with an external connector. It is the most inefficient compressor in the world (350 HP) but does the job.

Second is ULSD... My International Mechanic in Ohio gave me a very in depth maintenance course prior to our trip and when I asked him about the possibility of no ULSD available, he told me to use the high sulpher stuff, the engine and emmissions system would never know the difference, and would appreciate the fuel better. He said the only thing it would do to the truck is discolor the fuel filter. Ironically, I couldn't find "agg deisel" for sale anywhere in Europe or Turkey. Does any diesel mechanic out there have any comment on this?

[camperman]

Does any diesel mechanic out there have any comment on this?

I'm not a mechanic but I personally think that high sulfur diesel produce more soot when burned, thus clogging DPF and EGR valve. Just a my view.

[shachagra]

I'm not a mechanic but I personally think that high sulfur diesel produce more soot when burned, thus clogging DPF and EGR valve. Just a my view.

I think its interesting that the warning in my owners manual doesn't say anything about what could happen if high sulfur fuel was used. It just states to use only "authorized' ULSD fuel.

[cwsqbm]

I think its interesting that the warning in my owners manual doesn't say anything about what could happen if high sulfur fuel was used. It just states to use only "authorized' ULSD fuel.

The manual says that because if you don't use ULSD, the truck won't be emissions compliant. Also, its a bit of CYA.

Here's an interesting read: http://www.nrel.gov/vehiclesandfuels/apbf/pdfs/31600.pdf They ran tests with varying sulfur contents. What happened was with higher sulfur content, the DPF didn't reduce the particulate matter as much or at all. Therefore, USLD is needed for DPFs to do what they are designed to do, not so that DPFs won't clog. DPFs clog for other reasons (like too much fuel) even with ULSD.

Here's another article to read too.

[shachagra]

Thanks, very interesting read (only got through the first one)
I think my mechanic was right. As you said, using fuels with a high sulfer renders the DPF useless, it might as well not be there, but doesn't damage it at all. The test ran the engines for 400 hours with high sulfer content, and there was no damage to the DPF or system. That confirms that if I were somewhere that didn't have ULSD, in some remote area, I would just use what I can get. There may be some that would say I am polluting mother earth while burning that tank of fuel, but I'd be polluting all the time if I bought a pre-ULSD vehicle.

[dhackney]

Thanks, very interesting read (only got through the first one)
I think my mechanic was right. As you said, using fuels with a high sulfer renders the DPF useless, it might as well not be there, but doesn't damage it at all. The test ran the engines for 400 hours with high sulfer content, and there was no damage to the DPF or system. That confirms that if I were somewhere that didn't have ULSD, in some remote area, I would just use what I can get. There may be some that would say I am polluting mother earth while burning that tank of fuel, but I'd be polluting all the time if I bought a pre-ULSD vehicle.

When it comes to ULSD, "didn't have ULSD, some remote area" = most non-developed economies http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ultra-low-sulfur_diesel

In terms of the vehicle's systems, your problem will lie more with the interdependence of the engine ECU and other controllers on the truck's J1939 CANBUS http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CAN_bus http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J1939 . The people running the test may have not detected any physical damage of the DPF, but the truck may have been put into "limp" mode after only a few gallons/hours of use with non-ULSD because of error conditions from the relevant systems' sensors.

Locate a dealer that sells your drivetrain to overseas mining or other non-U.S. markets. They order those trucks as non-EPA compliant from the factory and ship them overseas. This is anecdotal, but when I was researching post-2007 chassis your size, a dealer I spoke with had some very bad stories about U.S. ULSD drivetrains that were inadvertently included in a batch shipped overseas. Imagine a bunch of brand new trucks out in a remote, 3rd world mining area stuck in limp mode.

Once in limp mode, the only way out is to clear the error condition in the ECU. For those trucks at the mining operation, the closest relevant diagnostic computer capable of resetting them was back in the U.S. Again, this is anecdotal evidence, but something to keep in mind.

I know from personal experience that you won't find your drivetrain's diagnostic computer in a location like this truck repair yard in a market town in Ecuador:

2009-02-25-SD870 IS-9145-1200.jpg


If you can obtain a copy of the required software and connectors/cabling, you may be able to reset the system yourself in remote locations.

In either case, I encourage you to diligently look for evidence showing it's not an easy fix/modify/ignore.

I also know from personal experience that when you desperately want something to work, that easily slips into "need" something to work, and that quickly becomes "a man hears what he wants to hear and disregards the rest." (thanks, Paul Simon)

[shachagra]

Spent the summer traveling the US in Shachagra and doing some upgrades while on the road. Mostly trimwork but I did have to overhaul the vacuflush toilet. It was spitting back at us- something a $2000 toilet just shouldn't do. The vacuum generator was clogged with some pretty hard substance that I would have guessed was epoxy if I didn't already know what it was. Seems our judicious use of water with the toilet over 16 months may have been too much- they need water to keep everything flowing. I chipped and cleaned, and after I do some rearranging I will test it out. I also found that running an air conditioner off batteries is more than just amps out and amps in. We never used our AC at all in Europe and when we returned and plugged into the RV park outlet the thing worked great, but we have found that when run off the batteries, the inverter creates as much heat as the AC removes. Our solar arrangement can keep up with the electrical load, but we needed to cool the electrical box. I ducted the inverter cooling fan overboard, but it still gets hot. I plan to install a separate blower in the space and see if that helps.
The compartment got so hot that the solar controllers shut down. Not a good thing- no power in, lots going out.

I have started a thread on the 4X4 van section on my new project, a van topper made from home built foam core SIPs. It has a normal pop-top, but with hard sides that provide all support, and a bed that slides out the back, opening nearly the entire interior up to standing headroom. The pictures show only the bed and its pop-top, there will be another top that opens in the other direction.
IMG_1017.jpgIMG_1018.jpg

[dwh]

Quite a cantilever...how much weight can it support?