Tuesday, August 02, 2011

Grover






As sad as we are to have to let the CNG truck go (dubbed Grover), it is something we must do. He has been a good truck to us and we hope to find him a loving new home. You will find below Darwin's loving description of Grover. If you have any interest or know of anyone who does please pass this along.

Hello,

Up for sale is "Grover", my 2003 CNG-powered ford F 150 7700 series 2WD. Grover began life at our airport, piloting around a supervisor on the runways. He never left Hartsfield-Jackson until last year. I absolutely love this thing, but its not made for towing, and I need something that is. No towing hitch, but there is a ball on the bumper. It is a perfect vehicle for light-duty running around the city all day. A/C is ICE cold - I mean it. even now, it'll run you out of the cab! I also am getting rid of this to attempt a CNG conversion on a regular car, which, provided it goes well, will be an available service in the future.

Now, for a quick primer on CNG vehicles: Their main advantages are 1) cheap fuel ($2.30ish commercially, $1.00 at home) and 2) environmental impact - very, very clean burning. Their disadvantage is that fuel can be hard to locate (stations that I use are on Whitehall street, and Riverdale Road - there is one on Sylvan road as well), and they don't have a very long range between fill-ups. This truck will only hold about the equivalent of 15 gallons of gasoline. It gets about 12mpg around town, and about 18-19 on the highway, giving you between 180-275 miles per tank. Not really a way around that, but the fuel savings are significant if you drive a lot. Also, not all fueling stations are created equal. The Riverdale road station (built to service airport) is a 3600psi system, which is good for the newer vehicles. This truck will hold around 3800psi. The PS energy stations are made for city and county fleets, and only go to 3200psi. (Whitehall street). A 3200psi fillup is fine, but it does not last nearly as long. You just can't get much fuel in these tanks at the lower pressure. With the 3600+psi fillup, it has almost a 300 mile range. With the 3200psi, especially around the city, its more like 150 mile range.

Now, the nitty-gritty:

The odometer currently reads 24,091.8 (yes, you read that correctly), but will increase slightly with daily driving. I use this truck around the city, and to get back and forth from work. 2003 Model, and ford FACTORY CNG powered. Truck qualifies for Alternate Fuel Tag, (yes, I'm that guy riding by myself in the HOV lane while the rest of you sit in traffic.....) and requires no emission testing. The best part?? $2.30/Gallon for your fuel, and its domestically produced!! No more funding the overseas oil business/taliban/whoever. Makes jobs right here in the good 'ol US of A.

CNG is available at PS energy (special card required - I can set you up with our rep), and in college park from Clean Energy. No special card needed at that one, just swipe the ol' VISA and go.

Grover is in good shape overall, with recent navy blue paint job, and an aftermarket stereo. I like music, so I needed to be able to plug my iPod in, and the AM/FM was not cutting it, cause lets face it, when 99X keeled over, there was not much left out there.....

Other than that, its a completely stock XL truck. Clean, basic, super reliable (look up CNG engines online, they routinely do 500K), the oil is still gold!

Fresh oil change, fresh tires, good spare (still has nubbies on it!!), brakes good, 4 speed automatic, long bed, short cab.

Everything works, just replaced a couple taillight bulbs, title in hand, etc.

$8,000.00 OBO. This is an EXCEPTIONALLY low mile and well cared for truck. No lowballers, I'm not desperate to sell.

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