EPA Diesel Engine “Delete Tuning” Crackdown...Is It Here Now?

[vintageracer]

A very good friend of mine started his diesel parts business as a retailer almost 20 years and has evolved over the years to largely a wholesaler of diesel and gasoline truck upgrade parts and replacement repair parts. Just had a discussion about this very issue with him last month over dinner. He tells me that several of the big tuner companies are already defending themselves against this very issue to the tune of $250,000 or more in legal fees alone just this year. He fully expects these legal actions will also transfer down to wholesalers and resellers as the EPA tries to extend their reach in curbing the aftermarket performance industry as a whole with regards to NONE OEM PRODUCED & EMISSION TESTED performance enhancement products. He has already funding a budget item in his 2020 business plan for legal fees he might incur defending himself and his business. This issue is starting with the diesel boys and may well continue to the gasoline side of the performance business.

I just returned from SEMA and PRI. Everyone I spoke will about the issue that produced and or sold performance enhancement products to the retail public was very quiet on this issue. Almost as if it was a strictly taboo subject. Burying your head in the sand is no way to fight this issue as a business person.

More to come!

 

[pugslyyy]

A very good friend of mine started his diesel parts business as a retailer almost 20 years and has evolved over the years to largely a wholesaler of diesel and gasoline truck upgrade parts and replacement repair parts. Just had a discussion about this very issue with him last month over dinner. He tells me that several of the big tuner companies are already defending themselves against this very issue to the tune of $250,000 or more in legal fees alone just this year. He fully expects these legal actions will also transfer down to wholesalers and resellers as the EPA tries to extend their reach in curbing the aftermarket performance industry as a whole with regards to NONE OEM PRODUCED & EMISSION TESTED performance enhancement products. He has already funding a budget item in his 2020 business plan for legal fees he might incur defending himself and his business. This issue is starting with the diesel boys and may well continue to the gasoline side of the performance business.

I just returned from SEMA and PRI. Everyone I spoke will about the issue that produced and or sold performance enhancement products to the retail public was very quiet on this issue. Almost as if it was a strictly taboo subject. Burying your head in the sand is no way to fight this issue as a business person.

More to come!

I just did the Sinister shop application after talking with them at SEMA and they have a really big section now on how the Reseller assumes all risk and liability. Not sure how well that will hold up, but...

 

[shade]

You won't catch me in a million years buying gallons of piss to inject into my diesel. ****, that.

EPA can drink that piss for all I care.

Wrong thread.

https://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/threads/beer-and-roof-top-tents.211329/

 

[pugslyyy]

Dude, pre-07 diesel truck have been commanding ridiculous prices since this crap was instituted. Guys need their trucks to work. Most small guys can't afford the downtime having a truck at the dealer while a UTI graduate scratches his head in the shop.

Ever stand around a Dmax van in regen?

The new diesels produce loads of power and torque, but they are too fragile and temperamental for me. (I own a 2007 Fuso, a 2010 E-350 with the 6.0, and a Kubota Tractor - all 4x4 and none with any of that crazy emissions stuff)

I'm actually looking at getting a 2020 F-350 with their new 7.3 V8 gasser in it. That may end up being a really promising platform.

 

[shade]

Dude, pre-07 diesel truck have been commanding ridiculous prices since this crap was instituted. Guys need their trucks to work. Most small guys can't afford the downtime having a truck at the dealer while a UTI graduate scratches his head in the shop.

As was mentioned about the bad gasoline engines of the '70s & '80s, if a way is found to clean up diesel power in light trucks & cars, I suspect the current crop of Rube Goldberg emissions systems will be similarly avoided by people shopping for used vehicles.

 

[plumber mike]

Dude, pre-07 diesel truck have been commanding ridiculous prices since this crap was instituted. Guys need their trucks to work. Most small guys can't afford the downtime having a truck at the dealer while a UTI graduate scratches his head in the shop.




Ever stand around a Dmax van in regen?

Yes. Im well aware. I’m talking about them exceeding new truck prices. The only thing stopping that is the new truck prices continue to climb at about the same rate.

 

[RAM5500 CAMPERTHING]

I just ordered a 2020 Ram 5500 with the 6.4L Hemi and have had over a dozen people give me ******** for going gas versus diesel...

This rests my case!

 

[plumber mike]

I’m wondering when people will start re-VIN#ing new trucks as older ones. Basically, the old truck wore out so I replaced all of it.....but it’s still an old truck.

Similar to the way folks are taking Mahindra Roxors and turning them into old Jeep CJ’s with a title and a number.

 

[shade]

I’m wondering when people will start re-VIN#ing new trucks as older ones. Basically, the old truck wore out so I replaced all of it.....but it’s still an old truck.

Similar to the way folks are taking Mahindra Roxors and turning them into old Jeep CJ’s with a title and a number.

?

 

[Regcabguy]

I just ordered a 2020 Ram 5500 with the 6.4L Hemi and have had over a dozen people give me **** for going gas versus diesel...

This rests my case!

I love the crazy power of my 5.9 diesel but the next one will be a 6.4. A cqsb with an auto's looking good.

 

[luthj]

I propose a variant of Godwin's Law for Expo Discussions. As the length of the thread approaches infinity, the odds of it descending into a discussion of who is driving what pickup approaches absolute?

 

[DaveInDenver]

I was also considering the lack of gasoline engines for those applications. Semi tractors & locomotives aren't running on gasoline, and I doubt they ever will.

Those applications, as well as stationary diesels, like backup power generators, also typically run for long periods with little change in load & rpm, so they can be optimized to reduce pollution better than a car that revs & idles often.

Wouldn't a diesel electric hybrid be sweet? Have a small to medium displacement diesel running a generator with a fully electric drivetrain. You know, like a miniature locomotive, with every piece of the puzzle doing what it does well.

 

[luthj]

The issue with the diesel-electric hybrid, is that you have the extra gen-motor losses to contend with while cruising. For applications that currently use this tech, like city buses, the constant stop and go is well suited to a small gen running at full power, and a battery buffer pack to absorb and discharge for the start/stop regime.

There was an interesting concept about 4 years ago. It would an ultra optimized laminar flow turbine thing (turbine and compressor coplanar?). It was very efficient at one specific RPM (like plus minus 3% specific). Which made it better than most reciprocating engine types, and thus suited for range extension on hybrid or BEVs.

Locomotives have a very unique issue, they need to move ridiculously heavy loads, starting them from a dead stop. A mechanical transmission would have an insane duty cycle, trying to start 10,000 tons like that. This transmission would also need to put the engine at near 100% power over the entire operating speed area.

 

[Bayou Boy]

I’m wondering when people will start re-VIN#ing new trucks as older ones. Basically, the old truck wore out so I replaced all of it.....but it’s still an old truck.

Similar to the way folks are taking Mahindra Roxors and turning them into old Jeep CJ’s with a title and a number.

Nobody is going to do that.

It's one thing to do that with something that isn't street legal to begin with. It's another thing to commit fraud with a $70-90,000 truck. Have fun with that when you get in an accident. Zero insurance coverage and then your bank sues you for the loan balance and just might report you to the DA for bank fraud. That sounds super fun. Sign me up!

 

[plumber mike]

Nobody is going to do that.

It's one thing to do that with something that isn't street legal to begin with. It's another thing to commit fraud with a $70-90,000 truck. Have fun with that when you get in an accident. Zero insurance coverage and then your bank sues you for the loan balance and just might report you to the DA for bank fraud. That sounds super fun. Sign me up!

Ok. I was just mentioning that it was a possibility, and folks are already doing it. I’m not sure I’d consider it if I had a loan against one of my trucks either. It’s certainly not fraud to put new parts on an old truck.