First I'm going to tell you, it ain't cheep to build one of these.I have approximately $11K ca. into a 1986 Mazda B2000 pickup with 318,000 km's on it. Methinks someone is not in their right mind to do this???? That was with all of the work done by myself, and the machinine by my youngest son Mark. Thanks Mark and Listo Plastics, for the use of their machines.An adaptor was made to accept a Browning Taper Lok and mate up to the lightened flywheel ( about 6 pounds). Instead of utilizing the ball bearing pilot we installed the old oilite style bushing, mainly due to the fact that where the bearing rode on the transmission input shaft was worn and so we could step machine into the bronze. The trans adaptor plate was made from T-6 aluminium, it is 1.25" thick, and all dowel holes drilled and some bolt heads countersunk were done to finish it off, and when polished it really is _shiney_!!!!
Original stock motor mount rubbers were used under my band clamp style motor mount. After 4000 miles alll is still tight and problem -free. Motor mount was fabricated to mimick the original ICE. crankshaft centerline to give the same original driveshaft angle.
Only suspension modifications were to install a pair of Firestone air bags with mounts fabricated by myself. If going this route I suggest that you mount the bags inboard of the frame. Unless your truck has a very large "kick" to the rear frame, putting the bags inline with the frame, results in the bags ends touching if they are deflated, before the leaf springs have a chance to support the truck weight. Be sure to locate the mounts with a fully laden vehicle.
I used an old Cadillac 12V air compressor to top up the bags every so often. I just rigged a momentary on switch, and operate it manually.
I recently installed a set of Toyo Ultra 800 tires. They are rated at a max of 44 psi, and have a treadwear rating of 700, and A and B, heat and traction respectively. These are the quietest tires I have ever owned!!!! Very good handling in my truck, even with 1400 pounds of batteries under the box., 205 75R-14 front, 215-75R-14 rear. Also the first thing I noticed is that the manual steering effort was cut in half!!! I didn't think tires would make such a difference!!!!
The main components you will need are a charger, controller, motor,and oh yes ....batteries.Here's what I have in mine:
Zivan NG3 220 Volt charger, max output 18 amps. set up for my 144 volt system.
Advanced DC 9" motor, double shafted, weighs approx 147 pounds
DCP Raptor 600 controller
24 Trojan T-125 flooded lead acid, deep cycle batteries
Then you'll need some sort of meters to see what your voltages and amps are, and how much you have left, and a vacuum pump and reservoir, and some sort of MIN -MAX switch for keeping the vacuum as constant as possible . My truck WILL stop with no vacuum............barely, don't forget your always fully loaded!
And that brings me to the performance of a fully loaded Mazda B 2000 pickup. Just think of how gutless a 2 litre engine would be with the 1400# in the box, well take a quarter to half less with an electric motor. But , don't get me wrong. The instant torque of the electric still bring grins from my passengers as well as myself. Its just that the torque is in short spurts.But I have no problem keeping up with traffic on the freeway, 60-65 mph is what I drive at, for approx 20 minutes, and then 5-10 minutes of typical city driving.I have two 8-10% hills to contend with. My average Ahs used per one way would be about 44-46. At 65 MPH I will be drawing between 80 and 225 amps. I try to keep the voltage above 135.I can safely say that I get a minimum of 40 miiles per charge and maybe even 45, but getting towed home is no fun. I have removed the tailgate, did a Nascar tape job on the grill with foam fillers, to smooth the front end, but I don't think it helped the drag coefficient any.Would I do it again? Sure , but maybe a Geo Metro, Swift, Rabbit, something with less batteries, lighter, more energy efficient,. just be prepared to be the life of the party, wherever you go.
Enjoy
Ian Hamilton
