JRTJH
02-23-2014, 09:09 PM
I initially posted this in another thread, but thought it shouldn't be a "pirate post" in someone else's thread. So, I thought I'd move it to its own place and not change the flow of another poster's comments. I've seen a lot of comments about the new DEF requirements. Some people have commented on DEF both for and against it. I see many of those comments to be very much akin to what I heard (and what I said) on a number of new technologies that have been introduced along the course of my driving career. It all started with bias ply vs those things that look like they are flat all the time (radials). Now, try to find a car or light truck with bias ply tires on it.... So, here's what I had posted somewhere else, but moved here:
I don't want this to become an argument on whether we "need" or "don't need" emissions requirements, but rather it's simply my take on how we respond to changes in technology that impacts things we think are "good enough" like they are... So, with that in mind, here's my take:
This is just an observation from an "old fart" who's been through this a couple of times before..... We can start in 1968 with the seat belts we all swore we'd never wear because we'd drown if we ran off into a river....We went through times when the safety interlocks wouldn't allow the car to even start unless the seat belt was fastened in the proper sequence. We had those motorized things along the top of the windows that pushed us into places we didn't want to be. We tore them out, fastened them behind us, ignored them as much as possible, but now? Think about the last time you drove anywhere without a seat belt.... Then back in 1972/73, it was the "big front bumper" hanging out there that everyone complained was unnatural and "I won't drive one of those ugly things"... People were buying new cars, swapping out the bumper, doing strange things to mask that ugly front end. It took several years for "general acceptance" to become the norm. Now, designs are such that a car with a 1968 "flimsy bumper" looks odd......and really, how many of us still refuse to wear a seat belt????
Right on the heels of that came the "dreaded" catalytic converter and the unleaded gas requirement. I well remember the friends who cut their catalytic converters off, welded in a piece of exhaust pipe, ran leaded gas.... Because, if you don't have lead in the gas, it'll burn the valve seats......I've had friends who insisted "the old way is best" all the way through the mid 90's before they stopped adding lead additive to their new car engines with the catalytic converter removed and stored on a shelf.
Then along came the "Ethanol mandate" and we're all still "fussing about that" and what it does to small engines, carburetors and don't forget about the storage issues with separation of the fuel. Heaven forbid we forget to drain the gas in an engine that's going to be stored for a couple of months...
All of the above are "growing pains" of new technology. Like it or not, they are pretty much here to stay.
Now, along comes DEF and emission mandates for diesel engines. Right now, we're going through the "learning curve" with this new technology. DEF is "loved or hated" depending on which side of the fence you fall on. Some guys with new diesel trucks say, "Heck, it's OK, and no hassle at all" others say, "What, not on my truck, I'll cut the da*n thing off and throw it away"
Seems to me that we're going through the 70's "acceptance period" of gas engines and catalytic converters all over again, only this time with diesels.
If you've ever started a 7.3L engine on a cold, COLD morning inside the garage without opening the door first, you know how much carbon and "goop" can get spit out of the exhaust on a well maintained truck. Imagine how much more goop gets pushed out of an improperly maintained vehicle. I know diesel pickups are only a very small "insignificant" part of the emissions problem, and I won't take sides on that argument, but we're being mandated to clean up our act. I'd rather be able to buy and drive a diesel with DEF than to be forced to watch the diesel no longer be offered in pickup trucks because it can't meet the new emission standards.
I'd say, we're having growing pains, with the new technology and like it or not, DEF and catalytic converters are here to stay, at least with this round of "new technology"...
The major manufacturers are responding to emissions mandates and working within those requirements to keep the vehicles we want on the market. DEF is a small price to pay to be able to continue to buy a 400+ HP diesel that puts out 800 FTLB of torque. Otherwise, when the current trucks finally wear out, we'll all be trying to pull our trailers with a smaller gas engine that's also "choked down with emissions gear (assuming it meets the mileage criteria component)....
I well remember vacations when I was a kid. We seemed to never make it "there and back" without spending at least one day somewhere getting a water pump, a generator, a fan belt or a tire replaced. Vehicle reliability has grown leaps and bounds since then and we all benefit from the engineering that's gone into building today's new vehicle fleet. While they are not all completely problem free, they sure beat the heck out of the cars and trucks we drove "back when they were normal without all this stuff on them"
I don't want this to become an argument on whether we "need" or "don't need" emissions requirements, but rather it's simply my take on how we respond to changes in technology that impacts things we think are "good enough" like they are... So, with that in mind, here's my take:
This is just an observation from an "old fart" who's been through this a couple of times before..... We can start in 1968 with the seat belts we all swore we'd never wear because we'd drown if we ran off into a river....We went through times when the safety interlocks wouldn't allow the car to even start unless the seat belt was fastened in the proper sequence. We had those motorized things along the top of the windows that pushed us into places we didn't want to be. We tore them out, fastened them behind us, ignored them as much as possible, but now? Think about the last time you drove anywhere without a seat belt.... Then back in 1972/73, it was the "big front bumper" hanging out there that everyone complained was unnatural and "I won't drive one of those ugly things"... People were buying new cars, swapping out the bumper, doing strange things to mask that ugly front end. It took several years for "general acceptance" to become the norm. Now, designs are such that a car with a 1968 "flimsy bumper" looks odd......and really, how many of us still refuse to wear a seat belt????
Right on the heels of that came the "dreaded" catalytic converter and the unleaded gas requirement. I well remember the friends who cut their catalytic converters off, welded in a piece of exhaust pipe, ran leaded gas.... Because, if you don't have lead in the gas, it'll burn the valve seats......I've had friends who insisted "the old way is best" all the way through the mid 90's before they stopped adding lead additive to their new car engines with the catalytic converter removed and stored on a shelf.
Then along came the "Ethanol mandate" and we're all still "fussing about that" and what it does to small engines, carburetors and don't forget about the storage issues with separation of the fuel. Heaven forbid we forget to drain the gas in an engine that's going to be stored for a couple of months...
All of the above are "growing pains" of new technology. Like it or not, they are pretty much here to stay.
Now, along comes DEF and emission mandates for diesel engines. Right now, we're going through the "learning curve" with this new technology. DEF is "loved or hated" depending on which side of the fence you fall on. Some guys with new diesel trucks say, "Heck, it's OK, and no hassle at all" others say, "What, not on my truck, I'll cut the da*n thing off and throw it away"
Seems to me that we're going through the 70's "acceptance period" of gas engines and catalytic converters all over again, only this time with diesels.
If you've ever started a 7.3L engine on a cold, COLD morning inside the garage without opening the door first, you know how much carbon and "goop" can get spit out of the exhaust on a well maintained truck. Imagine how much more goop gets pushed out of an improperly maintained vehicle. I know diesel pickups are only a very small "insignificant" part of the emissions problem, and I won't take sides on that argument, but we're being mandated to clean up our act. I'd rather be able to buy and drive a diesel with DEF than to be forced to watch the diesel no longer be offered in pickup trucks because it can't meet the new emission standards.
I'd say, we're having growing pains, with the new technology and like it or not, DEF and catalytic converters are here to stay, at least with this round of "new technology"...
The major manufacturers are responding to emissions mandates and working within those requirements to keep the vehicles we want on the market. DEF is a small price to pay to be able to continue to buy a 400+ HP diesel that puts out 800 FTLB of torque. Otherwise, when the current trucks finally wear out, we'll all be trying to pull our trailers with a smaller gas engine that's also "choked down with emissions gear (assuming it meets the mileage criteria component)....
I well remember vacations when I was a kid. We seemed to never make it "there and back" without spending at least one day somewhere getting a water pump, a generator, a fan belt or a tire replaced. Vehicle reliability has grown leaps and bounds since then and we all benefit from the engineering that's gone into building today's new vehicle fleet. While they are not all completely problem free, they sure beat the heck out of the cars and trucks we drove "back when they were normal without all this stuff on them"