This is probably going to sound like an advertisement, but it's a hell of a way to save some bucks if you use this stuff.

I don't know how many of you out there use Howes Meaner Power Kleaner or Howes Diesel Treat, but if you do, surely you have noticed that the price has doubled in the last two years. Just this last month Meaner Power Kleaner has gone up to $17 a quart just about everywhere. I'm not sure about Diesel Treat because I don’t use the stuff, but I'm sure it has skyrocketed as well. I hate it when prices go up (except my own rates, that is) and it caused me to do a little research.

Yesterday, for $1800 I got a 55 gallon drum of concentrated Meaner Power Kleaner delivered to my house. With the concentrated stuff, one gallon treats 1500 gallons, so that's equivalent to getting a quart of the retail stuff for $5.23 a quart, or about 70% off retail. The distributor I used also carries the Diesel Treat, but I didn't get a quote from them on that.

Anyway, if you're willing to drop a little money up-front, you can save a pretty penny on any of the additives you use. You can e-mail Howes and ask for the distributor in your area like I did or if you live anywhere from MN to Atlanta to IA to OH you can contact the place I used, LBB Sales & Service (the owner, Terry, was great to deal with, if you can catch him when he’s not hunting, that is) at [email protected].

Hope this helps somebody save some cash. Mostly I like feeling like I'm giving the truck stops a little of the screwing back they give to all of us. Every time I get fuel now I think I'll leave the diesel island with a slight smile on my face.

 

Where do you keep it all in your truck? You must get home on a regular basis to refill your additive supply.


Then again, the only legitimate fuel additive that you should have to use is an anti gel. Anything beyond that is simply wasting money.

 

Ah gee, some people will just repeat anything Kevin Rutherford says.

 

I agree.

 

http://www.prurgent.com/2008-06-05/p...lease12751.htm
Ever heard about this one? I've actually tried it, and it at least, paid for itself in a fuel savings alone, not to mention a benefits of running the cleaner engine.

 

First, we usually stay out for four to six weeks at a time. Three gallons will treat 4500 gallons of fuel, for us that’s about 31,000 miles, which is about what we run in six weeks. Finding room for three gallons in a truck isn't very hard.

I'm not so sure about additives not being worth adding. Over the last four years and about 1.2 million miles, I have experimented with both Howes and Lucas, and nothing at all. I found that in our old truck with a C15, Lucas seemed to give us an increase of about 4% to 8% over nothing at all, and Howes seem to offer a negligible improvement. With our new truck and an ISX engine, it appears that Howes offers an improvement of about 6% over nothing at all and a bigger gain over Lucas. I do know that Cummins has done some testing with Howes and seems to like it. I also know of some fleets that swear by one or the other of these products.

I also know through dyno testing that Lucas added 13 HP in the fuel injected bike that I had (a 2004 Suzuki VZ1600). I have a 1997 Chevy Venture van with 171k miles on it, that I use Lucas in and see an improvement of about 10% or more in the fuel economy. This van will get 28mpg if driven sensibly with Lucas. Without Lucas, I can get 21 - 24 mpg at best. Even with all city driving I can expect at least 20mpg from the van. It is an improvement that is hard to dispute.

I understand that some people think that all additives are snake oil. In many cases they are, but I believe my own math and will continue to use what I think works.
I was not trying to get into a debate on fuel additives, as that will go on and on and on once it gets started. I do know that others also use these products and was trying to save them some money. I’m happy to be paying $5.28 a quart as compared to $18 a quart at the Flying J and thought some others might enjoy saving money as well.

 

I have a bunch of O/O's who would disagree with you Rev....

I sell a bunch of Lucas Fuel Treatment. One driver buys it 3 gallons at a time and all swear to better fuel mileage.

I plan to use it in the truck I just bought along with the oil stabilizer.

We built a C15 and the driver uses Lucas oil at every service. His engine had about 500,000 on it at tear down and the main and rod bearings still had an amazing amount of "batting" the matte finish still on the bearings. Didn't nobody tell me about it, no friend read about, I saw it first hand. It sold me on the oil stabilizer.

Reckon to each his own

 

I have one truck with over 900,000 miles and never use additives in it. I dropped the oil pan a few months ago and had the lower bearings checked. They could not believe that I had never replaced the bearings with that many miles on it. About the only thing I add is transmission fluid to the fuel every now and then to clean the injectors. And I don't do that on a regular basis any more. I just change my oil every 15,000 miles. Personally, I think that putting in additives is a waste of my money. I had one driver who tried some Lucas a few times in that truck. I don't recall seeing any improvement in fuel mileage or performance. I did notice it costing more for a fill up using the additives. The only time I will add additives is when I have water in my tanks. That rarely happens.

 

Be careful about adding ATF to your fuel...some over zealous DOT ofiicer may think you have off road diesel in your tanks

 

That actually happened to me some years ago, partssman. Fortunately, I still had the empty container with me. Of course, an analysis would have confirmed what I told him. I think that was the last time that I had my fuel checked. I think that if you had your fuel receipts with you it would not be a problem any way.