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For everyone, About Propane.

uao85

uao85

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Can everyone tell me what they think about propane conversions based on what is out there as far as kits, prices, reliability, and ease of installation? I found a place called www.gotpropane.com, but I am not sure how good they are compared to others out there. I do want opinions also from those who already have propane as well as those who dont. I know there are a few, but not sure how many. Please any feedback would be awesome, I am getting pissed about trying to get my fuel injection motor to run right and run well, and am getting to the point where I am either going to blow it up or go to propane. So I figured I would try one more thing before I pull out the dry ice bombs.

Thanks,
Remington
 
I would like to know more too...the site linked above shows 8-10 gallon tanks that they recommend for their kits, I have always wondered if that is equivelent to 8-10 gallons of gas? That does not seem like much, even if you have two tanks /forums/images/graemlins/dunno.gif
 
i hate propane powered vehicles, ugh!! but thats just me.
we got a small fleet of straight trucks running on this stuff and they are a @#$% to get to run straight, two of our seven run right (wonder for how long) and try and start up the sobs in winter (chicago area) geezzz, plug it in or pull start the ting in the mornin. (just two weeks ago my boss got his arm hair burned off trying to start one, it back fired) they are all carb big blocks tho.

we also have two fuel injected P/Us one runs nice, the other did for a week after a 4 grand job. what a waste. they don't want to stay running nice though, something keeps croking in them.

as far as i know in illinois you have some gov. sponsorship somthing or another where if you do it right you get the set up installed for free, heard that somewhere, no guerentees.

and as far as tank size, it is about the same as gasoline, so 10 gal tank gives you 150 miles or so. i get about 5 mpg in the straight truck, and it has 45 or so gal tank. just over 200 mile range. (BB at 3500 rpm guzzles the stuff)

from what i heard people hook this stuff up but still keep their gasoline set up, for cold start ups (start on gas and switch to prop) and just in case, your local tow truck driver doesn't cary any propane /forums/images/graemlins/rotfl.gif (he went "what you got? gas? diesel?" i went propane, he went "wha?" and peeled out /forums/images/graemlins/rotfl.gif)

look at it this way, propane companies get the stuff "cheap" and they are all switching to diesel trucks by now, they gave up.

if i were you i wouldn't do it, and if youre having problems with gasoline, i would say ill put a 20 on the fact that you'll have even more problems with proPAIN.
 
If you are having problems getting a gasoline fuel injection system to run right, then you could be in for a total nightmare with propane. You could get lucky and just slap a propane conversion kit on, and then have it run reasonably well, but then again you might not.

Propane has a respective octane rating of 104, thus a higher compression engine is recommended for optimum combustion characteristics (on the order of 10:1). It is also recommended that a propane engines valve seats be cut at a slightly different angle than they are for gasoline. Also, the ignition timing requirements are slightly different for propane as well, thus the initial timing and distributor-timing curve will need to be reconfigured for propane.

Propane engines produce 20% less power than a gasoline engine. For instance, if you had a 502 Horsepower (HP) big block ZZ502 Performance Chevy crate engine running on propane, and you deducted 20% of its HP, then the engine would have roughly have 400 HP.

When it comes to propane tanks, I have seen companies selling 20 Gallon tanks for automotive propane conversions. Depending on the amount of room your truck has for tanks, you could have as many of these 20 Gallon tanks mounted onto the truck as you have room for.

Here are all of the links I have found on propane conversion:

http://www.acmecarb.com/index.html

http://www.propanecarbs.com/examples.html

http://www.hendrixsystems.com/index.htm

This one is the best because it has a lot of information on building propane engines for automobiles.

http://franzh.home.texas.net/engine.html
 
Interesting this comes up.. while doing my 2 week duty in the reserves, we had a loaner van that was propane powered, and unfortunately had a 7 ton (replaced the 5 ton) which was towing another disabled 7 ton roll over on the freeway..anyway the commanding officer went out to check the carnage (totaled 2 7 tons) well, as an after thought, OH SH*t, we're almost out of fuel...not many propane fill points in the desert....and he was 80 miles from base. So, consider emergency refueling before commiting to the swap. FYI, only 3 minorly injured Marines in that gem (oohhh the CO is catchin hell- a lot of $$ lost there!)
 
I think it is working great for me
get an OHG system
bolt it on
get your dist timing recurved

it definitly doesnt like extreme cold (-40 the system will have zero pressure so the fuel will not flow)

I think the rule of thumb is to get a tank with 10% (might be 20%) more capacity then your gas tank to preserve the same range
I have two 90litre tanks so my range was vastly improved over the stock 16 US gallon/12 Imperial gallon saddle tanks
about doubled

it is so easy to swap
to get back or gain some power I am going to add a turbo

you can use a barbeque bottle as a gas can if you run out of fuel all you need is a line to conect the BBQ tank to the SAE-6 fitting on the truck and a 3/4" wrench to swap the fittings, or if you spend more $ on fittings you could buy a line that connects to the fill point on your truck
I am cheap so the $20cdn line is the way for me.

I bought used equipment for $230cdn and spent at least that or more replacing all the lines and using bulkhead connectors at every pass through point
 
i had a friend who had a propane and gas system in his ford f150. he has since dropped the propane. don't know why, never asked. he lives in a small town where propane is pretty plentiful because of the many farms and ranches nearby.

in texas, if you run propane, you are exempt from emissions testing. but if you run gas and propane, you still gotta test.
 
Is there anyway to monitor how much propane you have in a tank? Also, when you fill up do you have to remove the tanks from the truck? Good info /forums/images/graemlins/waytogo.gif
 
No, you don't have to remove the tanks, I fill mine up in the same location.

Running Dual fuel SUCKS, you have to make a compromise for gas and for propane, running straight propane is pretty good, especially if you bump up the compression I'm sill hunting down a set of high-comp caddy heads)

I'm running a saimese tank system in my factory blazer tank location...its shoehorned in there.

Propane also has the benifit of being able to run at any angle, and is cheaper..here in BC I believe it is in the 60c/iter mark, where gas is 86.9-90cents/liter depending where you are. /forums/images/graemlins/k5.gif
 
saddle tanks are mounted permenently, they have an on-site valve, most dispenser stations and any bulk truck can get you filled up.

the tanks have % gaugages on them, if you can see the gaugage on the side of the tank than you're in luck, im yeat to see one wired up into the cab work for very long.

as far as prices go, if im not mastaking propane for RVs (or anybody that just drops in) is about the same as 93 octane gas around chicago anyways.
 
Well, I do think I have a pretty good grasp on propane. You pretty much have a setup that is self pressurized so no need for a fuel pump or wiring or anything but lines to and from. And a tank that can be mounted in the cargo area because you wouldnt want that thing coming into contact with rocks or anything else for that matter. And the power loss you are talking about is pb because they stuck the systems on bone stock trucks with like 8.7 or 9.1 compression. From what I have read and heard from first hand experience, you have to bump up the compression to gain back any power loss and even sometimes get more power in return, somewhere around the 11.0 to 12.0 area. I have a pretty good grasp on the chevy tbi systems, they are a piece of cake, and what originally came in my 91 fullsize, but it takes alot to get them to make power, and get decent mileage. But what I was talking about when I mentioned fuel injection, is that I swapped a 02 chevy 6.0 vortec motor into a 91 fullsize and I am running into problems with the computer and security programs in the computer. Plus, since the motors in no way resemble gen I sbc's then I had to change out a load of other things also. Tranny,transfer case, ALOT more wiring, another computer, new gas tank/fuel pump, cut up the crossmember. And it is even running, but not well at all. And it is the computer that is f-ing everything up. So I am just tired of messing with that motor. I thought of a cummins swap, but from what I hear, that motor has a oil pan that is too big for the front end on chevys, and I would have to cut out the crossmember, and it would come into contact with the front axle. Oh and for monitoring how much propane you have, you have a pressure guage I think. Sort of like an air compressor.

Remington
 
I think the propane places will just let you back up to their fill station and they will fill it up for you as long as it isnt a pain in the ass. Oh yeah, and weather wise. I am basically on the gulf coast South of Houston and it very rarely sees below 50 degrees during the day during "winter", so I dont think I will have any problems starting wise. Any other things I should look out for or be weary of?

Remington
 
you get a level gauge, not pressure.
magnetic gauge reading a float in the tank
it will work as long as any other gauge.
the tank pressure will stay high after you are out of liquid propane.
100 octane propane here is $0.52 cents per litre, vs gasoline at $0.80-0.99 cents a litre for 87 octane

the tanks are a lot stronger then any fuel tank I have seen installed in a truck
 
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