natural gas/propane conversion kit!

[Nima]

Hey everybody:
has anybody here used such a kit on these trucks? Now that I am thinking about it, What do yu know about this type conversion? anybody knows anybody makes suck a kit for these trucks or other car or trucks? I saw on Chevy web page they offer conversion kit even on the new truck.
Wish everybody have a good weekend.

[pebbleboy]

http://www.bullydog.com

They have ones for deisel. thats all I know of

[lpaine]

I haven't run a propane set-up myself, but am somewhat familiar with them. They are quite common up here, a lot of people run propane systems to beat the high cost of gas. It requires some mods, though. Installing the propane tanks and plumbing is obviously the first thing. You can probably find someone in your area who can do this for you. You might also have to get an inspection/certification depending on your local/state requirements. I don't know about price and availability where you are, but it could save you some bucks if it's significantly cheaper than gas. Some advantages I'm aware of are that you can run higher compression with propane as it has a higher octane rating than gas, and your oil and engine tend to stay cleaner with propane-disadvantages are some loss of power and having to find a place to buy auto propane. You'll need to get the valve seats changed on the heads too,and the distributor will need to be re-curved.I believe one company that makes propane conversion equipment is called "impco" Hope this helps.

[chief bobber]

I was driving the back roads last week trying to find some parts and I came across a 3/4ton 71 Burb 4x4 V-8 that had a conversion kit on it. I have never run one, but a guy I know does them for a living and he has stated that the conversion is an easy one once you have all your ducks in a row.
I'm trying to contact the owner of the burb so I can purchase it.
Good luck.

[Nima]

How much power loss are we talking about? By the way, thanks for the replies.

[MACKL]

Nima,
I manage a fleet of delivery vehicles, in Dallas TX and we have around 60 CNG conversions in our fleet. WHAT A PAIN IN THE BUTT! lpaine is right on track with his comments. IMOP, the disadvantages far outweigh the advantages. Here are some more problems. We run two tanks (Very large capicity), and our fueling station produces 3000PSI to fill the tanks. We have an average range of 85 miles before the pressure get so low, they will only idle. There is also a byproduct of the CNG process, "Drip Gas". It is actually an oil that accumulates in the transfer system to the fueling station. The stations have filters but the oil will eventally accumulate in your system. It causes the injectors to clog and it will put you on the side of the road when it happens. The CNG tanks have to be cetified and the original certification last somewhere around 10 - 15 years. After that, they have to be re-crtified. The certification cost as much as purchasing new tanks. New tanks are 100% aluminum. Have you seen the cost of metals latley? The tanks will put you in the poor house. You were asking about the loss of power. Our CNG vehicles are very cold natured. Winter and summer. Once they get warmed up they have about a 20% power loss on the low end.
We have about 4 different brands of conversion kits in our fleet. Some are better than the others and require less maintenace, but all have the power concerns and the range limitations. There are about 10 CNG fueling stations in the DFW area. Outside of that, the next closest one is Oklahoma City. With a full tank, you cound not go from Dallas to Oklahoma City with out the help of a wrecker, you would run out of fuel.
We are running the CNG conversions for one reason. The environment. It is the best thing to do for the environment. Nothing makes as big of an impact. The CNG conversion on a delivery vehicle is equivalent to removing 300 passenger vehicles off of the street. That makes a diffenence. However, I would not convert my personal vehicle. Leave it for the big fleets.

[shifty]

But look at the plus side: If you get stuck on the side of the road, you can grill some hamburgers and dawgs until the towtruck arrives

[My 72]

There is a difference between CNG and Propane. CNG is basically methane, which is a one carbon chain. Propane is a three carbon chain. CNG is natural gas. It does require much higher pressures to be a liquid. It does have less power than does propane, and propane does have less power than gasoline.

However, there are many refueling stations in the Dallas area. But, in any case running propane does offer the inconvienence of finding a suitable filling station. And there is some kind of permit one needs to run propane in Texas. It is like a road fuel tax I think.....

If one does not need or is real sensitive to engine power, propane is a good alternative fuel. Once valve work is done,(needs hardened valves seats and valves), the engine will run forever. Oil change intervals can be extended due to the lack of disolution from pertol byproducts.

Propane is quite a convienent alternative fuel once one gets past the cost of the equipment and installation.

Personally, I worked at a Propane dealer in Texas for 5 years. I have seen just about every setup from forklifts to oil field pump jacks to you name it. But, I propobly wouldn't do the conversion unless I had the equipment available AND I had a supplier nearby that wouldn't rape you on the cost of fuel. Different suppliers can charge different prices due to the fact that many suppiers are independents.......................

[guyryan100]

Methane eh?.... now that gets me thinking....

[67-Cowboy]

Well I grew up just north of DFW and we not only had 4-wheel drives that pulled cattle trailers up and down the highway, but we also had tractors that plowed wheat and cotton feilds, baled hay etc... that ran on propane. A lot of the farmers had old Caddilac Engines that ran their irrigation pumps that ran on propane ! As a matter of fact if any of you guys know where I can find the dual fuel set up to run propane and gas I would love to know about it. Yes, you loose a little horsepower but it's well worth the price you get back in fuel economy.

[jc]

i use propain to heat my house and the cost propain during the winter months was the same cost as gasoline if not more at times. unless the milage is sugnificantly higher per a gallon using propaine. i dont see the benifet other then clean air. however methane may be cheaper. i hate propain i want natural gas for my house. my propain bills for the house range from 400.00 to 600.00 a month durning the winter months.

[Nima]

Wow, thanks guys. I am just wondering how much it cost to put the alternate kit on. As I said above, I saw on chevy web side that you can choose the altenative fuel as an option for 650$ on 1500 series trucks.

[purple gas]

My company used to use dual fuel ( gasoline & propane) vans for delivery, and lots of taxi's are set up for propane. I don't know about down there, but in Canada the price of propane has increased to where even putting on a ton of miles it's hard to justify the cost of the converson. ( my 20lb tank for my BBQ costs $15.00 to fill today) That and very few mechanics will work on propane vehichles, and you can't park them in a garage ( potential for explosive situations if the tanks leak) Canada Post bought a whole fleet of delivery trucks a couple years back only to discover they had to be parked outside where it regulary gets to -35 in the winter. Other than that our propane powerd vans ran for well over 400,000 klicks with no other work than regular oil changes and worked great.