I was thinking of running the truck on CNG, but when the CNG runs out, it would switch back to gas, and also use propane injection while using the gas to increase the mileage on that too!

 

It's risky not paying road taxes on any fuel, it's just easier to get caught w/ diesel since the off-road stuff is dyed. Hard to dye LP. Again, not advocating anyone break the law. For all I know Dad may have paid the road tax at the end of the year. I was only a teenager.

And not far fetched at all, that's what the dual fuel set-ups do, you can choose to run whichever one you want but not both at the same time. When one runs out you just flip a switch to the other tank of fuel, gasoline or LP. You have to have the engine converted to run either LP or CNG, not sure what all that entails, different injectors and computer programming maybe? Also need a fuel tank. It's not a DIY project.

Correct, the only way it would pay for itself was if you didn't pay the road taxes on the fuel and even then it would take a lot of miles to pay off. My current truck as well as the truck before this one are gasoline only.

Are there CNG filling stations where you live? And any filling station for vehicles would charge the road taxes. Couple that with the cost to convert and it's doubtful there's a benefit. Though natural gas is fairly cheap right now. I know you can order a new superduty that is CNG capable but to convert an existing truck wouldn't be cheap.

Your gasoline milage might increase w/ propane injection just b/c you're not burning as much gas, but I highly doubt your overall fuel milage would increase much at all when you factor in the propane.

I'm w/ everybody else, there's just not a magic bullet to improve fuel economy in a big heavy truck. Trade it in on a diesel if you have to get 20mpg. Still have to keep your foot ouf of it though.

 

That's news to me, interesting! I should convert mine and change the plate to HNKHILL

 

Here's a link w/ some other links. Propane Conversion Kits – Convert Car to Propane – LPG Vehicle Conversion
Guess it's not as easy as it used to be, seems our friends at the EPA have gotten involved. Interesting though, LP burns cleaner than unleaded fuel wonder what their hang-up is? Not enough trees to hug apparently.

Lol, that would go along well w/ DMNTBBY

 

Hmm.... Disappointing really. I don't know where the nearest place for filling up is. I live in Northwest Ohio, do there really aren't any big cities around me. Shoot

 

For all the trouble you're willing to go through and the heavy loads you need to pull - biodiesel. I know somebody that bought a few transfer pumps and got his hands on some barrels and an old hot water tank. He picks up used fryer oil from the local restaurants and converts it to biodiesel. He calculates it costs him $1.35 per gallon to make and the instructions (that are proven to work) are everywhere. Never by fuel again, just get chemicals for processing biodiesel and if you can find a market for the glycerin byproduct - make a profit on biodiesel.

This stuff is legit and many people are doing it.

 

No good for me, there already is a company around here that collects that stuff. I just need a complete and detailed instruction of how to a)convert b)connect c)how to make and what to buy to get a CNG system that will switch over to regular gas when the CNG runs out

 

Okay, I just found out the local newspaper's vans run on CNG, so I'm gonna call and find out where they get their CNG. Can anyone give me those plans and instructions I asked for?

 

Don't think it's a DIY project but here's a couple links. Good luck and let us know what you decide.

Natural Gas Conversions | CNG Conversion Kits | CNG Installation Certification Classes - CNG United
Convert to CNG

 

Okay, so this is my plan. I get the truck, but I'm making sure I also get the CNG kit and the SCT X3 Tuner to go with the truck. I am going to install both. This way, I can possibly run to and from wherever I need to go, and when I run out of CNG, I just use the gas to get to the CNG filling spot (still unsure of where that is though, I'll dig into it sometime....). Thanks for your advice guys, especially Maverick!

 

If you're willing to share, I'd be curious to see the front end cost of this setup vs. what the savings will be down the road.

 

Well, the CNG kit on EBay is about $590 with shipping, and the SCT X3 is about $330 with free shipping, so about a thousand dollars. And, with the price of CNG, let's say at $1.20, it would take 22.22 fill ups to get back what I payed....

 

Does that $590 include the tank? I'm sure tanks aren't cheap. Still, CNG is pretty cheap right now so it could pay for itself. Did you ever find out where the nearest filling station is? I did run across this link - apparently in California you can get a deal that lets you fill up at home using the house line. I'm guessing it must be a compressor of some sort since the house line is typically low pressure. Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) as a Transportation Fuel

 

No the tank is not included.... What kind of tank (specific) should I be looking for? Thanks for the link!

 

I bet you are looking at 1,000 for a tank. Pressure vessels need to be certified as well.


Power is going to be lower with the CNG conversion

More power to you but I think you are going through a lot of work for little benefit.