Natural Gas
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Joined: May 2006
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From: garland, TX
Natural Gas
I was wondering if it is possible to convert my 86 f350 460 4bbl gasoline engine over to natural gas. I put $20 in to to go to work and then another $20 to get home. I've seen a f450 unsure of year older I believe with natural gas actually if I remember right it could run on either or, not sure though was young. Also would I lose power? I am sure their are disadvantages to this, if so what are they.
Last edited by CONFTIM1; May 28, 2006 at 10:33 PM. Reason: rewording
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Joined: Mar 2001
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From: So Cal
It is possible to convert just about any vehicle to natural gas. The question would be, "Is it worth it to you?"
I am nowhere near an expert on this, maybe you can check the alternative fuel forum on this website for far better informed responses.
The cost of converting to natural gas is somewhere around $2000 and up. You loose a lot of payload space due to the big tank. You would also need to find natural gas refill stations. I have read in Car and Driver a few years back that it is tricky and can be hit an miss. They did a roadtrip across the USA on a natural gas vehicle and were able to find fuel but it wasn't easy and required a guide book.
Propane conversion might be more effective since you can usually find propane. But the cost of propane is about the same as gasoline and you get fewer miles per gallon as I recall.
The big advantage to natural gas or propane is that the engine will run MUCH cleaner and the octane is something like 105 so you can advance the timing for good performance etc.
Don't convert expecting to save money. If it really saved money, these conversions would be very common. It is more a conversion for the treehuggers and the gadget hounds.
Just my opinion based on reading about such conversions,
Jim Henderson
I am nowhere near an expert on this, maybe you can check the alternative fuel forum on this website for far better informed responses.
The cost of converting to natural gas is somewhere around $2000 and up. You loose a lot of payload space due to the big tank. You would also need to find natural gas refill stations. I have read in Car and Driver a few years back that it is tricky and can be hit an miss. They did a roadtrip across the USA on a natural gas vehicle and were able to find fuel but it wasn't easy and required a guide book.
Propane conversion might be more effective since you can usually find propane. But the cost of propane is about the same as gasoline and you get fewer miles per gallon as I recall.
The big advantage to natural gas or propane is that the engine will run MUCH cleaner and the octane is something like 105 so you can advance the timing for good performance etc.
Don't convert expecting to save money. If it really saved money, these conversions would be very common. It is more a conversion for the treehuggers and the gadget hounds.
Just my opinion based on reading about such conversions,
Jim Henderson
Fleet Mechanic
Joined: Feb 2002
Posts: 1,483
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From: Tulare U.S.A.
Jim is right, I work for a natural gas utility as a fleet mechanic and have seen alot of diffrent systems. It can be put on just about anything but is costly and does require bed space. Im not sure how long it would take to recoop the cost of the kit but it would be years. Nat. gas station location's are very spotty. They do make a home refueler that hooks up to your house (if you have nat. gas) but it uses electricity to compress the nat. gas and it very slow and has to be left over night to get a full load of gas.
Leadmic
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