Hi guys,
i'm looking into buying my
first 4x4 and was wondering about
propane engines ? good.. or bad ?
any info on them would be greatly appreciated
Thank you
I had a duel fuel truck. They are finicky to run if you switch back and forth much. Propane is cheaper, but you will lose at least 10% horsepower and range as propane has less energy per unit than gasoline.
Unless they have improved the conversion black box systems I would stay away from a dual fuel truck. If you go with just straight propane truck you will run into fuel availability problems in smaller towns, remote areas and down in the US where they use more natural gas. Hope that helps.
it's not all that bad I think chev silveraldo 350 went down to california bought a 21 trophy towed it back throught the mounts no big problem. propane in small towns I thought the same thing when I went down south just went online to all the major gas stations and printed it off they have there own chart made no biggie I could go 150 kms further on the same dollar amount
I owned a factory conversion Dodge Ram solid as a rock and no probs fueling anywhere.
The engine ran hot enough to roast a goat but never overheated that 318 was the best motor Dodge ever made some guy in my neighbourhood still runs the old crate.[8D]
Still have a dual fuel truck with a 351 in it and have tried towing with both propane and gas and dont notice much at all not enough to worry about thats for sure, what I really like is when propane war happen in the summer in Vic. lowest last year was 21 cents a litre.
I get 350 to 400 km out of a tank (120 litre tank) most of the time it takes about 55 to 65 bucks to fill.
I have had that thruck now for 7 years and still very strong, every year replace the little filter in the convertor and spray down the intake with carb cleaner and good to go.
Would buy another one in a heart beat like them very much!!!!
yuh the only "big" difference
that i heard of was that you loose a
bit of power , but if it isn't seriously
noticeable then i think i might give it a shot
see how it goes for me thanks all !
My buddy had one. We use to tow my boat when my other truck would break down. It was a 80s chevy 305 with a cam on propane, It couldnt even spin the tires in the rain. Im suprised it towed the boat (16') It took about $30 to go from victoria to sooke and back with the boat in tow. I dont think it was running right but it was a chev.HAHHAHA
Then again I baybed my Diesel one time to naniamo and back and was only about $30.
my grandpa has a propane camper special from ages ago. we use it to fish (tows 18.5' with a camper on it no problem). One of the main plusses with propane is that it burns cleaner = engine lasts longer. The camper special has got 600k on it and no breakdowns or problems (that i can remember at least).
The way you drive mongoose you need a little ranger you could put a 460 in it and then you might be happy to do all your burnouts some trucks arent meant to be a race car!!!!!!
My brother just built a 300CID inline six with 11:1 specificaly for propane for his '71 F250. Thing has balls and economy. One caveat for propaning trucks, if the engine is much larger the 350 CID, you only can get a 400CFM propane carb, so if you try it to a big block, and really need the flow, forget about it.
Built it over the winter of ‘96 and sold it 4 years ago. Propane is a good fuel to use as long as you have the knowledge and the supply. There are things to know to prevent freezing at the evaporator and what modifications to make to the motor to increase it’s life. I simply got a used 350 truck motor and stuck a new propane kit on. Ran it for years with no problems.
You can order a 300 HP long block for propane from most engine rebuild outfits for 2k or less. The big thing is the heads. The valves should be sodium filled, runners should be polished and ported. HP cam and HP pistons. That’s if you need power.
I did not tow my boat with this truck but I went up and down some nasty trails.
IMO dual fuel is not the way to go, as it’s a compromise and too many things to go wrong. Get as big a tank as you can and run it.
I now have a 95 ford diesel and wish it was propane.
GLG
The way you drive mongoose you need a little ranger you could put a 460 in it and then you might be happy to do all your burnouts some trucks arent meant to be a race car!!!!!!
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