got propane

[daves bronco]

I am still in the frame stage of building a 75% trail rig, 60s four link etc. I was driving past a gas station and saw propane 2.10 a gallon and I thought why not make it run on propane only. I dont have to do emissions where I live plus the bronco is two old. I know alot of the positives of propane, is there any negatives, other then the tanks? Is anybody running propane?

 

[bax]

propane is very cool. it burns very clean and will deliver fuel at any angle. It does not know if it is upside down. it also has a higher octane rating and you can run a high compression engine with no real fear of preignition. You will use more propane than gas but I am ok with that. Fill ups are the only pain.

 

[NGABronco]

I think bax has been drinking!!! How many gas stations do you pass that offer propane????;D;D;D

 

[daves bronco]

http://gotpropane.com/ is the web site I was reading about it. they claim they use 4 to 6 gallons a day trail riding. Broncos are heavier so maybe 6 to 8 gallons, a forklift tank would be perfect, with maybe one for a spare. One cool thing is that propane wont go bad like gas does if you dont go on a run for 3 months.

 

[daves bronco]

I think bax has been drinking!!! How many gas stations do you pass that offer propane????;D;D;D

There is about 10 gas station with in 5 miles around me 3 sell propane. also two hardware stores do.

 

[blubuckaroo]

I ran into a group of mixed 4X4s coming off the top of the Dusey trail last year. No gas. Not even for a Coleman lantern. Every rig was just using the 20 lb propane bottles you get at the hardware store. They had cages bolted to the bumpers to carry the bottles like jeep cans.

 

[69BroncoDad]

So the question is.....how many people run propane in a DD??? whould it be possible to recess two tanks in the rear floor or possibly under where the factory main tank goes?? how many miles can you go on a single tank?? would you be able to inspect it running on propane?? and ofcourse there is the the big boom factor if involved in an accident....i'd love to be able to run on prorane but i think the long drives would be interesting..lol

 

[bax]

I think bax has been drinking!!! How many gas stations do you pass that offer propane????;D;D;D

Well here in FLA you can not fill a tank that is in a vehicle. There is no road tax on propane so most fill stations will not fill a vehicles tank. They are not allowed to without having to collect the added tax. Si it is a pain to fill. You have to take the tanks out of the vehicle to fill them. there are a few places that sell and fill road taxed propane for highway use.

 

[ucbronco]

Here in Fl. there are a lot of municapalities that run on propane only. The boom factor is not anymore dangeruos than gas, since the way we carry and store gas is more unstable than a propane cylinder. There are also several company's out there selling the dual fuel kits for offroaders that allows you to place a propane injector at the base of your carb and a valve to switch between the type of gas you want to run on.

 

[THE_74BEAST]

Not sure if he's a member, but this is a nice propane beast!
http://www.youtube.com/user/CrazyBroncoMan135

 

[daves bronco]

So the question is.....how many people run propane in a DD??? whould it be possible to recess two tanks in the rear floor or possibly under where the factory main tank goes?? how many miles can you go on a single tank?? would you be able to inspect it running on propane?? and ofcourse there is the the big boom factor if involved in an accident....i'd love to be able to run on prorane but i think the long drives would be interesting..lol

This is not for a dd, but there is people out there that run propane in there daily diver.I dont think it would be a good investment for a dd, considering the kits are around a 1000 and you dont get any of the benifits. Im sure I can make some kind of quick release that holds a fork lift style tank. I was more concerned with the room under the hood, and things like that.

 

[daves bronco]

Not sure if he's a member, but this is a nice propane beast!
http://www.youtube.com/user/CrazyBroncoMan135

that thing is sweet. hope he is a member like to know a little more.

 

[Tom Dummer]

I sent him a message to come here and respond.

 

[ochretoe]

If you are building a propane rig remember they like lots of compression. 10:1 is best.

 

[bax]

12/1 is even bester

 

[markperry]

not sure if he's a member, but this is a nice propane beast!
http://www.youtube.com/user/crazybroncoman135

wow!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!very impressive

 

[kb6677]

this and that on your propane

A buddy struggled with a Holley Projectin setup for a season and got rid of it last year for Propane. He used the vendor which has been mentioned www.gotpropane.com His selection was based on got propane selling a more complete kit. Engine is a 408M with head work, descent high energy magnum series cam, bla., bla. bla. Pulls a cab truck on 44" TSLs. He gets about 7ish hours out of a tank. REALLY likes the off idle pick up he got, run at any angle etc. Bax is right, MORE compression is cool with propane. We ran with another buddy last weekend with a 383, al. head bowtie in a buggy running 12:1 comp. He has a great setup-only rig with us to get up a wet muddy waterfall. Several of us tried it but failed. The first time I really wanted a little more umph off idle with the stock 5.0. He also figures about 6-7hours on a bottle (49"IROKS).
I think you would be happy with it for a trail rig-use a quality vendor and don't try to "piece together" a kit to save 2-3hundred!!!!!!
hth

 

[Crazybroncoman]

Hay guys I have the yellow best and do love the propane, it is nice to fill the tanks without having to take the Bronco. Just throw them in the back of the truck and fill them whenever. If you build a motor for Propane build a big stroke windsor that max RPM is less then 5500 with about 11.5 to 12. to 1 My motor is a high RPM motor and I run out of propane at about 5000 RPM and thats when my motor starts to make big power kinda sucks but whatever..

 

[broncnaz]

As has been said you really need to build the engine for propane. As its about 30% less dense as gas but has 5% more engery so it takes more propane to put down the same numbers as gas. but there's where builidng the engine helps. So take that into account for a DD and with current gas prices theres not much differance. Most daily drivers will want a option of being able to run gas as well so you really cant build a propane engine unless your staying 100% propane.
Most of the dual purpose carb type setups seem to have issues. not sure about the EFI versions.

 

[daves bronco]

I was going to go with a injected 302 that needed a rebuild, but the bronco did come with a 351w that also needs to be rebuilt. So if I go with propane I think the 351 would be a better choice right.