Gas Conversion for 4wdrives

If you're not going to go anywhere rough, why buy a 4WD. your Ford should pull a van and i guess its already paid for. We have a 4WD on gas and travelled to Fraser Island last year via the Newell and got gas everywhere (except the island of course). some 4WD's cost $3000 to convert so choose wisely (that's a lot of petrol/diesel). A friend on the same trip as us used about 500 worth of diesel vs. our 550 of gas and some petrol. There's another choice.

I have a 100 series Landcruiser that I use to tow a Trak Shak trailer from time to time or sometimes a 25 foot fishing boat. If the 100 series Turbo Diesel was not so expensive I probably would have bought that but at the time it was not even available. I like the vehicle because its big, fits heaps of stuff when I need to, tows anything without thinking twice and is a fantastic camping vehicle. I converted to gas for 2 reasons. First, resale value is generally better and second it runs fairly cheap around town (80% of my driving is between Sydney and the Gong). I have a 100 litre gas tank along with 95 litres of petrol this gives me a range of about 850 klm or thereabouts. My thoughts after having this setup for about a year are:
1. that the power is less potent on gas but still acceptable,
2. the cost difference is very little unless you are going to keep the vehicle for a long time/lots of klms.
3. I would prefer a turbo diesel and the resale would still be good.
4. A chip upgrade might give you the power/economy benefits as well.

Overall it works but the value may be questionable...mine cost $1800. Divide that by 3 years and compare it to the added fuel costs and I am probably about even.

I found another feature last week when a young hoon in a hot honda civic ran up my arse. The damage to the cruiser was several paint flecks on the towball....Civic....stuffed - over $2k easy.....

Louise, one piece of advice tthat I wish I had followed. Ring the manufacturer of the vehicle and quiz them carefully about any problems that are reported when the particular vehicle is converted to dual fuel. For example, the 3 litre Pajero pre 1996 is not suitable (gives problems with EFI system components and potential valve burn-out) but the 3.5 litre motor after about 1996 (dont quote me) is apparently OK.

This being said, you will get a variety of answers from both installers and users of converted vehicles about the suitability. Its a field that is quite complex.

Another small issue with gas converted vehicles that you are probably aware of already. They need to be checked out by a licenced gas inspector at registration time. Where we live, this limits us to 2 garages in a radius of about 50km. Regards.

louise I have fitted lpg to my land rover v8 county. Twin tanks 1 on each side bolted to chassis rail. Have had gas on it since 1995. Used special exhaust valves in heads (stellited) but most important piece of equipment is a dual curve spark processor. (ask your installer) this alters the timing when changing between gas and petrol. I am very happy with gas. and at 12 mpg in my 3 ton monster. the cheaper price is a help. However you still need large petrol capacity as gas is scarce in some places. andy.