lpg conversion on 6 cyl 100 series

I have 80LC with 250k's on gas. I use it all the time towing business trailer around Central Coast about 500kilos. Negligable power loss on hills about 5%. On the flat wouldnt know trailer was there.

Do a trip to Louth area on Darling River twice a year towing about 1000kilos for about 1000k's. Return trip cost about $280. Gas cost on coast about 45c and in Cobar 65c to 70c.

Only use ULP through the Hunter Valley and over the hump. Then on gas the rest of the way. Hate to think what ulp would cost me at the moment.

Trick with gas is to keep it tuned and only buy from reputable suppliers not the super cheap types as the saying goes "some beer is better than other beer" in other words not all gas is good gas. A bad lot will affect efficiency.

Also fit some type of valve saver delivery system that taps into your fuel intake system, this will help wear on your valves. Flashlube make one for about $40.

dindy

steve

i have found that up through the valley area the extra power that ulp gives you on very steep hills and for overtaking on those hills can be significant. particularly when you have some 60tonne mobile block of flats you need to get around or you have the same trying to put his bull bar in your trailer. its just good to have a bit extra.

dindy

cheers dindy. I'll give him a hoy. I take it you just need a bit more grunt to get over the hills and ulp does the job better. So, wouldn't you just drop into a lower gear on lpg? I'd be quite happy to go over the ranges on ulp but I'm buggered if I'm gonna pay for lpg and then use ulp to tow my van on our annual trip to the Whitsundays. Surely it'll tow us up the Pac Hwy on lpg???

steve

it just depends how hard you want to drive your engine bearing in mind that running on lpg you tend to rev a little higher in each gear because of the difference in power. I find that when towing through that area and towing that weight that the engine works a bit easer and i have a better power range.

Running on gas full time will achieve good savings over time however like all things there are some down sides and lack of power in some circumstances being one of those things.

if you are looking for savings on running costs of your 100 then gas is the go and no you won't have any trouble running gas up and down the coast.

The way fuel costs are at the moment even if you were 20 to 30 percent less efficient than ulp you would still be ahead over time.

I've been running my 80 for about three years on the coast when I first started lpg was about 38c and ulp about 87. gas floats around 42c at the moment and ulp about 113c. so you do the math on efficiency verses power.

regards dindy

Hi Steve
I have a 80 series on LPG, which spends about 75% towing a horse float weighing about 2 tonnes, mainly freeway and highway work. It is slightly gutless on hills, or into headwinds. Changing from 5th to 4th at 90km/h seems to actually reduce its ability to climb hills. I dont find much difference between LPG and petrol. A proper tune up was a great investment.
Given the price of petrol ($1.06/L) and LPG ($0.37 to $0.40/L) and am loving LPG more and more each day.
Cheers
The Pelican