Compressed Natural Gas Truck Conversion

[BoatGuy]

This morning, the conversation between Karnie and I is geared towards the possibility of converting her truck to run on natural gas.

GM's own numbers say that we can achieve return on investment in 3 years, based on:

$11,000 conversion cost
$4 per gallon gasoline
$2 per "equivalent gallon of CNG"
24,000 miles per year

The thing is that around here, gas is about $3.49 at the moment and CNG is $1.08. We also drive a LOT more than 24,000 per year. So, our return on investment would be quite a bit sooner than the GM estimates.

To complicate things, the high cost of the GM solution can be lessened a great amount, if an overseas conversion kit is purchased on the internet. Apparently, by the time they certify one kit for one engine in the USA (for environmental quality), the cost is about $200,000. So, the overseas guys copy those certified systems and don't do the testing.

Has anyone here ever looked into, or done this?

[Johnny-Max]

Is it propane?
I am paying $2.34 a gallon for propane

[BoatGuy]

No. It's compressed natural gas. I was listening to someone on the local talk radio and he mentioned that their are a couple of refueling stations in Tulsa. I am looking at a system that run both natural gas and gasoline, in case you get somewhere where you can't get the CNG.

I also found out that it is TOTALLY illegal to install your own system or to use an overseas system. It is considered to be tampering with the emissions system, and can land you in jail and minus a bunch of money.

[Johnny-Max]

What about an old truck like my 69 Chevy Step-side that never had pollution control cr@p on it?

[BoatGuy]

Now, that's a really good question. The answer is: I don't know.

[radtke]

What about an old truck like my 69 Chevy Step-side that never had pollution control cr@p on it?

Johnny,
your truck is only bound by the emissions ratings that were in place for 69 so you could do pretty much what ever you want to your truck a system like that probably burns cleaner than your truck does now anyway.i know here in Wisconsin any emission controls must be left in place to be legal for the highway. that being said i know a lot of people that have removed smog pumps and catalytic converters of their old trucks and don't have any problems ,they just don't advertise it.

[jakematic]

What about an old truck like my 69 Chevy Step-side that never had pollution control cr@p on it?

Johnny,
your truck is only bound by the emissions ratings that were in place for 69 so you could do pretty much what ever you want to your truck a system like that probably burns cleaner than your truck does now anyway.i know here in Wisconsin any emission controls must be left in place to be legal for the highway. that being said i know a lot of people that have removed smog pumps and catalytic converters of their old trucks and don't have any problems ,they just don't advertise it.

Reminds me of the truck I had in the early '80 before OBD.
Somehow the emissions junk would become disconnected (must have vibrated loose ) so they ran right but you couldn't tell by lookin' at them 

[BoatGuy]

The problem that I'm seeing, is that:

1. Each conversion kit is certified for a specific year, model and engine, if it is under 2 years old.
2. If it's older than 2 years old, it has to be certified on an individual basis by the installer.
3. I don't think any of the pre-ODB vehicles have been certified. But, the EPA has recently streamlined the rules.

None of this applies if you get one of the overseas units and don't get caught with it. These days, with the EPA being the way they are (loose cannons on deck), I don't think I'm going to take a chance with the jerks, and if I do, you won't hear me talking about it... lol