Cng f-150
 

I got a bi-fuel conversion and my truck is now running on cng. I fill up from my house for about 0.80 cents per GGE (gallon gas equivalent).

Anyone else out there have a cng vehicle or boat?http://img.tapatalk.com/d/12/10/14/y6yve2et.jpghttp://img.tapatalk.com/d/12/10/14/evudatap.jpghttp://img.tapatalk.com/d/12/10/14/adeje2yt.jpg

PRetty cool. Even cooler set up with boat and trailer!!!

how are your MPG's on CNG compared to before... towing and daily driving

Daily driving mpgs are identical to gasoline. I haven't towed with it more than a mile it two so I'm not sure about towing mpg.

So rig it up for my x-star??? I'd love you forever!!!

That gas pump is at your house? What if you wanted to take a long trip? How clolse to home do you have to stay? That is quite the savings if your getting the same MPG.

^^being bi-fuel, it should be CNG or diesel/gas compatible.

The pump in the first post is not at my house. It is a nearby fueling station. If I run out of cng the truck automatically switches to gasoline (still have the factory 36 gal gas tank). Here is a pic if the home refueling unit: http://img.tapatalk.com/d/12/10/15/8yve6a8y.jpg

how much for everything. i have a 2011 f150 ecoboost and i would love to be able to do this thanks for the info

I don't think there are any conversion kits available for the ecoboost yet. I bought my truck with the 5.0 since I knew I was getting the conversion. The conversion kits are quite expensive right now - about 10 to 12 grand. Right now it's only going to be economical for people putting a lot of miles on their vehicle. The technology is getting cheaper and cheaper and within a few years cng should be a factory option that is affordable. I work for a natural gas exploration and production company that paid for my conversion in an effort to promote cng vehicles.

Do you retain the same hp/torque as with gasoline?

i drive 50k a year, so i would think it would be a wash. i would end up getting a new truck before i get 10k back thanks for the info, i hope it becomes an option sooner than later

Damn Doug..you live in the truck! I thought I drove a ton 35-40k a year. I cant imagine 50k..thats a lot of driving.. @ 10k for the conv. kit you would need to log some miles to make it pay.
We dont even have gas service for appliances in my neighborhood. So how does that work?
Hell I cant even get E85 for my FF Escape.Closest E85 is 25 miles away.
I like the fact you still have gas back up. But alot would have to change for it to work for me...but I would look into it when the kits come down in price.

@Kevin, do you mind posting some pics of the CNG fuel tank? I've read some about these conversions, and thought it would be cool to setup a boat that way. From what I remember, you need to get the steel cylinders to mount in a boat. You end up using the storage or ballast areas for the CNG tanks...

kevin, i am in sales and drive pretty much all day long every day. I am moving to sc in 2 weeks and will be covering all of nc and sc. I would do it to a new car or truck or if it ever becomes an option, I would pay to have it. I get a solid 20 mpg in my truck, but the natural gas would cut my cost by 4. it would pay for itself in 18 months or so, but i try and get out of the vehicle around 150k or so. I have had up to 300,000 on a few cars but its falling apart up here in pgh. Maybe with better weather, no salt on the roads and better roads, i could squeeze the additional milage to justify it.

What is the range on CNG? Where is the tank stored? Any pics of the conversion? How do you get it to switch between CNG and gasoline? Also curious as to the impact on the motor running CNG, as well as its octane rating.

My grandpa had a Cong ford ranger back in the 90s. It was a gutless piece of junk but he always thought it was the coolest thing on the road. I am sure that things are way different now. Thanks for the flashback.

Matt75, there is supposed to be a very slight decrease in hp (because engine compression ratio is not high enough to take full advantage of cng).

I do not notice the hp loss at all when driving. The dealer that in installed my conversion also commented that there was no noticeable loss like he had seen in some of his older model year conversions.

Here are the quick numbers. If the system costs $12,000 and it looks like he is saving about $3.00 per "gallon" then the conversion would pay for itself after using the equivalent of 4,000 "gallons" of CNG. Guessing at 20 mpg that would be 80,000 miles on CNG to break even.

Range depends on size of tank you go with. Mine has about 175 mile range on cng but you can get a 24 gal (GGE) tank. The 24 gal tank will stick up above the bed rails slightly. There is a switch on the dash to change from cng to gasoline. You can switch at any time even driving down the highway. It will switch automatically when the cng is running low. As for the engine, cng is supposed to be easier on it since it is mostly methane with no contaminants. The octane rating of cng is up around 120 but as I mentioned above the engine compression ratio for an 87 octane gasoline engine isn't high enough to take full advantage. I will try to get some pics of the conversion later today but for now I will attach pics of tank. The common tanks now are composite with a thin metal inner liner. http://img.tapatalk.com/d/12/10/15/enaqamym.jpghttp://img.tapatalk.com/d/12/10/15/5y4udyry.jpg

I get about 15-16 mpg on gas or cng with a combination of city and highway. But your math is correct the break even point with 4.00 gasoline is around 70000 to 80000 miles. This is assuming you fill up with a home refueling unit. The home fueling units are expensive now but ge is supposed to be making a unit available in a year or so that will cost about a grand.

So where does the gas come from when you have a home refueling unit? Sorry for th dumb questions but all this is very new to me. I have seen CNG buses and city trucks around here but they have their own station. The whole fill up at home is all new to me.

It takes natural gas and compresses it. The same gas you use for heating your house, cooking etc.

Thats what I was affraid of. We dont have gas service in my subdivision..so just another thing that puts it out of reach for me. Sucks too because I drive alot and am really looking for a way to cut my fuel bill.

Kevin, how is your truck running these days? Have you run into any issues with the CNG conversion?

I'm starting to look into this and was wondering if there are any reliability issues with converting a vehicle to CNG. From what I've read so far, running on CNG is actually supposed to be easier on the engine than gasoline. I have a 2012 GMC Sierra and I'm a little hesitant about what kind of modifications they have to make to the truck's computer to support running on CNG/gas. Also, do you expect to get any of the costs for the conversion back when you sell it?

Brett, I have had 0 issues with my conversion and I have around 16,000 miles running on CNG. There are quite a few people here with GM vehicles (Tahoes and 1/2 ton pickups) that have had very few issues. I'm no expert but I believe some of the conversions dont make any modifications to the vehicles computer. If you go with an EPA approved kit and approved installer you will still retain your vehicle factory warranty. As I mentioned above I didnt pay for the conversion so resale was not a concern of mine but I would expect you would get a premium when selling the vehicle back. I would expect you could easily sell it in Oklahoma City since there is already a good refueling infastructure there. The home fueling units are a different story and there have been several minor issues with it which have all been fixed for free (2 year warranty).

Brett, there is a shop in edmond that specialises in CNG conversions. They have a dyno there for tunning them also.
They are the ones that are doing our company trucks (OG&E / Enogex) so they have to be doing something right.
They have a sick roush supercharged raptor there running CNG.

Does the engine running or exhaust sound any different when running on CNG?

You guys should be looking at Propane conversions..... Cheaper to do. WAY less pressure in the tank. You can get more range out of it. Etc.....

I run a propane conversion on a ford expedition and have had a few suburbans with conversions they run great and cost about 6000 to install here in Canada. The tank goes in place of the spare tire the conversion is worth it if you do lots of mileage

My dad has one on his tundra. I think he only paid about 4500 for it. He loves it and gets great mileage. Tows his airstream just fine. Downside is loss of bed space (it was a pain on the butt to stuff 3 sets of skis and boots into) and constantly looking for fill up stations. If you have a filling station close to your house and you keep your truck more than a couple of yrs, it seems like a good deal. I'm pretty sure there is a website somewhere that shows all the cng filling stations on the map.

There is an app from cng now to find the stations. The exhaust sound is the same with cng as with gasoline.

The medium duty trucks recieved exterior update.this integration truns the signals and grille. Improve the millege of vehicle.there looking like a school car type.
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Type 1 CNG Cylinders