Gasoline to propane conversion.

With the rising price of gasoline and with no end in sight, has any body converted their Taco to run on propane? Can someone share their experience, pros and cons of running on propane. Thanks in advance.

 

I’d be interested to hear about any hybrid (if any) conversions.

 

You're going to be replacing the whole motor and ECU to do a LNG conversion. On a 3rd gen anyway.

So you're spending around 15-20k to do a proper and legal conversion, for a vehicle that has less range and lower mileage, all to save money?

 

Popular on older, simpler, carbureted engines. Not so on modern cars.

https://www.customtacos.com/threads/propane-conversion.116701/

 

I don't know how the conversion would work on an engine with direct and port injection. On older vehicles it isn't too difficult, generally $5-10k to get the system installed and working. An older used corolla for $5k would get double the Tacoma's fuel economy with a lot less hassle.

 

Who says it has to be legal . No emissions in my state

 

Very popular mod in former Soviet republics. They do convert every Toyota's vehicle there.
In this video (Prado), the price of 1100 Euro is mentioned in comments
https://youtu.be/1ymRBsgTRaE


Sienna

https://youtu.be/coKDWdlX0rM

and... US build Tacoma
https://youtu.be/XTXtDjxzh7Y

 

put solar electric on your roof...save some money that way.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dfJi2_0L9-Q

 

If you get from point a to point b faster… maybe you’ll burn less gas?



^ kidding.

Seriously. 2011 ish I think. LNG was an option on Honda Civic. IIRC it was about the same price as the high end EX model.

I opted instead to get a TDI VW

 

I sell Propane and Propane accessories.

 

Now we just need the diesel boi’s to show up and start talking about vip diesel conversions

 

The ROI is probably pretty rough here if gas prices are your primary motivation. You could do the math, but i am thinking gas prices would have to reach "Mad Max" levels before this would make sense to even consider.

 

As of 3/28 the average price of propane was $2.982 per gallon. As of the same date the average price of gasoline was $4.334 per gallon. Let's forget for a moment that propane has 27% less energy than gasoline and assume your fuel economy would be the same, even though it wouldn't be, just to keep the math simple. Assuming the conversion cost you $10k, the saving per fill-up was $18.98 (assumes 14 gallons per fill-up), and you fill your tank once a week, it would take just shy of 527 fill-ups to recoup your investment, or just over 10 years. Then there's the question of where do you refuel when you're not home, and the fact that you'd have to find a very special buyer if you ever wanted to sell it.

Of course, all this assumes gas and propane stay at their current price levels for the next 10 years. IMHO, it's a very expensive crap shoot even if it could be done.

 

Or install a wind turbine in the bed.

 

I have one simple trick if you really want to save gas:

 

A few years ago I looked into doing this on my Siverado, at the time there were kits out there which made the conversion fairly straight-forward (my Silverado runs an LS Engine which uses a much simpler FI then does a 3RD Gen Taco).

The reasons I decided to pass on it were the MPG when running on Propane was less then on gas (this on a truck which currently averages between 12-15MPG depending on what I'm towing with it). Plus the space I'd loose with the tank I'd need to install (roughly half the bed in my case). Coupled with the cost of the kit and install then the fact that doing a conversion in my state would then mean that my truck wouldn't pass emissions (it would fail the visual inspection) put an end to my quest.

As others have said, if gas mileage is your primary concern just get a more fuel efficient commuter car (I'm a fan of Corollas; I'm one of three houses on my block with one in their driveway) or a MC. Even my 1,000cc MC gets almost double the gas mileage of my Taco. My smaller, 200cc bikes get almost four times what I could ever get with my Taco.