lpg or long range?

[Hanna]

Originally Posted by GMEMUD

Have a think about where you will be touring before making up your mind on this one, I live in regional QLD and do a fair bit of country running around and the price of gas in most centres around here is above 90c and a lot of places don't have gas anymore due to small volumes. When using gas I believe you will use aprox 30% more gas than petrol, so that takes the price upwards of 120c when compared to petrol,add to that the installation costs, space needed for tank ................do your sums.
I know it is a different story in the city's where gas is under 80c and petrol usage is worse.
Just my 2c worth.

Whilst I agree with a lot of what you have said, the highlighted statement above is completely false. This may have been relevant 20+ years ago, but not any more.

The newer sequential vapour injection LPG systems will only use 10-15% more L/km than petrol and the liquid phase injection LPG systems on the new LPi Falcons can get that even lower, down to about 5% in some cases. You will never be able to get the same fuel economy from LPG due to it's lower calorific (energy) value, however you can get close.

I have a 1999 4.7 V8 Limited with a SVI LPG system and based on the only "real" test I have completed so far to compare the difference between petrol and LPG fuel economy (when my LPG system wasn't working last summer and I did about 1500km towing on petrol) I found the difference was only about 15%. If I wasn't towing the difference would have been less as it seems to chew more LPG towing.

Airlock - if you're looking for a place in Victoria that definitely does them, check out Progas in Huntingdale: http://www.yellowpages.com.au/vic/hu...3-listing.html

Mine was converted there back in 2005 (by the previous owner), so you would think that they have a good amount of knowledge on the WJ/WG V8. I have had no issues with mine to date, except for a faulty dash switch ($80 to replace) and when I hooked the vacuum hoses up wrong after my head rebuild, hence why it was running on petrol last summer.

Mine came with a 55Lt donut tank (80Lt water capacity) and if I was to convert another I would ask for an 80Lt tank (100Lt water capacity) as 55Lt is just not enough whilst towing. Grand_wj from this forum had one installed in his WJ GC and he reckons it will fit, but the floor sticks up about 10mm. Not an issue for me as I am thinking of building a false floor for a fridge slide anyway.

As far as the cost goes, unfortunately you can't get a cheaper vapour ring system for your Grand as it has a plastic inlet manifold and if it backfires it may shatter to pieces. Injected LPG systems can't be backfired which is a real bonus. After driving an injected LPG car for the last 3.5 years I could never go back anyway.

Let me know if you need any more advice. Good luck!

[airlock]

thanks for the help guys, two companies have got back to me and seem to have a solid plan for converting the jeep witch covers all the bases by the looks of it. the only two let down's are that the spare tyre will be sacrificed (easy to just throw in the boot however) and the larger issue of the price tag, they want around $3.5K witch is more then i was looking to spend at this point.

[KKnut]

That's a good price, what brand are they quoting? Don't forget you can claim a $1k rebate at your local Medicare office, so $2.5k is good value for an SVI install.

[airlock]

Originally Posted by KKnut

That's a good price, what brand are they quoting? Don't forget you can claim a $1k rebate at your local Medicare office, so $2.5k is good value for an SVI install.

its 3.5K including the rebate, cant remember the brand but there going too email me all the details so i can do some research then need to have a bit of a think about it.

[KKnut]

That's probably as good as anyone will quote, I have a Prins system in the KK and highly recommend. One other thing, be very particular that they mount the tank as high under the vehicle as possible.

[pmac]

If you are keeping the vehicle stock, consumption isn't a real issue. I used to get under 10l/100km on the open road with HT tyres and no lift. I was very impressed.

The V8 is more economical than the 6.

I got mine converted to LPG and it did make a huge saving in the long run and increased range by about 300 kms.

[Hanna]

Originally Posted by KKnut

That's probably as good as anyone will quote, I have a Prins system in the KK and highly recommend. One other thing, be very particular that they mount the tank as high under the vehicle as possible.

I agree - that is a good price for a new SVI system, it wouldn't be a straightforward install either...

By the way, the tank in a WJ/WG Grand is a donut tank which sits in the spare wheel well, not under the car, so no option to mount any differently without major modifications to floorpan and a custom petrol tank.

On that note, I have seen some XJ's and ZJ's getting around with large LPG tanks mounted under the rear and they look rediculous if not done properly. I saw an XJ the other day where the tank probably had less than 200mm clearance to the ground. Crazy!!