Anyone bought a natural gas operated pickup?

Tx Jim · Sep 26, 2014

Anyone have any personal experience with a NG powered pickup? With the abundance of NG it might be beneficial for a few years. I know there's fueling station in my home town.
Thanks,Jim

Rick Kr · Sep 26, 2014

Jim,
I dont own one, but have driven and worked on them for a number of years. Fuel wise, yes, they would be cheaper to run. But you need to factor in the additional cost up front. The availablity of fueling stations is critical too.

A bi-fuel vehicle is no big deal when you run out of CNG, it automatically switches to fuel. A dedicated CNG vehicle you arent quite so lucky when you run out.

You will never see anyone walking down the expressway carrying a "can" of CNG to refill their empty vehicle. Most systems operate in the 3000-3600psi range.

Rick

Owen Aaland · Sep 26, 2014

What type of fueling station? Natural gas fuel systems can be either compressed natural gas which is a high pressure system or liquid natural gas which is lower pressure but requires insulated tanks to keep the fuel refrigerated.

Mike M · Sep 26, 2014

Somewhat related; I gave my LP gas supplier flack for running a diesel truck ! He said hard to find anyone to work on the LP ones yet alone to buy one. It was just cheaper and easier to get a diesel truck.

Bonnan · Sep 26, 2014

NG is a natural for the internal combustion engine.
Personal experience with a ford engine powering a generator was quite satisfactory. I'm thinking seriously buying a NG Honda Civic. Some fueling stations already exist and more are being built.

Determined · Sep 26, 2014

Had a customer with a few converted vans.
Large tank, short range, hard on valves.
Ok in the city.

JMOR · Sep 26, 2014

(quoted from post at 13:54:34 09/26/14) Anyone have any personal experience with a NG powered pickup? With the abundance of NG it might be beneficial for a few years. I know there's fueling station in my home town.
Thanks,Jim

s Coyote Flats & 'hometown' one and the same? and a public NG filling station?

Dick2 · Sep 26, 2014

We had a lot of those units in the ADOT fleet. CNG worked good in the 4-cylinder engines that I had in the motor pool, but we had a lot of trouble with the V-6's and V-8's stalling out in the middle of intersections - downright dangerous. The Governor wanted to be politically correct so he had the Governor's Lincoln Town Car converted. After it stalled in the middle of intersections a few times, they just burned regular gas (the public never knew the truth).

We never did get most of them to pass the same emissions test that regular gas vehicles have to pass.

The only good thing about them was they ran on CNG and then switched over to regular gas when the tank went empty, so it would travel a long distance without refueling - but there weren't any other stations away from Phoenix or Tucson so we just ran on regular gas.

Might be okay if you have a 4-cylinder engine; any other engine you should think twice about getting CNG conversion.

Geo-TH,In · Sep 26, 2014

I think Honda and GM produced a few NG vehicles in the 90's. Wasn't a big sucess. The cost of a home NG compresser was extremely costly.

Tx Jim · Sep 26, 2014

(quoted from post at 16:19:51 09/26/14)
Thanks,Jim

s Coyote Flats & 'hometown' one and the same? and a public NG filling station?[/quote]

Coyote Flats was voted in as a town the Spring of 2010 with no post office. My address is classified as Cleburne where I graduated from high school which has the NG filing station.

Gambles · Sep 26, 2014

There was a natural gas-powered semi truck on display at the state fair a year ago. The salesman was really pouring it on about all the benefits of NG. He must of had about 20 people listening to his every word. I then asked how much pressure the fuel tank must withstand on a NG vehicle. He correctly answered, but most of his audience really raised their eyebrows when they heard his quiet answer. I then asked him how many NG refueling stations there are in my state. When he answered that question, again in a quiet voice, most of his audience was gone.
I think there is a future in NG vehicles, but they've got to get the infrastructure there first.

JMOR · Sep 26, 2014

(quoted from post at 17:44:52 09/26/14)

(quoted from post at 16:19:51 09/26/14)
Thanks,Jim

Click to expand...

s Coyote Flats & 'hometown' one and the same? and a public NG filling station?

Coyote Flats was voted in as a town the Spring of 2010 with no post office. My address is classified as Cleburne where I graduated from high school which has the NG filing station.[/quote]K. Just though it a bit small to have a public NG station. A number of cities have the stations for city/county vehicles, but when it is tax dollar paid for, cost is no object.

Geo-TH,In · Sep 26, 2014

All the shuttle busses at the Grand Canyon are NG.
Very clean, no diesel smell, no black exhaust
particles.

wisbaker · Sep 26, 2014

Had a trucker that hauled product out of the plant I was working at last
year. They had a CNG Peterbuilt, it stalled and wouldn't restart, darn
thing sat on our lot (kind of in the middle of the tanker pad blocking two
doors) darn thing sat there for 4 days until they could get a wrecker down
from the cities to pull it to a dealer. A solenoid valve failed convincing
the computer that it was out of fuel. No one locally was up to snuff on
the CNG stuff.

RC Brooks · Sep 26, 2014

You see them a bit out here because there are a number of people who have gas rights. They have n. gas refrigerators, n. gas dryers, n. gas heat, etc...

Biggest problem is refilling and leaks. Finding leaks isn't as simple as a liquid fuel. NG isn't as efficient as gasoline but it's cheaper. The power certainly isn't the same. Parts are a little pricier. Other than that pretty straight forward and your wallet will be a little heavier.

sotxbill · Sep 26, 2014

I have a natural gas power bil.. Does that count?

Indiana Ken · Sep 26, 2014

(quoted from post at 11:51:44 09/26/14) What type of fueling station? Natural gas fuel systems can be either compressed natural gas which is a high pressure system or liquid natural gas which is lower pressure but requires insulated tanks to keep the fuel refrigerated.

This is news to me - I was not aware there were any land based vehicles using liquid natural gas. Yes, ocean going ships (LNG tankers) which burn the natural gas as it boils away in the insulated tanks, but not land based.

The problem with natural gas is that it will not liquefy at room temperature. It must be chilled to minus 117 degrees F after which it will become liquid at 668 PSI. If the tank is allowed to heat up, say 100 degrees F on a hot day in the sun, the internal tank pressure would be some where above 5000 PSI.

This is new - could you provide a source so I could learn how it is done....thanks.

CenTex Farmall · Sep 26, 2014

Cleburne otta have some kind of NG filling station since they're in the middle of about a million gas wells!

DFW airport has gone whole hog on CNG. The big employee buses and all their ancillary vehicles are CNG. They don't go far from home though.

There was some talk about OTR trucking companies switching to LNG over the high cost of diesel and they payback time being relatively short. I have studied any on that though.

I think as a nation we are behind the curve and should have more diverse fuel options. It will take Gov though to at least get the infrastructure ball rolling. Otherwise we have a chicken and egg problem.

Owen Aaland · Sep 26, 2014

I read about it first in Fleet Maintenance magazine. It sounds like California has had LNG refueling stations for about 10 years. I think LNG is mostly used in class 8 vehicles at this time. If you google Liquid Natural Gas powered vehicles you will get quite a few hits on sites and articles dealing with LNG.

Jon Hagen · Sep 26, 2014

Ford offered them in 14, but only with the base 3.7 V6
CNG Fords

MN Scott · Sep 26, 2014

Kwik Trip a chain of gas stations covering several upper midwestern states has a fleet of CNG powered semis that deliver to their stores. Never see one stalled along a road.

HenryO · Sep 27, 2014

I owned an LPG truck for several years. Slso the Sherrif's office ran all LPG cars for years. I also have been in Akron Ohio and Chattanooga, Tenn where all the busses are run by natural gas. They all swear there is less maintenance and cheaper operation costs plus no diesel smell in the cities. No pollution. As far as working on them, my LPG gas truck was simple and easy to fix. No truth to the story about the valves. Most mechanics I have talked to say the engines will last at least double the mileage of a gasoline or even a diesel.

rndy3788 · Sep 27, 2014

where I work we probably run 1500 CNG trucks through our plant I m guessing maybe 1/4 of our production of cement and refuse trucks , about 10 years ago we started seeing LNG and a few CNG trucks now most the trucks going to either east or west coast seem to be using CNG, we have our own station and need to have some sort of certification to fill and work on the systems . there is definitly a huge difference in smell and how quiet the trucks run , we put tanks on the top of some trucks or in front of the refuse bodies or on the frame if there is room ,I was told we were the only place between Philadephia and the west coast to have fuelling station about 10 years ago, Waste Management usues a huge number of refuse trucks that are CNG
Untitled URL Link

Angle Iron · Sep 27, 2014

What are they using for engines in these heavy trucks? Are they modified gas, diesel or are they using a new design altogether?
Angle Iron

rndy3788 · Sep 27, 2014

IM pretty sure they are regular Mack and Cummins mostly , I think you could have one of these trucks running all day in the shop and it just puts out vapor mostly,I actually remember working on a couple trucks about 10 years ago with john deere LNG engines , apparently JD makes engines for irrigation that are LNG and these were used in refuse trucks, almost none of these trucks come in our plant with fuel tanks because we install the plumbing and tanks for the cng so we move the trucks around with pony tanks that I believe are built to withstand 8000psi, the west coast apparently had some real good tax incentives for the nat gas

oldtanker · Sep 27, 2014

Be careful of what you wish for. As demand climbs so will the price.

Rick

Sprint 6 · Sep 27, 2014

One thing to watch out for on a CNG vehicle is the DOT
tank certs. They are only good for 10 years, that could bite
you if you live in an inspection state.

Angle Iron · Sep 28, 2014

(quoted from post at 18:21:09 09/27/14) IM pretty sure they are regular Mack and Cummins mostly , I think you could have one of these trucks running all day in the shop and it just puts out vapor mostly,I actually remember working on a couple trucks about 10 years ago with john deere LNG engines , apparently JD makes engines for irrigation that are LNG and these were used in refuse trucks, almost none of these trucks come in our plant with fuel tanks because we install the plumbing and tanks for the cng so we move the trucks around with pony tanks that I believe are built to withstand 8000psi, the west coast apparently had some real good tax incentives for the nat gas

o they have a separate ignition system or do they still rely on compression for ignition?

rview_ · Sep 28, 2014

Propane only around here, no natural gas stations anywhere that I know of, and I don't know many people along the natural gas line routes, really don't even know where it runs except a portion that's at least 30 miles from me. Back in the day, lots of propane vehicles though. I had a renter that had one he'd bring out to check his cows, his whole family ran the pickups that way. People filled them out of their home tanks of course. One uncle had a water well drilling machine/truck he bought in the 60s, that thing ran forever with few engine issues, hundreds of wells. My cousins used it until they got a new machine a few years ago.

rndy3788 · Sep 28, 2014

http://www.truckfleetmgt.com/articles/printnews.aspx?storyid=2428 ,try this link it explains it pretty good , but yes they have different ignition, and here in Minnesota when its cold they will start a lot better than a diesel that has been sitting outside for months with gelled fuel, trust me from experience lol

buickanddeere · Sep 28, 2014

(quoted from post at 13:54:34 09/26/14) Anyone have any personal experience with a NG powered pickup? With the abundance of NG it might be beneficial for a few years. I know there's fueling station in my home town.
Thanks,Jim

I ordered my truck with the NG capable engine. I suppose that is part way there?
No idea what GM did different on the NG ready LQ4.

Anyone bought a natural gas operated pickup?

Well-known Member

Well-known Member

Well-known Member

Well-known Member

Member

Well-known Member

Well-known Member

Well-known Member

Well-known Member

Well-known Member

Well-known Member

Well-known Member

Well-known Member

Well-known Member

Member

Well-known Member

Well-known Member

Well-known Member

Well-known Member

Well-known Member

Well-known Member

Member

Member

Member

Member

Well-known Member

Well-known Member

Member

Member

Member

Well-known Member

Similar threads