LP conversion

My boys and I are thinking of converting a couple of trucks to LP gas this spring, what do you think?? good idea or waste of time and money. One is an S-10 that is driven 60 miles a day to work and the other is a GMC K3500 with a 8.1L and allison. There is a place in Shakopee that sells the equip. or will do the conversion, either straight LP or dual fuel. Gas is $2.99 right now but I think we will probably see record prices next summer.

what is the price of lp,and how much effeciecy would you lose on a converted engine? thats what you really need to look at. a true lp engine has higher compression pistons and things that its gas counterpart,to make up for the loss in fuel effeciency. if i personally were to set one up to run strictly propane i believe i would look at raising compression somehow. i am sorry i dont recall the exact number on how much effeciency you lose on a conversion,but just running down the road i personally never noticed any.where i saw it was pulling a trailer etc.

I once owned a truck that used LP and it was very good. Never had to change oil because it got dirty, only because I was afraid of acid buildup in the oil. Got good mileage and decent power. If I were to convert today, I would look into CNG because LPG is made from oil and more prone to price fluctuations. CNG is even cleaner than LPG and has more energy per cubic foot. Also with CNG I would use synthetic oil and you would probably never have to change it.

Local LP supplier had an open house/seminar on auto/truck conversions. The local paper had a decent article covering it. Seems the cost to convert was in the $6,000 range and you needed to drive over 25,000 mi/yr to make it worthwhile. I'm pretty sure the cost of conversion included labor don't know what you'd save on a self install job. I think the engine starts on gasoline and converts to LP automatically.

Natural gas is a lot more involved.

LP in them older vehicle's is A OK...Dont have to deal with carbs gumming up..they start and idel nice...if u start them in cold weather they need to be plugged in at about 30 above...but if its for a Summer driver i think u will be very happy...LP does run a little hotter and u may need to do a valve job...if u do put in ( i think ) they call them sodium corm spelling valves....It pains me to say it but thees new fuel injected pickups are a LOT better...

new vehicles have much higher compression then in the old carb days! I think it would be great. I have a GMC dually on propane but it was a carb model (when i redid it, i jumped the compression to 11:1). i'd be interested in seeing the cost to convert a fuel inj engine.

Reading the responses so far,here's my take on some of the issues mentioned.
The cost of conversion can be all over the place depending on how profit driven the installer is. Fact is the LP system is far less complex therefore less expensive to manufacture than gasoline or diesel.
Factory equiped lp tractors were 8 to 1 as apposed to 7 to 1 for gasoline. Compression ratio is widly misunderstood. Many people run premium gas in cars equiped to use low octain and swear they get better milage and additional power. In therory,the higher the pressure is within the cylinder at moment of combustion,the more power produced. Higher octain fuel doesn't contain additional energy,it simply resists combustion at higher pressure than low octain. Think of it as putting airplane fuel in a standard compression engine and not getting the expected extra power or putting alcohol in a car but it doesn't march off anything like that alcohol dragster did at the strip Saturday night. Claims of lost efficeny are normally rooted in someone converting a 7 to 1 tractor to lp. You should be fine with compression. A far larger concurn is the need for hard valve seats which many failed taking into account and were dissatisfied in the end. Cars needed hard seats since leaded gas went away. ( Are you guys with tractors built to run on leaded gas listening)
I never noticed power differience when properly installed.
The suggestion to use Extended Life synthetic oil and having lab tests is spot on. Unless the engine is a real beater,oil will look clean.
Most states require an expensive sticker to run LP on public roads.
Having a filler hose on a home tank falls under the same heading as running red diesel in a VW diesel that your kid drives to school.

What years are the trucks, 2012 or 1982?

The installer or manufacturer should have a website or brochure with some useful information and prices.

For the S-10 comuter, it may be simpler to get an older 4 door sedan for commuting. Gas milage should much be better than an LPG pickup.

Had an '83 GMC 3500 Crew Cab with a 350 SBC that could run on propane or gasoline a few years back.
Ran and started well on propane - no problems at all, but there was an obvious difference in power compared to gas. Propane at the time was 1/2 the cost of gas so I ran on it most of the time. The major drawback I had with propane was locating a filling station once I got away from an urban center.
Don't know what it's like in your area, but in here southern Ontario most of the propane filling stations are gone - so that's something else to investigate.
If you don't have dual fuel capability - running out of propane at the side of the road can be a real hassle _ usually involves a tow truck or a cobbled up 20 lb BBQ bottle, a hose and adapter to the tank fill connection. I found that the gauges on my propane tanks weren't that accurate and running out was pretty easy.

I have a half dozen LP gas tractors for hobby; I love them. I've also had experience with propane powered delivery trucks that had been converted from gasoline. The upside for me and the hobby tractors is the elimination of fuel gone bad, leaking carburetors, frozen fuel lines, sticky floats, leaky fuel lines. The only negative on the hobby tractors is refueling. At plow day when I'm out of fuel, I'm done. I have to depend on the local supplier to come and fill me up. With the trucks, the only real issue was cold weather starting. If you plan on using the vehicle everyday as it was intended, you may want to look into replacing the valves and/or seats. The hobby tractors don't see enough action to worry about valves in my lifetime but a truck on the road everyday would be a different issue.