Ok just for an example of the savings. Today I filled up with cng 16.5 gals/gge at a cost of $21.28...Now if that would have been reg. gas it would have cost me $56.00 for the same amount of fuel. Figure that savings in on thousands of gallons and you will see the huge savings.

Of course if you drive a few miles to work everyday and regular weekend stuff then I wouldn't recommend doing it.

BTW,you only change your oil every 10k from what they tell me so there's another huge savings over the life span.

 

If you guys are so concerned about saving money, you are clearly driving the wrong vehicle. Why aren't you driving 40MPG+ cars?

 

What's wrong with driving a large pick-up AND getting reduced fuel costs? A "40 mpg+ car" won't tow my boat...won't carry some of the equipment I use for work....may not have the 4WD system I like on the country back roads and snow we get up here...won't give me the spacious cab I enjoy right now...and won't let me put bikes and stuff in the back.

Most importantly, a small vehicle won't provide the safety a large vehicle provides. Years ago, a teenager ran a red light and totalled my car. One of the passengers in that other car was killed. If I had been in a smaller car, I have no doubt I would have been seriously injured or killed. Worse, my son was a passenger (back seat) in his uncle's Ford F550 travelling on a two lane highway. My wife an I were following behind in our Ford Explorer. A drunk driver (20 years old) in an older Jeep Cherokee returning from a "bush party" came over a hill on the wrong side of the road and hit the F550 head on. My wife and I saw the whole thing. The sound was like a bomb going off, and both vehicles caught fire. The driver of the Jeep was killed instantly, my wife's brother (drivng the F550) suffered a broken arm from the airbag (wasn't wearing his seatbelt)...and my young son was unhurt. If they had been driving in a smaller vehicle there is no question in my mind they would have been seriously injured or killed. As it was, the F550 was written off. THAT'S why I don't drive a small economy car.

 

Nothing wrong with needing a big truck and wanting to save money, only thing I don't get is why a Ram? You can get a lot cheaper kits for chevys since they never seem to change the engines year to year. They also sell some trucks from the factory with cng (6.0L vans)

 

Chev. and Ford is the same cost to convert as any other model.

$3700 for tank. $2500 for seq. injection kit then the labor.

When people talk about the cheaper kits they are using used tanks, fogger kits, do it yourself installs.

 

Look forward to a CNG fitting station in your local area and query enough to find if they do have a kit for 5.7, otherwise 4.7 is the best compatible suite. Also check your local fitting stations as prices do differ a lot in this sector.

 

Just a little update. I now have over 30k miles on the truck with at least 95% of that running on cng. I can run either cng or gas at a flip of a switch but with cng at $1.35 vs reg. gas at $3.65 why would anyone run reg. gas. Truck runs great. Had my ecu programmed by B&G and I can now run with mds just the same as gas. I also added more cng storage and can now get somewhere between 32-34 per fill so I don't have to fill near as much. So I am well into making the cost of the conversion back. Once I break even there it's all gravy from there.

 

What injection conversion is installed in your truck?

Was the MDS disabled because of the injection system or because of the SuperChips? Normally, injection conversions have MDS capability in the configuration and the same controller is used for all 8-cylinder applications (no difference between 4.7L and 5.7L engines).

What did B&G do to enable MDS? New CNG ECU firmware?

If you're recording your fuel consumption, how does your calculated CNG fuel economy in GGE compare with your calculated gasoline economy?

How often do you refuel?

While it is true that LPG/CNG engines keep their engine oil cleaner, the additives in the oil still get consumed. Before you extend your oil changes very much, it is a good idea to do used oil analysis.

 

Just an update. Now at close to 75k miles and again,at least 95% have been run on cng. Have been paying right around $1.00 per gge. Runs good no internal problems. 2011 Ram Outdoorsman 4X4 5.7. Average around 15-16 mpg city/hwy combined. The system has paid for itself a while back.

 

Update for anyone that might be interested. I did the cng conversion when Ram was new. I now have(just checked) 137,895 miles on it. Prob 125k has been ran on cng but since gas prices are cheap today I run on reg gas. No problems with the conversion. Little loss of power compared to reg gas but not that much. I have the broken manifold bolt knock for a while now and it's getting colder so it sounds like a rod knocking til it warms up. But that is really the only issue I have had from this truck.