Lazy Daze Owners' Group

Duel Fuel Propane Conversion every thing you ever did and did not wa

August 31, 2013, 01:23:34 pm

Yahoo Message Number: 142392

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Hi every one, I started this to document my duel fuel conversion so that other LD owners can do their own. I would like to have things unfold in order of importance.
 Materials cost around $2500.00 or an installed set up will run you $5000. So why do it? Lower fuel cost! If you rack up the miles this is good. Extended engine life and less frequent oil changes. You can tap into the house propane to extend dry camping and need one fuel source for every thing. Propane is safer than gas believe it or not. Extended drive time between fuel stops using the gas and propane when one runs empty switch over and keep going. Double redundancy if one fuel system fails you have another. Propane does not rot or require a fuel pump.

1. Tank mounting will be the first priority.

Tanks can be mounted any place rear of the front axle. There is a minimum ground clearance between the front and rear wheels that must be maintained often it is 9" or higher than the lowest part of the exhaust, the second of which I have never seen. A good rule to follow is minimum 9" or not lower than the body and yes you can put in a suspension lift to get the clearance you need depending on the size of tanks and your rig. Some people will opt to rear mount the tank(s), for this you have to keep the tank inside the rear bumper and draw a line from the bottom of the rear bumper to the bottom of the rear tire that represents the minimum ground clearance to be maintained. I prefer to be a little higher so the rig bottoms out before the tanks and yes you can extend your rear bumper out to accomplish rear tank mounting if there is no room under the chassis.
 How to do it? Pick a spot to frame mount your brackets or go through the floor with large rectangular plates for support. Use really long grade 8 bolts to help draw the tank up into place. Tanks will have their inlet and outlet port mounted to suit you application just scope it out first. Remember that a 12" diameter tank may require a 13" space to accommodate the bracket. Been there done that!
 Sending units can be installed in different Ohm ranges to accommodate integration into the stock fuel gauge in the dash of the vehicle or you can mount a separate gauge so you know exactly what fuel levels you have at any time. Multiple tanks can be used but the bigger tank to two smaller tanks makes for a much more affordable installation. Multiple tanks can be piped in together for both filling and supply to the motor and coach using check valves on the supply side and a manifold on the fill side with a remote fill set up. Tanks can be mounted at different heights if they have auto stop valves installed (required in Canada, otherwise they have to be at the same height to prevent over filling as fuel can travel back and forth between tanks.
 Tanks come equipped with pressure relief valves and safety shutoff solenoid valves too.
 Older tanks use a tell tail valve that gets opened during filling and propane seeps out when the tank is full. You then close the valve and stop fueling.
 Does any one have pictures of the under carriage to share of their RV? I would like to see what LD is set up like underneath before I go to get mine in preparation for the install. It does not matter what model you have for this as I can fill in the blanks to cover different makes, models and years.

Andrew

Driving Pegasus....soon

Re: ERS

Reply #2 – September 01, 2013, 08:42:39 am

Yahoo Message Number: 142409

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I was very happy with Coach Net both times I used it, once for my RV and once for my daughters car.  I think all the services are somewhat at the mercy of the local operators (on the east coast there is a lot of competition).  Good luck on your trip east.  John