propan conversion/tanks

[81starlet]

Hi there let me introduce myself, my name is Robert and have been a member of this site for awhile but haven't done much on here. I have a 87 4runner in which i just got recently and i have had a 88 pickup that i've had for about a year now. this 4runner i got from a buddy who got it from someone out of state. i talked to my buddy i got it from about the runner and it sounds like the guy he got it from tried converting the 22r motor to a 22re but didn't finish it or do it that well at all; he left wires hanging everywhere, never installed a knock sensor, had a ghetto rigged throttle body setup. recently a friend of mine has introduced me to using a propane setup. looking at it there are many benefits to running propane but the two biggest downsides to it are locating the tank and size of the tank, which are only a problem because it is my daily driver. at the moment i drive about 20 miles to get into town (but hopefully soon ill be moving into town) but for now lets assume 20 miles to town everyday, once in town i mainly just do trips to school, the store and few other places. also i should state that town is rapid city, south dakota so it is a smaller city with not so much stop and go driving. i wheel occasionally, i have 33" and a 3" lift also a sas and a dual tcase setup not on the vehicle yet but will work on it once i get the runner running reliably. i'd like to be able to use the vehicle to go camping so i would like to have much of the interior open.

so now that you know all that what i would like to know is, am i going to be able to daily drive the runner on a propane system without running out of gas all the time? is there anyone with first hand experience with daily driving with a propane setup that can tell me what they think of it. like what size tank is the best for size and longevity? where is a good safe place to mount it? things like that. i have heard lots of good review about it and would like to know as much as i can about it.
thank you for your time
robert

[fourwd1]

it sounds like the guy he got it from tried converting the 22r motor to a 22re but didn't finish it or do it that well at all;

Well that will make a difference, the only conversion i'm aware of only works on carbs.
Have you checked out the guys at gotpropane? They have some good info on their site.

[81starlet]

i've checked there website out, i dont know how long they've had them but they recently came out with the kit to make that efi manifold work with propane. it's a little more expensive though, and i should also state that i have pretty easy access to a carb manifold, vaccum advanced dist. and coil and all that stuff you need to run it. i've also heard many good things about gotpropane so if i do go this route i will definately go with them but i mainly would like to know if anyone has this setup on their daily driver and how they like it.

[fourwd1]

I don't now anyone that has done this on a Daily Driver. The 2 people I know of it's primarily an offroad vehicle.
The usual reason is the advantage of propane in extreme angles, where a carb or EFI could stall out and leave you in a bad place.

[DCM]

You can also run your bbq off your propane. Only real disadvantage is not every service station carries it. I've had a couple of V8 trucks on propane, never a 22R though.

[81starlet]

there definately seems to be alot of advantages to it, with very minimal disadvantages but like i said just mainly looking from anyone whose used it before or uses it now to see if there's any disadvantages that i'm overlooking or forgeting. so far i know that the disadvanteges are;
1. not as many service stations
2. safe places to mount the tank (since it is a suv)
3. it means putting more money into one thing and having leftover parts
4. depending on where it is placed, filing could be a b****
5. depending on certain aspects of the motor you could possibly see a loss in power and fuel economy.

my solution;
1. always fill up when you can, its cheaper than gas so it shouldn't take much to just fill up just in case.
2. i was thinking of placing it in the same are as the gas tank and just putting some sort of slider over it so i dont have to worry about damaging it.
3. i'm gonna have to put money in it either way and this isn't really to expensive of a idea and i can either sell the leftover parts or keep them to use if i ever need them.
4. either run a hose line to fill it up? i've never seen a forklift tank before so i dont know what it looks like and how hard it would be.
5. that all depends on the scenario, i've heard both power loss and gain and mpg loss and gain.

that's what i got so far, pleas l let me know if i missed anything.
thank you again

[fourwd1]

5. depending on certain aspects of the motor you could possibly see a loss in power and fuel economy.

You will loose power and mpg (about 10% per gotpropane.com).

Typically, you're going to have to carry the tank in to get filled, just like when you get your BBQ tank refillled.
Except you'll probably be using a larger forkflift tank.