LPG Discussion Forum

Hi all.

I have a friend who's interested in following my lead and changing to LPG. As a keen caravaner though he's curious to know of any problems towing with LPG. Does anyone have any experience of this?

Cheers

Bryan

I tow a caravan. Tows just like petrol, why wouldn't it?

I don't know why it wouldn't that's why I decided to ask here. I use LPG but don't tow a caravan so have absolutely no experience. What I do know is that LPG is less power efficent than petrol which could potentially cause problems towing a heavy van perhaps making the engine work too hard or returning unacceptable consumption. Rather than guess I though I thought i'd seek advice from those who've actually tried it.

the only problems i had with towing was when temperatures got very low ...

going up long inclines for a number of miles .........you can freeze the vapouriser ...

at the stage it happens ...

you will find the heater blowing cold air in the car ....next you will see the cars temp gauge going down ...
then the car will start slowing down ...

this has only happened in minus zero conditions ...when the engine is struggling to keep at temperature anyway..and you are giving it full throttle with a load exceeding 1 ton....and probably in too high a gear.

and after a brief two min stop...youre off again...but this time taking it easily to stop it happening again ..

this was on an open loop system on a sierra ...


also i had problems keeping the car interior warm ...in minus conditions without towing ...but real low temps that is of minus five and below.. thats in scotland...as the vapouriser adds to the cooling of the engine ...heater was OK on petrol.

i remember being in carlisle at 3 am in the morning freezing my bo***cks off.........on the way to Edinburgh .travelling through the night to avoid the traffic...........to pick up a machine i bought ...these conditions don't help fuel consumption either ....

all the best..markj

Thanks for that Mark, I will pass your comments along. Interesting facts regarding the cold weather especially as I (and my friend) live on the outskirts of Edinburgh and guess what - it's white out side right now !

Thanks again.

Bryan

I've probably towed a caravan about 15,000 miles on LPG over the last few years.
Absolutely no LPG related problems at all, and I find the increase in fuel consumption to be less on LPG than on petrol.
The biggest problem is that some LPG sellers tend to have their LPG pump in less than caravan friendly locations.

A properly selected, installed and calibrated sytem will give towing performance as good as petrol. The missing part (due to the lower calorific value of LPG, -15%) would only be apparent right at the top of the engine's power curve. If you have to go there (depends on engine power in relation to the all up weight) then a flick back to petrol will get you over the top of the hill, and a switch back to gas will restore sensible fuel cost.

Regards

Steve

www.go-lpg.co.uk

I have towed 1500Kg caravans at heights of up to 2800 metres [ through the snow included ] for over 20 years ; never a problem
with regard to the heating , never had this problem , but always had quality cars with good systems [ volvo/ audi ]

but , having a 13 metre rig ,I can associate with the ...less than helpful pump positioning on the forecourt ...comment ; however with modern forecourt layouts this is disappearing