It Works!!!
Well, I tried it out today. Yesterday I took the 20# cylinder and regulator off my camper and stuck the hose into a hole in the side of the airbox of my Ex. I had the engine warmed up already, and I opened the valve a little and my engine stumbled and idled slower. Then I opened the valve more and it quit. I was disappointed and decided not to go through with it, but I changed my mind. Curiosity got the better of me, and I had to find out if it would work.
Today I added a valve downstream of the regulator, and an adapter for 1/4" vinyl hose, and ran the hose out the door and under my hood to the airbox, securing it with duct tape(Red Green would be proud!). I opened the valve on the tank, then opened the ball valve until I heard it hissing, and I'm using the main valve on the tank to turn the system on and off.
I drove 128.6 miles on 5.913 gallons of gas, or about 21.75 mpg. I took it easy and set the cruise on 55, I've been getting about 15mpg driving like this. I estimate I saved about $7 on this tank alone by using propane, but the last variable is how much propane did it take to do this? I have no idea. The tank on my camper is an old pre-OPD tank, so I couldn't get it topped off before I started, and I don't know how much fuel was in it when I started. I might've used $1 or $13 worth of fuel, I have no way of knowing. I'll have to run this tank until it's empty, then get a full one and use it up before I will be able to tell if it's worth it or not, and I only drive about 120 miles a week, so that'll take awhile.
I'll post back when I find out whether it's cost-effective or not. If I'm saving enough to make it worthwhile, then I'll need to figure out how to mount the tank OUTSIDE the cab of my Exploder. I couldn't really smell it today, but I could taste something under my tongue, so I think there was a little bit of gas seeping through the 5' hose on my tank. Just another reminder of how dangerous this idea is....DON'T TRY THIS AT HOME, FOLKS!!!
I plan on letting my engine reach operating temperature before turning on the propane, and shutting it off a couple minutes before I park it. I've heard of people having a leak in their nitrous systems and blowing their engine up literally in the parking lot. That's all I need is to forget to close the valve and blow the intake through my hood when I turn the key!