Personal prejudices? Irrational ....?

I have had similar experience to Michael - I owned a dual-fuel ute and a dual-fuel V8 in a 4 tonne Bedford truck, which were economic when LPG was cheap. I can recall buying LPG for 16c a litre in Adelaide in 1998.

But then LPG went up astronomically, and petrol prices came down, and the advantage was lost.
Many people got a $3000 subsidy in W.A., from around 2006, when the W.A. Govt and the Federal Govt were intent on supporting LPG-fuelled vehicles, and petrol prices were rocketing.

Carpenter Govt offers $3000 LPG subsidy

I missed out on the subsidy unfortunately, because my vehicle had been converted before the subsidy was initiated, and the Govts would only pay the subsidy on new conversions.
Then the Govts withdrew the subsidy a few years later, and it then became a borderline equation to convert to LPG.

The other factors are -

1. My ute and truck were fitted with carburettors, which makes conversion easier. LPG conversions on fuel-injected vehicles are more costly.

2. LPG Fuel economy is about 2/3rds the level of petrol - but the cheaper LPG made it cost-effective.

3. Engines run much cleaner on LPG, because there is virtually no carbon in LPG. Rings, pistons and cylinder bores hardly show any wear after high mileages, and oil change periods can be doubled.

However, engines run on LPG are harder on valves, and valve seat recession can be a problem, particularly at high speeds.
99% of todays engines have hardened valve seat inserts, so the valve seat problem is no longer a problem, if you change to LPG.

4. The LPG tank is only good for 10 years, after which period it must be inspected and re-certified. It's often cheaper to buy a new tank.

The pricing of LPG in country areas was certainly a major rip-off, it didn't cost a great deal to transport the LPG to country areas, it was just a fuel retailer rort.

Cheers, Ron.

4t Bedsted eh Ron!...must of been a real power house lol.


I had a J6 8t tipper with the 300 motor 2speed diff and 5speed crash gearbox plus all the rattles you could think of.

Talk about use fuel!!!!...lol.

Cheers Axle.

Axle - Yeah, the old Bedsteads are much-maligned, but they were the mainstay of trucking for many years, from the late-1930's to the 1970's.
But you're right, they were always regarded as slow and gutless.
However, my little Beddy was the last of the Bedford line, a 1980 E series with the factory 253 Holden V8 - and it was actually quite fast.
It did over 120kmh with the high speed diff. But the 253 was hampered with early emission controls, retarded timing, and a crap emissions cam, so it was gutless when it came to pull when fully loaded. LPG only made the power problem worse.

Fortunately, I rarely pulled full loads, and I live in pretty flat country, so it was passable to drive.
One thing I must say, it was an exceptionally comfortable truck to drive, and handled very well - and it was cheap to buy!

But Bedford were behind the 8-ball with truck design by the mid-1970's, the Japanese trucks walked all over GMH with their beaut little diesels and 5 & 6 speed gearboxes, and tilt cabs, which Bedford couldn't compete with in any form.

It makes you wonder what kind of leadership vacuum there was in GM/GMH, to be unable to counter the Japanese onslaught of superior vehicle design in the '70's, with improved GM/GMH designs to match.
There must have been a lot of inbreeding in GM/GMH management - kind of like the current crop of British politicians! LOL

Cheers, Ron.

Here you go, Axle. A couple of old timers..........both J6's.





Bob.

Thanks Bob ,brings back a few memories,


They were quite reliable if used sensibly but as a young bloke i'm not sure I fitted that category...LOL.


Cheers

Ha ha, I’d have been in a similar age bracket back then too.

Bob

Great photos, Bob - I have fond memories of driving a J6 Beddy exactly the same as that, in the late 1960's. It had the "powerhouse" 300 motor! LOL

It belonged to my brothers FIL, and we used to give him a hand with harvest and seeding, and also use the Beddy for hauling our clearing chain around occasionally.

She was a good old truck, but one day, after a spell in the shed, she refused to turn over!
The brothers FIL was puzzled, and pulled the starter motor off, to see if it was faulty.
There was nothing wrong with the starter - but he found a big rat, and its nest, wound around the starter pinion!! LOL

The anchor chain weighed about 7 tons, it was a pretty good load for the Bedford!

Cheers, Ron.

Bob & Axle - Oh, I forgot - I used to own one of these, too! [:-)

J3 Bedford

I paid $300 for it, off some builders in a nearby country town - and all that was wrong with it, was they had run the diff out of oil, because they let all the banjo bolts come loose, and all the oil leaked out!

I sourced a replacement diff from some wreckers in Bunbury and she went like a train! - well, she was good for 80kmh, anyway!! LOL
She was just my little run-around truck for years, hauling anything that was too heavy for my utes, and which wasn't heavy enough to be carried on the float!

Cheers, Ron.

Thanks for the most interesting replies. On balance, if buying a used 4x4 I would look for a Holden Rodeo or Toyota. With present LPG prices and used vehicles I doubt I would look for a combined fuel vehicle.

By the way, with regard to LPG. What a scandalous and pathetic mismanagement we have made with LPG resources. With some foresight this ought have been seen as the fuel for decades for local industries instead of sending vast quantities for export and then being unable to control price availability in Australia. I guess the short term periods of government make it difficult for Australian policy makers to think long term. It also says a lot about the lobbying power and muscle of multi nationals.

Our natural resources belong to all Australians, the Government of the day only manage them for us, that is why it annoyed me when they were selling LPG to Japan for 1.5c a litre whilst we were being charged about 60c at that time.

There is minimal R&D in China, I see they even have their own Chinese made Rolls Royce knockoff for there own market. Michael