Propane Injection For Dodge Ram Cummins Turbo Diesel - Propane - It's Not Just For Grilling Anymore

Using the supplied wire taps, we spliced two wires from the ECU into the truck's Powertrain Control Module on the passenger-side firewall. Four additional sets of wires plug into the various connectors on the regulator assembly, the remaining wires are for power, ground, the on-off switch, and the led indicator light. Wiring is straightforward and only six of our wires in the supplied harness needed to be lengthened for our application.

With our system installed, we enlisted the guys at Southeast Power Systems in Orlando, Florida, to help with the tank installation. Since the tank must comply with both federal and local regulations, MSD recommends you have a shop in your area install the tank. Southeast Power Systems can service or modify your diesel truck to the extent of your budget and have the parts and personnel to do any job quickly and properly.

Not wanting to lose the utility of having a full-size truck bed, we chose to locate our 30-pound-capacity propane tank under the bed. unfortunately, the only convenient location in a Dodge requires the removal of the under-bed spare tire and its mounting hardware. In-bed installations are quicker and cost less, but you'll lose the ability to haul four-by-eight foot sheets of construction material.

Two brackets had to be fabricated and bolted under the bed to hold the tank mounting brackets. Rather than welding the tank mounting hardware in place, we chose to bolt our unit in that will allow us to remove it and re-install our spare tire later if desired. When modifying your vehicle, we encourage you to think about vehicle resale and make the modifications in a way they can be reversed.

With one bracket in place, we hold the tank in position to locate the second mounting bracket. When installed, the tank will barely be visible under the truck's bed, though the trained eye may notice the remote filling ports when we show how quickly a propane-injected diesel dualie can leave a stop light!

The brackets that hold the tank in are latch style. the guys at Southeast Power drill them so that a lock bolt can be installed to ensure the latch doesn't come open while driving. This is one of the tricks that make us glad we went to an experienced shop for the installation of our tank.

With our system installed, we can use a laptop computer and MSD's software for both programming and data acquisition. The system comes preprogrammed to inject 100 percent of its capacity for maximum performance, but can be tuned to supply less propane and to begin supplying propane at a certain boost level depending on your driving habits. Of course, we chose the 100-percent setting to satisfy our need for speed, but found that a setting of 50 percent initiated at 5 pounds of boost was best for highway driving and towing. Programming takes just a few minutes and improvements in power and economy far exceeded our expectations.

With the propane tank installed, the supply line is run inside the truck's framerail along the same route as the truck's fuel lines. This line will be carrying liquid propane to the regulator assembly and is a steel-braided, high-pressure line with quality AN-style high-pressure fittings at each end.

We opted for a remote fill fitting to be located under the rear bumper for ease of tank refilling. Drew at Southeast Power fabricated our fitting before welding it to the chassis-mounted trailer hitch. Refilling the tank can now be accomplished anywhere propane is sold and takes about three to five minutes.