Venchurs Vehicles takes CNG pickup to Moab

Venchurs Vehicle Systems took its new bifuel Ford F-250 Park Ranger pickup to the rocks of Moab, Utah, for the Easter Jeep Safari. The truck won't climb the most difficult trails, but it did do everything a park ranger's truck might need to.

“It's the only CNG in Moab,” said Pat Muldoon, vice president of product development engineering for Venchurs, though he couldn't possibly know that. “It's a step to changing the game.”

The bifuel truck uses a 6.2-liter V8, which is prepped to run on either compressed natural gas or gasoline for power. It can handle regular dino juice like a stock F-250 but can be switched to run on natural gas seamlessly while under way. We drove the pickup on the street and on a short loop through Fins and Things, one of Moab's easy-to-medium trails.

On the road, the truck felt and handled exactly like the stock version, if a bit slower. The 6.2-liter V8 produces 385 hp and 405 lb-ft of torque. A switch to the right of the steering wheel changes fuel sources and—hand to shredder—we couldn't tell the difference.

Muldoon says the truck has a total range of 650 miles. It can go 250 to 275 miles on the 21.2-gallon CNG tank and about 400 miles while drawing fuel from the gasoline tank. It produces 30 percent less CO2, and, more importantly, 80 percent less poisonous NOx when running on natural gas.

“It's the fuel of the future,” says Muldoon. “We haven't built any refineries for the last 40 years, and we've lost 60. Gas isn't getting any cheaper.”

For comparison, CNG costs about $2.60 per gallon while gasoline hovers near four bucks. And, this truck is timely for Moab; the city built its first CNG station this year.

Venchurs is focusing on fleet sales, but customers can order the gaseous prep package for privately owned F-250s now. The finished conversion will cost less than $10,000, according to Muldoon.

The company is a certified Ford Quality Vehicle Modifier. That means any work done by Venchurs won't affect Ford's warranty on the vehicle. Ford techs are also trained to diagnose and work on the specialty engines, so owners won't have to worry about going to Venchurs if something does break.

This being Moab during the Easter Jeep Safari, Venchurs had to make the truck off-road capable. To do that, the company added 35-inch BF Goodrich Mud-Terrains, off-road skid plates, a two-inch lift and Bilstein shocks. Our trip off-road felt completely safe, even after a few scary-for-a-rookie bottoming-out moments. Venchurs assured us that there is no danger of cracking the tank on a pointy rock. We're inclined to believe these guys. Venchurs has been an original-equipment manufacturer for Ford and other companies for more than 40 years.

Visit www.vvwerks.com for more info on Venchurs.

Lest you think that it's all business for Muldoon and the boys in Moab, they also showed us this ungodly machine rigged with a CNG flamethrower. They call it ”Caballo Diablo,” or “Devil Horse.”

By Jake Lingeman