Looking for better fuel tank options

[Rusty_S85]

Did anything ever come of this? I'm looking for more range on my single tank long box truck and don't want to add another fuel door nor run dual tanks. I'm curious if they figured out a way to hook the filler neck to the stock location.

I have a short wheel base flare side with the small 16 gallon fuel tank. I honestly though about cutting the fuel tank in half on the front side and adding 3" of metal to extend the tank forward. Based off my math it would take the tank from 16 gallons to nearly 25 gallons. I havent done it yet as I havent bought the tank and I am wary of doing it as I am afraid that without the mounting straps being spread further apart the extra weight may be a problem.

I also was concerned with the extra weight of the extra fuel on one side may induce more of a lean to the truck that it wasnt designed for.

I thought about adding a rear tank in place of the spare that I dont use but no real good way to have it easily fillable without cutting into the fiberglass fender which I really dont want to do and I personally dont like the look of it even though it is cool to see. I thought about for extending my range by building a trailer bed out of another flare side and put a fuel tank in it with a on board electric pump and a filler like the farm trucks have in the back of diesel trucks. Only thing is youd need quite a bit of hose to reach from the back of the trailer to the middle of my truck.

I feel either way you go for enlarging the tank is going to be something that isnt easy and simple to do and will require some major changes. Even if you go with a rear tank and have an electric pump to transfer fuel on the fly to the main saddle tank like I thought about doing it still requires a way to fill the tank and I just cant cut a high dollar wood bed I want to put in to pull a way to fill the fuel tank from the top.

[mat in tn]

Did anything ever come of this? I'm looking for more range on my single tank long box truck and don't want to add another fuel door nor run dual tanks. I'm curious if they figured out a way to hook the filler neck to the stock location.

I have a short wheel base flare side with the small 16 gallon fuel tank. I honestly though about cutting the fuel tank in half on the front side and adding 3" of metal to extend the tank forward. Based off my math it would take the tank from 16 gallons to nearly 25 gallons. I havent done it yet as I havent bought the tank and I am wary of doing it as I am afraid that without the mounting straps being spread further apart the extra weight may be a problem.

I also was concerned with the extra weight of the extra fuel on one side may induce more of a lean to the truck that it wasnt designed for.

I thought about adding a rear tank in place of the spare that I dont use but no real good way to have it easily fillable without cutting into the fiberglass fender which I really dont want to do and I personally dont like the look of it even though it is cool to see. I thought about for extending my range by building a trailer bed out of another flare side and put a fuel tank in it with a on board electric pump and a filler like the farm trucks have in the back of diesel trucks. Only thing is youd need quite a bit of hose to reach from the back of the trailer to the middle of my truck.

I feel either way you go for enlarging the tank is going to be something that isnt easy and simple to do and will require some major changes. Even if you go with a rear tank and have an electric pump to transfer fuel on the fly to the main saddle tank like I thought about doing it still requires a way to fill the tank and I just cant cut a high dollar wood bed I want to put in to pull a way to fill the fuel tank from the top.

I had an 86 sb 4x4 come in for a timing set and tune up. And they also had me replace the dry rotted fuel fillers. The rear was an “ after thought” tank and once i was done and they went to fill it up we found it leaked at the top. Anyway, the factory replacement is by far the best option and adding the fuel door from a salvaged truck is very do able but will add paint and body work to the job. Valve, switch and wiring also. Not to mention heater control panel if you want it “correct”

[Rusty_S85]

I had an 86 sb 4x4 come in for a timing set and tune up. And they also had me replace the dry rotted fuel fillers. The rear was an “ after thought” tank and once i was done and they went to fill it up we found it leaked at the top. Anyway, the factory replacement is by far the best option and adding the fuel door from a salvaged truck is very do able but will add paint and body work to the job. Valve, switch and wiring also. Not to mention heater control panel if you want it “correct”

For me to stop using the troublesome diverter valve if I did install the rear tank as an auxiliary tank my plan was to have a simple toggle to activate a relay to turn on a in tank pump, high volume low pressure that would simply pump fuel from the auxiliary tank into primary saddle tank. Draw back to this is you wouldnt really have a sender to know how much fuel is in the auxiliary since the diverter valve isnt being used. It also doesnt stop having to have a way to fill the tank.

[mat in tn]

I had an 86 sb 4x4 come in for a timing set and tune up. And they also had me replace the dry rotted fuel fillers. The rear was an “ after thought” tank and once i was done and they went to fill it up we found it leaked at the top. Anyway, the factory replacement is by far the best option and adding the fuel door from a salvaged truck is very do able but will add paint and body work to the job. Valve, switch and wiring also. Not to mention heater control panel if you want it “correct”

For me to stop using the troublesome diverter valve if I did install the rear tank as an auxiliary tank my plan was to have a simple toggle to activate a relay to turn on a in tank pump, high volume low pressure that would simply pump fuel from the auxiliary tank into primary saddle tank. Draw back to this is you wouldnt really have a sender to know how much fuel is in the auxiliary since the diverter valve isnt being used. It also doesnt stop having to have a way to fill the tank.

Well my daily ,” bubba” is a sb single mid tank and yes i have to fill up often. My second “ dolly” is a flare side with both tanks. Easily three times the range between fillups . Really appreciated. So i understand wanting that. How far to go towards doing it “right “ is really a personal choice. I would only do it as the factory would unless i were building an overlander where practical mods are just what you do to be self sufficient.

[mat in tn]

Well my daily ,” bubba” is a sb single mid tank and yes i have to fill up often. My second “ dolly” is a flare side with both tanks. Easily three times the range between fillups . Really appreciated. So i understand wanting that. How far to go towards doing it “right “ is really a personal choice. I would only do it as the factory would unless i were building an overlander where practical mods are just what you do to be self sufficient.

Btw. Many trucks without a rear tank are also without the cross member which has the keyhole slots for the tank straps. That crossmember also has the brakehard line fitting/anchor point. Trucks without that cross member have a short( 4-5”) tab riveted to the driver side frame rail to hold the brake line anchor. If you chose to add that crossmember the tab is removed and hydraulics are switched over to the crossmember . These tank straps are over the topof the tank while hard corrugated braces go underneath to give a structure for the spare to be held against

[Rusty_S85]

Well my daily ,” bubba” is a sb single mid tank and yes i have to fill up often. My second “ dolly” is a flare side with both tanks. Easily three times the range between fillups . Really appreciated. So i understand wanting that. How far to go towards doing it “right “ is really a personal choice. I would only do it as the factory would unless i were building an overlander where practical mods are just what you do to be self sufficient.

Yep it is a big reason why I decided to do my build with a holley sniper EFI system. If I can just go from the 15 mpg highway I get to around 18 - 20 mpg that will increase my range from some 225 mile range to 270 - 300 mile range. I will be doing mostly highway driving and once I move if I work the next town over that will be some 16 miles one way drive for me and working a 5 day work week would have me putting 160 miles on my truck a week. If I was getting just 225 miles per tank that would leave me some 65 miles left of range roughly 4.3 gallons which means I would be filling my truck up once a week as I fill up at 1/4 tank and 4.3 gallons would be closer to 1/8 tank than 1/4 tank. If I can get 20 mpg with the build that would give me a 300 mile range meaning at the end of one work week would leave me with a 140 mile range which would leave me with 7 gallons in my tank so I probably still will fill up every week but that 3 extra gallons means its less each fill up.

I have heard some people with tunes getting 24 - 26 mpg highway out of their engines with this holley system if it got me 25 mpg that would give me a 375 mile range which would be great but I will have to see it to believe it for my build.

That is why I personally have been thinking of ways to enlarge my tank so I wouldnt have to be filling up every week. Right now I would fill up every 2 weeks on my truck just like I am doing on what I am driving daily now while I build my engine for my truck. I also was reminded many new cars have small 14 - 16 gallon fuel tanks as it is and its only the trucks that end up with larger tanks.