85lebaront2 Posted May 17 Share Posted May 17 Sometimes the straps and bolts are really rusty, and the bolts are really long. The ones in the rear have a 15 mm head. You can take them down, but if the tank is full it's a bear, even with two people and a floor jack! The rear tank will only come out from below unless you want to drill out the rivets in the cross member at the front of it. You can reach the sender/pump assembly from the top, but to replace it you still have to remove the bottom straps. When dealing with the front tank, empty is best, even with my Walker transmission jack it can be a bear if the fuel shifts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Lewis Posted May 17 Share Posted May 17 When dealing with the front tank, empty is best, even with my Walker transmission jack it can be a bear if the fuel shifts. In my experience it isn't "if" but "when" the fuel shifts. Man, I'm not about to do THAT again. I tried to get one out with the truck on the ground and it was a bear, for sure. Now I can loosen the tank while on the lift, lower the truck so the tank sits on a table, and then raise the truck off of it. That's the only way I'll play with a tank with fuel in it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C.Jett Posted May 17 Share Posted May 17 Jeff, I got mine from LMC, one tank reads 3/4 when full, the other one reads 5/8. Don’t know what to do with them. It’s an 85 and both tanks are 19 gal. CJ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
derek Posted May 17 Share Posted May 17 Sometimes the straps and bolts are really rusty, and the bolts are really long. The ones in the rear have a 15 mm head. You can take them down, but if the tank is full it's a bear, even with two people and a floor jack! ok sweet, ours is empty since it's got a hole in it, so that shouldn't be problem initially at least. Now, once we realize we've messed something up and have it installed and full already, that'll be a different story. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mat in tn Posted May 18 Share Posted May 18 Sometimes the straps and bolts are really rusty, and the bolts are really long. The ones in the rear have a 15 mm head. You can take them down, but if the tank is full it's a bear, even with two people and a floor jack! ok sweet, ours is empty since it's got a hole in it, so that shouldn't be problem initially at least. Now, once we realize we've messed something up and have it installed and full already, that'll be a different story. I've done numerous tanks over the years and empty is not always an option. I have not seen the need to pull the bed. however, if the bed is off don't skip that opportunity to do a thorough test and inspection. replacing the tanks and senders is a major part of resurrecting an old, abandoned truck or barn find as they are usually holding ugly secrets. whatever is in there is likely to find its way to the carb. one point to remember. the whole vehicle has shared the same life. if the tank/s are rusty, many of the other fasteners may be similar. bed bolts for example. once you have a rusted seized bed bolt spin in the bed retention slot you may think twice about removing the bed as a short cut. I use a small pump with a length of fuel hose hooked to the tank outlet and pump the tank down into gas cans as needed. a transmission jack is very valuable but even a few ratchet straps can make it much easier Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
85pig Posted May 28 Share Posted May 28 I'm not far off from pulling my bed, installing a new rear tank, and replacing the sender(s) in both tanks. Try as I might, I can't seem to find anyone with a recommendation for decent senders. Was hoping for a glimmer of hope in this thread, but looks like it's still going to be a crap shoot. I notice a lot of people mention pulling the bed when working with the fuel tanks, is this the only way to get to these or is it just easier to deal with than dropping the tank from below? We are planning to replace our rear tank and try to get it working again soon so trying to get my head around what all we need to do. I'm pulling the bed not to replace the tank, but for many other reasons (including replacing the rotted out bed itself). I'm planning on new tanks and senders, and I'm going to replace all of the fuel lines with hard lines to the cab. All will be much easier while the bed is off. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mat in tn Posted May 28 Share Posted May 28 I'm pulling the bed not to replace the tank, but for many other reasons (including replacing the rotted out bed itself). I'm planning on new tanks and senders, and I'm going to replace all of the fuel lines with hard lines to the cab. All will be much easier while the bed is off. that sounds like good project management Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArdWrknTrk Posted May 28 Share Posted May 28 I'm pulling the bed not to replace the tank, but for many other reasons (including replacing the rotted out bed itself). I'm planning on new tanks and senders, and I'm going to replace all of the fuel lines with hard lines to the cab. All will be much easier while the bed is off. Hard lines are gonna be a 🐩if you ever need to drop a tank in the future. I could never get either of my tanks down if they weren't flexible enough to unclip a couple of mounts and have the tank drop enough for me to release them from the bung. But, maybe you intend to pull the bed if you ever get a bad pump or sender??? IDK... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
85pig Posted May 29 Share Posted May 29 Hard lines are gonna be a 🐩if you ever need to drop a tank in the future. I could never get either of my tanks down if they weren't flexible enough to unclip a couple of mounts and have the tank drop enough for me to release them from the bung. But, maybe you intend to pull the bed if you ever get a bad pump or sender??? IDK... Now that's something I didn't consider - good information. I still want to hard line it to the front, maybe I can figure something out. Just not a fan of all of the plastic, and Ford put WAY too much plastic in these things. Loosening and propping the bed up may still be an option, I'll know more when I get into it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Lewis Posted May 29 Share Posted May 29 Now that's something I didn't consider - good information. I still want to hard line it to the front, maybe I can figure something out. Just not a fan of all of the plastic, and Ford put WAY too much plastic in these things. Loosening and propping the bed up may still be an option, I'll know more when I get into it. If you are going to loosen the bolts to prop the bed up, do you plan to use different bolts than stock? Or tack weld the bolts to the bed? The reason I ask is that the original bolts frequently twist in the bed, so I tacked them to the bed to make it easier to get off next time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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