40gal Suburban fuel tank install in Crewcab LWB

[mattcrouch1502]

So i will start by saying that this may not be right, or even the best way, but this is how i mounted my 40gal suburban tank. And also this is my first attempt at a wright up so I apologize if its a bit scattered. Also i wanted to get some feed back from people who may have done something similar or input in general

Starting with my 1991 R/V Crewcab conversion LWB, I removed the passenger side rear shock mount because it will be in the way of the tank. I then moved the rear crossmember as far back as possible and added a piece of steel to give the tank a little more to rest on. You can see from the pic how far back I moved the crossmember.



Then i held the tank up with a floor jack and go it level to see what i would have to do for the support that the front of the tank would rest on. Worked out that 2" square tubing sat the tank almost perfectly level, so i drilled and welded some sleeves in the 2" square and bolted it in.


To secure the straps i used a piece of angle iron running across the frame rail , I mounted mine close to the tank to make installing the tank less of a hassle.

I hooked up the straps and tightened it down. For clearance here is a pic of tank to rear diff cover clearance.


I will have to take a small section out of one of the ribs running under the bed floor. This is because the top of the tank humps up and the fill breather tub might make contact.


My plan for the fuel door is all based on speculation right now because i have not started on it and I am 8000mi away. But  i plan to move the fuel door to behind the rear wheel well like it would be on a suburban. I don't foresee any problems with this but I will have to check when i set the bed back on. I also completely bypassed the switching valve switch and wired the pump into what would have been the passenger side tank. Everything seems to work good but i have to finish my outboard shock mounts before i can cruze around with it. For now it sits like this until the middle of October.


Here are a few more pics of the install.



I'm excited to try it out but less so at the thought of spending about $130 bucks to fill it up!

[zieg85]

To start, NICE JOB!!!  With the stellar mpg our trucks get more fuel capacity especially in rural situations and/or long road trips is always nice.  My concern in my situation would be stale gas due to lack of use but there is always ways around that.  I know I would have a valve mounted somewhere and switch to bypass the fuel pump relay to draw off a gallon or two when needed for the tractor instead of running 6 miles into town last minute.

[Captkaos]

Done it that way several times.  This is something I put together for others 15 years ago...  http://www.captkaoscustoms.com/blazertank.html
I am not sure why you had to move the right rear shock mount though.

[zieg85]

Shock was probably moved because 3/4 and 1 tons have the shocks mounted on the inside of frame.

[Captkaos]

missed that part.  That would be it...

[mattcrouch1502]

Yeah i moved the shocks outboard because this is more of a driver then a crawler. Thanks for the link, that is where I got a lot of the information and ideas from. It is a little different with the 40gal tank but not to bad.