Replacing sending unit

[78silver]

I will be replacing a fuel tank sending unit this summer on my 78 C10. I've read the thread about using a floor jack to drop the tank to get to the unit.  Several people in my area more experienced than I have advised unbolting the bed and lifting it to get at the sending unit with the tank in place.  I'd appreciate hearing from anyone on which might be the easier or more practical approach.

[The Lady In Red]

I just replaced the tank in mine today as it was leaking.  Someone had it out in the past and extended all of the hoses and the wiring harness and spliced a plug into it which made life VERY simple for me , but I didn't know that until I had it dropped down.  It very simple to pull down a saddle tank on one of these.  You can easily access the filler neck through the wheel well, and if you run the tank to almost dry like I did, supporting it with a floor jack while loosening the eight bolts worked for me.  Chris (Kaptkaos) has a good how-to here: http://forum.73-87chevytrucks.com/smforum/index.php?topic=9294.0. I had the tank out, sender swapped into the new one, back in and running in about an hour and a half using his method.

[Jesse Walter]

I'd say its about 50-50 either way.  The bed is 8 bolts, the tank is either 6 or 8.  I took mine out with the bed on.  But I think I'm going to put it back in with the bed slid back a little bit.  I just think it may be slightly easier  to connect the lines and wires this way.

[hogdaddy]

I replaced my tank while back and I vote for taking the bed off makes thing simple. There didn't seem to be enough slack in hoses/wiring to do with it on.

[78silver]

Thanks to all of you for your help.  I'm leaning toward sliding the bed back now and using plugs on the wiring.

[p7387]

i put a lot of thought into it myself and finally attempted it using the floor jack method, the tank was empty.
still have not re installed the new tank but getting it out was fairly easy. since all of my stuff was probably original i just cut the fuel fill/vent and the three fuel tubes rather than mess with rusted clamps and old hose. once the tank was half dropped and tilted to the back,
to access the hose/wires i sat with my back up against the rear wheel while in the wheel well, luckily i was thin enough to do this. this made access to the wire/tubes at the top of the tank easier. i have not installed the new tank yet but i plan to leave the fuel tubing longer to facilitate future removal should it be necessary. still trying to track down the new filler hose and fuel line tubes at a fair price.

all that being said i am sure putting it back in alone will be a bit harder than removal.