Dad scared of sidesaddle tanks! Can u help me?

[fitz]

Buy a diesel.

[jaredts]

If you're a young driver, it probably wouldn't be a bad idea to get a couple of year's experience under your belt with something that has airbags, crumple zones, abs, etc.  I wouldn't worry about the gas tanks too much personally.  I was a decent driver for my first couple of years, but I know I made mistakes that I would never make today.  A couple of them could have gotten me killed, but lady luck cut me some slack.  Ever give a rear wheel drive vehicle too much gas on a wet or icy road?

[bigchevyc30]

along with this i got my dually at the age of 17 my parents didnt look at the safety items this truck had or that it had a passenger side saddle tank we got it cause im a pretty big guy and if we got a car i would be cramp. these trucks are as safe as it gets in my terms i know if i get in a accident "which i have from moron drivers thinking my truck stops on a dime but got stopped just a couple feet from them" that i would definatly win out of them and still be able to drive my truck home.

[bladerunner]

Such is the result of over protective parents. Weird how things change in a such a short time.

Whats weird is that most parents these days did not have overly protective, helicopter parents themselves.

[howlinwolf]

i learned how to drive in my truck. driven it on and off over the course of many years. of course its had a bed mounted propane tank, but i get propane a lot cheaper than most folks so its money efficient for me. and you wouldnt have to fill up that often with propane. most tanks are about 80 gallon that fit these trucks. thats four tanks of gas!

[slammed79]

Such is the result of over protective parents. Weird how things change in a such a short time.

Whats weird is that most parents these days did not have overly protective, helicopter parents themselves.

Exactly!

[78 Chevyrado]

I've had 3 of these side saddle trucks and a 69 mustang with the unprotected rear 20 gal tank. 

This is one of those things;  millions of cars/trucks have had this system with no problem, but a few hundred have had explosive results.  you may be one of the millions or one of the hundred.  driving is an unsafe and scary prospect no matter how you look at it. 

[DnStClr]

Another option, if you really like the truck, is to offer to buy a couple of polyethylene fuel tanks, and you and dad could share a project of installing them. They run  around  $125 each.
 http://raybuck.com/c-203052-gas-tanks-hardware-gm-truck-suv-polyethylene.html

Added info- Sometime around 1984, Gm started installing a plastic guard under the tanks in response to the bad press they were getting about the location of the tanks.

[Grim 82]

From my experience, rear end collisions seem just as likely if not more common than side impact, so having a rear mounted tank isn't doing much for you in that regard.

My saddle tanks haven't killed me, but whenever I am driving, I feel like they are following me, just watching....