Fuel Tank Relocation

[01txdmax]

I have an '83 1 ton SRW with dual 19 gal tanks...but one is on the wrong side of the truck and I'd really like to fill up with one swipe of my debit card.

So, I have this pipe dream of a 35-40 gal tank between the frame rails forward of the rear axle but my Google-foo isn't finding any place where someone has documented it on the web. 

Any thoughts, ideas, or know of a successful installation like this?

[zieg85]

Shy of a 35 gallon Suburban tank behind the rear axle or a fuel cell in the bed I haven't seen any other locations.

[hwh]

get a suburban or blazer tank and mount it behind axle between frame rails. and get the gas tank mounts from a suburban to make it easier. and buy new gas tank straps and rubber.

[VileZambonie]

Only a boss can pull up to the gas station and hog two lanes at the same time. 

Inside the frame rails is not practical, you have the driveshaft and exhaust. Either stock locations or blazer tank conversion would be the most logical place.

[Irish_Alley]

or you could put holes in your tanks and have a transfer pump or a hose going from base to base so they self level. but there would be safety factors to also equate into that and they might not make it very practical or safe.

[roundhouse]

Only a boss can pull up to the gas station and hog two lanes at the same time. 

Inside the frame rails is not practical, you have the driveshaft and exhaust. Either stock locations or blazer tank conversion would be the most logical place.

Inside the rails could work

It worked for every vehicle nowdays

Even back in the 80s when GM was thinking that the Feds were going to require them to recall every square and retrofit an inside the frame tank
GM was testing out using a ford ranger gas tank

It fits inside the rails of a ranger between the rails and the driveshaft so it would fit inside a square

The toyota 4 runners have a skinny tank inside the rails

Or you could run a balance tube between the two tanks like 18 wheelers

Easiest thing is just to keep doing like you e been doing and fill it twice from two different dispensers
Or like some people Do and park in the center and swipe two pumps and fill both tanks at once


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[VileZambonie]

Anything can work, I just said it's not practical. All of the inside rail frame trucks are much wider than the 73-87. You can do anything you want but really, what's the benefit?

[01txdmax]

Thanks for the discussion so far, there are certainly a few pieces of information I wasn't aware of.

Frame width consideration:  my '01 2500HD would only fit a 265/75/16 as a spare between the frame rails and my research indicates that's all that will fit in my '83.  Am I missing something or are the frames of both straight after the first 4'-5'?

Large single rear tank consideration:  a 36 gal suburban tank would be an easy install but wouldn't I lose the ability to hang a spare under it?

Transfer pump:  I thought about that, but I was only able to find pumps with rather low flow rates.  It seemed like the only foolproof to make that work would be to install a secondary float in the secondary tank to shut the transfer pump off. 

Balance tube:  Not a fan of the idea, but don't have enough of an idea of how those are plumbed to know for sure. 

This truck is my 'been waiting for it for 20 years and i've finally got it' so I'd like to make some updates/changes to make it easier to use moving forward.  Fueling isn't necessarily low hanging fruit, but the convienence  of not having your debit card shut off for swiping twice at the same station, not having to have your wife stand in front of the pump while you turn the truck around because a station is busy, and the frequency of filling up tanks with a big block means I'd spend less time at a pump and more time heading down the road. 

[Angel0218]

I installed a 30 gallon without much fabrication...

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[01txdmax]

So what are you guys with the 30gal rear mount tanks doing with your spares? 

Does the tank hang down to low to mount the spare underneath?

[ehjorten]

I remember looking at a website that had custom between the rails tanks for our trucks, but what I remember was that the tanks were pretty small and expensive!  Think about the size of your 20 gallon tanks...then think about trying to fit both of them between the frame rails...pretty difficult to imagine!  I think you could do it, but you would need to route the exhaust down one side and then get like only a 25-30 gallon tank on the other side of the driveshaft.

There is a company called Transfer Flow that makes in-bed auxiliary transfer tanks and refueling tanks.  They are not cheap, especially if you want a gasoline tank, because DOT has more stringent requirements than diesel transfer tanks.

https://www.transferflow.com/

My ultimate would be a 100 gallon transfer tank in the bed...then I wouldn't have to make so many trips to the gas station when I am up hunting in the woods!

[01txdmax]

Yea, I finally got another opportunity to crawl under the truck... lay there and see what could be and what it would take to make it work.

Seems like a single tank, 35-40 gal or so, would be skinny, tall and long and a PITA to baffle correctly to prevent fuel sloshing all over the place.  Not to mention frame flex over that distance could be a real problem so tank support or material selection would need to be considered. 

I have thought about the in bed tanks, but I've made the vow to keep 8' of the 8' bed useable in this truck unlike the trucks of my past.  That's my beef with the Suburban tank also, I want to keep the spare under the truck. 

[big_al273]

If you don't like the Burb/Blazer tank unless you can think of a better alternative that leaves you in the same boat i'm in, my solution is to run one tank to as close to empty as possible then go fill that tank and switch to the other tank at the same time, keeps fresh fuel in both tanks and keeps me from having to fill both at once, when i do need to fill both i turn the truck around between tanks (set the nozzle on top of the pump not back in the slot so i don't need to swipe again) and if the stations busy it's not worth the bother of filling both