Extra Fuel Tank Install

I

IPRESS

New member
Northern Tool had a deal going on combo Fuel Tank /Tool Box. I was really thinking about getting one but when I started asking about installation no one knew anybody in the area that intalled them. The last time I had a truck with an extra tank was 25 years ago and I think it came that way.
Would the install be very difficult on a Super Duty? Towing up to the Midwest burns a good bit of diesel and an added 60 gallon tank will be a good thing to have.

Mac
 
If for lack of a better plan, get a siphon pump or a hand pump and the appropriate fittings to move the fuel out of the tank in the bed, into the regular filler when you stop to pee. Then you can take the tank out when you're not travelling as far w/o as much effort. Depends on how often you need to use it.

It may be a bit of a pain if the truck has a return line back to the OE tank. My dad had a truck w/ an extra tank but you had to run the first one down, swap, then the return line would slowly re-fill the OE tank. It worked fine, but you had to pay attention.
 
When I bought my '04 F250 I was bummed that it did not have dual tanks like my '96 F150 did. It had a switch on the dash that you would go between either tank at will.

Both tanks were only 16 gal each though.
 
Install a fuel line off the auxiliary tank & T/Y it into the OE fuel line. This will allow you to draw off both tanks & the low fuel light will come on indicating that it's time to fill 'em both up. :eclipsee_steering:
 
Install a fuel line off the auxiliary tank & T/Y it into the OE fuel line. This will allow you to draw off both tanks & the low fuel light will come on indicating that it's time to fill 'em both up. :eclipsee_steering:
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if you are drawing off both and the return line only goes to one of them....won't eventually something bad happen....;)
 
if you are drawing off both and the return line only goes to one of them....won't eventually something bad happen....[/b]
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Yeah - your dad yells at you for having left the selector valve in the wrong position while all your return fuel overflows out the vent for the past 50 miles.

It was only 20 years ago, but I won't do that again, even if I had another truck that worked this way.
 
The tank and diesel kit is at Northern Tool. I think it is a gravity fed setup from the added tank into the stock tank. Makes me wonder how you keep fuel from overflowing?
 
For all the reasons stated above, I strongly suggest a manually-controlled setup. To get around the return line problem simply plumb the extra tank into somewhere on the filler line. Then, use a electrically-controlled switch to turn the feed off and on.

You drive on the main tank at all times. When the tank gets below, say, 1/4 you open the selector valve (no need to even stop) and let the fuel flow gravity feed from the aux tank into the main tank, watching the fuel gauge. Once it's up to a reasonable value (recognizing that the fuel gauge is slow to react) you turn it off until you burn more. You'll eventually get a sense of the rate of flow.

Simple, easy, almost idiot proof...
 
When I bought my '04 F250 I was bummed that it did not have dual tanks like my '96 F150 did. It had a switch on the dash that you would go between either tank at will.

Both tanks were only 16 gal each though.
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Yeah I don't see how the current 38gal tank (at least that is what my brother's '00 F350 crew/long bed has) is not better than the old setup. Way less complex, and more fuel.

The gravity feed approach seems most simple to me. Simple is good, especially when it means you can spend less time working on your tow rig and more time working on your race car :P
 
Greg: "Simple, easy, almost idiot proof..."

I can almost assure you that I can put that statement to the test! :rolleyes:
But I do think this is the way I plan to go.
 
a friend bought a used DRW pickup with an aux tank in the bed.

the first time he went to fill it, he inserted the hose in the stock filler and turned around to go clean the windshield. he heard this splashing noise and people yelling.

the stock filler tube was no longer connected to the tank. the aux tank was plumbed up to it. after about 2-5 gallons of spilled gas and a lot of embarassment, he realized that all he had to do was fill the aux tank about 1-2 inches from the top.

the truck would go about 500 miles before the gas gauge would come off full and then about 200 miles to empty.

what seemed simple to the original modifier was not obvious to the next guy.

i've seen larger replacement tanks for my truck but figure i got more important things to get first.
 
Yeah I don't see how the current 38gal tank (at least that is what my brother's '00 F350 crew/long bed has) is not better than the old setup. Way less complex, and more fuel.

The gravity feed approach seems most simple to me. Simple is good, especially when it means you can spend less time working on your tow rig and more time working on your race car :P
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actually the current tank on 2002+ f250 long bed is 39gal officially, but if you top it off, you can get about 43gal in it. LOTS of range, even towing. i just went to new england and back (800miles) on one tank in my 2004 psd. (that was empty truck, i get 12mpg with the 26ft enclosed).

i figure it the tank last longer than my bladder...it is plenty big enough! :)
 
As usual I solved the problem with the help of fellow racers.

A father of a fellow racer works with a super welder who had a tank in his truck. He installed a 60 gal tank / tool box in place of my old tool box. I use a small electric gas pump located on the side of my bed. It is hidden by the tank to some degree. It is plumbed into the filler neck so I fill the aux. tank from it's filler cap, and the regular tank from the stock filler cap. A lighted switch on my dash activates the pump. The only thing that you must watch is filling the tank with the pump must be timed as the stock gauge lags for a little bit. It is really a big bonus as now I watch for (not just good) great diesel prices and "fillum" both up. Just in Texas prices vary by 30 cents a gallon some times. (If I lived on the Left Coast I would have to tow with a Rickshaw with those fuel prices!)
I am hoping that the tank plus going back to my old open trailer (instead of the uptown Pace enclosed I sold) will help tow costs for 06. My best talent as a racer is making friends and hanging out with guys with good paddock setups!!!!!!
 
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