Transfer Tanks

bushpilot

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dang i get about 13 round town 15 if i can squeeze in some
longer trips.

interstate EMPTY i have seen as much as 700mile to a tank...
towing the cobra at 80mph i STILL got 500-550 miles to a tank...
and i STILL would love to have an aux/transfer tank in the truck
bed.

ive even gotten my wife to sit for a single 1400mi run...w/ 500mi
stints between stops !
 

recurveman

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I'll tell you what I did and I love it. It is my all time favorite MOD. I went to Northerntool.com and bought a 91 gallon tank/toolbox combo. I also got the fill kit too. Put it in the bed of my truck and off I went. I've now got crazy range when I'm pulling my 42' horse trailer. It is a pain in the butt to get fuel so I love to drive past as many stations as possible. Plus, it is nice to find the cheapest place and really fill up.

The tool box isn't the biggest but with the trailer in tow I've got plenty of room. Normally I don't need a ton of tool box space if I'm around town.

The other great part is the box is flush with the top rail of the bed. I love the gravity feed part too. I don't ever have to worry about it not filling unless of course gravity stops working and then I'm screwed.

I think the price tag was around $700 but I bet in 20K miles it has given me a large portion of that back. Not to mention the best part is I can wake up in the morning and drive ALL DAY and not fill up. I think my range is almost 1200 miles when towing!!!!!!!! The smaller tanks were not that much cheaper and I'm so glad that I got a big tank.

Best of luck in your search. Sell your current toolbox and get a combo tank/box that you can actually use.

Later,

Chad
 

lvtitan

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dang i get about 13 round town 15 if i can squeeze in some
longer trips.

interstate EMPTY i have seen as much as 700mile to a tank...
towing the cobra at 80mph i STILL got 500-550 miles to a tank...
and i STILL would love to have an aux/transfer tank in the truck
bed.

ive even gotten my wife to sit for a single 1400mi run...w/ 500mi
stints between stops !

wow... ive got a short bed so i'm limited to 29gallons, and i'm lucky to get 300/tank... i have no idea why it's so bad... like i say even bone stock w/ just a lift kit i was 10/11 i know almost everyone i know w/ a PS gets better mileage, but i cant ***** cause my truck seems to run stronger than most, so it's a sacrifice i guess i am willing to take. i think i will have to end up getting an aftermarket tank, i dont know about in the bed though, cause i dont want to lose any storage space back there....
 

bushpilot

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i feel for ya...for me the short bed was didnt make sense...

ive had TWO previously and some of my motorcycles wont fit in a
short bed. i kinda figured we were goin' all out and as long as these
trucks are (even in a short bed) whats TWO more feet (w/out a
"special" garage they typically wont fit in a conventional garage
anyway...so why not g'head and get the extra 2 feet...the longer
wheel base rides nicer...imo)

the long beds EXTRA 10 gallons makes a BIG a diff in my
mind....500-580 to a tank around town and 700-750 (moderately
loaded on the interstate)

im looking at SHALLOW depth (7-9 inch) 30-36gallon bed tanks
which would nearly DOUBLE my range.

i wanna be able to make runs from houston to the north western
tip of virginia NON stop...ive done in 18.5 hrs (w/ the wife) took me
a little more than a dribble over two tanks
 

Maxtor

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Pulling our 30 ft 5th wheel up and over mountains, we averaged 13.1 mpg.
We have the 38 gallon tank, so that adds up to a safe 450 mile range. Adding a 50 gallon aux. tank would make it 1100 miles.
Many times you come into a town to get fuel, and the station is crowded or looks difficult to get into while pulling a rv. It is nice to be able to drive by and go to the next town where it might be easier to access and not have to worry about running out of fuel. It will be interesting driving on flat ground at a steady speed, what our fuel mileage will be. Empty our best was 21 mpg. We average about 18.5 mpg empty at 70 mph.
I think you guys with the high lifted trucks are getting such poor mileage because of wind drag. Look at the Bonneville drag cars. Low, skinny tires, shaped like a bullet. A lifted truck is the exact opposite.
But.... if you like the look.... who cares about mileage :D
 

Flopster843

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I had the idea of removing the spare tire and associated carrier assy, and mounting the fuel tank from an excursion in it's location. You'd have to re-support the rear frame section with some more cross-braces. I don't see any reason why you couldn't find a wrecked excursion somewhere, remove the tank and associated braces from the frame, and install them in a SD. The only down side is you'd have to carry your spare in the bed or on your trailer. That would add about 50 gallons to your capacity without loosing bed space.
 

keanoknick

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I had the idea of removing the spare tire and associated carrier assy, and mounting the fuel tank from an excursion in it's location. You'd have to re-support the rear frame section with some more cross-braces. I don't see any reason why you couldn't find a wrecked excursion somewhere, remove the tank and associated braces from the frame, and install them in a SD. The only down side is you'd have to carry your spare in the bed or on your trailer. That would add about 50 gallons to your capacity without loosing bed space.

Does anyone KNOW if this will work? Will the Ex tanks fit there? I have been contemplating this for a while now, as my spare is useless to me anyway, I can't fit a 38" tire under there.

I really want to put an Ex tank as an aux tank on my truck, Has this been done before? I really need more info on this, anything, ex tank dimensions, pics, the best way to support it, a way so I can flip a switch to use that tank and have the factory fuel guage work on it, etc......

I don't want one in my bed as I plan on putting in stacks, which won't leave much room at all for a fuel tank in the Short bed, plus I'd be concerned about the heat biuldup with a tank almost touching the stacks.

Thanks in advance!!!:sweet :thanks :sweet
 

Ironmerganser

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Yeah....I think I am going to do the "NorthernTool Mod" :roflmao

Since all I carry is dogs, hunting gear and the occational couch in the back, I am ok with using up some space in the bed.

I have been thinking about this too for quite a while and if I drop about $450 at NorthernTool, I can have at least 80 more gallons. Thats roughly 1400 miles on a fill up @ 13 mpg!!!!! I could drive for a whole month and never fill up!!!!!!

Only question I have is has anyone hooked a gauge up to one of these NorthernTool tanks so you know how full/empty it is????
 

bushpilot

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Does anyone KNOW if this will work? Will the Ex tanks fit there? I have been contemplating this for a while now, as my spare is useless to me anyway, I can't fit a 38" tire under there.

I really want to put an Ex tank as an aux tank on my truck, Has this been done before? I really need more info on this, anything, ex tank dimensions, pics, the best way to support it, a way so I can flip a switch to use that tank and have the factory fuel guage work on it, etc......

I don't want one in my bed as I plan on putting in stacks, which won't leave much room at all for a fuel tank in the Short bed, plus I'd be concerned about the heat biuldup with a tank almost touching the stacks.

its been done...ive read about ONE person that did it...and i dont
recall what year his truck whas or what year ex tank he used.

i think the issue is that youre gonna be on blazing a fairly new trail
if nothing else...i do remember the guy basically complaining that
the set up was more difficult than he expected and that the hardest
parts were trying to figure out where the plumb the FILL as well as
running all the supply lines.

remember the ex tank is PLASTIC...dont forget youll need to build
a skid plat of some kind for it.

i knwo you say you dont want a tank in your bed but wheres
your RUBBER tire gonna go ? even w/ STACKS you wont be able
to bolt the tire to the "front" of the bed (because of the way MOST
stacks "Y" up thru the bottom of the bed.

i think youll also have to come up w/ & build your own spare
tire carrier...youll wanna come up w/ a GOOD way to secure
the spare, prevent it from FLYING loose in an accident and to
keep it from being stolen (ive not seen any kits, available on the
net or in stores.

hell they steal the spares when they CANT see 'em...i cant imagine
that they wont try WHEN they see it (sticking above the TRUCK BED...
cause even a 16in tire & wheel is gonna be taller than the truck bed)

the IN BED TANKS have been done, 100s of times....the plumbing
is available...and theres quite a few that have done stacks and
tanks in the bed..everything is available via the net or retail...and
youve got several different choices.

im the 1st to say i love building stuff myself....as much as ive thought
about this, the spare tire is a serious problem (in the bed) for me...they
take up more room than you think...and theyre not FLAT so stacking
things against them isnt always easy....a spare isnt the lightest thing
to have to deal w/ either....moving it around etc.

the problem w/ ANY of these tanks is the integration of the gauge
and the method in which you can pump, switch to or DRAWL from
the additional tank/source.

its a trade off....narrow tank in the bed taking up room, or spare
tire taking up room...


Yeah....I think I am going to do the "NorthernTool Mod" :roflmao

Since all I carry is dogs, hunting gear and the occational couch in the back, I am ok with using up some space in the bed.

I have been thinking about this too for quite a while and if I drop about $450 at NorthernTool, I can have at least 80 more gallons. Thats roughly 1400 miles on a fill up @ 13 mpg!!!!! I could drive for a whole month and never fill up!!!!!!

Only question I have is has anyone hooked a gauge up to one of these NorthernTool tanks so you know how full/empty it is????


ive not read any stories where someone has rigged up their own switch
and gauge...on the northern (RDS brand) tanks it seems most us the
gravity feed system (60 bucks or so)...they let the tank in the bed
"fill" the OE tank....when the fuel gauge begins to move they know
the in bed tank must be empty.

kshmarine is the only company that i know that used the factory
gauge...even transferflow using their OWN "special" electronic gauge.

EXPECT that no matter what you choose youll have issues w/ the
overhead console "range" report...and depending on the year you MAY
set a code or ILLuminate the MIL/SES/CEL LIGHT....the problem (in particular
w/ the at least the 05 & later) is that the truck computer EXPECT to
see at least SOME movement of the fuel gauge AFTER 200 miles...if
not it sets a code (and i think turns on the check engine light).

in the 05 and later (i cant recall if the 04 has the problem too) but in
the 05 and new trucks you can NOT reprogram tank/gallonage size...so
the over head "distance to empty" will no longer work.
 

Nasty

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Gravity

feed is what I use. On my 04 it works great ...no issues and it was under $20 for the proper tubing; as was previously reported...when the gauge starts to move, you know the aux tank is empty.
My 06 presented some difficulties: ie. : check-engine light always on and figuring out why the main tank was sometimes weeping. On the 05s and newer there is a breather tube (don't know what else to call it) on the top of the tank with a plastic pop-it type cap on it. Sometimes the cap would creep up and allow fuel to expel from it. I ran a hose from it up to the aux-tank so they now breath together. The check-engine lite I am living with for now. Am thinking of perhaps installing a transfer-pump at some time.....perhaps from a (forgive me) Dodge...understand they use a frame-mount and should be available at the wreckers for reasonable $. Should be easy enough to mount and wire in. Would solve the CE lite issue. My .02 cents for what it's worth. O and when we took it on our holidays this year...6800 kliks (about 4000 miles) stopped for fuel twice.

Be well!
 

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