Inliners International Forums General Discussion Truck Talk Dual Gas Tanks

This is something I'm sure everyone with a truck thinks about, how can I get more range from my truck? I'm pretty sure we've all pondered this.

I've known this is possible, but just wasn't sure how to do it. I have just figured out that the toggle switch needed is a double pull double throw.

I found the information tonight on the Tanks, Inc. website and they have a PDF with this info:



However, they charge $16 + they want $14 for shipping, so that's $30, and I found the same switch on ebay for $6 w/shipping...so I ordered one of those.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Heavy-Duty-20A-...US/392497546769

The final piece of the puzzle is to use 2 low pressure fuel pumps, such as these Autobest for $12.26/ea:

NOTE: you must use low pressure, 2.5-4.5 psi fuel pumps. Many of them are higher, like 5-9 psi, those are also low pressure but too high for the straight six. Fuel injection is higher like 50-60 psi. Caveat Emptor!

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00496RE82

Of course you need 2 gas tanks as well...in my case I have the original tank under the seat and a tank in the bed, so I'm hoping I can just clean the old tank and have 2.

Even at 15 mpg, with 36 gallons you would get 540 miles range, and at 17 mpg you would get 612 mile range.

This only cost $24.52 for 2 fuel pumps and $6.03 for the switch, so aside from wiring/fuel lines/tanks, it's only $30.

It is also possible to do this with a mechanical fuel pump, believe it or not.

In that case you would use a switch over valve.

Tanks, Inc. has one for $50.

https://www.tanksinc.com/index.cfm/page/...=prod/prd93.htm

And they also show how to set that up:



That would still be worth it for someone that didn't want to change over to electric fuel pumps.

On tractors with fender mount auxiliary tanks, we just used a 3 way manual valve. Some fuel line and hose clamps, it was about as simple as it gets.

Question- why do you need a 600 mile fuel range?

Not about need, but I think it's fair to expect about 250-300 miles on the stock gas tank. I often drive to visit my Mom, she's about 350 miles. I have a '98 Tacoma 4cyl, it has about a 250-275 range, I've run out of gas once and almost a 2nd time a few months back.

I also have a piece of property about 175 miles away, so that's a 350 round trip. I can stop and get gas, that's not a huge deal but it's just having the range and with a 2nd tank you know you can flip the switch and you have more gas, even if you don't need to fill up, you have the gas to get you home. That's kind of how I look at it. I want this truck to be running well enough that I have the confidence to jump in it and drive for 400 miles if I need to. The extra gas won't help that confidence too much, but it adds to it. Between San Luis Obispo and king city there's about 35 minutes of no gas stations...that's where I almost ran out of gas a few months back.

The biggest driving factor for me is that I have 2 gas tanks in the truck, but the original is not being used. It looks in pretty good shape, under the seat, but I haven't even inspected it closely yet. I already bought the fuel pumps and toggle switch, so worst case I've wasted $30.

EDIT: OTOH, I haven't needed more than 10 miles range in the past year, and that would be generous! Luckily I haven't needed to depend on the truck for transportation.

1.To get in and out of California without buying fuel?
2. If you live in California, to go somewhere else to buy fuel you can afford.
3. Or, to go to another state to visit your guns.
That question is much like "Why do you need a 30 round magazine?" Anyone who feels the need to ask that kind of question IS THE REASON.

I'm running a cable drive fuel pump off my oil pump. Have a fuel pressure regulator at the carbs with return line to bring it down to 3-5 lbs.

I assume you are also running a valve to get positive flow. If so, you may not be able to run the pumps before the valve. (See Keroppi's post)

Indeed. The number of people that want smaller gas tanks are most likely in the minority of folks.


I've noticed that some people use these inline type external fuel pumps as a regulator and/or to get the fuel pressure constant going to the carb.

What my plan is, and this is just a plan, rather than mount an external electrical fuel pump where the mechanical fuel pump is mounted up by the front of the engine and run it up and around the valve cover, is to mount both fuel pumps in the battery tray under the passenger floor. My battery was moved to the firewall, and I think it would make sense to mount these as close to the tanks as possible, they are evidently better at pushing than they are pulling.

From the battery tray I'm thinking to go to the driver's side of the engine, follow the firewall up and then forward to the carb. This will remove the fuel line running up and around the front of the engine and keep it all towards the back.

For the time being I'm running the mechanical fuel pump I refurb'd until I can get the registration complete.

one of the reasons I'm running a cable drive fuel pump off my dry sump oil pump is that if the oil pump belt fails it stops the fuel flow.

Except for my current '65 all of my trucks had/have dual tanks and it is a great thing. My current '65 will get dual tanks when I redo the bed wood. The added range, the peace of mind knowing you have extra fuel if needed, and not having to worry about no gas stations is huge. I highly recommend dual tanks if you have the means to add one. You won't be disappointed. My '81 has the factory switch, valve and tanks. My old '65 had the manual valve, very simple and effective.

Writing this from the Grand Californian at Disneyland tonight. We went by one place today where gas was $5.29.9 a gallon. Reason enough for a 600 mile range.

Actually that's a good point, they do have some inertia switches that will turn the power off to the electric fuel pumps, I think it's about $100 though. I rolled a SUV when I was younger and it stopped running. As long as the engine stops running there will be no power to the fuel pumps. But that is a good point Michael, 'touche!


Most anyone that has had dual tanks seems to feel that way. the second tank is a nice piece of comfort knowing it's there. Just knowing you don't have to stop immediately, just flip the switch on the dash. I like that feature, and seeing I have 2 tanks in my old pickup, I see no reason not to use them.


That is frickin' robbery! I thought the gas was high here where I live, well, I KNOW it is...but they are raping the Disney guests, IMO.

I filled up my Tacoma last night. A Chevron that I used to go to was $4.29/gal (and 9/10ths, don't forget that!). I bought at a Valero about 2 miles away for $3.79/gal. That's 0.50/gallon, which is $5 for 10 gallons, that's a LOT of money to throw away. This is a very common spread, and that was 87 octane. We see about a $0.20 spread between 87 octane and 91 octane.

I can drive 3 hours to Fresno and get gas for about $0.50/gallon cheaper than in the Bay area. It's the same gas coming from the same refinery in the Bay area...

How much are you guys paying in Nevada right now?

I almost hate to say this, but my flat bed actually has 3 tanks. The 3rd tank has a pump on it and I use it currently for diesel. But for the amount of diesel I use it's overkill, it's like 60 gallons I think. It currently has about 20 gallons of diesel. One problem is I don't have a gauge for the tank, so it's hard to tell how much is in there. It would be more useful to me with gasoline in it. That would give the flatbed a decent range, it has a 17 gallon and a 25 gallon tank in it also.

My '40 International had 3 tanks and all ran from the stock mechanical fuel pump on the engine. It just had a 3 position valve on the floor.

At home it was $3.29 when we left. Carson City and Reno are more expensive. The $5.29.9 was in Lee Vining, CA near Mono Lake.
I haven't looked down here we have enough to get back to the Indian gas station at Fort Independence. It's the cheapest until we get home. Disney has it's own way of making us pay but I knew that before I made reservations. It's fun.

I've been places in Nevada where you had to pay for water and you could not use the restroom. I unloaded about 25 boys off a a school bus one day where we had just filled the bus with gas. I could not negotiate a deal for the bathroom so we just pissed in his drive way. I heard about it when we got back to school but the parents backed me. A few of the dad's used to stop a pee in the guys driveway when ever they were out there. That place is long gone now.

So tell me, what does the switch-over-valve do for the low pressure fuel system do? The way I understand it, the gas is allowed to flow on the main, and when it gets power it switches over to the auxiliary. How would that differ from what you mention, and what Whitedog mentioned up near the top of the thread? It makes sense that you only need a mechanical switch to direct the flow, the fuel pump will be sucking on that line and no matter which one is connected it will suck from that tank. So, in that regard how does the switch-over-valve change it? That diagram above still shows both tanks going through the switch, but they also have the switch-over-valve connected to the power as well. Does anyone know why?


Ok, Lee Vining makes sense. BTW, this is an XLNT example why someone would want 600 mile range. I know Lee Vining and have been there, bottom of the Tioga Pass dropping down from Toulumne Meadows...that's a beautiful drive, but it's in the middle of nowhere, what is synonymous with "bum f#@$ Egypt". There's a restaurant not far from there right on Mono lake and it's beautiful sitting there having a drink overlooking the all the salt in the lake...Anyway, yeah, you can spend a bit more and be forced to buy gas there, or flip a toggle on the dash and be good to get to Bakersfield...or farther...

Good story on the kids, and good to hear the parents supported you...getting all too common parents gang up on the bus drivers...

the air is BS these days, I've paid for it before but it doesn't even give you enough air, they have a governor set at about 32 psi to protect idiots from overfilling...they charge you and don't even give you a full blast! I keep 40-45 psi in my Tacoma, 60-65 on the flatbed. So, WTF good is it?

My First National just had a valve with 4 lines to it. One to each tank and one to the pump. There was a Right, Left, and Center position on the valve with a lever to change tanks.

I wasn't the bus driver, I was the teacher. It's a lot different now. Nevada is Eastern California. Over 90% of the people live in one county and they rule the state. It will eventually happen to every western state. The people who make the laws now think food comes from a store, water comes from a pipe, gas comes from a pump, electricity comes from a plug, and money comes from the government.

In high school I had a '56 Chevy 210 with a nonoperational gas gauge. I was excellent at knowing how much fuel was in the tank by listening to the filler neck. Yeah, the filler neck...lol... I never once thought anything of it. I'd stop, walk to the driver's side taillight, open it to gain access to the gas cap, twist off the cap, grab the top of the quarter panel and shake the car, then put my ear to the filler neck. Lots of sloshing meant a full tank, faint sloshing meant about an 1/8th and need of a fill-up. One time I did, and my friend who had seen me do this many times just started laughing like crazy. He said "Do you know how goofy you look when you do that?" I said that I never really thought about it but didn't care because we never ran out of gas. But of course I was laughing my a$$ off as well.

Good times...lol...

Lee Vining is insane for gas prices!

That's funny, what I do on mine is put a stick inside and see how much is wet when I pull it out. This one is in the bed and the filler sticks straight up. I currently have about 1"-2" in the tank. I'm gonna try and take it out for a spin this weekend and will try to get it filled up.

I never knew California gas prices varied that much from the rest of the country. Here in the midwest, you don`t have to drive far to find a fuel station. While the prices may be higher in some towns, it's usually not more than 10-15 cents.

My daily driver has a 36 gallon tank. I can get over 20 mpg in the spring and fall months as long as I keep my foot out of it and don't idle a bunch. My best trip mileage has been 24.5 average. I used to try to see how far I can make it. I've been over 600 miles a number of times, but never tried to push the 700 mile mark, even though I`m sure I could.

dingo,

That reminded me that out along 395 between Lee Vining and Mammoth I had my 911 Targa with the pedal to the metal pegged on 135 mph. 3 of us were out on a drive to Mammoth. We were flying past people doing 80 like they were standing still. That's probably the fastest I've driven any of my cars. The spec sheet on my car says 145 mph, but I had the top off and that may have had some to do with it.


AFAIK, they're some of the worst in the country. L.A. pay a lot for gas also, and probably has the worst traffic in California. 405/101 is one of the worst areas. But they have more people buying gas, so why do they pay more? Arguably, they pollute more, but who charges on air quality? Like I said in my near vicinity I see a range of about $0.50/gallon between lower priced gas (Valero, Rotten Robbie, World, et al) and what I call Premium gas (Chevron, Shell, 76, et al). Then another $0.50/gallon to get about 3 hours out, to like Fresno. That is about the same that beater pays in NV.

But back to the connection. You mentioned a simple hose T type connection where you could flip between 2 tanks, and beater also mentioned such.

What is the switch-over-valve that is in the diagram I posted up in the 2nd post? If you look at the flow, it basically has 2 tanks feeding through the same carb to the engine. Both tanks actually feed through the switch-over-valve. In the instructions it states when it gets power to the switch-over-valve, it changes the flow over to the auxiliary tank, otherwise the main tank is used. In the diagram it clearly shows both tanks feeding into the SOV and then into the fuel pump. Why would that be needed in that case?

I don't understand that piece. I think I've seen brass fittings that have a lever valve on it being used to redirect 2 gas lines on a truck in the past, although not certain now...but that seems to be what both you and beater are saying. If that is true, when would a switch-over-valve be needed? Other than not allowing the fuel pump to suck gas from that tank also...but if you have the lever valve it couldn't know, it just sucks...(literally).

In my case I'm going to use the electric pumps, but I guess I could have added a valve on the floor of the cab to facilitate that with hose if I was to keep the mechanical fuel pump.


I will just briefly point out your hypocrisy in having a 36 gallon tank on your daily driver...certainly you can understand the value in having the extra fuel...

Guys,
Check here for gas prices or taxes by state:

https://www.gasbuddy.com/

https://itep.org/state-and-local-tax-rates-on-gasoline/

California is highest taxes followed by Pennsylvania. If I go into Maryland or Delaware I try to do it on an empty tank!

I like the gasbuddy site. Here in northeast Ohio we're getting regular 87 octane for as little as $2.35 a gallon. We also have a smattering of so called RV-Gas pumps that dispense ethanol free. The last time I filled gerry-cans it cost me $3.55 for 90 octane ethanol free. It's all I run in my hopped up stovebolt.

The guys at Pure Gas do a great job of documenting where to find it.

regards,
stock49

I just checked Dayton, OH and it was about $2.50...I'm $1.29/gallon more...f#@$ me...


I can't believe there's a place in Cloverdale that sells 92 no octane, that's on the way to some property I have in Lake County. Said it's about $5/gallon.

Short of that, what do some of you others do? When I bought my truck it had a couple bottles of octane/lead boost and the previous owner said he would always use that. My plan was to add that. This is an interesting related video.



I don't think I'll go to the trouble of getting non-ethynol gas, but would like to try and prevent any excessive damage from happening.

My plan was to use 91 octane with fuel additive.

Would like to hear what some of you others are using.

I will just briefly point out your hypocrisy in having a 36 gallon tank on your daily driver...certainly you can understand the value in having the extra fuel...

[/quote]

Not for sure what you were getting at. Anyhow, it's an 09 F150, that I bought used. The first time I filled it up it was like, "Holy crap how much does this thing hold?" Apparently, FoMoCo offered the 36 gallon tank for a few years.

When I asked earlier about what you needed the range for, it was as simple as that, curiosity.

No real reason, just want more range because of various mentioned points...just seems it can't hurt to have more gas than not enough. I have about 42 gallons on my flat bed, it's a '97 F-Super-Duty. This was the year before they started using Super-Duty on the entire line. It was sold as a chassis and the flat bed was added to it. 1-1/2 ton with a 7.5L (petrol) v8. It gets horrible mileage and I only use it when I need to move something heavy. It's a great truck to have when you need it.

The '46 could very well turn into my daily driver, but I don't know that yet. I drive a Tacoma currently that gets about 23 mpg, but only has a 15 gallon tank. That really only translates to about 13-14 gallons if you don't want to run out of gas. I often drive 350 miles. I can drive that far in our 2005 CR-V, but not the Tacoma.

Any idea on the other question about the switch-over-valve?

It varies a lot from one part of the city to the next. An example, $4.40/gallon near the house. $4.16 about 2 miles away. These are Premium prices as the car is turbocharged. The rural areas like Lee Vining and Death Valley are way more than any other place in the state. If you need fuel you have to pay for it or pay for a tow truck, so they got you by the, um...wallet...not the wallet but be family friendly we'll leave it at that

I've done that in a BMW on I-5 back in 2001, never would consider going that fast up around Mammoth. You're very lucky that a deer didn't jump out in front or that a CHP didn't see you. It is exhilarating to go that fast. That BMW felt like it was doing 80. Even though it was only a couple miles, when I got back to normal cruising speed I felt blessed that a CHP didn't see me going that fast.

We filled up at the Indian gas station at Fort Independence at about $3.90. We were able to make our raid deep into The People's Republic to Disneyland and return to the Fort without any further fuel purchases. Gas is expensive everywhere in Nevada. WE have high gas tax instead of State income tax. It varies a lot from county to county, area to area, town to town, and station to station.

I've run 100LL at about a 25% ratio many years ago.

Let me take this time to rant on gas prices...

Arroyo Grande, $4.59 for 87 octane...