Car gas tanks

obobskivich

Anyone ever replaced one with a bigger model? Is it a bitch? Anything I should know?

Backstory:
I hate the 18 gallon tank on my car and want the 30 gallon tank off of a Suburban/Tahoe or F-250/Excursion for increased range.

cyclonite

Easier to buy a more fuel effecient car dont ya think?

obobskivich

They don't make fuel efficient hearses.

Also, the raw tank is like $100 - as long as installation is under like, $5000, it beats buying a new car.

And yes, on the other hand, I've thought about going ZEV conversion with the fucker, but it would be so expensive. It would be the environmentally responsible option though. I just know that last I checked, doing ZEV with heavy ass cars is a generally bad idea.

L4m3r

Do you know that one of those tanks will fit? My understanding is that changing a tank is a bitch just because it's a large component that needs to be yanked out from underneath the car.

You could also consider a secondary tank, if there's room somewhere... it's a little more complicated and will probably cost a bit more in parts, but could be way easier to install. My dad is doing a diesel conversion on a van, and he's planning to install a secondary tank or two because there are good places to mount them.

EDIT: lol, back in the 70s my grandparents had two diesel Mercedes sedans... I was told that diesel wasn't so easy to find in the area back then, so both were fitted with huge secondary tanks that occupied about half of the trunk. Whenever one of my parents borrowed one of the cars, they'd never use the second tank because filling it made the car too heavy.

cyclonite

Quote:

Originally Posted by obobskivich They don't make fuel efficient hearses.

And that is the very reason I would have never purchased a hearse as my primary vehicle. It just does not make any practical sense at all.


But since you are dead set on supporting OPEC, sure you can always mod the hearse to accept a larger tank. I am sure that thing is a full frame car, and there should be room on the inside of the frame to mount a secondary tank. Largest problem with a secondary tank is getting the fill tube installed in a way that is does not look hillbillyish. If you are absolutely set on replacing the factory tank, may I suggest having a tank purpose built? I am certain that there are places that can build you a new tank for probably the same coin you would drop on modding a tank from a suburban or expedition. Hell check with the local bone yards to see if they may have an old Lincoln towncar, or even an older '70s ltd, probably be a closer match then attempting to install a newer style tank.

obobskivich

I thought about the secondary tank, but don't know a whole ton about them. Would it make sense to just put another Town Car tank somewhere on there and rig those up to switch? Or should it be smaller? (40 gallons is a fucklot of fuel (we're talking like 600-800 miles of range now), but my understanding is that you can leave one of the tanks close to empty and it doesn't hurt anything, as long as you don't switch-over to it obviously).

Of course my snarky engineering buddies think I should just convert it to a tanker (or a giant subwoofer, it depends who you ask) and have like thousands of miles of drive-time.


Don't you drive a Yukon XL Quadrasteer or something huge like that?

Really I don't drive that much, and I'm not fueling that often (this car actually gets decent mpg, something like 14-16 city and 20-ish highway); I just want to fuel even less, and it seems like it could be a fun project. I don't see the problem.



It already has the factory tank off of a Town Car on it, I just want "bigger." Or did you mean to add a second Town Car tank?

Good point on the secondary tank - any way to put a "switch" on the single fill port? Regarding the purpose-built tank - where would you even go? Machine shop? Liner/tank (like for oil field stuff) place? Racing fuel cells?

From what I've read, I want the tank "inside" the frame, not behind the rear axle, in front of the front axle, or between the frame and the outside dimensions of the car - correct?

Regarding the weight thing - some looking tells me that gasoline is somewhere around 6-6.5 lbs per gallon (temperature/pressure dependent), so the tank it has now is around 120 lbs when full (no idea what the empty tank weighs; given that it's probably HDPE or aluminum, I would not guess "a lot") - adding another 60-120 lbs probably shouldn't screw with the balance on the vehicle too much (especially considering that it's designed to take a lot of weight on the back-end), right?

Thanks for the input thus far.

SacredTbag

Screw fuel. You get my vote for more bass. That'd be a fun project too right? :-)

R.Carter

When did practicality start counting? That shit is overrated anyways.

cyclonite

Yes I have a Yukon XL Denali, well it’s my wife's; I drive an 03 Acura TL.

Practical started counting when gas prices got fucked over by the paranoid magic 8 balls on wall street, an the fact that I commute 40+ mile one way to work.

Actually I would rather have something like a Ford Fusion hybrid, or hell even a Chevy Volt. With the TL, I drop around $120 a week in fuel, so yeah when it comes to the car, rather have practical.

OH as for the Denali - my wife works 8 miles from the house, a 25 gallon tank lasts her right about 17 days - give or take a day or two depending on how much she drives it on the weekends.

As for a purpose built tank - if your serious about doing this, then maybe you should consult with a professional, I would start at the local speed shops - or if there is a garage that specializes in custom work. Or maybe some other shop like Year One, or Summit, or even Jegs.

obobskivich

So you drive more in one day than I do in a week; just to put that out there.

furball zen

So instead of filling up once a month you want to do it every 6? lol

obobskivich

Yes!

I want to drive across the state(s) and back again without stopping!

obobskivich

So, did some research - a larger tank will not fit unless it's highly customized, and even then it probably won't be much larger.

Le sigh.

cyclonite

LOL

One of moments when you realize that the light bulb just turned on....

sui_winbolo

I found the solution!

Get several of these!
http://www.amazon.com/Briggs-Stratto...ef=pd_sbs_lg_4

25 gallons for $225, aaaaah yeaaaah

obobskivich

Stopping every 35 miles to refuel - not so much.

cyc,

Hey, you never know unless you measure or look. I wanted some information about the tank thing in general before even bothering to measure, and it seemed plausible if the car could take it. A custom racing cell isn't insane, but it's not cheap.

cyclonite

Back to my original statement...buy a second car that is fuel effecient, either way it matters none to me.

CreatedMind07

Shouldn't be to hard if the bolt holes match up...

Check these people out.
http://www.transferflow.com/oem_tanks.html

obobskivich

Haz one. Haz a bike too. And a train.

I think you missed the scope of the original intended project...

cyclonite

I didnt miss any scope ~ you seem to forget that I too have a gass guzzling beast, and I have never once thought hmm lemme see if I can fuck with it to get a bigger fuel cell into it. However, I have thought about selling it in favor of something more fuel effecient.

Also I have had a project car in the past, had a 77 Trans Am that I started to restore. Had the suspension, drive train, and interior done; was working on getting the body work done when I realized that that I would never get the money out that I had invested. So I sold the car for around a $2500 loss.

Nope I never missed the scope at all.