Suburban Fuel Tank in Rear of Pick Up???

[HotRodPC]

Anyone know how hard or easy it would be to put a 81-86 Suburban 40 gallon fuel tank in a 81-86 Pick up where the spare tire would normally hang?

Currently I have a 84 C20 with two 20 gallon fuel tanks and both are working great.
I had been considering putting a single 40 gallon in it anyway, but I just bought a used truck bed off of an 86 that was in fantastic shape for $100. Got it home and realized its off a single driver side tank truck. I am not going to butcher a perfectly good bed, so I am going to either run only one 20 gallon tank, or prefer a rear mounted 40 gallon burb tank. Also, if A and B idea don't work, anyone ever figured out a way to fill both left and right tank from one side filler? That would be cool too. Maybe even relocate filler neck in the right rear fender well? Not real crazy about that idea though. Any suggestions appreciated.

 

[GreaseDog]

transfer pump running from one tank to the other... fill up drivers side tank, pump to passenger side tank, run off of the passenger side tank.

i always wanted to get a dual tank truck, add another tank switch valve, and install a 40 gal tank in the back too... 80 gal fuel capacity!

just a dumb question... if you are "not going to butcher a perfectly good bed"... how do you plan on filling a burb tank?

 

[HotRodPC]

Never thought of the transfer pump idea. That might work, I'd only have to run it while filling with gas.
That is why I ask about the 40 gallon Burb tank. If it requires butchering the bed, then its not gonna happen. I was actually hoping someone would tell me they have done it, and the tank fits behind the rear axle and inside the bumper without any problem by simply removing the spare time and no bed modifications. My spare tire carrier is already gone anyway, and I don't carry a spare. Knocking on wood, I have only needed a spare tire 1 time in 28 years of driving. If I were going on a long trip, I'd probably want one and figure out a way to carry it elsewhere if there wasn't any room in the bed.

 

[crazy4offroad]

I've been looking into the Blazer gas tank mod for a while now. I had dual tanks and hated it. Dead transfer valves, too much plumbing to worry about, one tank went bad and I am stuck with 16 gallon capacity. A blazer tank is either 25 or 30 gallons depending on which size you get and I would be happy with 25, since my truck is a trail truck it would tuck up under there pretty good and provide better range than the single 16 gallon tank. I found a write-up on the mod here:

http://www.captkaoscustoms.com/blazertank.html

Your filler neck options would have to be relocate the gas door behind the rear wheel well opening (what I was planning), put the filler neck in the bed floor (definately dont want to do this), or put it in the rear bumper behind the license plate with a spring loaded license plate holder like seen on some old cars (I would consider this one but it seems like more work than relocating the door). Only thing that really concerns me is a rear end accident since my truck is lifted they would be hitting my tank if I went larger than 25 gallons. I already know I will have to make a skid plate, the one in the write-up is a 30 gallon and it looks pretty low to me. Hope something here helps.

 

[Old77]

I did this exact thing with my 77 and it was extremely easy. The only real fabbing I had to do was coming up with a way to fasten up the straps, figuring out how to configure the filler neck and routing the gas lines to the new location. Out of those three getting the filler neck right was probably the most time consuming part.

 

[Old77]

Never thought of the transfer pump idea. That might work, I'd only have to run it while filling with gas.
That is why I ask about the 40 gallon Burb tank. If it requires butchering the bed, then its not gonna happen. I was actually hoping someone would tell me they have done it, and the tank fits behind the rear axle and inside the bumper without any problem by simply removing the spare time and no bed modifications. My spare tire carrier is already gone anyway, and I don't carry a spare. Knocking on wood, I have only needed a spare tire 1 time in 28 years of driving. If I were going on a long trip, I'd probably want one and figure out a way to carry it elsewhere if there wasn't any room in the bed.

In response to this, the tank will fit back there without any issue but will require modification to the bed in order to fill the tank so some cutting of the bed floor will be necessary.

 

[85k10383]

I really like the idea of 80 gallons of fuel onboard! Then i would only have to fill up once a week! ROFL My truck is a single drivers side tank and I would love to go to the larger Suburban tank to get some more range.

 

[Jaymez]

For the filler neck, run it behind the tail lights like some of the shaved show trucks.

I kind of want to do something similar with my S10, except the rear tank would be filled with concrete so I could have some weight in the back and maybe gain some traction.

 

[87R10]

That link from CaptKaos is the one I was going to suggest. If I recall, this conversion only required a slight mod to a rib below the bed floor. That is, if you go with an early rear spout tank (see LMC truck catalog) where the filler is at the licence plate location. I'm relocating the fuel door to the back corner (blazer/burb location) though because I'm adding or building a hidden hitch behind my licence plate. I've also decided to fab up my own tank in 18ga stainless as opposed to the 24ga OEM tin. It gives a little bit more protection in a rear impact IMO. (Not perfect, but better)

 

[GreaseDog]

For the filler neck, run it behind the tail lights like some of the shaved show trucks.

I kind of want to do something similar with my S10, except the rear tank would be filled with concrete so I could have some weight in the back and maybe gain some traction.

you do realize that the physics of that would require you to remove less than 1/4 of that weight off of the nose of the truck to achieve the same results right? there are tons of guys out there with S10s making tons of power, and hooking up without a tank full of concrete.

 

[Jaymez]

Nope. Did not know that. Figured the extra weight in the back would offset the V8 in the front and reduce the front to rear weight bias.

See. There's a reason I admitted to not knowing anything.

 

[crazy4offroad]

Yeah I wouldnt recommend filling a tank with concrete, the lime would eat the metal up in no time. If you want to experiment with a little weight placement for holeshot hookups get some tractor weight plates.

 

[HotRodPC]

I really like the idea of 80 gallons of fuel onboard! Then i would only have to fill up once a week! ROFL My truck is a single drivers side tank and I would love to go to the larger Suburban tank to get some more range.

Or just add a right side tank too. Trust me, 40 gallons, 20x2 is killer enough on the wallet when filling up. I was just wanting to install a 40 gallon burb tank in the back, then remove the 2 side tanks. Also having 80 gallons of bomb, doh, I mean gas on board, would sure be heavy. Thats an additional 720lbs you are carrying around when all tanks would be full. You'd sure be burning it off pretty quick at that weight. Bad enough with 40 gallons weiging 360lbs when both tanks are full.

 

[85k10383]

Yeah, I sort of forgot about the weight of all that gas on board. 700+pounds! sheesh I would need a BBC just to move the extra weight, which would suck even more gas, which would need even more carrying capacity. This is how the first jet powered semi tractor came to be isn't it? LOL I hadn't seriously considered adding a second saddle tank, maybe I should...