Adding secondary fuel tank.

[icebones]

Im doing a restoration on my old 1980 k10 chevy. I was wanting to add a second fuel tank to the passenger side. When i bought it years ago it had a factory 22 gallon (i think) fuel tank on the driver side. I noticed it had all the mounts for a secondary tank on the passenger side. Would it be possible to simply install a secondary tank from a junk yard and splice into the fuel line before the fuel pump, routing the fuel lines inside the cab, and mounting some sort of valve under the seat so i can switch between the right and left tanks? with all the lines running inside a braided steel outer hose to resist abrasion and damage. The whole set up will have lines for each tank running inside the cab, a valve to select the tank, and a single fuel line from the valve to the fuel pump. Sort of a similar set up to the gas valve on most atv's and dirt bikes just on a larger scale. Bad idea or no?

 

[crazy4offroad]

They make a selector valve for switching tanks, that also gives you your gas gauge reading when you switch them. I bought one at JC Whitney many moons ago. You NEVER want to run fuel lines inside the cab of your truck. Anything ever happen to those lines and you get sprayed with gas you are screwed.

 

[Stroked]

A lot of old grain trucks had a selector that was mounted under the cab and the lever stuck up through the floor beside the seat. You could get something like that, but honestly it'd probably be just as easy to go to a salvage yard and get all the factory stuff. That's what I'll probably do on my '84.

 

[HotRodPC]

A lot of old grain trucks had a selector that was mounted under the cab and the lever stuck up through the floor beside the seat. You could get something like that, but honestly it'd probably be just as easy to go to a salvage yard and get all the factory stuff. That's what I'll probably do on my '84.

Yep, that's what I had in my 62. That bish held 78 gallons of gas. 2 side 30's and an OEM 18 gal that ran the gauge. The saddles didn't have guages. All the lines connected to hub under the truck with a shaft that came thru the floor to switch the valve. I've still got that valve too somewhere.

 

[john55]

1 tank is enough for me. 22 gals at $3.94 in IL. that's almost $100.00 what a bargin

 

[HotRodPC]

No doubt, my squares with two 20 gallons never get full any more. I still rotate the fuel though to keep the tank switch working, and newer fuel in either tank so I don't get one tank with rotted gas in the bottom of it rotting the tanks.

 

[Stroked]

No doubt, my squares with two 20 gallons never get full any more. I still rotate the fuel though to keep the tank switch working, and newer fuel in either tank so I don't get one tank with rotted gas in the bottom of it rotting the tanks.

Yea. On my new truck I got the 32 gal tank instead of the 26 gal. I don't NEED it, but it's nice to know its there if I ever do. And it was nice to take a 400 mile trip and only have fill up when I got back. Lol.


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[HotRodPC]

Big Tanks Usually, do pay off for me. OKC is generally cheaper fuel than out of town or other states, so it's nice to fuel up at home with the cheaper fuel, make it there and sometimes back depending on where you're going, then fuel back up with the cheap fuel at home.

 

[icebones]

Yep, that's what I had in my 62. That bish held 78 gallons of gas. 2 side 30's and an OEM 18 gal that ran the gauge. The saddles didn't have guages. All the lines connected to hub under the truck with a shaft that came thru the floor to switch the valve. I've still got that valve too somewhere.

So pretty much a remote linkage to operate the valves. I like that idea. Simple and it don't have any electrical components. Im good with pretty much everything on a vehicle except electronics. I thought about fuel leakage during a crash with fuel lines inside the cab and I was brainstorming some type of box with a spring loaded hinged lid to house the valve and the fuel lines. But i think i should be able to rig up a mechanical linkage and i can mount the valve under the truck. I dislike getting caught on fire as much as anyone else. Even if I have caught myself on fire more times than I care to admit.

 

[HotRodPC]

This is just a valve that the stem and handle sticks up thru the floor. You reach down beside the seat, between the seat and drive door to turn it. this kept all the plumbing under the truck, not in the cab. The cool thing was, mine had tank 1, tank 2, tank 3, and Off. I could have a good lookin chick with me out on a date, and make the truck break down at a convenient place and get my groove on.

 

[HotRodPC]

Here is one very similar to mine. You drill the hole in the floor, push the valve thru, screw in the mounting screws on the flange, you have to remove the handle of course, put your fittings on it, and your feed hose goes to the fuel pump line, then the other fittings go to your tanks. This is a 4 position like mine, main tank, left tank, right tank and get laid by running out of gas wherever you decided to.

http://www.amazon.com/Moeller-Fuel-Four-Way-Valve-Brass/dp/B000MTI18M/ref=pd_sim_sbs_sg_3

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[HotRodPC]

This is actually the one you'd want if you want to go this route. That first one is a 1/4 in fittings, this one is 3/8. If you decide to go this route, remember, you don't have the gauge on the auxiliary tank, and you'll need to figure out how you'd vent the 2nd tank too. And this will not work with fuel injection, so if you're running TBI, don't use this ides.

http://www.amazon.com/Moeller-Fuel-Three-Way-Valve-Brass/dp/B000MTB7QA/ref=pd_sim_sbs_sg_1

 

[bucket]

Another option is a fuel transfer pump. Just flip a switch and let the gas in the aux tank pump right into the main tank and fill it up while you drive. Just don't forget to shut it off when the primary tank is full again, lol.