When I got my 72 fleetside I noticed that it had auxilliary tanks on it that are fueled through doors on the sides of the bed. So I decided that would be kind of handy to have on a long trip, or as a reserve. As I slid the bed back to fix the cab corners I noticed they had that hard plastic line done with flare fittings. Now that plastic line was very brittle and just snapped in my hand. Nice fire hazard sez I. The tanks are nicely made, 14 gauge steel, plastic lined, and when I emptied out the varnish inside, only a bit of dirt came out.
I removed the tanks, which took a while because the long carriage bolts through them had rusted themselves together. The tanks had a 73 emissions sticker so were probably added as a result of the embargo. I then bought replacement fuel line and some barbed fittings to change to rubber fuel lines. I also noticed they were rusty on the outside, and I had some unused Zero Rust white, so I wire brused em, treated them with phosphoric acid (chem prime) and gave em a coat or two of white.
So now I am pretty pleased with how its going and I decide hmmm...they don't have senders, so why not rig them up with senders so I'll know how much fuel is in each. So I did a web search on 'Saddle Tanks' figuring that would point me in the right direction.
Boy...was that an eye opening search....
Turns out (which I did not know) there have been all kinds of law suits and court battles on the 73-87 GM trucks with saddle tanks outside the frame. Turns out getting broadsided will probably rupture a tank, dump fuel all over the place, and be a quick ticket to the inferno.
So I'll take these nice tanks and leave them off and give them to my cuzin so he can make use of them as auxillary (stationary) tanks out at the horse ranch. They snake up around the bed and I don't think they'll fit in the frame.
Oh well. Learn and live in this case. I'll just use the old interior fire bomb instead. I might swap to a tank out back depending on how things shape up. At least I already have the fuel fill doors for it if I do.
