The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Interiors Gas tank safety

I just purchased and brought my 53 Chevy 3100 1/2 ton home yesterday. I was curious about any safety concerns as to having the gas tank located in the cab. Seems I read somewhere about the potential for sparks with the battery location under the floorboard, as well as the potential for fuel vapors in the cab.

I was considering moving the fuel tank to under the bed, but wanted to hear from you all first.

Thanks!

i did a complete frame-off on my 51 3100, but I did by a new replacement gas tank from one of the usual suspects we all use. No issues with it, no fumes, etc., since I finished it in 2019. And my battery is in the stock location under the passenger side floorboard, and no issues with that either.

I figured the folks who designed it, knew better than me, (there you go HRL).

Hundreds of thousands of behind the seat tanks on the Hiway back in the day with little to no issues.

I've been told the tank inside the cab is much safer than the tank under the bed...because of the risk of rupture/fire/explosion in a crash. That is to say there is more danger from that if your tank is under the bed. Now, I should add a couple of things since there are people who think having the tank under the bed is really spiffy and what you should do. One...if you're using your truck as a truck, just make certain there are no leaks in the tank (or just buy a new one) and leave it in the cab with new rubber connections to filler neck/vent pipe. You won't get any vapors at all. The filler location and filler neck, etc will make more sense. Two...if you're hit hard enough to rupture a gas tank in the cab, you've very likely been hit hard enough to qualify you for a ticket to meet Jesus...the AD trucks not engineered with airbags and other safety gizmos. Three...if you put your tank under the bed, where are you going to put the filler neck? One fellow who used to post here ran his between the cab and the bed. Does that sound good? Get hit in the rear and smash the filler neck between the cab and front of the bed? Or most folks will cut a hole in the bed wood and run the filler up through that hole. Same thing. Get hit in the rear or the side and you'll shear the filler neck off and maybe provide some sparks in the process. Large cherry bomb back there. The AD frame is engineered to flex as you drive. I'm not sure what having your frame flex and having a tank mounted securely to it means, but I use my truck as a truck and I take comfort in knowing the people who designed it were smarter about that stuff than I am. If you decide to put it under the bed, good luck and I hope you like it. Friends of mine who have done this have told me it was a large expense for no benefit...but you will have a little more room behind the seat. As I said, good luck. You'll love the truck and Chandler is a great place to own one!

Been driving some sort of 3100 all my life. Only times I remember smelling gas was when I filled the gas tank too close to the pinholes in the top. Don't worry about it. By the way, I just put I a new tank. Had 12 pinholes in the top.

One of the weakest points of the inside cab tank is the rubber connection between the tank and filler tube (GM 3691365). Old rubber deteriorates after 40-50 years. Change it out. ****If you smell ANY gas fumes inside the cab, it needs to be investigated ASAP.**** The only side note is that on hot days, with passenger door window down and truck not moving, you may get a whiff from the nearby vented gas cap.

I replaced my tank with a Spectra Premium GM55A (1955 first). Zero gas smell. The PO had used Ethanol gasoline and didn't drive the truck. The Ethanol gas collected moisture and ruined (severe rust) the old tank.

Batteries won't spark if they are properly installed, correctly wired, properly secured, maintained, and covered with the floor panel. Batteries should almost never be an issue when done correctly. In the 38 years I've been working on the fleet, I have only seen one battery "blow up" on a technician and he was wearing safety glasses and a shield. This was a Group 31 deep cycle on a heavy truck. And I've been around during the early days of experimental EV batteries for the fleet and all that crazy stuff.

Well thank you all for the feedback! This why I joined the forum to learn from people with more knowledge than I have. I will leave in the cab as is, it will save me considerable money and time.

I will make sure to check and replace the rubber connections. Thanks again guys!

As the owner of a recently rebuilt 3100 with a new gas tank in the original location this is all very reassuring.

And - NO to ethanol, especially with vintage machinery.
(Related side note acceptable, I hope)

Ditto! I drive 46 and 56 with tanks in original position with no odors.

᠁and avoid “corn-sqeezin’s” as a priority. If I take an extended drive on an unfamiliar route, I identify stations which sell pure gas before I depart!

When I was thinking of moving my tank out of the cab on my 58, 3100, I found this comment below from a retired firefighter. There is a reason the manufacturers moved them from the cab. I realize there’s no perfect place for the gas tank but I feel safer with it out of the cab when I have one of the grandkids are along for a ride.

Should Stovebolt members advise other Stovebolt members, to make a change to their truck, that could lead to serious injury?
Who among us has a degree in automotive safety and design to give sound advice? Well certainly not me.

We know that the AD truck (for example) has no energy absorbing design like modern vehicles
It could be that nowhere, on an AD truck, is a stock gas tank safe from a violent collision.
It could be that we all should have a fuel cell (like used in racing) and mount it as far away from the cab as possible.
It could be that the inside cab needs to protected by fire resistant material and fire resistant upholstery that doesn't give off noxious fumes if burned.
We know that today the NHTSA would not approve a new truck to be manufactured like the AD truck. It seriously does not meet today's safety standards.

All I know is if the tank stays inside the cab, this is the way GM designed it to be.