The Stovebolt Site Forums The Parking Lot Big Bolts Side tanks on a '46 2 ton: opinions wanted

I'm in tail end of the gathering and planning stage for my '46 2 ton to get 'road ready' this spring.

Really all i've got left up in the air is what to do with the fuel tank.

My original fuel tank was just fine, but I stole it to use in the '46 1/2 ton and have since sold that.. I had two other tanks out of a '39 and a '40 that were good, but at the time, I didn't have an immediate need for the tanks as much as I did for the money I was offered.

Long story short, I got a '46 2 ton with no gas tank.. and while I guess I could go buy a whole other complete truck just to get another tank, i've been kicking around the idea of putting one of those 'big truck' style gas tanks on.

The plan is to put a flatbed on the truck.. and I was thinking something like a 30 or 40 gallon 'round' tank under the bed behind the cab on the passenger side would look alright.

Anybody do one up like that? Thoughts? Opinions?

They mounted spare tanks to the frame rails back then to give extra gas capacity. when they cleaned up around grandfathers farm we found some tanks. didn't know what they were for until found some pictures with one of the trucks sitting in the yard. They were longer and thinner than the ones you see now. If I can locate the picture I'll try scanning it and email it.

I personally don't like the look of a round tank on an older truck. Unless it is a really big truck and came with a round one originally.

I have a picture of a 52 or so Chevy 2 ton with two smallish round aluminum tanks from a peterbilt. I don't like the look, but can send you the picture if you would like.

I personally am going to use a rectangular aluminum tank from a Freightliner for my 48 2 ton. It won't be quite original but I think it is a nice looking tank and should go well with my aluminum bed. Check the pictures on my link, the last few in the Detroit folder.

Grigg

Some older trucks had sorta rounded off square or rectangluar tanks that I personally think would look better. I agree with Grigg that the round look doesn't quite go, at least for me. I have a tank out of an old kb-1 truck that is simular so it might not have to be chevy to work. My cabovers have frame mounted tanks factory (right outside of frame) as the tranny comes up under the seat, but then again those are hard to find!

Here you go fumblin. Picture is of truck in early 40's He had at least 3 chevys at that time

http://rides.webshots.com/album/557108078wICOsD

Yea.. that's got a nice 'low profile' look to it.

I don't want the truck to end up looking like I got a pontoon boat sitting on the back.. know what I mean? And the 'step' tanks wouldn't do me any good unless I took off the factory running boards, which I have no interest in doing.

The truck has the original splash oil 235 in it.. not sure what it gets for gas mileage, but it seems to run just about forever around the farm on 5 gallons of gas, and I recently discovered the 'stock' under seat tank was 18 gallons.. so i'd guess something in the 15 to 20 gallon range would suit me just fine, since I won't really be driving it much further than 30 miles round trip.. at the most.

I guess a rectangular style tank might not look bad, either.. so long as it isn't some monster 100 gallon deal.

If anyone else has pics of a '46 1.5 or 2 ton with under bed/box fuel tanks, I sure would like to see 'em.

DON'T TRY THIS AT HOME!
20 years ago I worked for a lawn service company that had a number of Chevy C-60s with the standard fuel tank, which was 11 gallons, I think. The owners decided that people were spending too much time re-fueling, so . . .

First addition was an 85 gallon step tank mounted to the frame under the bed. Coincidentally, the price of gasoline went above $1.00 a gallon the day that I finished it and took it out for the first time.

They got that tank for very little because it was dented, but they still felt they paid too much so the next project was making tanks out of 33 gallon drums for the other 17 trucks. Believe it or not, we didn't have any trouble with them.

How about a full size beer keg as a tank?

My forty had a rectangular tank under the bed on the passenger side and a somewhat matching tool bin on the opposite side.

I put some standard mid 70's tanks on my big truck and plan to cover them with a faux tool box. It will be big enough for some tiedowns and the like and I can lock the access door to secure the fuel filler that will be inside of the box.
Just an idea,
Scott

My 47 has one square 30 gallon tank on drivers side of my homemade bed, on the other side I put about an equal sized tool box. I like it and think its a good combo. I will email you a photo and I hope to post some of my truck here shortly, Tom.