The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area General Truck Talk Gas Tank

I have a 52 3100 I am in the process of fixing up as a "weekend driver" I was going to move the gas tank under the bed for safety reasons, but does anyone just leave them in the cab. I guess what I am trying to find out is what the pro's and con's are of leaving the tank in the cab.
Thanks

con - they stink if they leak a bit.

My '51 1300 has the tank in the cab.I don't worry about it.Heck it's been there for 55 years just like me!

Mine will stay in the cab. There is no odor (seals and vents are good). I do not worry about it.

Mine also will stay behind the seat, with no worry...Model A's the tank was right in front...Some
Jeeps You sat on the tank, and many of the old airplanes I flew the tank was right in front of the windshield...BB

I will be leaving mine in the cab just because it is staying original, otherwise I would probably move it just for the extra room in the cab.
Dustin

because ours was in very bad shape i bought one for under the bed between the rails, just behind the pass side w/ the filler in front of the fender. there is room below the bed and above the frame rail. it fits well but takes some work to do. i was re-doing lots of other welding and engine fitting, and a new axle, so this was a logical re-do and i could provide the needed room. some install the tank where the spare tire fits. I'm running a 6 cyl so the exh system runs down one side and the tank is on the left. i installed a 2000's type chevy cable crank- up/ down system for my spare tire. life will be better when we get older and have to change the tire... cause i ain't laying on my back to fetch the heavy tire by lowering that long bar down.
do a search for under bed gas tanks.

http://www.stovebolt.com/bboard/cgi-bin//ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=22;t=003566#000000

pros:
it's out of the cab and safer under the bed between the rails. allows for more storage behind the seat.
you may also think about storage by
cutting the front sheet metal area under the seat frame to gain access under the seat.
cons:
it's a lot of work to make the change
but if the tank is bad and you have to buy a new one .... that may be the time to make the change
it's ALL up to you and the $$$$. you will have to close up the old hole and re-paint.

I am a little late getting in on this thread but this is my 2 cents: I personally believe one location is as good/bad as the other. Remember the Ford Fairlane 500 police cruisers that have gas tanks in the rear and how many police have burned to death from rear end collisions. I know there is a big difference between a truck and a car and a car would probably be more likely to splash fuel all the way to the driver and passengers than the truck however it would take a substantial side impact to rupture the tank and I haven't heard of this being a big problem. The exception being NBC's fraudulent depiction of the Chevy truck's gas tank rupturing in a collision

Excuse my ramblings but my wife is out of the house and someone must fill in.

Inspecting my 54 year old fuel tank (3100 5-window 1953) I found an amazing heap of rust and dirt in the tank. I have cut off the welded (flensh/) and clean the 2 parts. Will mig-weld it back together and put some DEOX-C in it. Having a possible leaking tank behind your back seems to me an unacceptable risk! Of course I will "pressure-check" the tank before reusing it!

i sit on top of my tank in the 39. i also rolled over in a long ago, forgotten pickup with the tank behind the seat. no fuel leaked.

The 17.5 gallon tank in my '55 started to seep fuel at the bottom, from the seam. I looked at several reproduction tanks and they were a much lighter gauge steel and had metric threads for mounting the sending unit. I decided to try and seal mine with POR Tank Sealer. It was a bit time consuming, but it worked out great. The entire tank is re-sealed, and it smells like it should in the cab and not like the back of a gardener's pickup.

Me too!

Agree with Bill, my single place biplane has an aluminum 20 gal. tank, with-out a bladder that sits behind the dash right in my lap, as do all of them still made today. And again, tain't blown up in 54 years, no reason for it to now unless its leaking. Drove midgets and sprinters for years and they all had fuel tanks for a back rest. Anyway, if ya have a wreck so bad that it gets to the tank, ya might as well go out in a blaze of glory!
Denny Graham
Sandwich, IL

When I think back to all those years we drove all those cars with no safety equipment at all...no seat belts, no padding anywhere, no ani-lock or airbag anything. Still, I really don't like the smell of high octane in the morning. Someday I'm gonna move this dang tank. It's on "the list".

I remember seeing a film on 60 minutes years ago. They showed fuel spraying all over an interior when the truck was t-boned from the side. GM responded by moving the tanks outboard of the frame on the next body style. Nowadays they have the tanks inboard the frame, seems like common sense, but I am not an engineer. By the way, my tank is still behind the seat in my 64. I did go ahead and seal it with POR15 tank sealer to avoid stinking up my interior.