The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area General Truck Talk gas tank location dilemma

We pulled the old gas tank out of the cab today and took it over to a radiator repair shop to see if he'd clean it. He poured 2/3 of a tank of 25+ year old fuel out- took one look inside and told us to not waste our money having him flush it (actually he told us he wouldn't clean it). I trust his opinion, and I'm not inclined to try cleaning it myself. So now I'm looking for a new tank and got to thinking- are there any reasons I shouldn't put the tank back in the cab? safety or otherwise? An under the bed tank would trip a cascade of projects that would delay getting her driving- the current bed is a thick plate of steel for instance. But now would be the time, if any, to move it.
Thoughts?

no reason whatever to not have it in the cab, although some prefer to waste the time and money putting it under the rear in place of the spare

Bill

get an earlier truck where your sitting on it and smashing your sphincter off of it on a good bumpy road.

as for a dilemma i dont see one unless it was for a pinto.

Bought a tank from Summit and mounted it easily in the rear.
It does loose Prime after 3-4 days and have to pump it back to the carb. Using a block mounted pump

I can still remember when the 1950 models were new on the show room and my father bought one from his brother. I spent most of my childhood riding in a gasoline delivery truck opening gates. I never recall a seat tank exploding. It was the later GM pickups that had the tanks on the side that exploded when they took a hit from the side. If a tank is going to explode, the entire vehicle will be engulfed in flames before you have time to get out. I would consider a tank behind the drive axle more vulnerable to a hard hit from the rear than a seat tank.

Ok- that's great. Just what I needed to hear- sounds like there's not much of a dilemma, and she'll be driving a whole lot sooner. Staying with the KISS principle- gotta be careful or I'll complicate just about anything.

The only thing I don't like about the tank in the cab of my 52,is, on a hot day the cab smells on gas tank

If you put new rubber on the fill pipe and a new gasket on the sender it won't stink.

I'm 6'5" and believe me moving the tank made a big difference in leg room!

'swhat ya get for having a 50 Robert, the 57 has more legroom by nature but even with the tank there, the TF series seat back almost touches the cab back anyway, you could only gain noticeable room if the seatback was made to stand straighter, no more comfortable then bending the legs

Bill

I've never had a problem with legroom in any truck I've ver driven with the tank behind the seat, I'm just a smidge over 6'4" and around 300#.

If you do a search, using "tank" as a "subject line" search you will find this is a often debated topic here on the bolt.

Fact is there are legit reasons to move the tank, that is why many choose to put a tank in the rear of the frame.

But moving the tank is a personal thing. I moved mine for the room I gained behind the seat and I feel it is safer not having the tank in the cab. If you would like to see how I did it check out my build thread below.

Do whatever makes you happy, and that will be the right decision.

Good luck!

Put a new repro Jim Carter tank in my '46 3/4 ton AL. Seems well made and fit fine except that I had to cut a new round hole in the tray that the tank sits in to line up with the fitting in the bottom of the tank. Perhaps a difference between the 46 and the 41???

There have been so many postings in the past about the fittings on the repro tanks being wrong. Are they now putting correct fittings on the outlet?

I had the same experience as Ron Peterson with my "46 3600 as well.

Truckernix, what year are you inquiring about? Spectra Premium right there in Canada builds a tank that is exactly like OEM. I have bought about a dozen of them for different vehicles and they all fit like the original. I know they build them for all the models with tanks behind the seat. I'm not sure about the earlier ones.

My '48 already has the tank between the bed rails - factory!
And I am glad as I am 6'2"

crenwelge,
I didn't do a search and I don't need a tank but I remember postings about new tanks coming from the old truck suppliers that had some type of metric fittings that were hard to mach up. Thanks for the information though.

I’m on you side Bill and Ken. If I got hit I would rather have the tank protected just where it is. Tanks under the back or side of the bed in my opinion are prime targets for that driver that’s busy text messaging. I think if you got hit hard enough to get into the tank behind the seat that it would be to late to worry about dieing in a fire. Under the bed back? If you get hit in the (rear) end, which is where you get it from most of the time, the entire truck is going to be sitting in a pool of gasoline, back to front. Put it on the right side behind the frame and again a good chance it’s gonna get ruptured. A good smack will bend the frame and that’s all the protection it has. But up high in the cab, it’s protected by the frame and all the cab structure from the side, and there is a lot of crush available from the side.

BC, if you got a smelly cab you either have a leaky tank, bad gasket at the sender, sender screw seal washers missing, bad hose connections or the outer seal is leaking when you over fill the tank. There is absolutely no gas odor in my 1950, 3604 or any of the other trucks that I have worked on or been in that had the tank installed properly.

As fur as the original post, what to do if your original tank is on it’s last legs, just simply buy a new one and never have to worry about it as long as you live. They are really priced quite reasonably and a small investment next to the overall cost of a restoration.

Robert, you aren’t Raymond’s brother are you?? You could also leave your boots off or let your wife chauffer you around, unless she’s 6’4”. Just pullin’ your leg buddy, big and tall are at a disadvantage in these trucks. Good thing that you dint pick an Art Deco.

But Longbox Bill, we all know how bullheaded you are, you’d probably figure out a way to squeeze into a Crosley.

Yep Ken, couldn’t agree with you more. Spectra Premium is the absolute best, tank and fits perfect. Some of you might remember the ’50 I helped a friend with last year. And yes Fred, we had to send the tank back to the vendor because the neck and outlets were wrong. Ended up getting a Spectra Premium and couldn’t have been happier with it.

Denny Graham
Sandwich, IL

As you can see there are many thoughts on moving the gas tank, but in the end it's what you feel best about that matters.
I, myself, removed the in-cab tank on my 1950 3600 and installed an RCI fuel cell at the rear between the frame rails.
Here's a pic:
http://i671.photobucket.com/albums/...0%20Chevy%20Truck%20Project/05030001.jpg

If you are smelling gasoline in the cab,you have a problem.A problem that needs fixing,so a lot of guys move the tank to an under the bed location,while spending mega bucks for a new tank.Chances are that the original problem was nothing more than a loose hose fitting,or something that could have been fixed up very easy.And yeah if you get hit hard enough to rupture that in cab tank you are a gonner anyway.

Similar to the fuel cell option - Costs maybe around $100 in materials including a gas tank that'll fit in the back frame rails if you choose to do it this way. I usually use a chevy S10 blazer tank when switching tanks around on vehicles which require the tank moved from original location. $50 at the junk yard if not less for a tank, clean it up and you're golden. Just remember the tank straps and build some metal hangers for it and you're done. Then you just decide which fuel pump you run etc. Easy enough. Of course when we do this, we generally put a new cross member across the rear of the frame and there are no problems in crashes. I know from experience. I was rearended by a guy doing 40mph or so and sandwiched between two cars in my little S10 truck. The frame didn't bend or buckle at the rear and the gas tank between the rear rails was fine. I never worried at all about being hit in the back honestly. Either way if you get hit hard enough for a gas tank to break in any location on your truck, then you have bigger things to worry about.

Hope its OK to ask a quick question. How many gallons does a stock tank on a 57 Chevy truck hold (behind the seat)?

capacities are in the shop manual and the operators manual .... 17 gallons for 55-59 tanks

Bill