adding another fuel tank?

[912504x4]

I have been looking for a way to add an extra fuel tank to my truck without using a tank on top of the flat bed. It had me thinking that maybe I could add another tank switch so that I could switch incab from one tank to another just like factory but have 3 tanks to choose from instead of 2.
I have removed the rear tank a long time ago in favor of a round saddle mount style tank from an old grain truck which is mounted to the passenger side frame behind the cab. I have been looking for a match for the drivers side with no luck so far.

What if I use both factory fuel tanks and control them with the factory tank switch but splice in a wye with a check valve so I can supply my engine from the round tank also?
I have the extra tank switch and most of the plastic lines from a donor truck so it wouldnt be like I was buying all the extra stuff. I would only need the wye and another dash mounted switch and wiring set.
What do you think? Can it be done? Should I get over it? Or find another round tank?
Thanks, Eric

 

[93turbo_animal]

sure it can be done but you don't need a Y yu just need another 6 port switcher and put it in line in front of the stock one on your truck then run tone set of lines to your 3rd tank and the other lines would go to your factory switcher valve I have a third tank in the bed of my truck and thats how I did it

 

[The Warden]

One other thought...I don't know how big of an issue ground clearance is, but there are larger tanks available that'll fit in the stock locations on a regular pickup (I'm not sure how the presence of your flatbed may or may not affect this, though). Transfer Flow sells a 40 gallon forward tank and a 45 gallon aft tank...or, you can follow the lead of a few others here and put a Bronco tank in. This would keep you from having to deal with the complexity of a third tank switch/valve in the cab, and would give you the extra capacity...or, you can add these two to the third tank you already have.

Another thought would be to set it up so that one tank fills one of the others...IIRC, Travis did this with the Enterprise. I think he had an in-bed tank, that he set up to automatically fill the forward factory tank as that tank got low...

Just some ideas...good luck!

 

[argve]

actually I had my in bed tank set up just like a factory tank... It did not fill any tank - none of my tanks filled each other for safety reasons - don't need to be rolling down the road and overfill a tank...

Now what I did was just like what the original poster was asking about... My third tank acted just like a factory tank in that I had a switch on the dash so that I could select between the factory fuel system and the Aux fuel system. I say "system" because that tank not only supplied fuel to the engine it also had the return plumbed in as well (just like another OEM tank just it was slightly bigger).

As Aric mentioned all you need to do is plumb in ANOTHER 6 port switching valve but do so between the FACTORY valve and the engine. That means you'll be cutting both lines (supply and return). Then when you select the aux tank the fuel will be pulled from there for the engine to run and the excess fuel will be returned to that same tank. Then when you want to run on the OEM fuel tanks you just flip the switch then the OEM fuel tank selector becomes used to select between the forward OEM tank and the rear OEM tank.

Now when I plumbed mine up I did it in such a way so that my AUX IN BED tank was the DEFAULT tank meaning that if there was NO POWER applied to the AUX 6 port switching valve the fuel would be pulled from and returned to the AUX tank. My reasoning behind this was simple... My Aux tank was 119 gallons and my stock tanks were 19 gallons each so that means I would spend more time on the AUX tank than compared to the stock tanks - this way my switching valve solenoid would only be energized when I was pulling from the SMALLER TANKS in the hopes of making it last longer.

I got my valve from Napa it was a solenoid type not a MOTOR type - it worked fine but looking back I think I would have liked to of gotten the motor type because they are a little less prone to failure over the long run.

Now I just cut the plastic lines then slipped rubber fuel line over them and used 2 hose clamps, I did not go wild with the torque on them because I did not want to crush the plastic line - reason for using 2 hose clamps is because I wanted to ensure that I would not rip it off causing a loss of fuel while motoring my fat happy butt down the highway.

I did not have a fuel sender on the big tank I just drove by the trip odometer and used a stick that I marked with gallon marks - worked out pretty well. Was planning on someday adding in actual sender and gauge head but never got around to it.

 

[The Warden]

actually I had my in bed tank set up just like a factory tank... It did not fill any tank - none of my tanks filled each other for safety reasons - don't need to be rolling down the road and overfill a tank...

Oh, my mistake...who did, then? I would have sworn in court that SOMEONE had an in-bed tank set up to fill one of the factory tanks...

 

[argve]

I remember someone did that - can't remember who either... it was one of the guys over on STD.