Has anyone attempted to use an aftermarket underbed fuel tank with a side fill? I saw one at a car show that poked out just behind the driver rear fender. I didn't have a chance to talk to the owner tho. I'm just trying to avoid a filler in the bed, I don't want to have to take things out of the bed to fill the tank... Any thoughts? Andy
My son wants to try and use the original location but have it plumbed to a under the truck mounted tank. He wants to keep the look but wants the safety of having the tank out of the cab - so I'll be interested in the responses as well. Larry R
Original under bed tank I don't know about aftermarket tanks, but my '48 has it's tank under the bed with the filler out the side wall. See the attached:
This is an often dicussed subject so just for the heck of it I made a reasonably close factory repro tank using only tools found in most hobbiests shops. Second picture is of the tools used. A 3/4 pipe with a washer under each end was tacked to the table to provide radiused bends. A piece of 18 gauge cold roll 24" wide by 50" long is bent every foot along the 50" length to give a one foot square cylinder with a 2" overlap for welding. Two 13" square pieces are cut and bent 90 degrees 1/2" in from each edge to give a one foot square for each end piece. The final tank is 12x12x24 and holds a bit more than the factory 47-48 tank. Before welding up a pickup tube is mounted in the very middle of the front end panel, just like the factory. I left a flare fitting on the end of the pickup tube before tacking to the bottom of the tank to keep the end off the very bottom and avoid picking up debri. A sending unit hole is cut in the top with a hole saw and frame brackets are made with angle iron and heavy duty pipe hanging strap. One picture shows a 48 pickup that has the factory underbed tank. I know not every home shop is equipped with a welder but maybe one could use some of this to do a lot of the cutting, bending, and fitting or even show a sheet metal shop what you need and then have welded. I'm sure it would be under $100 compared to $350 or so for an aftermarket, it's safer, and it leaves the bed and spare tire area unfringed upon.
As Usual , Evan has the good answer thanx for the clear pix Evan , I'm sure this will help lots of folks . FWIW , all you should know to avoid re-pop fuel tanks at all costs as they always leak at the pinchwelds and are thin like tinfoil to boot ~ not overly safe .
