twin fuel tanks in my 98 Rodeo??

[wbski007]

by the by, I was thinking of installing a 2nd fuel tank in my 98 Rodeo,and I was wondering if any of you m8s has done this before,it has a left side fuel tank now,which I,m leaving,I moved my spare tire up top as it used to be underneath between the frame in the rear,I was in the u-pull it yard and seen a 95 Rodeo with the gas tank in the rear where my spare used to be so that gave me the idea to get it and mount it in my 98 so I'll have two tanks, which will come in handy when I go out west. My 98 has the filler on the left and the 95 was on the right so if I take the hole shabang off the 95 it should work out perfect? I was also thinking of running a 1/2 " line between the two so they run together,that way I don't need any switching valves and I can use my stock fuel gauge,it sure sounds like a plan to me,what do you chaps think?? good idea or no.
Wayne

[geeves]

With the diesel you already have a range close to 500 miles Do you need the extra tank?
Otherwise it sounds like a good idea

[mulover]

Good idea, just put a one way valve in the line going from the bottom of the second tank into the bottom of the original tank so the fuel can't run back into the rear tank when your going up hills.
Also to save having to put in a second filler point, just put a 1.5 or 2" hose between the 2 tanks near the top.
You will pretty much fill the main tank, then it will run into the rear tank.
One thing to watch, depending on where the breather is, if you go down a steep hill with the tanks full, you could get fuel running out. you may have to extend the breathers up a bit higher.

[wbski007]

Geeves , I plan on doing alot of traveling all over the western United States with my Rodeo and camper, we can buy what is called off road or farm diesel over here, there is no tax on it so its about 50cts a gal cheaper than regular diesel, the only catch is your not supposed to use it on the road, but being the no good criminal that I am I buy it and use it on road when I can. I kinda think the state and my goverment is getting enough taxes from me anyway.
Sooooo to answer your ? these off road stations can be few and far between, so when I do find one I like to be a compleat pig and get as much as I can. But promise not to tell anybody what I'm doing with the off road fuel thing,kinda keep it under your hat, OK? Thanks
Cheers, Wayne

[wbski007]

Mulover,I won't mind filling each tank seperately and as for the crossover I think I'll use a 3/8 in line to run from the bottom of each tank so I won't have to worry about it running in back into the rear tank to fast pulling hills. what'ya think?
Cheers,Wayne

[geeves]

In England the non road diesel is dyed with a permanant red pigment so if you ever put it in the tank everything turns red and you will never pass anouther mechanical inspection

[wbski007]

Ours is dyed also but not permanant after a few tanks of regular diesel it goes away, we have no mechanical inspections here in Florida, no vehicle inspections of any kind, they did away with them about 7 years ago, so I don't have to worry about that, as for out on the road they do spot check commerical vehicles at some scale houses but never passenger vehicles,so if you don't tell I'll be OK

[Demonic]

I feel a bribe coming on

[wbski007]

and here I thought Andrew would be one of the ones I could trust,boy you just never know
I wonder how many more are out there I'm going to have to pay off to keep quiet???

[Demonic]

Ill settle for a dozen beers

Have you thought of 2 seperate tanks? with seperate fillers and a reserve switch? Drive as far as you can on 1 tank then swap to the other tank and head home.

[geeves]

Id prefer to stick with the simple pipe at the top and bottom and nothing else to go wrong even though a proper main/reserve switch is technicaly better. The top pipe is just a breather and can be any reasonable size but the lower pipe needs to be big enough to take the flow from the service station pump or you will never completely fill it even with 2 filler points as the fuel will flow out of the first tank into the second while you are filling the second so then the first tank is less than full

[wbski007]

Andrew, The problem with two separate tanks with a reserve switch is there is a hell of alot more plumbing, you have to have two fuel gauges,two sets of fuel lines and returns, and some way to switch from one to the other,wow lots of work.
I agree Geeves, Andrews way is the best,but this is alot simpler, and it should work, If I run just a 3/8 in line between the two tanks,it should be enough to let my engine feed off both tanks,but not run fast enough that I can't fill the second tank to the top.

[mulover]

just have a 1 - 1.5" breather line, it will then fill up one tank while slowly filling the other untill it gets to the breather pipe, then it will fill the second tank up to the same level.

[98Rodeo]

bit of a grave dig - is there an easy way to join the tanks so it will flow properly between them? where does the pipe join from? do you have to weld one onto the bottom of the tanks?
I am planning to put another tank in my Rodeo(Aus) at the moment there is a 62L on the right hand side, the exhaust is being re-routed and im plaaning on putting another standard tank on the other side. thoughts?

[wbski007]

here's how I did mine, orignally I ran the two tanks together which worked fine but then I separated them and went to a electric switch that would allow me to use each tank separatly, the reason being I changed things around and wanted one for just diesel and the other for my vegtable oil but when I did have them running together I drilled a hole in the bottom of each tank and threaded it and ran brass fittings with teflon tape on the threads, then used 1/2" hose between the two tanks, this worked well and did not leak, I drew off the rear tank so when pulling hills with low fuel it would still draw OK. Also when I had them running together I turned the 95 rear tank around so the filler was on the drivers side or left side the same as my 98 tank then I cut my origanil 98 filler hose and put a plastic 1 1/2" tee I got at the plumming store and hooked in the filler of the second tank so I could fill them off the origanil fill, this also worked fine untill both tanks got close to full then you had to go it slow till they were compleatly full, no big deal. All told between the two tanks I carry 45 gallons, about 40 useable. Now with the 55 gallon tank I use to pick up my vegatable oil up in up top and the twin tanks below I can carry about 90 usable gallons, pulling my caravan I can go about 4000 miles before refueling.

[lotusfrontera]

Nice job there Wayne . I have a twin tank system on mine. The extra one is solely for veg oil, so I use a pump and changeover valves to stop contamination. Oh and I`ve wired it up to dash fuel gauge so when I swop over it reads whats in other tank .
You must have bigger fuel tanks over there Here in England early Frontera held 80 litres with tank after back axle, and later Frontera with tank under passenger seat held 75 litres

[pig75]

You must have bigger fuel tanks over there Here in England early Frontera held 80 litres with tank after back axle, and later Frontera with tank under passenger seat held 75 litres

This is why the metric system is so much better
80 liter =
U.S. Liquid Measure gallon = 21.1337629827348
U.S. Dry Measure gallon = 18.1616587406161
British Imperial Liquid And Dry gallon = 17.5975050257375

[wbski007]

this is my change over valve, I have a switch on the dash to change from one tank to the other, I tried to hook up a separate fuel gauge for the rear tank I installed but it seams the sending unit was bad, so I used the fitting on the bottom of the tank and ran a clear plastic line up to and into the top of the tank and use it as a sight guage so I know how much is in it, works OK, not as good as a dash guage tho.

[lotusfrontera]

Like you say Wayne at least it works