How are you guys with rear mount tanks bolting your bed on.??
 

Just put in my new rear tank (from Tanks Inc) and noticed its going to be hard to get at the nuts for the bed for the second from the back row.

What do other people do.?

I'm thinking I'll have to drill extra holes in the bottom of the frame rails, large enough to get a socket through.?

Seems like a simple enough solution, other than the frame is starting to look like Swiss cheese with so many holes for this and that.

I've attached a few pics to show what I mean, and I might wait for a few replies before I do anything.

The black marks on the frame are where the bed supports lay.

Re: How are you guys with rear mount tanks bolting your bed on.??
 

I had the same issue on my 71, and wound up drilling a hole on in each frame rail, to just fit the thinnest socket I could find through and it works great, the previous owner had the tank conversion done, and had payed good money for it, when we began working on it we discovered the bed bolts in that position didn't have any nuts on the bottom, they were just dangling loose.we used a step bit and drilled just enough to get it done. I also welded a piece of flat plate, between the bolt heads that secure the the tank flange to the frame on each side, that way I was able to place the tank bolts in the frame first and and raise the tank into place, and not knock the bolts out or have them spin while I was trying to tighten them, it makes tank removal and installation a breeze, and with the access holes for the bed bolts, we can remove or install the bed without touching the tank

Thanks Tallone.!! That sounds good. Your method might even let you take the tank down without lifting the bed too.? I hadn’t thought of that. Just figured bed would have to be lifted to service the tank (not that it should require any servicing).

So ya I think I’ll drill holes in the bottom of the frame rail to fit a socket unless anyone else has any smart ideas.
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Re: How are you guys with rear mount tanks bolting your bed on.??
 

I will have to lower my tank if I ever want to remove the bed. I used special studs for mounting the tank, so dropping the tank is fairly easy. I've already had to do it a couple of times while chasing down leaks. The studs can be seen in post #4 in this thread.

https://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/...d.php?t=828999

Re: How are you guys with rear mount tanks bolting your bed on.??
 

I wanted to use stainless bolts so I used the double nut AKA jam nut method. If you aren't familiar this is how it works:

1. Buy bolts long enough to allow you to install three nuts below the tank.
2. Jack/lift the Tank up and install the first nut as high as possible by hand.
3. Install two more nuts onto the bottom of the bolt and lock/jam them together by tightening them against each other.
4. Hold the center nut with a wrench and tighten the top nut.

Jamming the two bottom nuts together allows you to use the center nut to keep the bolt from spinning. No need to access the top of the bolt.

This same technique used to install carb & exhaust studs.

Re: How are you guys with rear mount tanks bolting your bed on.??
 

I have yet to install my Boyds tank but my plan is to use a unibit to drill a hole big enough for a socket so I can secure the bed with the tank in place.

For mounting the tank itself I've seen various solutions including the welded nut plates that Boyds sells but in my opinion the frame rails are made of thick enough material that they can simply be tapped for threads. 20 gallons of gasoline plus the weight of the tank weighs less than 200 pounds. This divided by six 3/8" bolts is nothing to worry about.

Re: How are you guys with rear mount tanks bolting your bed on.??
 

Well I had one of the kids reach in a start it for me. Then I used my ratchet wrench to tighten it up.

Thanks guys. All good ideas. Rivnuts might also work for the tank, but I’m more interested in how to get to the bed bolts.

Also locating the hole for the bed fill will be interesting. Not complicated, but kind of awkward to get it right.
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I like this idea. Got to put those kids to work.!!
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Re: How are you guys with rear mount tanks bolting your bed on.??
 

yes its super easy to remove the tank or lift the bed off , without either one affecting the other,i like the idea Big kev-o used for the bolts, it works very well, I have used it many times at work. I was teaching my youngest son how to weld, and him welding up those plates really made him feel like a million bucks..it was something easy and non structural for him to start with, maybe a bit overkill, but it really works good...lots of great ideas , and information on this forum!! :chevy:

Re: How are you guys with rear mount tanks bolting your bed on.??
 

I mocked up without the bed, but then dropped tank, put on bed, then put tank back in. I have done 1 or 2 where i never had the bed off to install the tank.

That makes sense. No extra holes.
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Re: How are you guys with rear mount tanks bolting your bed on.??
 

I just left those two bolts "un-nutted." I cut most of the shaft off and took some Gorilla glue and glued the tops of the bolts down to the bed in their holes before painting the bed. The bed has six other bolts holding it on, so I'm not worried about it coming loose. Although I do not haul anything of substantial weight or worth in my bed either.

I don’t think you are alone in this. This is stuff I didn’t think of when going to a rear tank (but like the leg room of having tank out of the cab - and my long bed saddle tank no longer fits my short bed). But easy enough fixed, by a variety of methods, as we see here.
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Re: How are you guys with rear mount tanks bolting your bed on.??
 

I could not get the nut started without a second elbow so I got my wife to start the nuts and then I could tighten them up. May be a bear if I want to take it off on the future, figure I’ll drop the tank and then tackle it.

Re: How are you guys with rear mount tanks bolting your bed on.??
 

hey Guys, just updating this post to show how I bolted my bed on after adding my rear tank.

I ended up buying really long bolts then drilling a hole in the bottom of the frame rail big enough to get a socket inside. Then I got a super deep socket from Amazon.

Here are some pics:

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Re: How are you guys with rear mount tanks bolting your bed on.??
 

Pictures didn't spin around the right way...I hate that....

Re: How are you guys with rear mount tanks bolting your bed on.??
 

My tank from P.O.L came with two strips of steel, that had nuts welded to the strips already.
I used black silicone to hold the strips in place, inside the frame rails, and ran the bolts in from the bottom. Once the silicone dried, I dropped the tank again, and attached the box wood. (I have the hidden bolts, so EVERYTHING is under the bed.) Then, I just raised the tank up again, and bolted it up.
Makes it easier to drop the tank too, so hooking up the pump, fuel lines, and vent tubing, was easy.

Re: How are you guys with rear mount tanks bolting your bed on.??
 

That is smart..!!

It's interesting how some of the parts have slowly evolved even over the time I've owned mine (bought 2014).

That strip with threaded holes would be something pretty easy for me to make if I did it again. Cool that POL thought of it.

I really like my tank from "Tanks". It does not hang down too far and the rear of the tank slants up a bit so that the tank is not visible from behind. It's a bit small but more frequent fill ups keep the gas fresh.

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Re: How are you guys with rear mount tanks bolting your bed on.??
 

There's some great info & ideas within this thread.