40 Gal suburban Gas Tank into 71 4x4 truck install.

[Davemotohead]

Hi,,Have not been here for a while,,I have completed my conversion to a 1985 40 gal suburban gas tank mounted under the rear bed of a 71 4x4 long bed truck,,it turned out very nice and works great!

[Davemotohead]

Here are some video's (If I do this right?) How do you embed video's on this forum so they pop up in the post?

http://youtu.be/tbpNkkv7HoI

http://youtu.be/2e-J_0_djjE

[Davemotohead]

Some more pics.

[nbrfd007]

Looks Really good!!

[budman k20]

Dave I watched your videos and that looks like a nice conversion for us 4x4 guys. Were you able to route the filler pipe without modifying the inside of the box? Thanks for sharing!
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[Davemotohead]

YES! I modifide the Gas Cap filler pipe from an angle to straight and had to shorten it,,I had to make a new hinge for the door so it would clear the inner wall of the bed and close properly as the stock set up would hit,,it is a very tight sqeeze but it worked fine,,I will build a surround around the gas cap area to look more Stockish,,The Tank is in backwards from where it was in the suburban as that is the only way the filler pipe would line up between the bed rails and that makes the gas door on the drivers side instead of the pass side.

[Davemotohead]

Few More.

[Davemotohead]

The Truck will need the extra gas as it has a built 396 under the hood!

[nitrosport_5]

Dave, looks great. I will have to refer to this when i go to do mine! THe one thing i was wondering is what to do for the fuel lines? I was also thinking about making the rear market light into the filler, but the idea of the gas door in the side of the bed has grown on me!

[special-K]

I'm glad to see you've done this. And,a great job at that! So,no moving anything on the frame? I have the 40 gal. from my '91 Suburban I was thinking about fitting into my '72 K2500...and lose the saddle tanks.

[Davemotohead]

I used the fuel lines from the suburban and modifide them at the rear for easyer access in hooking them up,,also there is Cross member mods needed,,I blasted the rivots out of the stock spare tire cross members with a plasma cutter and took the tank cross members from the suburban and installed them. The video I made has better details

[ericjon262]

ok, I know this is an old thread...

how close is the tank to the rear axle? any interference possibility?

Thanks-

Eric

[newstedcomeback]

This is awesome! what year did you get the tank from? did you have to modify the frame to make it fit? Im very interested in doing this to my 71.

[Nitis]

I watched the video and I'm pretty sure he got the tank from a blazer not a suburban so I question the actual capacity of the tank.

40 would be sweet

[DarkFlounder]

Originally Posted by Nitis

I watched the video and I'm pretty sure he got the tank from a blazer not a suburban so I question the actual capacity of the tank.

40 would be sweet

Definitely a Suburban. You can see the four doors in many shots.

[SS Tim]

Something that needs to be noted is the 40 gallon tank was optional.

If we look at his donor year, 1985, there were three Suburban tanks offered.
25 gallon standard production
31 gallon optional, RPO NK7
40 gallon optional, RPO NE2

[DarkFlounder]

Sweet catch! Thanks for the info.

Any idea if the crossmembers are identical across the three sizes of tank? Truck Shop has repro 40gal tanks and straps, all that would have to be removed from a donor vehicle (Pick n Pull) would be the crossmembers.

[Keith Seymore]

Originally Posted by DarkFlounder

Sweet catch! Thanks for the info.

Any idea if the crossmembers are identical across the three sizes of tank? Truck Shop has repro 40gal tanks and straps, all that would have to be removed from a donor vehicle (Pick n Pull) would be the crossmembers.

I believe the crossmembers were the same and were simply positioned in different holes in the frame rails based on fuel tank size.

Not 100% sure but pretty sure.

The LMC catalog has the overall dimensions for the various fuel tank sizes in the squarebody section, if anyone cares to doublecheck.

K

[DarkFlounder]

Originally Posted by Keith Seymore

I believe the crossmembers were the same and were simply positioned in different holes in the frame rails based on fuel tank size.

Not 100% sure but pretty sure.

The LMC catalog has the overall dimensions for the various fuel tank sizes in the squarebody section, if anyone cares to doublecheck.

K

Thanks, Keith. Looks like I might be spending some weekends in local Pick n Pulls (not a bad way to spend a nice day, IMHO).

[SS Tim]

Good question and one I can't help with. PM'd Kieth Seymore on this one.... :-)

[57taskforce]

My dad has a 40 gallon diesel suburban tank for his 72 k/20 not sure how he put it in I'll have to check.

[truckster]

I have a 31 gallon Blazer tank I plan to put in my 72 Blazer. Thanks for writing this up.

[snj8198]

Does anybody know of a drop-in EFI sending unit for these 40 gal tanks? A high pressure unit for multiport?

What about ohm reading compatibility?

[57taskforce]

Originally Posted by snj8198

Does anybody know of a drop-in EFI sending unit for these 40 gal tanks? A high pressure unit for multiport?

What about ohm reading compatibility?

Don't know about a high pressure in tank unit but you could always use an external pump and a standard sending unit I would think.

[snj8198]

Originally Posted by 57taskforce

Don't know about a high pressure in tank unit but you could always use an external pump and a standard sending unit I would think.

yep, and that's what I'm trying to get away from.