saddle tanks

[wolfthing2000]

I was wondering if the saddle tanks that we see so much on the long beds, with the square aluminum doors, were a factory option or dealer or strictly aftermarket ????
Dave

[wolfthing2000]

ttt

[cableguy0]

im pretty sure most of em with the camper doors were dealer installed. the hole were cut in my bedsides with a torch it looked like not a very clean cut

[BobS]

The aluminum doors are either dealer installed or aftermarket. The factory tank fills through a filler in the side of the box at the same height as the in-cab tank. Factory auxilliary tanks are driver side only.

Bob

[ddsmith]

Originally Posted by BobS

Factory auxilliary tanks are driver side only.
Bob

I don't think that is true. I have a 69 C20 custom camper that has three tanks factory installed. The one behind the seat and two saddles that fill through filler necks on both sides of the bed. They didn't get good gas mileage back then either. I guess if you were going into the middle of nowhere, extra gas was a must.

[jtminton]

Wow. Do you have a three way valve instead of a two?

[ddsmith]

Yes,
The thing has a right aux, left aux, and main position. It also has a off position. Problem with this setup is that only the main tank has a gas level sender. It's fun driving down the road and having one of the aux tanks run out of gas especially with an eighteen wheeler up your butt. It takes a few seconds to get gas back to the carb. Even longer if I accidently select off versus the main position. You can't see the selector so it's a memory thing and mine sometimes deserts me.

[jtminton]

How big is your 3rd aux tank?

[BobS]

The factory setup will have a switch on the dash to left of the instrument panel that selects the sending unit from either the in-cab or auxilliary tank.

ddsmith, do you have filler necks with gas caps sticking through the side of the box or the aluminum doors? The aluminum doors are pretty common, I've never seen a stock filler neck on the passenger side of the box but I guess anything is possible. My guess is that it is a dealer-installed setup.

Bob

[miket]

My 71 has three tanks...two saddles and the one behind the seat...I approximate the two saddles to be 20 gallons each or more. I have a three way valve under my drivers side seat and a three way gauge switch on the dash with a nice little label under it. Even though I don't like them, it does make it a bit easier to get around the corner with my 502.

[ddsmith]

The fillers on my aux tanks come up through the front left and right corners of the bed and then out the bed sides up at about the same level as the normal tank filler neck. I'm pretty sure it's a factory setup. Both aux tanks are about 18 gallons each. They are basically mirror image of each other. Mine does not have sending unit in the aux tanks. Maybe by 71 they decided sending units in each tank was a good thing which could explain why MikeT has a switch to select sending units. My truck is a 69. Isn't it interesting all the little thing they did back then. That was back when somebody said we need more gas capacity and they just did it.

[miket]

Here is a few pics....more on my site of course.

[BobS]

Is the option listed on the glove box sticker? I was going to do the same basic thing that you have, I've got all the parts except for the extra (passenger side) tank. My plan is to weld together a tank that is a mirror image of the driver side tank to go on the passenger side. My only hesitation was that it wouldn't look original. If we can document that this was available from the factory it would be great. The factory literature that I've seen only shows the one driver side tank or a blazer-type tank setup in the rear. I've never seen the rear auxilliary tank in the real world, has anyone else?

Bob

[BobS]

miket,

That's either a dealer-installed or aftermarket setup. Does it say "Travel Tanks" at the top of the sticker? They are the company that supplied a lot of the auxilliary fuel tanks setups I've seen. It wouldn't surprise me if they supplied GM with the factory installed tanks either, they are very similar. The factory setups I've seen have a two-postion rotary switch with a sticker above the switch. The plastic piece that fits under the tank switch is identical on the factory setup except that the "right" position lettering is missing.

Bob

[miket]

Bob,

I don't think it was----but with a disclaimer--I don't know for sure.

[ddsmith]

Well here is my pictures. Maybe they are not factory installed, at least I don't see anything on the sticker that identifies they are factory equipment. I was told by a high posting member that the fillers at the top of the besides meant the factory installed them.