stock gas tank and saftey???

[firsttry1971]

hey so i found new front fenders from a guy in perfect condition for free and i also got a perfect tank with a new sending unit my original plans was to move the tank but since this one is free and in great condition i want to use it but my dad wont let me because he thinks it is to big of a saftey issue. even though he aint helping me with this truck much lol any ways how dangerouse are those things??

[cdowns]

tthe safty issue is a far ranging old wives tail ,a myth,fiction made up by a bunch of nervous nellies that have nothing better to do than make up tall tails

[hayhauler71]

A friend of mine had one of these trucks and was a smoker and his tank leaked and allways smelled of fuel in the cab and he's still living.

[fine69]

Originally Posted by cdowns

tthe safty issue is a far ranging old wives tail ,a myth,fiction made up by a bunch of nervous nellies that have nothing better to do than make up tall tails

I agree 100% with this. Makes no difference. If your going to die, your going to die. Ain't no stopping it.

[rsavage]

I grew up in the 60's and 70's and can not ever remember someone's truck with an in-cab tank exploding due to an accident. The side mounted tanks were supposed to be unsafe in a side impact but it was mostly BS promulgated by the mainstream media. As I indicated in another post, one of the "news" shows, Dateline NBC in 1992 were found to have rigged their tests with explosive charges so that they would get the results they wanted. GM sued, proved that they had rigged the tests and NBC apologized. Guess not much has changed with NBC, huh? Convince your Dad to leave the tank where it is supposed to be. You can change tank locations but that doesn't insure that it will be safer, if for, example, a shock mount tears open an underbed tank on a rear end collision or a re-routed gas line gets chafed of melted on the exhaust. Heck, the pickup regular tank location isn't any worse that the Burb auxiliary tank I saw which was inside the truck with the second seat bolted to and on top of it.

[GR$$N$]

just tell your dad to remember that oem is the way its supposed to be...

[OhOneWS6]

The first thing I think of when people mount the tank in the rear is "Ford Pinto"

Facts can be twisted many ways to meet your opinion. I'd leave the tank where it is.

[firsttry1971]

hey thanks guys i should my dad all your postings and he finally agreed to let me after about a month of arguments lol thanks again

[mr48chev]

I don't see a real safety issue as long as you have everything in good shape and connected correctly. Some times you do get strong wiffs of gas smell when you are cruising with the window down though.

The best thing about moving the tank is that you get usable space behind the seat to store stuff. Good place to stick a couple of speakers or keep your tools hidden away.
Chevrolet had the tanks there from 1949 through 1972 and I don't remember ever hearing of one that blew up with the tank inside. Unless a fire had started because of another reason though as I have seen the results of a couple that had under dash fires that ended up catching the tank on fire. Pretty well extra crispy on those trucks.
As far as chances of fire in an accident, I think that you would have a bigger chance of fire in a new car or truck with fuel Injection and an electric fuel pump in or near the tank that didn't shut off in a wreck. That is why we see so many of these little late model front wheel drive cars burned up as when the fuel line gets cut in an accident the pump just keeps pumping unless the key is turned off.

[special-K]

It`s the safest place for it...fact.I can see how the thought of 21 gallons of gas inside and behind you would seem questionable...now that it`s been years and most aren`t used to the idea.But,the fact is it`s in the center of the truck surrounded by the toughest part of the body.Tanks under the body are subject to corrosion and bottoming out,both possibly contributing to rupture.

[suprachrgd82]

Maybe the safety issue is the individual installing the tank....I'm just sayin.....


Just kidding. You set it up.

[cparman]

Edit!Please,no politics.Besides,what does Ralph Nadar have to do with anything?He never denounced these tanks...Special-K
My Dad had a 67 swb, That I learned to drive when I was a kid. My dad was a cigar smoker, and me and him went every where in that truck. I was 13 or so and he would let me drive him all over the beach after work. Him, bourbon and water, lit cigar. Me 13 yr old kid who thought he was the S*(t. I see no problem like everyone else.

[surfink9]

Just before Christmas my friend's brother, sister, and father loaded up in the brother's 1968 GMC pick-up with an in-cab gas tank. They were headed to his mother's storage, as she had just passed away. While enroute, the brother hit a wet patch, spun out of control, and was T-boned by another vehicle. The in-cab gas tank was ruptured and flung gas on the brother, sister, and father. A spark ignited and caught all three occupants on fire. Witnesses said they were all screaming while on fire trying to open the doors. They all burned to death. After that, I tore my gas tank out of my truck and relocated it to the rear. This is a true story that happened to a friend of mine.

[Longhorn Man]

there is no place that is 100% safe.
The accident above is one bad outcome out of a billion accidents.
Something not mentioned in this thread is liability. If you relocate your tank, and it hurts someone else, then you are responsible for the outcome, and with the ambulance chasers out there these days, you can count on it.

[leddzepp]

It is all a matter of opinion....mount it where you want.

[big_al_71]

I rebuilt my truck completely and I did not find it necessary to move my gas tank at all. The only reason why I would move it is to gain some room but I chabged my mind so I left it as is.

[Stocker]

Originally Posted by special-K

It`s the safest place...

it`s in the center of the truck surrounded by the toughest part of the body.

Yes, to which I would add that you're more likely to be rear-ended, in which case a rear-mounted tank is more likely to rupture.

surfink9, sorry to hear of that accident, but as Andy said, it was a fluke.

I have never been concerned about my in-cab tank -- or for that matter, my saddle tanks. Maybe I just don't worry enough....

[oldblue1968chevy]

Im going to move it because id like the extra space behind the seat...

Its neat when a friends like wtf is that noise? 'My gas tank sloshing gas around'. 'See'. (NOT WHILE DRIVING LOL)

[FleetsidePaul]

You could always mount a tank on a trailer and tow it around

[Legolas894]

I did some quick searches on the web after I read Surfink9's sad and unfortunate post.

Almost all issues where crashes resulted in fuel tank leaks were in the 73-87 models (which were the subject of lawsuits and recalls). I could not find any recall notices for pre 1973 but did see some references that the safest place for the tank was inside of the frame members or the farthest from the front and rear in the center of the vehicle. The only thing I could find on our years trucks was that the filler neck extending past the vehicle body could result in the gas cap or fill neck being separated from the tank and causing fuel spills sometimes inside the cabs during roll-over or outside during collisions.

Most collisions are caused by people driving too fast for conditions or not paying attention to their surroundings. Our trucks don't have ABS, air bags, side curtain air bags, shoulder belts (sometimes). They are what they are.

I know when I drive my truck (manual transmission, manual brakes, manual steering) I worry more about being able to stop or steer clear of others so I drive much more cautiously then when I'm driving my "modern" vehicles that stop on a fime and have ABS and airbags.
Just my two cents.

[67ChevyRedneck]

I moved mine because I wanted to. I drove the truck for almost 10 years with it behind the seat and was never concered with it being a safety issue. I like the extra room behind the seats, I have speakers back there now.

My dad made me install 3 point belts before he would let me drive it. Thanks dad.

[OhOneWS6]

Originally Posted by surfink9

Just before Christmas my friend's brother, sister, and father loaded up in the brother's 1968 GMC pick-up with an in-cab gas tank. They were headed to his mother's storage, as she had just passed away. While enroute, the brother hit a wet patch, spun out of control, and was T-boned by another vehicle. The in-cab gas tank was ruptured and flung gas on the brother, sister, and father. A spark ignited and caught all three occupants on fire. Witnesses said they were all screaming while on fire trying to open the doors. They all burned to death. After that, I tore my gas tank out of my truck and relocated it to the rear. This is a true story that happened to a friend of mine.

Terrible story. Condolences for the family. Where did this happen?

[dan42]

It's not a safety issue. It's an odor issue and a room for speakers/etc issue. It's not a more room for your legs issue, because there isn't any. I have been going back and forth on this for quite some time, because I am in the process of re-doing the wood in my bed, and now would be the time to relocate it, while the bed's off. But I don't feel compelled to move it for safety. An example of an accident that is rarely your fault is when you get rear-ended, and the rear-mounted tanks are more vulnerable to damage, especially since they were not designed as an integral part of the original truck. If you get T-boned in one of these trucks, chances are you are going to have more to worry about than the gas tank blowing up.

[67ChevyRedneck]

Blazer/burb/truck frames are similar and if you use a blazer/burb tank in a truck, it's kind of like doing what the factory did. On my truck I have a crossmember and a steel bumper between the back of my truck and the back of the blazer/burb tank. It would have to be one hell of a hit to reach my tank. My truck was actually already rear ended once and the guy was almost stopped, I would guess he hit me at 10-15mph, and I just had to put on a new rear bumper.

A rear mounted tank shouldn't be any more of an issue than the in cab tank, unless you have a roll pan, but that's less safe anyway, because now the bed is more likely to get shoved into the back of the cab if it's hit hard enough.

[Longhorn Man]

a stock height truck at a stop, gets rear ended, from a car doing more than 25 - 30, the car will go UNDER the truck. I have been in 2 accidents like this.