After almost two years of indecision and procrastination I finally decided on using a 82-91 Suburban/Blazer/Jimmy 25 gallon fuel tank and placing the filler neck on the inside of bed wall.
The specs on the tank say it's 28" x 28" x 11", the perfect size to fit between the frame rails, and it's plastic, and it's 170 bucks!
MTS 2225A Plastic Fuel / Gas Tank for 1982-1991 Full Size Chevy Blazer and Suburban 25 gallon tank at Gas Tank Depot.com

You can get a 31 gal. tank that is 2" taller with the same footprint for $200.
MTS 2231A Plastic Fuel / Gas Tank for 1982-1991 Full Size Chevy Blazer and Suburban 31 gallon tank at Gas Tank Depot.com

I decided to go with the shorter tank just because I don't want to see the extra 2" hanging down.




The tank I got was less that 27" x 27" and a little over 12" to the top of the filler neck.


I also got a GM sending unit for the tank. Oops.



GM sending units are reversed.




Oopsy, I had to cut the sending unit off and flip it upside down.




It reads full and empty correctly, but 2/3rds on the sending unit float shows 1/3rd on the gauge.


FAIL! I really need to find a Ford sending unit that will fit the tank.


End of part 1.

 

Looks promising. Interested in seeing how this turns out.
I have contemplated many times whether or not I would like to get rid of the in-cab gas tank.
Nice to see you are doing it correctly and taking your time. Good luck with the project!

 

I got all the parts I need to connect the filler to the tank. All of the filler connections will be 1.75".





I found this little guy on ebay.



I think it's for a motorcycle tank?






I needed to turn down the neck to 1.75" so I can clamp the hose to it.



I added some grooves so the hose can bite into the neck.


I had to cut a little bit of the flange off to fit on the step on the inside of the bed.


Not done yet.

 

I am interested to see how this turns out. Keep it up.

 

Here's where the filler neck will go. About 10-3/4" back from the rear stake pocket.


The cordless drill just fits!


Drilled a 3/8" for the stud on the 3/4" hole punch that was big enough for the 3/4" stud on the 1-3/4" hole punch.


It fits! The better way to do this would be to make a little angle plate to mount the filler neck.....but I didn't think of that soon enough.


Gas nozzle test fixture.



It was a balmy 24° when I removed the bed.


I had to remove the crossmember and the angle iron.


Grind all of the rivets off and beat the crap out of them.


Done! Time to go back into the heated shop.


I used some 5" channel for the two new crossmembers.



The tank fit so well I didn't need to cut the little flanges off where the old crossmember mounted to the frame rails.


This should clear the bottom of the bed...fingers crossed.


I'll get more pics and measurments, but it looks like I will have about 2" of clearance between the diff. cover and the new crossmember.


That's it for now.




I hope to get a little more work done on it this weekend. I have a lot to do before I put the bed back on, I need to remove one of the shackle hangers due to rot, add air bags, a tank and compressor, finish the brake lines...

 

Thanks, I almost gave up on the idea of a rear tank and was just about ready to put my tank back in thew cab.
Thanks Greg!

Nite nite.

 

Did a similar build and moved crossmember forward and boxed the back for fuel tank. My buddy and I built a aluminum tank about 41gallons. Fabbed in a gage and electric pump for fast fuel injection. Gage was from autofab racing for the desert race trucks every thing is about done and truck runs great. You have a nice truck! very clean!

 

Since your a fab guy! Ever look into installing a 2011 newer set of leaf springs. 66.5" long leafs and the ride is way better! have a set on my 70 crew 4wd. used Oem 3/4 super dutys in the beginning. now just recently installed Carli suspension deavers 3.5 on my crew. got to make few modifications to get perfect ride height and no blocks on axle. Just trying to help you spend your money and use up more free time!

 

That's an awesome truck you have there. Shop looks bada$$ too!
Sort of an off topic question. What bolts are you using for your axle flange? Mine are beat up from someone using a wrench or the wrong socket or something.

 

Nice Job, I wonder if a 78 or 79 Bronco Sending unit would work?

 

How about a 97-03 F series sender unit? It bolts to the side of a fuel pump/hanger assembly. I took F75Z9A299HA as an example. It fits 99-01 Super Cab 139"W.B midship 24.5 gallon tank. Depth not listed though. I tried doing a Bing illustration search and came up with a pic of a Dorman assembly. You can see the sender mounted to the side of it. 2 screws.

 

Since it's plastic, you could use a universal kinda sender. They come in 11" height:
http://www.summitracing.com/parts/su...81-1/overview/

(won't let me upload the pic)

I just bought one for my race car fuel cell I'm building(out of alum).

Since you have a large hole to get into the center anyhow, just drill a hole and insert this in the corner where there is that sunked spot. I welded a 1/4" plate inside my tank and just drill/tapped for the screws. It needs about 1" above the mounting surface to clear the connections.

They have the swing arm versions also:
http://www.summitracing.com/parts/vdo-226008/overview/

 

Thank you sir!

I'm such a n00b about these trucks. I don't know what I don't know and I just got those Skyjacker rear leafs...they have zero miles on them.
Trust me, I need no help spending money and wasting time.


Thanks man! The axle bolts are just grade 8. I don't have any lock washers on them yet because I want to put a couple hundred miles on the truck and then adjust the wheel bearings.

Thanks, the Bronco unit looks like a possible candidate.





I could just rob the sending unit off the one for the Bronco......hummm, this might work.
Those are for GM gauges, they read 90 ohms full and 0 ohms empty. The Ford sending units are ~8 ohms full and ~70 ohms empty, that's what I need.

I'm also looking at this unit for a 73-84 pickup and just remove the rheostat. It's cheap enough.

 

Ooops, sorry, wrong link. This one is 70-10. I didn't read the fine print, just was suggesting the design that I used.

http://www.summitracing.com/parts/sum-290182/overview/

 

This looks like a great alternative to mounting the cap under the bed as some have done. Where do you plan to put the spare?