For the longest time, I've hated to have to look for a "bargain" in diesel fuel. It seems that everytime I run low, all that's available is that upscale high end diesel fuel at one of the national truck stop chains and I have to pay upscale high end prices for their all to quickly consumable commodity. About the time I fuel up and get down the road a mile or two, there's a good local mom and pop place that has it for .30 a gallon less.

I have considered an aft axle tank ever since I've owned ol' Road Warrior (my 2005 6.0 PSD E 350), but it seemed that no one had anything that really appealed to me. I wanted a 100 gallon capacity. Hey, I know you can't get one under the back of the van that holds that much, but that was my line of thinking, anyway. Large quantity and fewer fuel stops and a better choice of places to fill up.

I didn't want to get ol' Road Warrior all botched up by grafting in a hot water heater burner door on the side for a fuel filler door and I didn't want to fill up by having my fuel filler neck down in the wheel well where it would have sand and dirt all over it. I knew that the older E150's had dual gas tanks from the factory and they didn't look bad at all. That was what I had hoped to do with Road Warrior.

I even went so far as to buy a 55 gallon tank from a transfer van in Houston that is used on cut away chassis E450 vans and transporters. I got a great deal on it with the mounting straps and float and everything needed to mount the tank. The only thing was, it would not work. It was just too tall and I would not have enough ground clearance, according to my body shop.

Plan B: Locate a wreck with a straight fuel filler door and surrounding sheet metal and excise this from the wreck, along with the fuel filler tube and tube cover inside the van. Items found at Plunk's Auto Salvage in West Monroe, LA for the pricey sum of $75. With about 5 minutes of work with a Sawzall, I was paying out and loading up the 30" wide Birch White transplantable organ into the back of Road Warrior.

Perry's Body Shop in El Dorado, AR has done SUPERIOR body work and paint for me for a number of years, so after consulting with Tommy's son, Andy and his shop manager, Opie (yup, Opie and Andy), they told me that they could do the surgery and transplant the vital organ.

I had decided after running all year long with the pedal to the metal that it was time for a very hard earned vacation. I took off work for 3 weeks and left Road Warrior at the cosmetic surgeon's clinic. Opie and Andy knew exactly what they would need to do and since I totally trust what they tell me, I left the van with them while I was gone to Yucatan for 3 weeks. I had them remove the spare tire and mount it on the back door ala 1976. The spare is on the drivers side rear door, so it's out of the way opening and closing the rear doors.

When I returned from vacation, I absolutely stunned! The work that they performed can not be discerned from factory. It was awesome! There's no trace of wavy metal, orange peel paint, different texture paint or slightly different color paint. It is just like it would have been if I had ordered it from the factory with 2 fuel filler doors. They replaced the gasoline version fuel filler tube with a diesel filler tube and cap. The good thing is that the entire cost of the body work and paint was only $1000.

But, now that I'm blown totally away with the work they did on ol' Road Warrior, I still don't have a suitable tank. I went online and went to 3 different custom fuel tank fabricators and contacted each one. I went into detail as to what I was looking for and told each one that I had the money and was ready to go with the project. You know, I did not receive 1 reply from any of the three. I guess business is good in some sectors of our economy.

Enter Aero Tank in San Bernadino, California. I emailed Jake at Aero and he was prompt in answering my email and very professional in answering all my questions. Jake knew that I was in Louisiana and he is in California, so we knew that I would need to get the job done when I was in California.

I made an appointment with Jake for Thursday of this week (August 18th) to have Aero Tank fab up my new tank. I dropped off the van with Jake Thursday morning at 7:00 am and went back at 3:00 pm to check on the progress. The tank had just been painted, so it wasn't installed, yet. Within an hour, the guys were bolting it in place, lined up perfectly with the filler neck that Perry's had installed.

Aero installed a 15 minute mechanical timer on the trim panel to the left and below the steering wheel that you just turn from OFF to all the way ON when your mid-ship fuel guage reaches 1/4 or below and forget about it. They also installed a really nice Stewart-Warner fuel guage for the new tank and mounted it on the trim panel below and to the right of the steering wheel, so you can keep an eye on your fuel level in your auxillary tank. They also used a clear inline fuel filter from the new tank to the midship tank. I had them install a Fram fuel filter/water separator in line at the midship tank where the fuel line goes into the tank. Every couple of weeks, I can drain out a few drops of fuel/water and see if I need to drain out more.

Naturally, I am thrilled with my new tank! I just couldn't wait to get to the fuel stop and filler' up to check what my capacity would be. I didn't get a great deal on fuel, but I did have the opportunity to shop around until I found it in California for $3.89 a gallon. The final total after filling it up to the top of the fuel filler tube was 54.585 gallons! It's not a total of 100 gallons, but I can live with 91 gallons. And the cost of the tank out the door was $1098. Hey, I know that $2100 for a fuel tank is a bit pricey, but I saved .40 a gallon on my first fill-up, so it is paying for itself and I ain't gotta fill up tomorrow!

I used it the first time yesterday and it worked just like Jake said it would. I twisted the timer **** and in 15 minutes, the guage went from just below 1/4 to just below 1/2 as I drove from San Bernadino down to San Diego. Cool! Filling up on the fly! What a concept. I love it!

I still got myself a Travelin'Jones!

 

Personally I don't think your final cost was out of line at all! Considering the nature of the work (once owned a body shop myself) along with a custom made AND installed tank WITH a guage AND timer too------can't be that cost IMHO.

Naturally it would be nice to see some photos along with your write up--maybe post them to a linkable photo album or include them in your gallery here?

Sounds fascinating and like most of us its nice to learn of an idea concept come to life---ahhhhh if everything were this "easy" huh? LOL

 

JWA,

Thanks so much for the positive comments on my project! I've got to be on the road (San Gabriel, Santa Barbara, Fresno, Sacramento, Portland, Bend, Seattle, Boise, Salt Lake City, Brigham City, Flagstaff, Tucson) and who knows where else before I get to go home to Louisiana. When I get home, I plan to make the pictures that you requested and post them on here. I'd like for everyone to see the work that Perry's Body Shop in El Dorado, AR and Aero Tank in San Bernadino, CA did for me. I just couldn't be more pleased with everything! I filled up both tanks yesterday and ol' Road Warrior rides like a Benz. I would highly encourage anyone who is looking to extend their cruising range and possibly be able to save a few bucks every fill up to do this conversion.

 

Looking forward to the rest of the story Jones---enjoy the rest of your trip!!

 

Filled up in San Bernadino, worked in Santa Barbara and drove straight through to Bend, OR up the PCH and had 1/8th in the front and 1/4 tank in the rear tank. 1269.9 miles with no fuel stops.