I need a new gas tank for my 1983 F150. Are the replacement aftermarket gas tanks decent? My local NAPA store sells a replacement tank, and I was wondering if anyone can tell me if the quality is as good or better than the stock tank?

 

I had to replace both tanks in my truck. I bought them from Advance. They are spectra brand. While I had them out I replaced the sending units as well. The only issue had was on one of the tanks the notches cut out for the fuel sending unit were in the wrong place. (They should have been at 9 and 2 o'clock but where at 10 and 3 o'clock or something along those lines. I put new notches in and have had no issues. Been about a year and a half).

 

@Smashclash
Would it be cheaper for me to clean out my rear gas tank because it has old gas in it, the pump is out, and its got rust in it... or would it be cheaper for me to by a new rear gas tank?
How much was your new rear gas tank at Advance?

 

New tank is only around $100. Do you think you can really get the old tank clean enough? And where do you think the rust came from? The tank correct? How thin and how many pinholes is it going to have after you get it cleaned out(if you can).

 

I tried to get the rust out of a tank as follows:

• Dropped tank and poured out all gas
• Put in 2 gallons of new gas as well as a heavy chain and sloshed it hard for as long as our arms could go
• Poured that out and put another 2 gallons in awa chain and sloshed again
• Did the above one more time
• poured that out, reinstalled tank and filled with new gas

The tank looked good, but put out so much rust that it plugged the accelerator pump nozzles. I ran two see-thru plastic filters and had to change them frequently, particularly the first one but even the second one a few times.

 

my tanks rusted out on the top of them. There were holes in the top and eventually they worked their way down the sides. When I got the new ones I painted them with undercoat before installing them.

As for cost I think it was around $100. Spend some time looking around though. Advance (if you go with them) has a lot of discount codes if you google them.

 

We tried the same thing last year on my '80 F-150 to clean out the tank...dropped it, put gasoline and chain in it, sloshed it around for a while, and reinstalled. It also looked good, but when I rebuilt my carburetor a few months ago I was still able to spoon the powdered rust out of the bowl.

So sometime this winter I will replace the tank. I've learned that if you've got rust in the tank, just buy a new one and save yourself trouble.

 

Agreed. If it was still running you got lucky. Mine plugged the acc pump nozzles, twice.

 

Replace the tank. Cheaper in the long run, easier on the nerves, also.

 

Around here a couple or the radiator shops will boil them out and re-coat the inside. Found that out when I bought an old Goldwing several years ago. Just another option.

 

Thanks for the help everyone. I will go out to Autozone and buy a new one. I dont necessarily need one right now but i would still like to have it just in case.

 

I just put a new rear tank in my 94 short bed that I bought from JC Whitney, Like $70 bucks and found a free shipping promo code. It seems to be a great tank fro the money. Local Oreilly auto had them in stock for $110

 

I just did both tanks in my 86 for 160 from auto parts warehouse (online). Shipping was free. Tanks seemed to be very high quality. Getting the rear lines on was a real pain in the butt.

 

I recently replaced the tank in my 84 F250 with one of the plastic replacement tanks from Bronco Graveyard. It cost a little more than the steel unit, but it will outlast the truck.