Has anyone here done the Hutch in tank mod? Is so, did it make any difference? I have a kit along with a Baldwin pre-pump filter that I am going to do on my truck as soon as I get the time. I was just wondering if anyone had already done it and if you noticed any difference in anything at all.

 

I dont know the percentage but I would say the majority of people on here have done it. You can do a search for hutch mod and you will get a lot of threads on it. I have not ever heard of anyone saying that it did not make a difference. It makes the truck quieter because it doesnt have as much air introduced and it gets rid of the in tank screens which can be a problem.

 

Yes , most people on here have done it. Usually if you can't run your tank below a 1/4 or less with out getting air in the fuel, it needs done. I don't get air in the lines any more and I can fill the tank up to the filler cap if I wanted. (harpoon mod)

 

Can't honestly say I noticed any difference, other than my peace of mind. Love having the extra filter. Guess mine was in good shape to start with. Even so, don't regret it & would do it again.

 

You may not notice any difference if you fittings are still secure and your mixing screens are not clogged. But eventually your screens will clog and your fittings will ingest air on the pre-pump side, and this will happen when you're the farthest from home.

I didn't notice a difference on three of the trucks i have done this to. But my dads the screens were so clogged i can't believe he didn't have a problem.

No harpooning on mine or my dads. We didn't care much for squeezing in the last few gallons. We just listen and watch for it.. Once we hear it, Cap and Go. Not a problem even at noisy truck stops. Don't regret not doing it when i had the tank down. Another thing to note on my dads truck was he had the flap on the filler neck. I cut that out so he can utilize the big nozzles at truck stops..

Hard to justify the work. Because once you do it, how will you never know it saved you from walking. Drop the tank, Do all that work, Reinstall the tank, Start her up and possibly don't notice a thing on how it runs or sounds.. But rest assured it is for the best and it has saved you from walking. So far the biggest mod i have wasted my money on was "spair cps" mod. But sooner or later i will be glad i spent that $40 sitting in my door compartment, maybe.

 

I just did the Hutch and Harpoon mods on my truck. I haven't driven it to much since so there may still be some air trapped in the engine or I didn't have a problem to start with. I haven't noticed any real difference in sound of the engine. I also was able to run the tank down below a 1/4 without problems and my pickup foot was still like new.

So as already stated, if you can run the tank down below 1/4 and not have any problems, you may not see a difference. Also as stated, it is nice to have the screens out of the tank and be a replaceable filter outside instead. I don't regret doing it.

 

I did the hutch mod at the same time I did the pre-pump filter. I can use the full tank of fuel now. I could only use down to a quarter tank before I had engine problems due to air in the fuel line.

I did the harpoon mod at the same time as when I dropped the tank, but I have a steel tank, so it was a little more difficult.

I can say the engine is quieter and smoother since I did the hutch mod.

 

I was just reading posts and I am seeing a lot of mention about hutch and harpoon mods. I have a 99 f550, is this something that I should be looking at?

 

It depends on your fuel tank setup. If the tank is the same as the F250 and 350's, yes it would be a good mod. If you have the step tanks, (I'm not that familiar with the 550), I don't know if they make a kit for it. I think the pick-up in the step tanks is pretty much a straight tube anyway and there are no filler/vent tubes to cut. If you have the inside rail tanks like the smaller trucks, then yes, the pickup neds to be modded. I would also look into a pre-pump filter/water seperator.

I did the Hutch Mod, the Harpoon Mod, pre-pump filter and the Riff Raff FRx mod. The Frx after the other two. The Hutch Mod made a difference in how smooth and quiet the engine operated, the Frx mod even more. Before the mods, it was normal 7.3 injector rattle as usual, now that I have fixed the fuel system to where it should be, the engine is much smoother and quieter. At 65 mph cruise, I can hear the drone of the exhaust (Flowmaster Hushpower Muffler) and the turbo singing, but the engine itself is as quiet as a gas burner. Pulling through the gears, I can't say it feels like it has more horsepower, but it does come up through the gears smoother. Now I am considering a FTE resonator to get rid of the drone. I think the pre-pump filter/water seperator may have helped as well.

As a side note, I disassembled the mixing chamber to look at the screens. I don't know how the truck was getting enough fuel to keep running. Wow! Couldn't see any silver on the screens at all. Pure black from dirt. The fuel bowl also had about 1/8" of dirt in the bottom. I cleaned it and replaced all the seals. Man, all that went through the pump. Should never have that problem again with the pre-pump filter.

 

Also, if you're on the road a lot, getting the extra 4 gallons of fuel at a fillup before having the pump kick off will help you maximize your tank capacity and run times between fillups... without having to take an extra ten minutes to squeeze in those last 4 gallons.

Running-wise, I didn't notice much difference at all. Fill-up times, though, are greatly improved.

 

Thanks for all the info and pictures. Also the extra stuff to look at. I will look into the fuel tank as soon as possible. Unfortunatly my 06, 6.0 is about to go down with EGR cooler and oil cooler problems. The mods on the 550 will have to wait.
Thanks Again for everything.

Barry
FBRTransbear

 

I did mine a couple of months ago. Can't say I noticed a lot of performance difference, but nice to do the inline filter and eliminate possible air leaks. Plus, my pick up foot was laying in the tank, no longer attached.
The "harpoon", wow. Would drop the tank just to do that. I tow a 5th wheel, and on a several day trip I am going to save hours in fill up time. Before, the first click would happen at 20-21 gallons. The next 6 or so were painful, and never really sure how much I put in unless it ran out the fill neck, which would take 10-15 minutes. Now, first click at 26, with 2-3 left. Takes a minute or less to see the liquid in the neck now.

 

I'll also add that on my Excursion, although I did see an improvement in fill-up times, instead of having only 1 gallon left when the pump clicks off, I still have between 2-3 gallons on the Ex. Since it's a once/month fill-up, it's not too bad, but I was disappointed that the harpoon didn't give me more benefit. I can only assume that it is the different tank geometry which is the reason for the difference.

 

Hutch, harpoon and SS cross-connect were some of the very first things done to old green. Hell, damn near 7 years ago. Engine definitely sounded different afterwards and fill ups are a breeze. Very well worth it!

 

Did it to mine, didn't notice much of a difference but I was running WVO at the time. Would do it again. Extra filters are great.