So I recently spent a week on the road, towed 1600+ miles pulling the TT with the truck full with our family of 6. Having the short bed I have some say a 29gal tank. If I wait until it gets to the fuel low light on the dash I can never get more than 24 gal into it.

I get ~7 mpg towing, so somewhere in the 130 miles range I'm looking for gas. And I had a really close call, having a UPS driver tell me about a single pump in a gravel lot behind a house in Kim Co luckily, or I'd have been dead on the side of the road. 160 into Trinidad Co is the closest place I've been to middle of nowhere.

I've thought about carrying some extra gas in 5gal cans, but that strikes me as unwieldily. But would work at least for middle of nowhere have an extra 10 gal (70 miles) of gas so I don't end up on the side of the road for at least a few more miles.

I like a lot about getting a replacement fuel tank, but I'd rather have the titan but they only do diesel. The transfer flow hang down a bit more than I'd like, firewood etc gets me off road so I am a bit worried about lowering my ground clearance and some say they have rusted. And of course they are not cheap, hard to justify on my budget and for how often i'd really benefit from it.

So an aux tank in the bed looks like an option, RDS makes decent looking smaller tanks, 20 gal, 37 gal. Figure an external fuel pump to transfer from a switch in the cab. RDS says they are kosher for gas, but they don't respond to my email. Guessing it would be half the replacement tank cost wise.

The transfer flow aux tanks are just as pricey as the replacement tank.

I like the RDS aux tank toolbox combo, fill etc all under the lid. Doesn't shout "I'm full of liquid gold!".

I don't want to do without a spare tire either, or move it to the bed, so I could put a tank there.

Really another 20 gal would do me, the family can't go all that long without stopping anyway. I don't want to carry around 100-something gallons of gas, I'm guessing there is some limit where you need a commercial license and a hazmat cert if you reach some magic number of gallons of gas. I just really want to go more than 120-130 miles at a time. Planning to head southwest and I'm paranoid I'll end up in the middle of the desert somewhere with no gas and 4 kids.

No buying a diesel isn't an option, even though it would be much simpler for this kinda thing.

Anyone have any experiences with this kinda thing?

 

For the record you don't need anything to carry aux tank up to 120 gallons.
I always carry fuel cans on my long trips. Regardless having a tank that gives me 400 miles (300 towing) I can "hold it" for 6 hr and hate to refuel between my restroom stops.
Extra cans not only allows you to buy fuel in cheaper places, but also "extends" your main tank usage.
As you noted - you pull to the pump still having 5 gallons in the tank and that is what you should do. Would you have a can full of fuel in the truck - you would be comfortable to make another 30 miles with reserve light on and that is what I am talking about.

 

Ford has been throwing in a 5 gallon reserve since at least the early 90's. They all leave you about 5-6 gallons when the little fill-er-up light comes on.

interested to see what you come up with for in-bed tank. 7 mpg scares me. I remember getting 15 mpg in my old F-150 during the winter and trying to schedule our stops then. that wasn't fun, can't imagine 7 mpg

 

I've thought about getting a gasser SD for towing to replace my Excursion when/if it craps out. Hopefully, I would never need to. This thread just made me think about what to expect if I do. I'm used to having 44 gallons that would last me from Chino to Las Vegas towing my trailer without stopping for fuel.

I would love to have a diesel, although I know very little about maintaining one. Never had one. I'm sure I'll be able to learn everything I need to know from FTE.

 

If I were in your shoes I would be adding a big fuel tank, just like you're thinking. 100-some mile range just isn't sufficient, especially out West. It seems it will be only a matter of time until you run out of fuel. I made habit to fill my 7.3L every 250 miles when towing and I had to be always conscious of fuel. I once had a Duramax with a 50 gallon auxiliary in the bed and I can tell you that definitely gives you peace of mind.

I guess what I'm saying is you won't regret the purchase of the auxiliary tank.

 

You have the same tank I do, and I can only get 24 gallons into it after riding on the low-fuel light a while. When I dropped my tank to change the retaining ring (squirrel ate through it for some stupid reason), I had run it down the low-fuel light and then some, and still got around 5 gallons out of it by using an auxiliary fuel pump connected to the fuel rail.

7 mpgs, you might need better gears - you don't happen to have 3.73's, do you?

Other than that, not sure what to say about aux tanks. Hopefully the rest of the guys come up with some good ideas for you if they haven't already.

 

If I understand it right the long bed has a similar sized gas tank as the Exc. And of course will take larger aux and replacement tanks seeing as its just plain bigger.

I tried to find an Exc but my tow vehicle is also my DD and I need a truck so it would mean the wife trade the honda odyssey for an Exc and it just didn't make sense to have 2 v10 beasts as our only vehicles. But it sure would be nice at times.

 

I was tempted to run it out of gas running around town with a can of gas in the back just to see what empty really was on the gauge. The math said I had some left but I wanted to see for sure. So I guess seeing as I get worried and get gas around 1/4 tank and it takes about 15-17 gal usually then that I'm getting gas with over 10 gal left in the tank, quite a cushion. But more than once I got gas with more than 1/2 tank full, resetting the clock feels awfully good.

Yes i have 3.73, and its 4wd. So changing the gears is much bigger deal than forking out for a nice aux or replacement tank. Gears are really the one thing I'm left with after all the work I've done that I don't know if I can deal with. Not just money for parts, but just getting it done. I have inner seal leak in the front diff I need to deal with. I'm scared if I re-gear I'll of course need a locker, and it will spiral out of control.

Around town unloaded I can get 12+ mpg, 14+ on the HW, but towing it has a tendency to feel a little gutless with a 7k lb max weight trailer, especially on the rolling hills out on the interstate. Haven't been to the scales with it yet to see what it actually is at full battle rattle.

Also have MT baja MTZ tires in stock size on it, which isn't helping. It was my firewood/dump/lumberyard/DD truck, then we bought the trailer. Probably would have gotten different tires if I had known we would end up towing like this now and then.

 

fun isn't the word no. Truck does what I ask of it, and it holds us all, but its thirsty. After my first day out I was on the overnight campgrounds wireless starting to research this. Not a lot of examples for gas, lots of examples for diesel.

 

Whatever you do, don't run it completely out of gas - the fuel pump runs in the gas, and it keeps it cool. Not that the pump will immediately fail the first time you do it, but it won't help it's long-term life.

If you really want to 'check the math', do like I did, run it until the low-fuel light comes on, take the schrader valve out of the fuel rail, hose-clamp a rubber fuel line onto it, hook a fuel pump to the other end of the hose, and pump it till the tank is dry.

Lately, if I fill the tank right after the light comes on, it's usually 22 gallons. that leaves around 6-7 gallons in the tank at that point. I still won't rely on it with family on board though

 

Check out a Transfer Flow replacement tank. It will replace the stock tank in your truck with a 46 gallon tank. They are friggin expensive but not screwing around with fuel cans and in bed aux tanks is worth something. Transfer Flow also offer aux tanks as well. I would love to put one in my truck but I can't justify for the cost since most of my trips are under 500 miles.

Ford pickup replacement tanks

Also you can squeeze a lot of extra gas in the tank after it clicks off, especially in the morning. After 2 clicks I can usually squeeze in 2 or 3 gallons yet.

 

Overfilling your gas tank is playing games with the evaporative emissions stuff. I would watch it... filling up the charcoal canister with liquid gas ain't pretty...

 

If you have a smartphone, get the free gasbuddy.com mobile application. It is a lifesaver when I am towing in unfamiliar territory.

It will tell you where the fueling stations are located so you can top off before you get in trouble.

 

I did that the day after my fun in the middle of nowhere. It didn't know about the pump in the gravel lot though.

I was near civilization the rest of the trip and didn't have more fuel fun.

 

The canister is up higher than the fill neck on the tank. There is extra space in the tank anyway.(thats why the diesel boys do the harpoon mode) Its not like any codes are are going to be thrown on the 04' under truck like the 05'up trucks.