It's been a long day. I took my 83 F150 in to town to fill up the tanks for the first time. Right before the front tank was full, gas started to pour out from under the truck. I stopped pumping, but it didn't stop leaking lol. After standing there scratching my head for a few minutes and watching all that expensive fuel leak out, I decided to cruise to the auto parts store and get a hose so I could siphon it out and get it in the back tank. I left a fuel trail all the way to the auto parts store.

I got a siphon pump and hose, but couldn't get it fed into the tank far enough to siphon. The leak had basically stopped, so I decided to get it home.

Then the front right caliper seized up and it began pulling to the right really bad. I pulled into a parking lot and had someone bring me a jack and a 4-way. Couldn't get the caliper to work right, so I replaced it. Since I didn't have anyone there to help me bleed the brakes, I drove it home with barely any brakes. That was actually kind of fun until I realized that the emergency brake doesn't work so well in emergencies.

Now I get to go suck all the fuel out, check the back tank to make sure it's all good and then figure out where the leak is in the front tank.

I spent all that time getting the engine running sooo good, and didn't think to check all the other important stuff. I'm wondering if there's anything I can do to the driver's side caliper to keep it from seizing up.
Any ideas? Just replace it?
It's crazy what just sitting can do to a truck.

 

The best thing to do , is 'not let the grass grow under the tires' , keep it moving.......

 

I had the same situation, two different causes:

1) The rubber fuel line connecting the sender to the steel fuel line had dry rotted.
2) The side tank developed a crack in a corner, kinda near where the strap wraps
around it.

-chris
colorado, usa

 

You are going to need a new tank, common problem and they are cheap.

The caliper seizing is also a common problem, especially right after you put new pads on. The caliper rusts behind the piston, and when you squeeze the piston back in for the new thicker pads, the piston gets stuck in the rust.