Are the internal fuel lines in our tanks made of stainless tubing?

I bought all of the parts for this at a local Parker store that's also a fabricator of hydraulic and pneumatic lines and such. They were concerned as to whether the factory fuel lines in the tank were stainless or not. In their experience steel compression fittings don't always hold up as well on stainless tubing, so he recommended I use stainless compression fittings and gave me some scrap ends of stainless tubing. The fittings were a bit more money, but as you mention somewhere else, I never want this thing to leak.

Thanks Tailgate77478! I got some good helpers keepin me motivated to play with "Skippy". I sure had trouble with my foot too until I opened it up with the 11/32" then took the drill and a 3/8 to it. That worked great but the little sucker got HOT }>

I can't say in the forum, but I'll PM ya. The Redhead might peek in.

Sure seems like they're stainless to me. They might be aluminum. I'll go throw a magnet on it right now to be sure. Hang on a sec....(grunt as I get up)....(door slam)......(door slam).....Yep, it's aluminum. Don't know why I didn't do that to begin with. I just assumed....which I should never do...:o

Sorry about that.

I will tell you I had a heck of a time getting the ends flared. The aluminum is kinda soft and the holder piece kept slipping up. I had to crank it down pretty hard to get it to hold.

Hate to do this to you, but most stainless isn't magnetic either. Type 300 series stainless steels are austenitic, which may be mildly magnetic due to fabrication techniques, while the 400 series stainless are magnetic. I doubt very much these fuel lines are aluminum.

But good job so far on all the work, and getting your garage warmed up. I once tried to warm up an un-insulated garage using a kerosene forced air heater. I came back into the garage about an hour later, and all I accomplished was a 1/4" of ice on the fender of my car. :-huh

Well....Um... They're silver :D
They felt very "stainless-y" when I was flaring them. They're rigid but non-ferrous so I guess it's type 300? Now I'm wondering.



LOL! Was it condensation? That's funny! I never thought about that being a problem. Today it was almost 70 outside. Sooo nice and sunny the last half of the day. Got alot done too. Pics coming...

Well like I said the brake adjuster was toast. Or so I thought. I bought a replacement hardware kit from OReilly's and I'll be darned - I just forgot how e-brake adjusters work. It was easy to see where I'd messed up once I had the new parts in my hand.

It's been years since I messed with one of these. The one side does NOT screw into the other side. The star thing is just a little nut that runs up and down the bolt side. I feel so stupid.

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So I put the bolt in a vise and turned the star to break it loose. Tada! Working adjuster again!

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I schmeered some anti-seize all over that star's travel length so that never happens again. Must be copper based stuff. it was weird looking. I didn't read the label.

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So that was on the driver's side. I moved to the passenger side and remember this was the one with the brake pad gone down to the backing plate? Well I had the WORST time getting the rotor off. I couldn't get it to budge so I grabbed my rubber mallet again and WHACK!

It broke!

That's when I realized that the piston had rubbed the rotor down almost in two. Here's a pic of it after I finally got it off with PB Blaster and a sledge hammer.

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Out of necessity I ran down and picked up another one. Can't have Ol' Skippy skipping through a redlight! They didn't have the good Bosch Lifetime ones in stock so I had to get this cheaper 2 year warranty one. For comparison, here's my new rotor. See how thick the outside fins are? Big difference!

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Mounted up the new rotor and adjusted the adjuster out to the right amount.

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Finally The Redhead wanted to run the lug nuts in so I let her. I'm going to have to follow her around if she ever has a flat. Her little 95 lb frame can't really torque them bolts pretty good :-roll


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And that was it for the emergency brakes themselves. They not only work now, but they work GUUUUDD!!! I mashed on it that first time and I think the earth stopped spinning for a second. I let it back off though so Daylight Savings time is still tonight. :D

I'm going to have to fix the light with the "silicone knob" fix too I think. The light doesn't glow.

Back on the gas tank, The Redhead wanted to clean it up some so it didn't spit dirt in my mouth putting it back up there. She's a sweetie sometimes :-X03

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We also filled the tank up repeatedly with water from the water heater (super hot) and rinsed it all out pretty well, then used a liquid pump to hand pump it all out. A word of caution. Make sure you know where that exhaust hose is going before letting your kids pump the diesel-water out. It tastes awful! Then we stuffed paper towels in it to make sure every drop was out.

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Then it was HARPOON time, baby! I had been looking forward to using this huge PVC cutter. I never used one before. I just usually use a recip saw on PVC and it's done in seconds. I figured this stupid thing would be tough to squeeze shut on hard plastic. BOy was I wrong. It slices through like buttah!

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Took me two tries to get the air side cut down enough.

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Then I measured the depth of the tank again to make sure my foot was the right length. Looks like just shy of 13 1/2 inches.

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My foot came down to over 14 1/2 inches. Ooops!
Off with his foot!!!

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Cut cut cut!

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Back on with the foot.

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Then I go to check it out in person and um....Probably going to have to knock a hole in the tank to get that return line to fit!


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So I cut the return line too, right here where my thumb is, reattached the duckbill and it was ready to go.

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Then I dropped the sending unit in. It fit this time.

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There's a little arrow on the sending unit top that tells you where the notches are on the underside so you can line them up perfectly.

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I pulled it all back out, slipped the green gasket on, and took another run at it all.

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Then the retaining ring went back on. This thing really wants to cross thread when you're putting it on. Be careful! I tightened it up with a strap wrench, the same one I tried unsuccessfully to get it off with. (With which I tried unsuccessfully to get it off , for you English majors)

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The beast capped, we stuffed paper towels in the fill and return hoses and moved it under Skippy again. We jacked him up so it would slide under easier.

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The Redhead had to go in (conveniently, eh?!) to study for a Physics exam about this time so I was left to my own devices mounting the tank. It was much easier now that it was empty, but still would have been easier with 2 people. The pics here on out are kinda crappy. My hands had very little blood in them from being upside down so much. Sorry :(


Next I started plugging stuff in. I wish I had known how much freedom the gas lines have when I started taking it down. I would have removed the straps, dropped the tank to the floor, then taken the gas lines and electric plug off. It would have been so much easier.

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Off with the plastic plugs...


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and on with the fuel lines.

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To get the tank up on the frame again I got my straps and bolts within reach and then pushed the tank up with my leg enough to crawl under it bear-hug style.

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Before getting under it entirely I used my impact and it's extensions to hold the tank up while I started the passenger side front bolt in the strap. Snazzy, huh?

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Oh, as a side note when The Redhead cleaned the tank we found what looked like a patch job on the rear side. Might need to keep an eye on this one.

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Anyway, after getting the front passenger side strap bolted in I was able to crawl under the tank and lift it with my hands and knees. I had pics, but you really can't tell what's going on there because it's all close up work and my hands were shaking from over use and under blood supply.

I went Pass front side, Driver front side, then driver back side (funky one through the frame), and finally passenger back side. I ate a lot of dirt off the frame but finally got that heavy, sorry bastage back up there. :-jammin


Then I pulled the paper out of the fill hoses.

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Pulling the hoses back on the fill tubes was pretty tough. I thought they'd just pop on there but nope, they weren't interested. I got them through by de-gloving and using my bare hands for better grip and just yanking until they came forward enough to get on the pipes to an acceptable amount. Then I tightened them all down.

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After that it was time to let the jack down and see how it worked!

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The Powder Puff Mechanic rode up on her bike about that time so I put her to work watching the hoses for leaking

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Two gallons of finest American Diesel went down his gullet

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And not a drop spilled. So far so good! I excitedly jumped in the front seat, scraping off 1/2 acre of dirt in the fabric :(

I turned the key and Volia! See the fuel gauge? SUCCESS!!!!!!!

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I've never been so excited to see an empty tank! I turned the key to Wait To Start 4 times to be sure it was primed with fuel. The second time I could hear the gurgles of air being pumped out. Sounded like a bad belly ache LOL!

But after that four primes he fired right up - VROOMM!!!! Skippy was back alive!


:-jammin:-jammin:-jammin:-jammin






We all piled in him and headed to the gas station for the real test. $97 dollars and 33 gallons later he was still tight as a drum and ready to run 612 and 1/2 miles at our coming home rate of 17.5 MPG. That's a huge tank!

Oh, and we know for sure it shows empty at 5 gallons in the tank too so we'll always have time to get to a station. That's good. 17.5 x 5 gallons = 87.5 that means we have almost 100 miles to go on empty, :-X04


I sure love this truck!

WOOHOO! Congrats on a job whale dun.

I need to do the in tank mods.

If you put 2 gals in at home, then 33 at the station, we have 35 gal tanks?

Thanks Petrokiller! I don't know if it's standard, but that's what Skippy ate after the mods. I couldn't get the gauge to work before so the most I put in before that was 20 gallons at the first gas station. And I thought it was probably a 21 gallon tank then.

He's a hungry boy!

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Today was a quickie. I have moved Skippy out of my garage and into the sun so the neighbors can all take a peek and say snide remarks. Glad he's red. That'll really make them like a truck in the yard even more.

}>





So I started by pounding on his one big boo-boo to get it to line up a little better. It looked like someone had pried his door open (or tried to) with a crowbar.

I succeeded in getting it to look less like a swing set and more like cardboard. I'll have more time to smooth it out and mud it up later.

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Whoever did it also put a fist sized dent on the back door so I pulled off the handle to get into there to be able to push from the inside. I don't have a stud welder.

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And I made a little money doing it :)

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Then I discovered that there isn't any hole behind that stupid handle and it was all for naught. Well there is a hole, but it would make a mouse cringe to look at it. Fail. :-whud



So I moved to something more fun. I started putting on Skippy's grill guard and it didn't fit. It was about 3 inches too far apart with the bumper brackets.

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I called the company and really chewed them out until I realized I was the idiot. (That never happens, lol) Curse you, short tempered heritage!

I had the brackets facing on the wrong way. This was right. Oh, and if you do this don't take both sides off at the same time. It's ALL that holds the bumper on! :p

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When I was putting the brackets on right I discovered this. I think it's some type of cooler but it's bypassed and beat all to heck. Anyone know what it is? Is it necessary?

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Back on the guard, it's supposed to be a 2 man job but I found I could prop my knee against it and put the bolts in just fine.

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Then I just slipped the top bolts in on both sides, then the bottom, then the middle. They were all 19mm.

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And that was it for today. I ran outta time, but that way The Redhead and The Powder Puff get to put on the light guards. It'll be a good job for them.

He's a handsome devil now though!

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That cooler in question looks like the power steering fluid cooler.
I put the grill guard on mine right away when I realized that there are like 4-5 coolers/radiators behind the grill.

I like the grill guard! Does it have mounts for lights?

Also I missed what brand it was.

Skippy must of ben a mud dauber in his previous life. LOL

Hope all the electronics hold up for you. Make sure your coolant isnt contaminated with mud.

After the Harpoon mod, yes, something like that, depending on where the vent tube was cut. Original is 28 IIRC. I rarely go below 1/4 tank and put in around 25 gallons.

Given all the dust in every nook and cranny I'm thinking that's a Katrina truck. Underwater for a spell but still kicking! :-X22

And yeah that's a smashed power steering cooler. Should be replaced at some point but I betcha the $tealership price will be scary. I'd go with any small cheap trans cooler, plumb it in and zip tie it down.

My thinking exactly! That's way too much money riding out front.


It does have mounts for lights, but I don't think I'll use them. He's got great light covreage from being so high up. About the dirt, he lived on a farm for a long time so it might be just farm dust. Or like aawlbernin says it might be Katrina pee. :-X04


Thanks aawlberninf350. I cut that vent tube as high as it'd go. I really like running 600 miles on a tank :-X04

The cooler looks pretty ugly and he has power steering whine. I wonder if it's related to not cooling off. I'll be replacing the cooler with a $50 one that looks identical off Ebay at some point.