not remove the bed, but remove cross member, make room for gas tank
 

On the 56, with the fuel cell in the bed, I want to put a tank under the bed.. I have a mustang 16 gal (68?) tank I can use, but I need to pull that cross member first..

I really don't want to pull the bed.. anyone have any other cool ideas?

I suppose I could make a 1in square tubing frame and hang it under the bed rails like I did with the 55.. maybe cause its flatop I don't 'need' to move the cross member..

Sam

Sam,

It's sure a lot easier doing the fab work with the bed removed, but I can understand not wanting to pull it.

I guess it all depends on how low you want the tank to hang. If you hang it from the top of the frame rail then the 16 gal Mustand tank is almost hidden between the frame rails....but then you have to deal with the xmember. You could very easily hang it from the bottom of the frame rail without having to mess with it.

If necessary you could even pull the xmember with the bed on, especially if you are a masochist and enjoy having crud and rust in yoru eyes and down your shirt....LOL

Bobby

after thinking about it, hanging from under the rail would lower the tank about 1/4 inch (1x1 frame UNDER tank lip)..
and I never did like the idea of the tank INSIDE the frame rails.. what if you need to pull it for some reason.. take off the bed?? no way.. (the one on the 55 is bad enough with the rear roll pan and its UNDER the frame rail).

but as for pulling the xmember.. its riveted thru the top of the rail.. and the bottom of the rail.. usually you grind off the rivet head, then punch it out.. how would you get to the top rivet head.. or punch it out? of am I thinking of cutting off the bottom of the top rivet?? can u punch them out that way?

Sam

Sam,

My tank is up even with the top of the frame. I'm not using the Mustang tank, I'm using a Blazer tank but I used the factory style mounting straps so I can drop mine down if I have to. I know that doesn't help for a Mustang tank though since it has a flange that needs to rest on the mounting bracket......what if you made the mounting bracket out of square tubing like you're thinking and then make that whole assy where you can unbolt it and drop it down if need be?

The x-member mounts inside of the frame channel doesn't it? It would be a major pain but you could grind of as much of the rivet as you could get to and maybe drill out the body of the rivet. It would be a major pain and you'd be coverd in shavings, crud, and dirt by the time you were done. Also, you might be able to cut the heads of the top of the rivets with a sawzall or even a cutting torch if you were careful. With my luck I'd light the bedwood on fire.....

Bobby

I got a plasma cutter..!! but would still make a mess..

I'll hang it, and leave the xmember to another lifetime..

Sam

LOL....that will save your eyes, back, knees, etc.

Where are you going to route the filler tube?

Bobby

just thru the bed floor in the short term.. bed wood will have to be replaced in the long run..

Sam

Sam I didn't remove my crossmember I just trim some off of it and hung the tank from the bottom on 1" tubing. I have taken the tank off since the install which was very easy due to it being under the frame.
https://www.ford-trucks.com/user_gal...id=178406&.jpg

thanks.. thats a perfect shot..

Sam

Tank install
 

Sam;

Here's a pic of my install (73 Mustang tank). I used hanging straps attached to the crossmember in front of the tank (which I added for rear shock mounting. My '50 doesn't have the rear member as shown on above post; but the tank is easy to remove, and my filler spout (not as shown in pic, LOL) should fit close to flush with box bed (not installed as yet)

https://www.ford-trucks.com/user_gal...110688.520.390

Ok, I'm back to this topic again..

I need to mount the 16 gal Mustang tank under the rails, but.. I have the stock rear spring hangers which wrap around under the frame. I have a 1in x 1in frame UNDER the tank, but the top of the tank hits the spring mount..
I can of course make a spacer to lower the tank a little..

what has everyone else done?

turned out the crossmember wasn't even bolted in!.. so it was easy to take out.. just a hammer.

Sam

Sam, what I did was make up adjustable hangers for the front from 3/8" stock and bolted the rear to the the frame. My 1" tubing tank frame support has 1" angle iron brackets welded to it for attachments. Not a great pic but....here it is.
https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/p...ictureid=84381