Just thought I would share my experience replacing my OEM fuel tank on my Unimog. I have a U1200 which is in excellent condition and extremely well optioned. However, it had a very slight leak from the fuel tank. Upon inspection the leading edge of the fuel tank had some corrosion from dirt/mud sitting on top of the weld seam which extends out about 5/8 of an inch and is great for collecting debris. Not a good design. What I wanted was a tank made from a material that was as durable as the OEM tank but would not corrode and a design that had radiused corners, not the weld seams like the OEM tank.
A few calls later and I had some quotes from domestic Unimog parts suppliers in the range of $700 to $990 for the OEM tank, not including delivery. I looked into some aluminum options, but they were at least as expensive as the OEM tank, did not have radiused corners and the build quality did not look to be that great. Kept looking. I ended up buying a tank from Michos-Tank based in Greece. Seemed to be better materials, better quality construction, had the radiused corners and was supposed to be a direct replacement for the OEM tank and reused the OEM straps and fuel sender. Kind of a risk because I was not going through a parts vendor and I had never seen one of their tanks before. Price was 566,42 Euro shipped to my door. Tank arrived at my door two weeks after sending payment via PayPal, I think you could use a credit card or other payment but I like PayPal for international transactions.
Removing the OEM tank was relatively painless. Just drain, remove fuel sender, remove straps, remove tank. Then reverse for installing the new one. Taking the straps off proved to be kind of a pain in the *** since they had not been touched since the truck was manufactured back in 1986 but I got it done. To mount the new tank I put the front strap on while the tank was on the ground. This can be done because there is a bolt that holds a pivoting mount for the front strap. So to take the tank off you actually only need to remove the rear strap and the bolt where the front mount pivots. Getting to the point, the new tank fit without issue and I would say I am very happy with the purchase. And I did all of the install by myself with no help and with basic hand tools in about 4 hours including cleaning and repainting all of the tank mounts and straps. Actually, I had an impact wrench but you could have done it with a ratchet.
I know Michos-Tank makes direct replacement tanks for most if not all the OEM Unimog units, but I think they can make custom extended range tanks as well, but you would have to send them an email to ask.
A few calls later and I had some quotes from domestic Unimog parts suppliers in the range of $700 to $990 for the OEM tank, not including delivery. I looked into some aluminum options, but they were at least as expensive as the OEM tank, did not have radiused corners and the build quality did not look to be that great. Kept looking. I ended up buying a tank from Michos-Tank based in Greece. Seemed to be better materials, better quality construction, had the radiused corners and was supposed to be a direct replacement for the OEM tank and reused the OEM straps and fuel sender. Kind of a risk because I was not going through a parts vendor and I had never seen one of their tanks before. Price was 566,42 Euro shipped to my door. Tank arrived at my door two weeks after sending payment via PayPal, I think you could use a credit card or other payment but I like PayPal for international transactions.
Removing the OEM tank was relatively painless. Just drain, remove fuel sender, remove straps, remove tank. Then reverse for installing the new one. Taking the straps off proved to be kind of a pain in the *** since they had not been touched since the truck was manufactured back in 1986 but I got it done. To mount the new tank I put the front strap on while the tank was on the ground. This can be done because there is a bolt that holds a pivoting mount for the front strap. So to take the tank off you actually only need to remove the rear strap and the bolt where the front mount pivots. Getting to the point, the new tank fit without issue and I would say I am very happy with the purchase. And I did all of the install by myself with no help and with basic hand tools in about 4 hours including cleaning and repainting all of the tank mounts and straps. Actually, I had an impact wrench but you could have done it with a ratchet.
I know Michos-Tank makes direct replacement tanks for most if not all the OEM Unimog units, but I think they can make custom extended range tanks as well, but you would have to send them an email to ask.
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