Swapping the tank on a 2002 E350 to aft-axle

[Speedwagon]

Any chance someone has already done this, and can offer some tips?

I picked up a 55-gal tank from a junkyard on the other side of the state. No brackets, and the junkyard guy said they rust out all the time anyways, and I didn't want them. So I have a tank, and now I need to fab up some bracketry to fit it up there.

I recently built some bracketry to hold 2 water tanks and a battery up under my 88 Chevy G20, so it shouldn't be terrible difficult. But I'd like to see if there are pointers before I begin this, so I can remove the 35-gal tank and get the T-case in for the final bits of the 4x4 conversion.

 

[86scotty]

RB or EB van?

MGmetalworks has documented it in his Cummins build thread IIRC.


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[Pntyrmvr]

I recently added a 10 gallon Nissan tank behind the 50 gal tank in the Hemi Cubicle.

Incredibly Amazon sells rolls of galvanized 1.5" sheet metal strip.

It's used to hold down mobile homes.

Here's a photo of the straps I made from the strip holding the Nissan tank in place.

Tough stuff and won't rust.

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[Bikersmurf]

RB or EB van?

MGmetalworks has documented it in his Cummins build thread IIRC.


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X2

MG made a special cross member to make it work. Cutaway van frames are somewhat different than regular frames.

 

[Daviticus]

The frames are essentially identical (comparing the same wheelbases anyway), the difference is in the rear crossmembers. On my 95 chassis-cab E350, the rearmost two crossmembers are separate from each other and built to bolt in tank straps very similar to the van body side tanks, whereas on the passenger vans they are replaced with one large crossmember housing the spare cable lift mechanism. For the effort and work involved, it would be simpler to cut out the crossmember/cable lift and fabricate something custom, instead of sourcing the OE components. I'm currently looking into this option for my 03 RB E350 van using a 40-gallon F350 chassis cab aft mount tank.

 

[RVflyfish]

I have an RB and will be very interested in how this works out. I really don’t want to shorten the stock tank and get even less range.

 

[CaptainBuilt]

The aft fuel tank in my box truck, from above:

 

[Bikersmurf]

I have an RB and will be very interested in how this works out. I really don’t want to shorten the stock tank and get even less range.

Mine came with the tank mounted behind the axle. Since my fills are usually 33 gallons, I believe it’s a 37 gallon tank +/-.

They retail for about $900 USD & 55 gal about $1350 USD new. They don’t seem to be too hard to find used.

I’d build a crossmember and go that route before cutting down a tank and welding on it. Perhaps that’s my own bias influenced by knowing someone who took photos, for evidentiary purposes, of a scene where employees cutting up fuel tanks for recycling did something wrong. I know that cutting and welding tanks can be done safely… but that doesn’t help the widows of those men. It wasn’t their first time cutting up tanks, and I’m sure they felt it was safe… the coroner disagreed.

 

[RVflyfish]

That’s another aspect. Scares the hell out of me.

 

[jblaze5779]

Fill it with water the cut it.

 

[RVflyfish]

Good idea.

 

[Bikersmurf]

That’s another aspect. Scares the hell out of me.

I still think the aft tank seems like a better option than reducing the field tank size.

But that’s coming from a 40 owner with dual tanks giving it a range of 400-600 miles on a fill up.;

 

[RVflyfish]

Agreed. There’s a peace of mind knowing you can go 500+ miles on a fill-up.

 

[Bikersmurf]

Agreed. There’s a peace of mind knowing you can go 500+ miles on a fill-up.

Not to mention being able to wait out the long weekend special gas prices. Sometimes they go up roughly a dollar a gallon for long weekends.