Attention: TDR Forum Junkies 
I've grown used to having an aux tank in my tow vehicle. Once/month I tow a 7400lb 24' enclosed trailer 7-16hrs round trip to distant events. My tow speed isn't all that fast because diesel is a big part of the race budget, but I'm always in a hurry to get to the event on Friday night, and then in a hurry to get home Sunday night. I really like being able to drive all the way w/o having to stop for fuel.
While I waited on my Ram Ecodiesel I schemed on how I would install an aux fuel tank. Since the Ram 1500 is cargo capacity limited and my short bed is pretty darn short, I thought I would try something different. Instead of the big aux fuel tank that I put in my F-250, the same F-250 that sold over the weekend <big smile>, I thought I'd try something smaller and easily removable.
After looking at a number of ideas I decided to try to make a 12gal plastic Marine tank work. That's Marine as in boats, not Marine as in Uncle Sam's Misguided Children (1982-1988, Former SGT Gress Ooh Rah!)
I was also somewhat limited by the height of the bed under the tonneau. I had 18" of height available and the thin tanks that stretch across the width of the bed seem have found 19" as a sweetspot.
Sunday I installed the aux tank into the bed and the aux tank kit into the truck's filler pipe. I wasn't able to complete the install because "easily removable" requires a dry-break connector that hasn't shown up on the porch yet. Since I want my aux tank is intended to be easily removable, the hose needs to be easily disconnectable.
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I got the tank off of Craigslist but you can get them at Walmart.
The aux fuel tank "kit." I got RDS Aux kit 11025 which is for a 1.5" fill line. A buddy pointed out last week that RDS also has a 11408 kit for "2013 and later" which is for a 1.75" fill line. I'm not sure what the best answer is on this. My fuel filler hose adapter fit into the filler hose ok.
The install went fine. The only thing that was not ideal is that the drain port that I drilled into the plastic 12gal tank isn't all that strong. As long as I don't put any mechanical stress on it tho, I think it will be fine. I drilled a hole into the tank just big enough that a 1/2NPT adapter would cut threads into the plastic. Then I slathered the adapter with sealant goobage before threading it in. Had I been better prepared I'd have scared up some kind of really serious epoxy. I tested the port for leaks and it's fine. Down the road, if I keep this 12gal container, I might redo that port with some epoxy. If I don't keep the 12gal removable tank, then it won't matter.
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I spent a fair amount of time imagineering how I was going to do the tank's fastening points. The under-side of the passenger side of the bed is pretty easy to get to but I was determined to put the aux tank on the driver's side of the bed. I wanted to be able to fill the aux tank w/o having to lift up the tonneau and climb into the bed.
The underside of the bed near the filler port is hard to get to. Ultimately I decided that I wasn't going to be able to just put eye-bolts into the bottom of the bed and thread nuts on to them from below. I needed a solution that was self-anchoring that I could do from above.
So I did what I always do when I need to imagineer something. I went to Home Depot.
Below is an eyebolt on a 1/4" shaft and a sheet-rock anchoring device. It's plenty strong. I was able to get to the underside of one eyebolt so I fastened it down with a nut. The other 3 have these anchoring doohickies.
#ad
I have a rubber bed mat so I had to cut holes for the eyebolts and hose. The discoloration on the bed mat is from a rainstorm coming thru.
#ad
While I waited on my Ram Ecodiesel I schemed on how I would install an aux fuel tank. Since the Ram 1500 is cargo capacity limited and my short bed is pretty darn short, I thought I would try something different. Instead of the big aux fuel tank that I put in my F-250, the same F-250 that sold over the weekend <big smile>, I thought I'd try something smaller and easily removable.
After looking at a number of ideas I decided to try to make a 12gal plastic Marine tank work. That's Marine as in boats, not Marine as in Uncle Sam's Misguided Children (1982-1988, Former SGT Gress Ooh Rah!)
I was also somewhat limited by the height of the bed under the tonneau. I had 18" of height available and the thin tanks that stretch across the width of the bed seem have found 19" as a sweetspot.
Sunday I installed the aux tank into the bed and the aux tank kit into the truck's filler pipe. I wasn't able to complete the install because "easily removable" requires a dry-break connector that hasn't shown up on the porch yet. Since I want my aux tank is intended to be easily removable, the hose needs to be easily disconnectable.
#adI got the tank off of Craigslist but you can get them at Walmart.
The aux fuel tank "kit." I got RDS Aux kit 11025 which is for a 1.5" fill line. A buddy pointed out last week that RDS also has a 11408 kit for "2013 and later" which is for a 1.75" fill line. I'm not sure what the best answer is on this. My fuel filler hose adapter fit into the filler hose ok.
The install went fine. The only thing that was not ideal is that the drain port that I drilled into the plastic 12gal tank isn't all that strong. As long as I don't put any mechanical stress on it tho, I think it will be fine. I drilled a hole into the tank just big enough that a 1/2NPT adapter would cut threads into the plastic. Then I slathered the adapter with sealant goobage before threading it in. Had I been better prepared I'd have scared up some kind of really serious epoxy. I tested the port for leaks and it's fine. Down the road, if I keep this 12gal container, I might redo that port with some epoxy. If I don't keep the 12gal removable tank, then it won't matter.
#adI spent a fair amount of time imagineering how I was going to do the tank's fastening points. The under-side of the passenger side of the bed is pretty easy to get to but I was determined to put the aux tank on the driver's side of the bed. I wanted to be able to fill the aux tank w/o having to lift up the tonneau and climb into the bed.
The underside of the bed near the filler port is hard to get to. Ultimately I decided that I wasn't going to be able to just put eye-bolts into the bottom of the bed and thread nuts on to them from below. I needed a solution that was self-anchoring that I could do from above.
So I did what I always do when I need to imagineer something. I went to Home Depot.
Below is an eyebolt on a 1/4" shaft and a sheet-rock anchoring device. It's plenty strong. I was able to get to the underside of one eyebolt so I fastened it down with a nut. The other 3 have these anchoring doohickies.
#adI have a rubber bed mat so I had to cut holes for the eyebolts and hose. The discoloration on the bed mat is from a rainstorm coming thru.
#ad
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