2nd Gen Non-Engine/Transmission Aux. Fuel Tanks: Yea or Nay?

[Sasquatch]

Every couple of years I get the urge (mysteriously aligned with fuel price spikes) to re-investigate auxiliary fuel tanks. I look at Transfer-Flow and Aero Tanks, get jazzed up, and then look at the prices.



The prices are sobering, to say the least. I'm still trying to figure out why a 38 gal. , steel, "aft-axle" fuel tank costs nearly $1200, installed. For those of us who don't live in CA, and are disinclined to mess with our vehicle's fuel system, shipping and install prices need to be added into the total price.



This morning, I hauled out the pocket calculator and concluded that I'd have to put another 100,000 miles on my truck (at a realized savings of, say, 20¢ per gallon, buying fuel at cheapest available location) to recapture the expense of an additional tank.



Then there's the added weight to consider. A topped-off, 38 gallon tank adds about 350 pounds to the truck's load. This translates into less hauling capacity and fewer mpg, too.



Still, it'd be neat to have the extra capacity.

 

[moparguy]

I like the idea of saving money as much as the next guy, but that's not the reason I finally installed my aux. tank. I use it as a reserve tank, kinda like on a ATV.



3 years or so ago I built a little 15 gal. tank that mounts between the frame and exterior bed skin infront of the right rear tire. I installed it along with a transfer pump and filter just prior to leaving on our annual elk hunting trip to Colorado. Since I was pulling a new steel horse trailer loaded to the gills, I would have been unable to use our usually fueling stops, but with a flick of the switch, I could pump a few gals. in while going down the road.



Nice. Sure relieves that stressed feeling of "Where is that dang diesel station"



RJR

 

[Tcolesanti]

I like the idea of saving money as much as the next guy, but that's not the reason I finally installed my aux. tank. I use it as a reserve tank, kinda like on a ATV.



3 years or so ago I built a little 15 gal. tank that mounts between the frame and exterior bed skin infront of the right rear tire. I installed it along with a transfer pump and filter just prior to leaving on our annual elk hunting trip to Colorado. Since I was pulling a new steel horse trailer loaded to the gills, I would have been unable to use our usually fueling stops, but with a flick of the switch, I could pump a few gals. in while going down the road.



Nice. Sure relieves that stressed feeling of "Where is that dang diesel station"



RJR

What he said!!!

 

[y-knot]

I suppose you could use the extra fuel capacity to save money on fuel cost, I have done just that in the past. Filling up at the cheapest spots and having enough fuel on board to skip over the higher priced places till you find another low priced dealer, or return from a trip and fill up at home. Nothing wrong with those ecumenics at all, it's smart business. But the real reason I went to an aux tank was to have extra fuel on-board while towing. We pull around a very large tri-axle trailer, that just will not fit in 80% of all standard sized gas stations. We usually are confined to the truck stops along the way, which is fine as long as you are on major interstates. The problem is when we don't travel by interstate, many small town gas stations are not large enough to accommodate large truck/trailer combos. So the freedom of caring the extra fuel is very comforting, that extra 45Gal allows us to pretty much get where we want to go without the worry of running short on fuel.

I went a different route for the extra capacity, I did not want to give up the spare tire space in the rear, nor did I want to replace the factory tank with one only slightly larger, so I went with the bed mounted auxiliary fuel tank. I made a mounting device that holds the tank and the cross the bed tool box securely , but off the bed floor by 7", this way I can still haul the longer stuff without a hassle. On the tank I installed a 12V pump with hose and nozzle, which makes refueling a two minuet ordeal, I can also re-fuel others if the need arises. This set-up isn't for everyone, I know but it works very well for me and the cost was only around 450. 00.

 

[Gary - K7GLD]

As an active RVer, the added fuel is a must to obtain decent range of travel on a fill-up - the ability to "shop" for best fuel pricing is a big plus as well. We can travel about 1200 miles on a full fuel load, the in-bed tank adds 50 gallons to our capacity.



When traveling across country, I use info posted on the web to determine best places to fuel up along our route of travel - and a 10 cent per gallon savings by selective buying DOES add up over the long haul, especially when buying 60 or more gallons at a time!



Our tank also provides lots of added tool storage that is also quite handy when RVing - have had many ocassions to appreciate that extra storage. Our tank is a "Cinderelle" brand (no, I never heard of it before either!) - and is made of steel - it cost $275, and has paid for itself in added peace of mind when travelling - and in the 150,000 miles (2 different trucks) we've had it, undountedly also paid for itself in fuel savings.

 

[Sasquatch]

Mopar/Y-Knot, Gary...



All you've said makes sense -- particularly the bit about recouping expenses with a tank that costs say, $250 - $600. That'd be, in my estimation, a worthwhile investment, for sure. What I was balking at was the $1200 figure: that buys quite a bit of 10¢ (savings per gallon) diesel fuel.



Also compelling, is your usage: Long range RVing and difficulty in fueling at routine, retail locations.



My deal is a little different; I want the extra range -- that'd be great -- but it's hard to justify the price tags I've seen, since I can't install a large, cross-bed style tank.



I have an A. R. E. Utility shell on my truck, and one of those slide-out bed-drawers makes all the inside "cube" accessible from behind the tail gate. I run with several thousand pounds of tools, bins loaded with fasteners, racks with ladders, and inside packed to the gills with compressors, generators, and every sort of remodeling tool you can think of. Big, bulky weight, all the time.



I do a lot of city driving -- which is hell on brake pads and fuel mileage, too -- but I'm wrestling with where to put an extra tank that doesn't require relocating my spare tire.



I'm headed to Aspen, Colorado later this week (14 degrees there tonight), and I just filled up at a local discount fuel place for $1. 99/gal. My sending unit went out about 75,000 miles ago, so another argument for replacing the OEM tank with, say, a TransferFlow unit would be both additional capacity and a high-quality, digital readout.



On another, completely unrelated, front, I also changed over from Rotella 15w-40 to RotellaT 5w-40 synthetic, today, because I didn't want to have to change the oil twice on the road. I'm driving from Atlanta to Aspen, CO, then back to Atlanta, then up to Connecticut and back home again, all within the next three weeks.



I've had good luck with Shell motor oils, and didn't want to pay $70 to do an oil change with the Mobil, Delvac 1 synthetic ($32 Gal!!). I've done routine oil changes every 3,000 miles, and the engine (at least the top, when I do the valves) is super clean after 120,000 miles. I was hoping that the RotellaT Synthetic would allow me to extend my service intervals to, say, 6,000 miles.