Rear Tank Question

I'm adding a rear tank under the bed of the Jeep. After climbing around underneath it with a tape measure, I've come up with a basic size of 17" X 22". My question has to do with the depth.

Can anyone running a rear tank give me an idea of how deep to build the tank?

I'm guessing somewhere around 11"-12" deep will fit, but it will hang below the rear bumper 3"-4". It will have a 1/4" skid plate beneath it, so I'm thinking that shouldn't be an issue. 12" deep would give a little over 19 gallons. If that were to work, I could lose the jerry cans from on top of the rear wheelwells and free up some cargo space.

What say you?

Any advice is appreciated.

 

The stock rear tank is about 10 inches deep.

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Build a tank? I admire the concept, but I'm not sure that it's a good use of your time and/or economical. The later factory tanks pretty much fill the space completely - if they were any larger, you could not remove/install them. The OEM tank holds 15 gallons. There are lots of different sources for a factory-style tank. Check out MTS - they sell tanks for this purpose in both 15 gal (10" deep) and 21 gal (15" deep) sizes. http://www.mtscompany.com/jeep.htm

 

Thanks for the info guys!

^I was thinking about that as well. I just have this fear of coming of a big rock loaded down and piecing the tank upon landing. I feel pretty confident that 1/4" could hold up to just about anything.

timgr, I have a lot more time than money. And I have access to everything I need to make a nice stainless tank. And I've always been a DIY kind of guy. "Why buy it if I can build it..."

 

Mine is 16x22 and 12" tall. I made a 3/16" skid plate. I also have a 1.5" body lift which helps with clearance between the fuel sending unit and the tub.

 

^That's a nice set up!^ How did you hang the tank? My plan is to add a flange the lower tank wall and then bolting it to the skid plate.

 

Aluminum angle brackets on both sides of the tank. The nuts are welded to the frame, so removal is easy.

Front side


Rear side

 

Nice! Thanks!

 

14" is what I used on the last one I built also, but there was a 1" body lift which puts it an inch higher on the bottom. Made that one with 14 gage-both plenty stout and too heavy. As to Tim's coment on why build: that tank holds just a hair short of 25 gallons and completely did away with the need for jerry cans on all the places I like to wheel.

 

Mmm. Must be the square corners that fill the space better. The original tank is more like a jellybean.

 

More is not necessarily better. That is, if you only need a 15 gal tank, don't make a 20. It will hang down further and you'll be beating it on every rock on the Rubicon next July. I kept my underseat tank and have a 14 gal rear tank. It's way more than enough fuel for any trip I've been on. That includes the Dusy Trail that is a real gas burner at 30+ miles long.

 

:iagree: How did you valve the two?

 

This is what i have as well. Works great. I tied the two together with a simple manual 3 way valve under the drivers seat.

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My plan is to run a small electric pump from the rear tank to the front tank with an inline check valve. Flip a switch to transfer from one to the other, while watching the under seat tank's gauge.

The tank has been tacked up. Just need to finish welding it up. I'll try to snap a couple of pics tomorrow.

 

I used a solenoid valve I got from James Duff Enterprises. It's designed to be used for an early Bronco, but it can't tell a Jeep from a Bronco. ha ha Here's a link to the part: http://www.jamesduff.com/eb/gas_tank.html

 

Check out the site Posi left a link to............this guy Duff has a switch whereby you can control flow from both tanks with both having sending units but only one guage..........

 

Mine has a marine manual selector valve between the seats, and a single Holley red pump mounted along the frame rail about even with the bell housing. Works good, and not much to fail.

 

I set my boat up with two senders, a dpdt switch and one gauge. I just don't want to buy another fuel sender and mount another switch in my new dashboard. I'm a po' boy these days...