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help with fuel cells

muddybuddy

muddybuddy

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how many of you guys run them? where did you get them from? would you run them on a street driven truck? i would really like to get some more fuel capacity, and at the same time get the tank out from under my longbed truck (so i can run 64's). what do you guys think? what all would i need to hook a fuel cell up inplace of my existing saddle tank. its a diesel if that makes a big difference. could i use the sending unit from the existing tank, or would i need to buy a new one? thanks for the info
 
I did it in the truck im building. Its a 16 Gallon from Summit.

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I moved that rear crossmember up a bit and plan on choppin off the rear of the frame. Its a 85 blazer frame with an 82 chevy cab.
 
I got an 20 gal. aluminum fuel cell from jegs and bolted it to the floor pan with rubber bushings under the tank feet to keep it rubbing on the floor. when I put 64s in the blazer with a custom over frame shock tower it didnt leave me with the room i needed to put the fuel cell between the frame rails. also you have to consider the out put on a fuel cell is at the bottom of the tank and not the top like stock so mounting it in the rails puts the out put lines below your actuall fuel line path in the frame rail. I would think this could put a small amount of resrtiction when going up steep grades. the fuel has to gravity feed out of the botom of the tank, then up to the fuel filter, then to the fuel pump. its alot of work when going up hill for fluid to gavity feed going up to get to the pump. I want fuel flow not a roller coster fuel path.
Ill be building a firewall box for the tank with 1 side drawer for each side of the tank for tools and gear. this way i still have a flat floor (on top fo the tank fire wall)to pile stuff on and keep the tank and tools nice a neat and safe. another advantage is now there is no way for any objects your crawling over to hit your tank. safety man it works.:D
 
what i ment was that i want to put it in the bed under my tool box or something, and eliminate the saddle tanks, so i can run 64's. the fuel cell would be against the bed so it would be above the fuel lines anyways. they dont use a sending unit, just gravity feed?
 
Ronnie4wd said:
And there is no sending unit in my fuelcell.
Click to expand...

does everything work fine w/o one? what about on inclines and such? it wont starve itself? thats my only worry
 
stock tank doesn't have any great baffeling in it. If anything the foam in most cells will help a little with starvation. I'd recommend a drop sump style like Ronnie4wd's. Helps make the pickup the lowest point.

No sender means nothing more than you won't know how much fuel you have in there. So you will constantly have to check or monitor your miles to know when its time to refuel.

Most of the tanks posted are 16 and 20 gallons. What size is your stock tank? I've never had a pickup so I don't know. Larger capacity sells are more expensive and harder to come by. As well as probably harder to fit.
 
sled_dog said:
No sender means nothing more than you won't know how much fuel you have in there. So you will constantly have to check or monitor your miles to know when its time to refuel.
Click to expand...
Sorry, I know how much fuel there are in it but there are no fuel sending unit in the cell.
So fuel gauge works and there is no pump in the cell :wink1:
 
No troubles in inclines or anywhere not even with only 2 gallons in the cell.
I still got the foam in it and the diesel has not eaten it up yet :D .
 
My friend has a small (12 gallon) i think. It was a cheapie from summit. even on a hard brake it will studder. if it has a full tank it does it less but it is still apparent. i dont think it has foam so that might be the main problem.
 
Here is an older picture of mine. It's originaly from a pontoon boat. It has a sending unit, but it's not compatible with the GM guage. It does not have any baffling at all......haven't had any problems with that yet. (knock on artificialy simulated wood):crazy: It's a 25 gallon, syphon type fuel cell.

BogginPhephoron40s3.jpg
 
I havent had any problems with mine at all. Even at angles. I do have baffle in mine and it does have a sump. No pick-up and no sending unit. I like the simplicity of where and how it mounts. Four bolts and thats it. I look at it like this: If you're gonna play on the rocks then you better have a damn good skid plate for the tank or get the tank out of harms way. I choose the later.
 
Ronnie4wd said:
Sorry, I know how much fuel there are in it but there are no fuel sending unit in the cell.
So fuel gauge works and there is no pump in the cell :wink1:
Click to expand...

so you can hook it up to work with the fuel gauge, or did you have to make your own kindof?

ive got a 20gal tank now. what if i got 2 20gal cells and then cut them and put them together to make 1 40gal, would that work?
 
muddybuddy said:
so you can hook it up to work with the fuel gauge, or did you have to make your own kindof?
Click to expand...
I took the pink wire and connected it to the cell and a ground wire too.
The gauge works just like it should (M1008 standard).
 
hmm. just a thought. you really gonna have to worry about street driving with 64's? but i'm also looking into a fuel cell so thanks for the info
 
muddybuddy said:
does everything work fine w/o one? what about on inclines and such? it wont starve itself? thats my only worry
Click to expand...

You've got your terminology mixed up... A sender is what tells you how much fuel you have in the tank it has nothing to do with "sending" the fuel...
 
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