Reserve/Bigger Gas Tanks

[kis2]

Hey folks,

I'm looking to give the truck some longer legs. Could anyone point me towards a larger or perhaps reserve gas tank to supplement the current one on my 84 K5? It seems like there is enough room under there to either put in a larger one or attach a smaller one near the factory tank.

Thanks for the help!

 

[shaun89]

what size tank do u have? k5s came with 2 different sizes, 25 and 31 gallon,incase u have the 25 gallon, u can just put a 31 gallon in there.

 

[kis2]

Thanks for the reply! I have the 31 gallon installed currently.

 

[Fordum]

Well, I have not looked in a while, but there used to be a fairly thriving business in aftermarket tanks that would hold more.
Some were plastic, which has some advantages, but I don't like them. Others were just shaped differently so as to hold more.

Sometimes this caused unusual gauge readings. Some would stay on full forever and then drop really fast.

All my trucks had dual tanks, so I never needed larger ones. But, many years ago, I helped install an auxiliary tank in a my cousin's Chevy.

It was a 50 gallon under the toolbox tank.
This was in the bad old days, no kits, you got a tank and that was it. No place for a sending unit. No mounting hardware.

We mounted it under his tool box with the neck coming out from under. Had to to some minor adjusting of the edge of the bottom of the box with a big hammer.

It was a carbed truck, but no one had an electric valve for a decent price. The only manual valve did not have a setup for a return line.
So, we spliced a "T" into the main tank line between the engine pump and the tank. Hooked a manual valve between that and the big tank.
He would fill up the big tank and the regular tank. When the regular tank got low, he would open the valve and watch the gas gauge.

When it got almost full, he would close the valve.

One day he was coming down to out hunting camp, and stopped to fill the big tank. Gas was a lot cheaper then, but it still cost a bunch to put in 50 gallons.
So, he only filled the big tank.
About 5 miles past the station, he figured he would top off the regular tank. I was out by the pumphouse working on something when he came driving in. I asked him what was that running out of his truck?

He had switched the valve on, something good came on the radio, and he forgot. He had just finished dumping the last of the 50 gallons out of the vented gas cap.

He was not happy............

But, other than that, it worked great.
With today's gas, I would keep a bottle of Sta-Bil handy and dump some in if I ever filled that big tank up. If its not a DD, you might take a while to use it all.

 

[diesel4me]

You'll need a larger bank account to fill those tanks today!...Firdum has a good point too,it may go stale long before you use all that fuel,unless you do a lot of cross country trips or something...todays ethanol crap sours in 2-3 months time and can cause a lot of grief..

I wonder if a 40 gallon tank from a Suburban will fit between the frame rails of a K5??...J,C. Whitney used to sell extra capacity gas tanks,I haven't seen a catalo of theirs in maybe 10 years,so I dont know if they still have them or not..

 

[blazinzuk]

burb tank will not fit in a blazer without major mods.

To find a larger tank you are really going to need to find a used one. I have looked for one in the past.

Or you could make one.

There are several companys that make tanks to your specs but they are usually high dollar. They are awesome tanks though

 

[NorCal_Chris]

I had a 43g tank. Hung too low and wasnt wantimg that big anyways. I had a thread on it but dont remeber what it was.

Blazinzuk should have it eventually lol...

 

[blazinzuk]

I had a 43g tank. Hung too low and wasnt wantimg that big anyways. I had a thread on it but dont remeber what it was.

Blazinzuk should have it eventually lol...

One of these days

 

[gotblazers]

Get a fuel cell and have it gravity feed to your gas tank. You would need a fuel cell with a bottom hole and top hole. Then you probably couldnt use your filler hose anymore and you would need to cut out a hole in the rear floorboard. But that would be a easy 20-40 gallons in theory anyways.

 

[kis2]

thanks for all the replies, I'm looking into the advice

I just found this for anyone else looking, replacement 40gal
aerotanks.com/vehicles/chevy

add a .html to the end of that.

 

[NorCal_Chris]

this is the tank i had.

http://www.nwmp.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=4&Itemid=4

 

[fuffl]

Although I don't have a need for something that massive, I did find a 31 gallon tank from an 89 Blazer to install in my 76. I know I need the bigger straps and a 31 gallon sending unit. My question is: should I buy the 31 gallon sending unit for a 76 or an 89?

Thanks for any help you guys/gals can offer! After years of hot rod cars I've switched over to the 4x4 world. This Blazer is my first try and so far I absolutely love it! For the first time I'm actually waiting for a 6" snowstorm instead of dreading it

 

[fabjunkie]

Will a Suburban tank fit a long bed truck in place of the spare tire?

 

[dremu]

Although I don't have a need for something that massive, I did find a 31 gallon tank from an 89 Blazer to install in my 76. I know I need the bigger straps and a 31 gallon sending unit. My question is: should I buy the 31 gallon sending unit for a 76 or an 89?

For a '76. The '89 is fuel injected and so has the fuel pump on it, IIRC, and has different plumbing.

Will a Suburban tank fit a long bed truck in place of the spare tire?

Depends on how much fabwork you want to do; it's not a drop in as there's a crossmember there you'd have to move or remove.

-- A

 

[fuffl]

For a '76. The '89 is fuel injected and so has the fuel pump on it, IIRC, and has different plumbing.
-- A

Thanks Dremu! If I eventually plan on switching to fuel injection can I use the new unit in the meantime? Or is that switch best made when I add the FAST kit?