gas tank protection

[Yeeehaw86]

what have people done to protect their gas tanks? I read the 'gas tank thread' in the closed forums, and it gave me some ideas, however no one posted the final outcome. there was talk of skidplating it, but then you lose even more clearance. swapping tanks was another option, but no one knew how that would work. i would really like to throw my tank away, and get a jeep tank, or something that would fit where my spare was, and just skidplate it. I don't know what's involved in the fuel system when you swap tanks, or if it would just be easier to build a beastly skidplate, and just constantly run it into stuff. any thoughts?

 

[Yeeehaw86]

?

 

[MountaineerGreen]

I started a thread a while back about that- no real answers other than a junkyard skidplate, with the possibility of beefing it up. I got one from a salvage yard for $50, including the transfercase skid plate.

http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=175349

 

[reserved50]

remove the spare and install an EFI fuel cell and cage that in with 1" tube(kind of like a basket) and weld or rivet 1/8" plate on the bottom. Only issue will be you'll have to cut a trap door on the floor to fuel it up, unless you get a tank with a side inlet. All the adapters are available from Aeroquip etc, maybe 5-600$ total? For the spare tire mount it externally on the hatch or roof. Another way is just cage in the stock tank :

 

[Yeeehaw86]

noob question:
what is the difference between a fuel cell and a gas tank?

 

[techboj]

A fuel cell is generally used in many applications when safety concerns are the primary issue - such as for race cars, rally cars, stunt cars, sports cars, street rods, off-road vehicles and race boats. They are no more than gas tanks that are crashworthy, non-exploding tanks that meet or exceed various crash-resistance specifications

In some applications, safety fuel cells are usually collapsible and not as rigid as metal fuel tanks. Some retain their shapes when empty while some (fuel bladders) collapse partially when empty. I think I remember a demo from an offroad magazine showing a fuel cell being hit hard by the claw end of a hammer. The force basically was distributed, absorbed and distributed by the tank and it returned to shape afterwards - - and no puncture. This would prove valuable in a crash or collission.

I'm not 100% sure that they are legal for street use (such as that on a daily driver) but I can be wrong.

 

[Yeeehaw86]

thank you. i may throw one of them in, in place of my tank, and stick it where the spare tire was, and cage it in. are they really expensive?

 

[reserved50]

the tanks arent expensive, but all the fittings etc add up, one hassle i guess is theres so many combinations, you can run just lines going to the tank with an external pump and fittings... you can probably find a fuel cell that has an in tank fuel pump and then run adapters to the stock lines. Some tanks come with fuel level sending units, some just have the hole some dont have any provision for them.
Getting it all sorted out is the problem, i would find some Mustang sites and see what they did, you need to run something similar, they usally remove the stock tank from behind the rear axle and place a cell there and cut the spare tire indentation out. I've done a few and some have come close to about a thousand dollars but they also ran larger lines to the engine for more fuel flow for nitrous etc. They also make aluminum cells

 

[techboj]

techboj you're from surrey eh?, same here

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