Got a blonde question. Is my gas tank super small?

[Cheryl_B]

I had a quarter tank by the gauge when I went to fill up for my first time. I thought it would be over a hundred dollars, if not even worse. It topped out at less than $50! Is that possible? I don't have a generator, it's a 27' "mini" motorhome, 1985, Rockwood. Chevy G30.

Am I going to be needing to stop for gas every 4 hours on long trips? I'm just wondering if this could be a replacement gas tank and they put a smaller one in place of the original one.

[Cheryl_B]

Thanks, everyone! I somehow failed to subscribe to this thread I started and just remembered that it was out there. Those are great ideas and I'll check all those links and see what the manual has to say about it. I guess crawling under to peak at stuff is going to be something I need to get used to doing.

I'm green. REALLY green. I have so much to learn. Every day is going to be a challenge, but I hope in the long run, I'm happy with my decision.

[Cobra21]

I have a '93 Chev with a 28 gallon tank. With the 350 engine they do around 10 mpg. You should be just fine, I usually want to stop before I ever run out of gas.
Brian

[tatest]

The normal size of 33 gallons for G-series chassis of that era means stopping at least every four hours. At highway speeds of 55-70 mph you'll be using 7 to 8.5 gallons per hour.

Larger fuel tanks did not show up in G cutaway until it was totally redesigned as the Express/Savannah with separate body and frame. Tank location changed to meet evolving Federal safety standards, so it is probably not something to retrofit.

There was a larger tank offered for the G-series bare rail chassis, built for panel vans and smaller type-A motorhomes. I don't know if the tank location is the same, or if your chassis might have room to fit the larger tank.

[2_many_2]

Cheryl_B wrote:

Am I going to be needing to stop for gas every 4 hours on long trips?

Since you are probably only getting about six miles to the gallon the answer is yes. If you average 60 miles an hour you might have to stop every 2 1/2 to 3 depending on how low you want to run the tank.

[RoyB]

You may be expecting more fuel mileage than you are actually getting... The big guys are only getting 6-8 miles per gallon... a 25-gallon tank won't take you very far doing this...

[Bordercollie]

If Rockwood is still in business or has been bought out by another firm they may be able to tell you the capacity of the tank or measuring tank carefully and going to an aquarium shop should get you a close approximation.

[gkainz]

In my limited experience, Class Cs of that era (mine was an '83 Tioga on an '82 E-350) had aftermarket or custom built gas tanks, and could be of any size...

I second the "measure it" motion.

[mgirardo]

If the gauge is accurate, it would sound like you have a 33 gallon gas tank. I've never owned a 1985 G30, but searching the web shows that 33 gallon was indeed a size used in 1985. On newer vehicles, the size of the gas tank is usually on the tank itself, at least on two of my vehicles that I have actually checked.

We have a 2008 E450 with a 55 gallon tank. We get about 7.5 mpg at the speed limit, so we generally stop anywhere between 280 miles and 300 miles between file ups. If we don't need the generator, we might push it to 325 miles. Where we live the speed limit is usually 70 mph, so we generally stop every 4 to 5 hours on long trips to fill up. Wish we had Strabo's setup since we generally travel about 700 - 750 miles a day.

-Michael

[Strabo]

My '91 Jamboree Class C had a stock 60 with an extra 40 gallon added to system. Same fill and ran off existing gauge, very nice setup. That kept the 460 big block fed and lots of fuel for Genny.

[Cousin_Eddie93]

My old 93 e350 29' C only had a 30 gal tank. 270miles before the needle hit the red. Filling it made gas feel cheap until stopping every four hours. Currently have a 55 gal 31' C. makes a big big difference.

[IAMICHABOD]

Chevys of that era that were made into RVs came with a optional 33 gallon tank.

[tpi]

http://www.rv.net/forum/index.cfm/fuseaction/thread/tid/26425658.cfm

Maybe that will help. I had a 1985 Fiesta on G30 and it's been a while but I think it had the 22 gallon tank. Looks like in the linked thread reports of 22, 33, and 55 gallons.

[Trackrig]

path1 wrote:
Or is your gas gauge off that much? First step I would do is crawl underneath and look at it and get some measurements in inches. Then go to some fish aquarium web site that has a calculator that you can put in your measurements of your tank and gives you how many fluid gallons. Like this one...http://www.firsttankguide.net/calculator.php

No, not a blond moment.

Crawling underneath and looking at the tank is a very good idea. I've run out of gas in two Jeeps (one borrowed and one rented) where people had high centered the gas tanks on rocks and pushed the bottoms in. On both of them, the gas gauge worked down to about 1/3 of a tank and then the float arm was resting on the bottom of the tank. Maybe someone was bad at backing up and drove the MH over something hitting the tank. Stranger things have happened.

Bill

[Trackrig]

So what does the owners manual say the capacity of your gas tank is? I'm guessing you put in about 22 gallons and have about a 30 gal tank? You'll get about 300 miles at 60mph, maybe a little less?

I doubt if there's a smaller tank available than the factory original or anyone would have put one it it. Everyone, including you, is looking for a large tank.

Bill