auxiliary fuel tank

[reddwar]

We are at Quartzsite az. on the way down here fuel in Blackwell ok 3.55 san Antonio, tx. 3.49 & 3.47 at QT between here & phoenix. Most of the time fuel ran 3.69+ up to a little over $4.00

Thinking of getting an auxiliary fuel tank. been looking at them for years. There is a guy here at the show from lake havasu city who will custom build a 70+/- gal. tank that I can read fuel in both tanks for $1100. I have a bed cover & super glide hitch, don't think that is a bad price. I could save $350 if I were to put a gravity flow switch in cab. Think I would forget to shut it off, no {I know I would}. We full time & I am going to keep my baby a 07 DRW 3500 5.9 as long as I am on the road at least 10 more years I hope.

So sound like an ok good deal.

red

[Bigburd]

I use this, works for me. 57gal, 12 volt, removable.

[PA12DRVR]

dwb619 wrote:
It's all about convenience, range , and ability to chose when and where to refill.

That was it in a nutshell for me. Put a 65 (IIRC) gallon tank in the back of the F350. From American Tank in FRisco TX. Cost $1000 or so, but was fully installed, fully plumbed, came with an aux switch so that I could switch between factory and aux tank.

Lost some (not all) space in the bed, but this combo gave me 1200 miles of towing range. I just found it incredibly convenient to be able to drop the trailer, go out for dinner, and fuel up just the truck. No more looking for fuel during the day and if we stopped at a Travel Center, it was because of want-to or convenience, no longer of necessity.

Auxiliary tank was prompted by a midnight drop the trailer off at Kroger, drive truck across street, fill up and re-hook. My own fault for not planning, but never again.

[Bionic_Man]

I have the 60 gallon RDS tank / tool box combo. I love it. For me (like others posted) it isn't about saving $$ per fill up, but about filling up when I want to. On weekends, I do think it saves me time as I can go round trip out to the lake and back without wasting 30 minutes of time at the fuel station. To me, that is a big deal.

I would rather have the Titan replacement, but an additional 15 gallons wasn't worth the cost they wanted. My RDS was less than $800, has a manual shut off that does not over fill the tank if left on, no CELs, no problems with the factory fuel gauge, etc.

I am glad I bought it.

[Hank85713]

I got a 20 Gal drum, made a cradle for it and carry a pump for when we travel. Not really needing the extra capacity, would be nice at times but would lose too much bed capability with the approx 2ft sitting on the floor of bed. The drum can be raised, pumped out and removed as needed.

[MTPockets1]

texasdiver wrote:
I'm intrigued by the auxiliary fuel tank/toolbox combo units that provide about 50g of additional fuel.

I'm curious how a full tank of fuel affects the ride of the truck while not trailering. A lot of people carry sand bags in the back of their 3/4 ton trucks to smooth out the ride. Does one get some of the same effect with a full auxiliary tank or is it too far forward?

After installing the below tonneau 50 gal Transfer flow tank, It was hard to tell the difference with a full tank. Seems if I focused on it, it was slight. I was able to install my below cover in bed tool box between new tank and hitch with no interference. Like it a lot.

[mpierce]

It will help out on ride some.

[texasdiver]

I'm intrigued by the auxiliary fuel tank/toolbox combo units that provide about 50g of additional fuel.

I'm curious how a full tank of fuel affects the ride of the truck while not trailering. A lot of people carry sand bags in the back of their 3/4 ton trucks to smooth out the ride. Does one get some of the same effect with a full auxiliary tank or is it too far forward?

[Airstreamer67]

I bought my 91 gallon RDS auxiliary tank for the convenience. I like not having to stop at a diesel station but once every four or five days while traveling every day on the road.

With my auxiliary tank, I eliminated my least favorite thing about traveling long distances: looking for a good place to refill every few hours.

The only time I damaged my trailer was trying to snake my way around in a too-crowded station. Now I refill mostly when unhooked and going out for dinner for the night.

Having said that, being able to buy the lowest cost fuel helps too.

[larry_barnhart]

We did the inbed tank because we wanted it. Money didn't seem to matter at the time. Nice item for us.

chevman

[GoPackGo]

My gravity feed switch is entirely manual. I like simple.

[bdb2047]

OP talked about gravity feed in original post. I have gravity feed with 40 gal aux tank. You have to be sure valve for aux tank is for gravity feed and normally off,Install switch in cab so it is off when igniton is off. this way when truck is off aux tank is off. You can also use a switch that lites when on.

[dwb619]

It's all about convenience, range , and ability to chose when and where to refill.

[GoPackGo]

I have an RDS 40 gallon tank combo with the toolbox. This was the first thing I got for my truck and absolutely the best.

I did not buy it to save money on fuel, although that's nice too. I bought it so I can get fuel when I want to. And having an extra 40 gallons on board gives me a nice feeling should I get low on fuel in the OEM tank for some reason.

Tim

[travelnutz]

We don't watch every penny we spend either by far and don't have to but throwing money away doesn't make any sense. We've been fully retired already for 12 years and semi for nearly 3 years before that and do so much travel and boating etc and helping our kids out that if we we're stupid we could hurt our finances bad if we live to over 100 and still very active/traveling and had been spending unwisely. As screwed up as things are with our huge national debt which must be repaid, being sensible with spending now may be a real blessing in a few years into the future when the shoe drops. We're in it for the LONG HAUL as in a long extended future of fun.

[mich800]

mdamerell wrote:
Fun tidbits poking around the internet and some loose math.

If you spent $1,000 on an aux fuel tank upgrade, saved 50 cents on every gallon and got 10 mpg towing it would take you 20,000 miles to recoup your investment.

Diesel (according to Mobile and Shell) has a shelf life of 6 months to a year if keep cool and dry. Add biocides and filtration and it will keep longer.

Average weight for a gallon of diesel is 7.0 to 7.3 pounds depending upon blend.

Untreated #2 diesel Gel point is usually around 17.5 °F (?8.1 °C).


Have a great day 🙂

I paid $100 for my 40 gal. on craigslist this summer and it has already paid for itself. But, like many others have posted, I did not purchase it to save on fuel costs to but for the luxury of only getting fuel when I want to. I have hauled bulk mulch and gravel with no issues. I just toss a tarp over the tank before loading. Ideally I would have just purchased a larger replacement tank but could not justify the cost for my intended use.