Here's my question... Why do you have to replace the stock tank in order to increase the range of our 4runners?

I'm thinking that w/o the spare under there, you could snug up a fuel cell high enough that:

1. It would never come in contact w/ anything.

2. It could be set up to gravity drain and fill w/ the stock tank so that you're just increasing the capacity of the stock tank w/o replacing it completely.

I'm thinking that w/ something like THIS TANK, but probally a stainless steel version to be DOT approved, the effective range of the 3rd gens could be improved from about 230 miles to over 400 miles. The added weight would be negligible and could easily be overcome by aftermarket springs and possibly spacers that are readily available.

The one in the ebay listing is a Tempo TP12L Marine Below-Deck Fuel Tank.

Now, with something like that in the spare tire location, the spare would obviously have to be stowed somewhere else. It might even be possible to use the poly tanks in states where there aren't any vehicle inspections. They're VERY rigid and meet or exceede all Coast Guard regulations which are much more strict than any DOT regulation as far as leaking or sturdiness is concerned. You can even get a strap kit for $25 to secure it.

All that would really be needed on a 3rd gen would be some fab work to secure the straps to and the necessary "plumbing" to connect it to the OEM tank. It should be sufficient to simply put a "T" fitting in the vent line of the OEM tank and connnect this new vent to it. For the liquid fuel, you would have to retrofit the OEM tank w/ a new nozzle near the bottom of the tank and connect that to the bottom of the aux tank (the aux tank would also have to be retrofitted w/ a nozzle). This would allow the aux tank to gravity fill as the OEM tank was filled and the fuel would self-equalize in both tanks.

This would not solve the problem of dragging the OEM tank on everything under the sun when out wheeling, but it would allow for some expanded range for highway travel.

Any ideas, suggestions, concerns???

 

Kind of like this one on my rig?

 

Rob:

Do you have an additional fuel pump or does it fill the OEM tank? How is it set up? Aluminum or 304L or 316L? Baffles? Homebrew, I assume...

I'm interested in a similar setup, but getting a gravity fill setup instead of a powered pump.

 

About half way down this page...

http://www.downeyoff-road.com/BodyCo...iaryTanks.html

 

Mine is the Downey for Tacoma's on that page. It fills the main tank with a pump, that was the only way they could get it to pass the DOT regs. It seems that gravity fed will not meet emissions or crash standards.

The tank is steel and is baffled.

 

Very interesting...*subscribes to thread*

 

andy,

have you looked into 80/100 series aux tanks?
http://george4wd.taskled.com/auxtank.html
http://www.journalone.com/tlc/aux_fuel.html

Just some food for thought since I'm thinkin about this too