Patching gas tank - Is it polyethelene?

I replaced my fuel pump yesterday to address a "full tank hemorrhaging gas" problem. While the repair went well, I filled up again, and now see that the leak is further forward than the fuel pump (now that I have seen the anatomy of the tank with the bed up).

All that is left to do is to either repair or replace the tank. I have come up empty on finding replacement tanks that fit a 2nd gen (5.9 club cab short bed), and have resigned myself to patching it up.

I have looked at a number of fuel tank patch kits, but some don't work on polyethylene, and wanted to know if any of you:
a) Know what our gas tanks are made of, and
b) Have had good luck with a product to patch it

TIA

Sorry I don’t know the answer to your specific question. But a couple of thoughts:

Do you have access to any decent recycling yards? Might get one there. There’s got to be some trucks around that are dead but not yet gone to the crusher.

Has the plastic become brittle vs mechanical damage? If it’s fragile from age or heat damage it may just crack again.

Travelin Ram said:

Sorry I don’t know the answer to your specific question. But a couple of thoughts:

Do you have access to any decent recycling yards? Might get one there. There’s got to be some trucks around that are dead but not yet gone to the crusher.

Has the plastic become brittle vs mechanical damage? If it’s fragile from age or heat damage it may just crack again.

Click to expand...

I might be able to do so, but this truck doesn't have many miles (only 32K), and any in the yard down here will be similarly baked. I won't really know the cause of the leak until I get the tank out, but feel better about the process having swapped out a fuel pump.

Can you make your own new tank ( or get someone to do it) ?

some places to check

1995? Dude, it's time for a newer truck.

Dude, I just replaced my rusted out brake lines with stainless steel and the whole kit was like $134... There is nothing wrong with fixing an old truck.

I had a gas leak when filling that turned out to be animals chewing on the overflow elbow. I patched that hole with fiberglass, zip tied to the pipe on either side of the hole, seems to be holding fine and might be a little tougher to chew through than the original plastic.

A friend has a lift (came in handy for the brake lines too) so we dropped the tank for the patch job, wasn't too hard, just two straps and the pump / gauge sender fitting.

I don't know what kind of hole you need to patch, but if the tank straps aren't involved you might get away with a fiberglass wrap over the hole, maybe even extending around the tank.