32 gallon fuel tank upgrade... Thoughts

[Jerrybob]

Between me....my wife and our dog.......when we pull our trailer......our tank never gets below half a tank......one of us always needs to stop.

 

[turkeybird56]

Personally wish I had a 32 gallon instead of 26 gallon, but I no longer make long trips. If U make long trips, than the decision is: Do I buy on line for a lot less and try to put in or have put in and maybe get dealer to flash? Or do I pay $950 for Dealer to do? Again, your decision and your wallet and needs.

Or, do you put an optional tank in the bed and have modified for your fuel system. Again, your $$$$$$$.

 

[turkeybird56]

Between me....my wife and our dog.......when we pull our trailer......our tank never gets below half a tank......one of us always needs to stop.

I neva allow tank go below 1/4, not the way these pumps are cooled by the fuel.

 

[GTyankee]

a 26 gallon tank only holds about 22 gallons, the rest of the tank is left for expansion.
If you ever looked at a Ram fuel tank, you would notice that the fill tube is inches lower than the top of the tank





If you top off your tank, the tank over fills & gas enters that uppermost gray plastic piece, which from what i understand contains a Tip Over Valve, & 2 or 3 tubes, one goes directly to the charcoal cannister, another one is a fresh air thing, the 3rd one goes to the engine compartment.
Those lines all have sensors & if tripped will cause you to have issues when trying to put any fuel into your tank.
THEN you wonder why you can't fill your gas tank, without playing with the fuel nozzle

 

[Tom McClellan]

Ordered mine with the 32 and absolutely love it!

 

[farout75]

Call a salvage yard and see if they can locate you one. I have had both on two RAMs and I like the 26 Gal much better, less weight, and the $900 is way too much!

 

[gdc0581]

I'm an old fart (76) and highly endorse the concept of extra fuel capacity. Of course that depends highly on what you are doing with your vehicle. In our younger days, the wife and I spent about 30 years of vacations exploring the backroads of British Columbia. In those days there weren't gas stations anywhere outside of the larger cities. Even if you are just driving down the highway, getting to pick when you want to buy fuel saves real money.

My first 4WD vehicle was a 1974 Jeep Grand Wagoneer. I'm guessing the factory tank was about 25 gallons. I was able to purchase a tank that mounted in place of the spare tire that added another 25 or so gallons. If I remember correctly, I think that gave me a range of about 800 miles.

In about 1987 I replaced the Jeep with an 85 F250 diesel. I think it had two factory tanks of about 38 gallons or so. I was able to purchase tanks that mounted under the bed outside the frame between the rear tire and the cab. I got one for each side and they were 22 gallons each. I plumbed them such that I could fill all three tanks from the same side of the truck. I think I was looking at a range of about 1000 miles. I was just pulling a tent trailer at the time so the truck didn't even know it was there.

I then moved to a 1997 F250 with the 7.3 liter diesel. At that time, you couldn't buy the outside the frame tanks anymore because of the problems with the Chevy trucks catching fire in side collision accidents. Since it was diesel and not gasoline, I wasn't too worried and just moved the tanks from the 85 to the 97. The 97 had two factory tanks of about 35 to 38 gallons each so I was in fat city. After about 10 years, the old tanks started rusting so I replaced them with a 45 gallon tank in the truck bed. All of the prior tanks had been set up with electrical switching valves. The auxiliary tank in the bed was set up to drain into the standard tank through the filler hose. The mechanism that prevented overfilling/overflowing the main tank wasn't very good so I put an electrical switch in so that I only used the auxiliary tank to fill the main tank when I wanted to.

I have now moved to a 2019 Ram 3500 dually with the HO diesel. The factory tank on that was about 30 gallons or so. Even though I'm not doing that much back roading any more, I really missed the extra range. I went with the 55 gallon Titan tank that replaces the factory tank. I now pull a 25 foot Arctic Fox 25Y that weighs about 8500 pounds fully equipped and I get about 10 MPG so I have about 500 miles cruising range. I first tried moving my 45 gallon in the bed tank from the Ford to the Ram. I carry a Polaris Ranger 570 side-by-side in the bed of the truck. Having the auxiliary tank requires the rear tires of the Polaris to ride on the tail gate with the tailgate open. I did that with my 97 F250 and the 2013 F350 with no problem. With the Ram, it bent the tailgate. The bend isn't too bad and I can still close the tailgate, but I wouldn't even consider putting the Polaris there. Removing the auxiliary tank allows me to move the Polaris forward about a foot, getting the weight off of the tailgate.

 

[Zoe Saldana]

Went to Ram today to get a price for replacing the 26 gal tank with a 33 gallon tank. Dealer said its a 32 not a 33... So I asked what the out the door price would be?

They gave me a print out and its about $950. This seems resonable.. Anyone have thoughts?

I tow with the truck and my silverado had a 34 gallon tank. I got 600 plus miles per tank not towing and about 300 miles towing with that truck.

To some 6 gallons may not make a difference. To me its an extra hour of drive time.

I'd look at either plastic jugs or a in bed metal tank with a pump.

 

[Socalramfan]

I'm an old fart (76) and highly endorse the concept of extra fuel capacity. Of course that depends highly on what you are doing with your vehicle. In our younger days, the wife and I spent about 30 years of vacations exploring the backroads of British Columbia. In those days there weren't gas stations anywhere outside of the larger cities. Even if you are just driving down the highway, getting to pick when you want to buy fuel saves real money.

My first 4WD vehicle was a 1974 Jeep Grand Wagoneer. I'm guessing the factory tank was about 25 gallons. I was able to purchase a tank that mounted in place of the spare tire that added another 25 or so gallons. If I remember correctly, I think that gave me a range of about 800 miles.

In about 1987 I replaced the Jeep with an 85 F250 diesel. I think it had two factory tanks of about 38 gallons or so. I was able to purchase tanks that mounted under the bed outside the frame between the rear tire and the cab. I got one for each side and they were 22 gallons each. I plumbed them such that I could fill all three tanks from the same side of the truck. I think I was looking at a range of about 1000 miles. I was just pulling a tent trailer at the time so the truck didn't even know it was there.

I then moved to a 1997 F250 with the 7.3 liter diesel. At that time, you couldn't buy the outside the frame tanks anymore because of the problems with the Chevy trucks catching fire in side collision accidents. Since it was diesel and not gasoline, I wasn't too worried and just moved the tanks from the 85 to the 97. The 97 had two factory tanks of about 35 to 38 gallons each so I was in fat city. After about 10 years, the old tanks started rusting so I replaced them with a 45 gallon tank in the truck bed. All of the prior tanks had been set up with electrical switching valves. The auxiliary tank in the bed was set up to drain into the standard tank through the filler hose. The mechanism that prevented overfilling/overflowing the main tank wasn't very good so I put an electrical switch in so that I only used the auxiliary tank to fill the main tank when I wanted to.

I have now moved to a 2019 Ram 3500 dually with the HO diesel. The factory tank on that was about 30 gallons or so. Even though I'm not doing that much back roading any more, I really missed the extra range. I went with the 55 gallon Titan tank that replaces the factory tank. I now pull a 25 foot Arctic Fox 25Y that weighs about 8500 pounds fully equipped and I get about 10 MPG so I have about 500 miles cruising range. I first tried moving my 45 gallon in the bed tank from the Ford to the Ram. I carry a Polaris Ranger 570 side-by-side in the bed of the truck. Having the auxiliary tank requires the rear tires of the Polaris to ride on the tail gate with the tailgate open. I did that with my 97 F250 and the 2013 F350 with no problem. With the Ram, it bent the tailgate. The bend isn't too bad and I can still close the tailgate, but I wouldn't even consider putting the Polaris there. Removing the auxiliary tank allows me to move the Polaris forward about a foot, getting the weight off of the tailgate.

They do make a reinforced tailgate support to prevent that.

 

[RDNKB34R]

Your $$, your truck. Only you can decide if it's worth it. I find, my bladder gives out way before I need fuel.

Ditto on the whole " my bladder gives out" thing.

Old age and diabetes SUCK.

 

[pacofortacos]

car-part.com for searching for used tank

 

[SitKneelBend]

I bet you can do this yourself with AlfaOBD and a salvage tank (maybe even new aftermarket) for under $400. If I remember right its mostly plug and play. You can probably sell your old tank to recoup some cost too.

 

[jawzs2]

I bet you can do this yourself with AlfaOBD and a salvage tank (maybe even new aftermarket) for under $400. If I remember right its mostly plug and play. You can probably sell your old tank to recoup some cost too.

Yep, got mine from a local yard for $90, needed to reroute one or two of the vapor lines if I remember correctly but other than that, bolts right in. Set the tank size with AlfaOBD and done.

 

[SitKneelBend]

Yep, got mine from a local yard for $90, needed to reroute one or two of the vapor lines if I remember correctly but other than that, bolts right in. Set the tank size with AlfaOBD and done.

It's been on my to do list just haven't gotten around to it. Thanks for confirming it!

 

[pacofortacos]

Yep, got mine from a local yard for $90, needed to reroute one or two of the vapor lines if I remember correctly but other than that, bolts right in. Set the tank size with AlfaOBD and done.

Hmmm, I wonder if I can set mine to 26 and keep the extra as spare fuel. I much prefer the low fuel light to come on with about an 1/8 tank left (like the older vehicles) vs. newer vehicles damn near empty spec.. This is especially true when towing or out west in no where land.
I do keep an eye on all of the gauges but also do come close to empty trying to make certain stopping points at times.

 

[JSchauer]

I have a '22 Rebel that is not calibrated for the 33 tank and the dealer is acting like I am wrong. Anyone have some suggestions?