Ok my fuel tank is about half full which means it should have about 17.5 gallons of diesel in it. Now it diesel weighs between 7.0-7.3 pounds per gallon that means I have about 128 pounds of fuel in there. I was going to use a trany jack or floor jack support the tank undo the bolts and let the tank down, after disconnecting the fuel lines. I am going to do this so that I can get to the brake line that is run down the frame next to the tank. Do you guys see any problems with this, or any suggestions? Thanks in advance

 

Be careful, when the fuel starts to slosh it can load up one side of the tank very quickly! try to keep the tank as level as possible, it becomes a perpetual problem once the fuel starts to go to one end, and before you know it the whole blasted thing crashes to the ground (if your lucky without splitting). (ask me how I know...hehehe). I would definitely recommend using tie downs around the tranny jack and tank to help hold it straight, and get a buddy to give you a hand if you can.
Also the widest "lifting print" jack you can find will help also

 

I wouldn't really recommend it personally, it's not just the weight of the tank, but the fact that it is very unstable. I had less than two gallons left in mine when I dropped it and found it no fun even then. Just my opinion.
mishkaya

 

Ok then in that case how would I go about getting the fuel out so that I can drop it with little weight?

Well I could take two trany jacks one for each end of the tank and have a friend help me lower the tank this way, What do you guys think

 

You could siphon out the fuel or if the truck is still drivable, run it till its low. I've dropped tanks with 2 jacks, remember though that the tank can still tip side to side, using a tranny jack with the wide "lifting area" will help, but I would still use a tie down strap to hold it.

 

I've done lots successfully with two jacks, but of course, the ideal way to do it is with an empty tank.

 

I lifted the rear of my truck to help everything, so that when i dropped the tank it could stay right under the truck, yea watch the slosh, it was bad with mine and the whole thing shifted to one side, and do it on a level area, cause i didnt ant it sucked. Have fun, you might want to try fixing the sender b4 u put it in, or it will just go bad like the first one. i fixed mine and everything works great! have fun

 

If you have a tranny jack with a large pad it won't be a problem. Just center it and don't jerk it back and forth. I dropped the tank on the '00 we had with 36 gal of GAS (thats why I dropped it) using two of the vehicle screw jacks and 2x4's on a hot asphalt parking lot in the summer.

Randy

 

I would think it would be easier to drop the tank full diesel has no where to slosh around then and use two jacks just my opinion

 

The way I've dropped full tanks is to use two ratcheting type nylon web load tie downs, one on each end. Attach one end of the tie down to the frame and the other to the driveshaft.
Slow but the tank won't tip over. Big advantage to this for replacing a brake line is that you can lower the tank just a little bit and it's stable.

If you want to siphon--- remove the fill hose from the tank and siphon directly from the tank as many trucks have a roll over ball in the fill hose that will prevent a siphon hose from being inserted.

 

I used the method you were thinking with about 5 gallons in the tank. It sloshed and tipped off the floor jack. Luckily my head wasn't under it (or any other important parts)... If it were me i'd drain the fuel.

 

I used the jack as well as the tie down method infidel posted one thing to be cautious of is the tank module needs to be disconnected before the tank sloshes and busts a fitting

 

Ok brake lines are all done. I use two trany jacks and it worked great, had a friend lower while I watched the tank with my hand on it. Droped the tank about 6 inchs so that I could get to the brake line and had no problem.

 

Glad to know it worked out!