MOTOR HEAD, so you got over 22mpg? Thats pretty impressive , how many miles do you have on the truck? Now you know you had at least 1.5 gallons left when you stopped to fill her up

 

gatf4, the trip I mentioned was last summer. At that time the truck had about 12K on it. The actual mileage was 22.25. I was driving around 65 mph, not towing, but did have my Harley dresser in the back.

A couple of interesting observations about that tank. I ran 100 miles with the low fuel light on. Ran 50 miles with DTE showing 0. I must admit to having a five gallon can of diesel in the bed of the truck. My intent was to run it out, put in the five gallons, head to the nearest diesel source, fill it up & compute the actual capacity. I got to my exit before that happened! Went from my (then) home in the Florida Keys to my sister's house in Rapid City. Stayed with her for Sturgis Bike Rally.

 

Sounds like a fun trip!

 

I have to do this mod. The most I have ever gotten in to the tank was around 32 gallons fuel 3 inches from the cap. Sounds like I could have up to 6 gallons of fuel left in the tank. I have able to get 600 to 625 miles per tank on average with a 30 gallon average fill volume.

 

how hard do you think this would be without a lift? I would love to try this, but how bad would it be if i couldn`t get the tank back in there

 

I would say that most of the people that have done this mod, myself included, didnt use a lift. I did it in my driveway using jack stands and a floor jack. It takes a little longer, but it works. I did back the rear wheels up ramps though. Gives you more room to work under there.
John

 

I don't have a lift nor a transmission jack. I do have two floor jacks, a good set of jack stands and a motorcycle lift. I did the job by myself. I'm not a big, strong, young guy. Rather a 5'7", 155 pound, 60 year old. Removing/installing the tank wasn't my biggest problem. Used the motorcycle lift. I had bit of a time reinstalling the fuel lines. Did some corresponding with Dave Kelley with suggestions on clarifying the instructions. He said he would put my suggestions in, but, naturally having already done mine, I haven't seen the update. Another tricky item for some is removing the electrical connector. Reinstalling the big ring that holds the fuel pickup can be aggravating also. Dave said he'd improve the instructions in those areas also.

In short, if you have average mechanical ability, don't be afraid to try it. By average, I mean things like changing your own oil, doing your own brake jobs, etc. Of course YMMV! JOIBO! For liability reasons, you'd have a really hard time getting a shop to do the job.

 

I did mine in the driveway without lifting the truck at all. The hardest time I had with the mod was getting the inner fuel return line unsnapped and seperated. Used a regular car jack to lower and later raise the tank and a strap wrench to loosen, remove and reinstall the retainer ring for the sending unit. Very easy to do over all.

 

Are you guys suggesting that this allows more fuel in that if you DID take the 15 minutes and filled the fuel all the way up to the cap?

 

Probably not. Although since your not trapping the air in that section of the tank I could see it holding some more fuel. Good question though.

 

The reason I ask is because I have a gravity feed aux tank filling into my main tank. I just fill the main tank till it clicks, then start filling the aux tank with the valve open. This fills the remainder of the way up without any foaming or me really doing anything.. I just wondered if it added any extra capacity outside of filling to the cap..

 

I couldn't say "FOR SURE", but..... I used to do the trickle in until standing in the neck type fillup on occasion. It never seemed to get as "full" as it is now with Dave Kelley's vent kit. With the vent kit, on the xway at legal speed, I usually go 125 to 150 miles before the needle moves off the full mark. Never did that previously. That would seem to indicate it's more full than previously. Heck, who knows? The vent kit makes a complete fillup quick and easy.