Dirtco
New member
It seems like one of the biggest complaints among the 3rd Gen owners is the lack of fuel capacity and range. I’ve never been able to get more than 14.5 gallons in my tank, when you add in 36” tires, heavy beadlock wheels and a thirsty supercharger I honestly feel like I’m driving an electric car with a very limited range. I’m constantly thinking about whether I have enough fuel to run “this” trail, and if I need to carry an extra gas can.
Lately I’ve been running longer trails in more remote terrain, so the need for extra fuel has become a major concern. A standard gas can isn’t really cutting it anymore, and I hate the idea of multiple gas cans on the roof. The only real option (in my opinion) was to install an auxiliary fuel tank where the old spare tire used to live. This is not going to be a step-by-step write up, there are too many variables between other rigs. I just wanted to document how I extended my fuel range and share some of my idea’s.
I originally planned on building a custom auxiliary fuel tank from scratch, but my goal for this summer is to wheel more and wrench less. So I looked around and found a fuel tank at a decent price that should fit pretty well, it’s not perfect but your not going to find that without making your own.
This is the tank I found on Summit Racing, it’s a pretty basic 16 gallon steel tank but it does have baffles and being that it’s steel I can modify it as needed.
https://www.summitracing.com/parts/tnk-ut-n-2
<a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/156493849@N03/35268947873/in/dateposted-public/" title="IMG_4515"><img src="https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4299/35268947873_43d0f71f78_b.jpg" width="768" height="1024" alt="IMG_4515"></a><script async src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js" charset=“utf-8"></script>
<a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/156493849@N03/35237171414/in/dateposted-public/" title="IMG_4517"><img src="https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4316/35237171414_3aba4914e2_b.jpg" width="768" height="1024" alt="IMG_4517"></a><script async src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
For reference I trimmed the rear of my frame rails when I built my bumper, and I have a one inch body lift. It’s possible that there is a better fitting tank out there, and there might be a better fitting tank for people who have not trimmed their frame rails but this seemed to work pretty good for me. Using this tank in conjunction with the stock tank will give me a capacity of around 30 gallons!
Before I get too excited though, I first have to install it and that’s going to take some work. Step one was to remove the factory crossmember and reroute some of the wiring I had perviously installed. I wanted to get the tank as high as possible, so I cut a small section of the factory body bracing out. This allowed me to get the tank another inch or two higher.
<a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/156493849@N03/35268907663/in/dateposted-public/" title="fullsizeoutput_331"><img src="https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4330/35268907663_f784a8c237_b.jpg" width="1024" height="768" alt="fullsizeoutput_331"></a><script async src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js" charset=“utf-8"></script>
<a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/156493849@N03/35943576991/in/dateposted-public/" title="IMG_4252"><img src="https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4314/35943576991_7cb272e68e_b.jpg" width="1024" height="768" alt="IMG_4252"></a><script async src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Lately I’ve been running longer trails in more remote terrain, so the need for extra fuel has become a major concern. A standard gas can isn’t really cutting it anymore, and I hate the idea of multiple gas cans on the roof. The only real option (in my opinion) was to install an auxiliary fuel tank where the old spare tire used to live. This is not going to be a step-by-step write up, there are too many variables between other rigs. I just wanted to document how I extended my fuel range and share some of my idea’s.
I originally planned on building a custom auxiliary fuel tank from scratch, but my goal for this summer is to wheel more and wrench less. So I looked around and found a fuel tank at a decent price that should fit pretty well, it’s not perfect but your not going to find that without making your own.
This is the tank I found on Summit Racing, it’s a pretty basic 16 gallon steel tank but it does have baffles and being that it’s steel I can modify it as needed.
https://www.summitracing.com/parts/tnk-ut-n-2
<a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/156493849@N03/35268947873/in/dateposted-public/" title="IMG_4515"><img src="https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4299/35268947873_43d0f71f78_b.jpg" width="768" height="1024" alt="IMG_4515"></a><script async src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js" charset=“utf-8"></script>
<a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/156493849@N03/35237171414/in/dateposted-public/" title="IMG_4517"><img src="https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4316/35237171414_3aba4914e2_b.jpg" width="768" height="1024" alt="IMG_4517"></a><script async src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
For reference I trimmed the rear of my frame rails when I built my bumper, and I have a one inch body lift. It’s possible that there is a better fitting tank out there, and there might be a better fitting tank for people who have not trimmed their frame rails but this seemed to work pretty good for me. Using this tank in conjunction with the stock tank will give me a capacity of around 30 gallons!
Before I get too excited though, I first have to install it and that’s going to take some work. Step one was to remove the factory crossmember and reroute some of the wiring I had perviously installed. I wanted to get the tank as high as possible, so I cut a small section of the factory body bracing out. This allowed me to get the tank another inch or two higher.
<a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/156493849@N03/35268907663/in/dateposted-public/" title="fullsizeoutput_331"><img src="https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4330/35268907663_f784a8c237_b.jpg" width="1024" height="768" alt="fullsizeoutput_331"></a><script async src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js" charset=“utf-8"></script>
<a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/156493849@N03/35943576991/in/dateposted-public/" title="IMG_4252"><img src="https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4314/35943576991_7cb272e68e_b.jpg" width="1024" height="768" alt="IMG_4252"></a><script async src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
