Titan Fuel Tanks - Potential for 30+ Gallon Gas Tank for 3rd Gens?

[SURF RUNNER]

https://titanfueltanks.com/product-category/fuel_tanks/

https://titanfueltanks.com/about-the-tank/

I suggested they take a look at 3rd Gen 4Runners via their new product suggestion tool.
https://titanfueltanks.com/new-products-suggestion/

Could something like this ever happen?

 

[Doc2012]

Probably not.

Here's the reason why:

Space.

There is no room under the 4Runner.

Take a look at our stock tank in relation to the driveshaft, transfer case, rear axle, control arms, ect.

People already have problems hitting the tank with the driveshaft.

IOT get that to work, you'd have to remove the second crossmember, and make the tank bolt to the front crossmember, which would cause it to hit the transfer case.

I started working on a tank, but it's been sitting for a while. I need to get it going again.

I had some design issues with mine, but I figured them out.

I managed to make it 45gal the first time, then 34gal with some other changes, and now I'm going to redo it, so we'll see how much it is this time.

Just small changes, but still. It'll be nice when it's done.

 

[T4R2014]

The 90 series LC Prado shares a very similar chassis with the 3rd Gen and has a fuel tank mounted behind the rear axle.

Note how Toyota puts the last frame crossmember at the very rearmost section of the frame as opposed to the location of the crossmember used to support the spare tire winch in the 3rd Gen. I'm not sure if it supports the tank in the Prado as well. I would look into finding the measurements of the frame behind the rear axle to see if they are similar lengths. If they are, then this may be a very good option.

 

[Doc2012]

That was my plan.

I've already got the spare out of here from my leaf spring swap.

I designed a gas tank go go in place of the spare; however, it hangs low, and I decided to try something else out.

I'll be sure to update when I get time.

Check out my build thread for what I had in mind.

I've got a metric ****ton of cardboard here now, so stand by.

 

[the great him]

something else to consider here, is weight... the more fuel capacity you give it, the more weight you load it with... im all for a larger or second tank. yeah there is the for f150 tank, and i was gonna do that, but i am gonna be using the space under the cargo area for my dual spare batteries and a small air tank.

honestly id be happy with a secondary/remote 8-10 gallon tank. that coupled with a pair of 5 gal jerry cans would give 35+ gallons of fuel. thats a long range, even at 15mpg, 500+ miles

 

[SURF RUNNER]

The new 7th Generation 2014 Corvette Stingray has a gas tank with the exact same capacity as ours - 18.5 gallons... plus it gets much better gas mileage (17 City; 29 Hwy - 7 Speed Manual). That shows how woefully inadequate an 18.5 gallon tank is for an expedition type vehicle like the 4Runner. In addition many owners can't fill up past 17 gallons anyway. Having a replacement tank with 10 to 15 gallons of extra capacity is a lot different than having auxiliary tanks, jerry cans, etc.

As I mentioned in my OP I sent Titan a suggestion that they look at the 3rd Gen 4Runner. Maybe if enough owners send in suggestions their design specialists will at least give it a look. Here is the link for their suggestion email form: https://titanfueltanks.com/new-products-suggestion/

I think Toyota sold about 800,000 4Runners in the US between 1996 and 2002. This does not include the sales of Hilux Surfs worldwide. If Titan could come up with a solution using the spare tire carrier void and any other available space it could result in significant sales for them. Hell, even a 25 to 29 gallon tank would be a big improvement.

 

[RussToy]

Titan tanks is very familiar with using the spare tire area and converting it over to axu fuel tank space. This is what they've done on my Chevy 2500HD Diesel...they've place another 15-20 gal tank in this place.

It can be done...just like Doc is doing. The question is...does it make economical scenes to do it. Surf Runner stated Toyota made 800,000 4Runner...15-20 years later, how many of those are still on the road?? And then of those left, how many might be interested in an aux fuel tank.

I'd be interested in one...but how many are still being driven by soccer mom's?

 

[Doc2012]

And then of those left, how many might be interested in an aux fuel tank.



I'd be interested in one...but how many are still being driven by soccer mom's?

TAPATALK needs a damn like button.

This is absolutely correct.

How many people, besides the ones on this forum, TW, TTORA, Expo Portal, ect would be interested in an extended range tank?

And that's EXACTLY what Titan is going to take into consideration.

Yes, there's still a bunch of 4Runners on the road, but how many are into Expo stuff.

Toyota didn't design the 4Runner to be an Expo vehicle. They designed it to compete in an SUV Market.

And, if you remember right, gas was cheap as hell then. It was 40 bucks to full up my parents Expedition back then. 20 bucks was nothing for the small 4Runner.

Again, if you're wanting an aux tank, while Titan might be willing to design and build you a one off tank, it's probably not going to go into mass production, just because a couple hundred people want one.

And if they do build the tank, it'll probably be expensive as hell because of the R&D, materials, and stuff that they'll have to make up.

Your best bet is to do something yourself, or have a local fabricator make an aux tank that you can use.

Or order a prefabbed one from Summit or one of those places, a pump, ect ect.

 

[Kryptoroxx]

I know this is a loaded gun question but beyond getting the tank to fit and sealing it perfectly all of the components are up top by the filler hose correct?

If that's the case making a tank out of cardboard or something just to get measurements and then having it made out of aluminum is still going to run 300 on the cheap side. Of course that's not exactly going to be legal.

Another option is the f 150 tank which fits in between the frame rails. It's another 18.5 but there were issues with the pump working correctly over time.

Also there's the idea of mounting another stock tank on the other side of the driveshaft. Plenty of room over there once you get rid of the exhaust or re route it. I think a dual tank solution is probably going to be your better bet rather than one large tank.

 

[Doc2012]

How are you going to reroute the exhaust?

The only to do so would be to run it out right where the cat ends, or very close to the passenger front door.

Running it to the center of the truck isn't going to work, because of the transmission, t-case, and drive shaft.

Then on the back side there's the brake line that runs right down the middle of the axle, ect.

Unless you live in a state that doesn't do emissions, a passenger side tank isn't going to work very well.

The best option is to run an AUX tank, with an AUX pump, if you don't want to build your own.

 

[Dirtyfingers]

I was thinking about getting a set up that has two pumps, tow tanks and two check valves. Have it set up to a switch that will select which fuel sending unit is sending the signal to the gauge and viola, duel tank set up, have a seperate filler that I would somehow fabricate into my cbi bumper kinda like the old 67 impala. It's easier said than done...but duel tanks guys. Duel tanks!

 

[Dirtyfingers]

I'll draw up a diagram really quick.

 

[Dirtyfingers]

Again this is a very simple flow diagram, the way you
Could set this up is endless if you know mechanical engineering. You would put a 20 micron filter element before the check valves or whenever, now I'm not too keen on electronics or drawing wiriing diagrams so that's going to be left for someone else to do.

 

[nissanh]

Prado tank

The 90 series LC Prado shares a very similar chassis with the 3rd Gen and has a fuel tank mounted behind the rear axle.

Note how Toyota puts the last frame crossmember at the very rearmost section of the frame as opposed to the location of the crossmember used to support the spare tire winch in the 3rd Gen. I'm not sure if it supports the tank in the Prado as well. I would look into finding the measurements of the frame behind the rear axle to see if they are similar lengths. If they are, then this may be a very good option.

Just want to highlight the safety having a gasoline right at the rear end of the truck Vs diesel tank as in Prado.

At a rear end collision a rear end gas tank will spill gasoline all around and a just a spark will put everything in flames. Diesel burns very poorly with an ignition source.

 

[Brique]

I'm not sure if I had dual tanks that i would want them to duel. It could get messy. I'd rather they sat down and settled their differences like adult tanks.

 

[Dirtyfingers]

I'm not sure if I had dual tanks that i would want them to duel. It could get messy. I'd rather they sat down and settled their differences like adult tanks.

I just realized my phone did the auto correct dance. I'm not editing it though. Too lazy.

 

[Brique]

That's cool, just having fun with semantics.

 

[SURF RUNNER]

something else to consider here, is weight... the more fuel capacity you give it, the more weight you load it with

The Great Him (By the way, you have one of the sharpest 4Runners on this forum. Did you used to be The Kid on here?),

I agree that weight is a consideration, but here is how I look at it. If Titan was convinced there was a market (or a rich 3rd Gen owner/or group buy with deposits funded the R&D to get them started) and designed a 30+ gallon single gas tank replacement for the 3rd Gens (using the space tire void and any other space - this would be one tank, not auxilary, dual or remote) I would rather have it than not have it. Let's say that the tank was 36 gallons. For daily driving use just fill it up halfway to 18 gallons and you have basically the same weight that you have now. For expedition use (or other times you want extended range) you fill it up to 36 gallons and you have obviously doubled your trip between gas stations. Now you have the best of both worlds. Also, with a 36-gallon tank you wouldn't need multiple jerry cans full of gas so that is something to consider regarding weight as well.

I'm a big Corvette enthusiast and I can usually pull examples from Corvette's history (1953 to present) to add something to the discussion. In 1963 the Corvette Coupe debuted and it was a ground-breaking car. The '63 Vette was the first American vehicle with independent rear suspension and the '65 Vette was the first American domestic vehicle available with four-wheel disc brakes. Anyway, in 1963 both the Corvette coupe and convertible had a 20-gallon fuel tank. In 1963 there was an option for the coupes only for a 36.5 gallon tank. The base coupe had a curb weight of 3,048 pounds, so adding 16.5 gallons to the capacity was a pretty radical idea if you think about it - especially for a sports car. Amateur and professional race drivers ordered the big tank which extended their range and gave them an advantage back in the early 1960s when everything wasn't so regulated and standardized in the racing world. Anyway, today these 1963 "Tanker" Vettes are very rare and highly sought after. Many of the Tanker Vettes were also Z06s.

Technology Milestones - Courtesy GM Corporation Chevrolet Division
http://www.corvettecenter.com/_junkfiles/techhistory.htm

Another example from Corvette history is from the 5th Generation (1997-2004). This Corvette generation has an 18.5 gallon tank and a maximum cruising range of 482 miles (Manual 6-Speed Coupe, MPG of 19 City;28 Hwy). I read this book called "All Corvettes Are Red" about the development of the 5th Generation Corvette. As you can imagine developing an all new Corvette (no parts shared with the 4th Generation) is a bit of a ClusterF*ck. You have engineers, designers, managers and accountants all competing against one another. Anyway, apparently things were fairly well set in stone at the rear end of the Vette before the gas tank guy was brought in. Corvette had a transaxle now, so the transmission was at the back unlike in the past, so there was less room in the rear than usual. The gas tank designer/engineer looks at all the plans and was like WTF! Where in the hell am I supposed to put a gas tank? You know, these cars don't go anywhere without gas! The development team calmed him down and said we have confidence in you and this is why we pay you the big bucks. So after a lot of work this guy finally comes up with an 18.5 gallon gas tank that is shaped like a saddle and has some type of return to ensure the fuel is equally distributed and able to be completely used. I think it is a good story. If there is a will there is a way... All it takes is time, expertise, and money!

 

[T4R2014]

Just want to highlight the safety having a gasoline right at the rear end of the truck Vs diesel tank as in Prado.

At a rear end collision a rear end gas tank will spill gasoline all around and a just a spark will put everything in flames. Diesel burns very poorly with an ignition source.

Toyota does this with 5VZ and 3RZ powered Prado's as well. They are not diesel-only. I'm pretty sure Jeep has issued a recall on this setup, though. It is the only other area where a larger tank can properly fit on these 3rd Gens.

 

[Doc2012]

Here's why you can't make a 34 gallon tank for the rear.

See how low it sits? And that's AGAINST THE BODY. All the way between the frame rails.

Here's the 45gal I designed, which sits even lower.

And I'm sitting higher in the back than any of you.

You're forgetting your pan hard bar.

I don't have one.

That tank goes from the back of the frame, two feet forward, which, IIRC, is where the next crossmember is.

It's not gonna happen. Not in 30 gallon anyway.