Help, Adding Extra Diesel Tank

[shortstuff]

Spouse wants extra fuel tank, but I would rather change to larger tank.

Diesel tank is now about 30gal. Too many stops for fuel.

7.3 Thomas International short bus. 1991

[Tango]

Took a while but I found my aluminum tank on Ebay. 44 gallon marine tank I converted to diesel by adding a return line. Should give me close to 1000 miles with my little Cummins 4BT. You probably need something closer to 100 gallons depending on your engine.

[shortstuff]

Thanks Tango. Hubby wants a 100 gal. I'd settle for 60,haha.

How can we tell if our bus will hold 100 gallon? Also is changing tanks that hard a job? He said , fuel gage and tank plus electrical and space if we change out instead of add.

All opinons very much appreciated.

[Tango]

Whether you go with a single large tank or add on capacity really comes down to your space available, cost and preference. Simplest matter is to add another tank. That way you use your existing supply lines, gauge and return. Just make sure you link them with a large enough cross flow hose and both are vented well.

[shortstuff]

Originally Posted by Tango

Whether you go with a single large tank or add on capacity really comes down to your space available, cost and preference. Simplest matter is to add another tank. That way you use your existing supply lines, gauge and return. Just make sure you link them with a large enough cross flow hose and both are vented well.

Guess he is right on this ' again' . Just kidding glad he is handy.

We have ran out of gas 3 times with this 28 gal tank in past 10 yr.s. Thanks again for the help.

[cowlitzcoach]

You should be able to find a replacement tank in a truck wrecking yard that will work for you.

Any IHC medium duty truck of a similar vintage will have the same frame rail mounts as your bus.

It may actually be easier to find a truck tank that will fit since most bus tanks will also include a very heavy duty safety cage that has been a requirement or required retrofit after the 1988 Carrolton, KY bus crash.

30-gallons was the standard years ago but the standard has gone up considerably since your bus was built. Most buses now come with at least a 60-gallon skirt mounted tanks with up to 120-gallon tanks mounted between the frame rails.

[sdwarf36]

Just 28 gallons? My shuttle bus has a 53 gallon stocker in the back. And a plastic 50 gallon former boat fuel tank I put in. I agree- some junkyard shopping could find you something in the 50 gal range. Plenty of room under the bus.

But theres always human nature to screw you up. If you'll take it down to an 1/8 tank before, you will with a bigger tank. Having a bigger fuel tank doesn't keep my wife from driving around with her low fuel light on-it just makes it take longer till it does.

[Robin97396]

I hate to say it, but there's nothing like a 55 gallon drum. The ones they ship olive oil in would be perfect for fuel use.

I kind of push the use of barrels a lot. I use them for water, dry grain storage, fuel or whatever I need to store. It's easy to find a 24" diameter space to put a drum of fuel. Some have screw on lids that are nice for dry storage. Somebody always sells them for $10 or $20 in the city.
I was going to try to hang a barrel horizontally under the skirt but changed my mind because of the back roads I like to travel on. Don't want to take the chance of scraping any tanks off.
I guess technically I could use a barrel for my black tank inside the bus and just put the toilet on top of that. A little ladder and you're all set. Definitely not enough room to stand up from the top of the tank. Oh yeah, this is about fuel tanks.
I'd be glad to hang tanks under my bus for extra fuel but as much as I like barrels I would have to scale down to a 35 gallon for clearance and that's too small. If I need to carry extra fuel I'll undoubtedly use at least on barrel probably anchored to the interior floor a few feet in front of the rear axle. Until I get lucky enough to get some of those boat tanks or maybe even spring for a real tank sometime that actually fits under the frame I'll have to make due with barrels. Cheap and effective.

[jazty]

Originally Posted by cowlitzcoach

You should be able to find a replacement tank in a truck wrecking yard that will work for you.

Any IHC medium duty truck of a similar vintage will have the same frame rail mounts as your bus.

It may actually be easier to find a truck tank that will fit since most bus tanks will also include a very heavy duty safety cage that has been a requirement or required retrofit after the 1988 Carrolton, KY bus crash.

30-gallons was the standard years ago but the standard has gone up considerably since your bus was built. Most buses now come with at least a 60-gallon skirt mounted tanks with up to 120-gallon tanks mounted between the frame rails.

^ This. The frame on your International is pre-drilled with holes that line up with various tank and accessory configurations. If you could find a 100 U.S. gallon tank off of a wrecked medium-duty IHC truck then the brackets should bolt right on and the tank should fit nice and squarely under the bus.
If there were any junk yards around here with larger vehicles this is the way I would have gone, hands down. Unfortunately, I ended up having to fabricate my own mounts, which was quite a job.

[shortstuff]

Thank you all so much for the help..

Hubby says only place there is room for extra tank is behind the rear axel. Is this safe? Shortys frame is fairly high off the ground.

Since we already have a 28gal deisel tank I think 50 or at most 60 gallons will be enough.

Our trips are usually no more than 400 miles to visit relatives. We are old and he is disabled lots of metal in his back and cages in his spine. So trips are not something he looks forward to . Also Shorty bounces so maybe a little more weight in back will help.

So guess question is do yall agree that its ok to put tank in back?

[shortstuff]

Originally Posted by jazty

^ This. The frame on your International is pre-drilled with holes that line up with various tank and accessory configurations. If you could find a 100 U.S. gallon tank off of a wrecked medium-duty IHC truck then the brackets should bolt right on and the tank should fit nice and squarely under the bus.
If there were any junk yards around here with larger vehicles this is the way I would have gone, hands down. Unfortunately, I ended up having to fabricate my own mounts, which was quite a job.

I looked at your bus redo and its nice! Your shorty is alot like ours.

[Tango]

If it needs to go behind the axle, just try to get it as close to the axle as you can. And if dragging is a possibility, you can always fabricate a healthy skid plate on bottom. I did that for my aluminum tank.

[shortstuff]

Originally Posted by Tango

If it needs to go behind the axle, just try to get it as close to the axle as you can. And if dragging is a possibility, you can always fabricate a healthy skid plate on bottom. I did that for my aluminum tank.

Tango he said he may have to put sheet metal or something over it for extra safety and ' to please me '. He also plans to use flat tank so it will stay inside frame rails or whatever they are called. We have the holding tank under there and it has never hit anything,but we never go off road.

Ours is a Florida Coast beach buggy or relative visits.

[Docsgsxr]

You guys should switch up for this shorty!!! Plenty of room for an additional tank!

[Robin97396]

That's just about identical to mine, the brick part anyway. Except I think this has the california wheels with the larger 22.5" tires, meaning it has four wheel wells on the floor and significantly higher ground clearance than my bus.

[sdwarf36]

My stock tank is behind the axle. There is even still room for a spare tire.

[Dapplecreek]

Originally Posted by Robin97396

I hate to say it, but there's nothing like a 55 gallon drum. The ones they ship olive oil in would be perfect for fuel use.

I kind of push the use of barrels a lot. I use them for water, dry grain storage, fuel or whatever I need to store. It's easy to find a 24" diameter space to put a drum of fuel. Some have screw on lids that are nice for dry storage. Somebody always sells them for $10 or $20 in the city.
I was going to try to hang a barrel horizontally under the skirt but changed my mind because of the back roads I like to travel on. Don't want to take the chance of scraping any tanks off.
I guess technically I could use a barrel for my black tank inside the bus and just put the toilet on top of that. A little ladder and you're all set. Definitely not enough room to stand up from the top of the tank. Oh yeah, this is about fuel tanks.
I'd be glad to hang tanks under my bus for extra fuel but as much as I like barrels I would have to scale down to a 35 gallon for clearance and that's too small. If I need to carry extra fuel I'll undoubtedly use at least on barrel probably anchored to the interior floor a few feet in front of the rear axle. Until I get lucky enough to get some of those boat tanks or maybe even spring for a real tank sometime that actually fits under the frame I'll have to make due with barrels. Cheap and effective.

Um... you might want to review the National Fire Protection Association's material on fuel tanks and how they're mounted: free access to it at NFPA 1192: Standard on Recreational Vehicles. Pages 24 and 25 have the liquid fuels part. I really think you would be safer using a junkyard take-off... lots safer...

[Robin97396]

Certainly that's true, and I would like to have an additional tank also but my first tank isn't small and that's not a priority right now. And given the size of my bus, I mean van (because it is titled and insured as a van), I'm not likely to give up any floor space for a drum of fuel. However, because this is titled as a van I can haul anything in here you can haul in a pickup. Hay, firewood, barrels, bricks or whatever as long as it's for personal use. Besides, we're not talking about gasoline. The biggest problem here is anchoring everything down and I have L-track for that. At worst case I'd carry drums on a trailer if it was that extreme of a fuel situation. I often don't go to town for a month at a time, and I don't think I need a years worth of fuel sitting here. I do have a 275 gallon heating oil tank that would be a more efficient way to carry fuel than using drums. With the frequency of fuel stops everywhere literally, you'd have to be a serious boondocker to need copious amounts of fuel. Sounds like a traveling funeral pire.
No, it wasn't me that had the 30 gallon fuel tank requiring frequent stops. Sounds like they don't have kids or they'd be stopping more often. I agree, a real fuel tank is the best way to go. On the other hand I think you may be starting to see the advantages of having a MAXI-VAN.