My tank is leaking and I'm going to pull it out to patch it up. I want to drain the tank first so it's not so heavy (has about 1/8 tank now) so I am going to try and syphon what is left, out. Now, if the truck is sitting on it's wheels, will there be enough slack in the fuel lines for the tank to reach the ground (stock height)? And is there anything I should be aware of when doing this job?

 

i did this about a week ago... i HIGHLY reccomend pulling the bed... it makes it MUCH MUCH MUCH easier. grab some new carrage bolts for the bed while your at it, and when you have a couple buddies over to help you get the bed off, use them to help u bench the tank down... then if your ambitious you can wire wheel the frame and paint it... but once the bed is off it makes it sooo much easier to disconnect everything. make sure your truck has been off for a couple hours first so there is no pressure in the lines, and be careful with the plastic clips on the fuel lines... also, be careful with the top tank straps cause they arent carried at autozone or napa, and i snapped one of the bolts on mine so im running only 1 top strap for now until i order another one... make sure you get some di-lithium grease for the plug that goes into the sender too. and make sure your new tank comes with a gasket and a new thing that holds the sender in that you twist in with a hammer and a screwdriver (forget what its called)

oh yeah, im refering to the 19 gallon tank behind the rear axle too

 

My plan is just to patch the tank, I'm hoping I won't have to disconnect anything which is why i'm wondering if I will be able to set the tank down.

 

You will not be able to just sit the tank down. Is it the side tank or the rear tank? You may be able to lower the tank enough to get to the top of it by just dropping the rear straps and pulling it down a little bit.

For a bit of bad news, these tanks are notorious for leaking around the seams. You won't be able to just patch it if that is the case. If you can swing an extra $100 you may want to put a fuel pump in it while the tank is down. I can almost guarantee that the pump will go bad within a week of getting the tank back in. Well that is probably just my poor luck

 

I bought some fuel resistant sealer and was just going to try that. Maybe if I use enough JB weld on the seam it will seal?

 

But....if you do have to drop the tank...Do what M8R8 said ...pull the bed...I have done it both ways...trust me

 

jb weld is some good stuff, but if your planning on keeping your ol girl for a while id chuck a new tank in it..... make sure you remove the fabric off of the bottom straps (if its there) it holds water and causes them to rot through.... anyway thats what happened to my first tank....

 

As soon as I took off the tank straps I could see where it was leaking. It leaks where the strap meets that tank. The metal there is just so corroded it was leaking through. I smothered it with some JB Weld which is setting as I type. So far an easy fix.

 

yeah thats exactly what happened to my tank... as i said before its caused from the weird fabric used on the bottom straps, make sure you take it off

 

Just put the new tank in it. I tried this on the side tank. I drops down a little bu t not enough if you have to patch in the top. It took abot 10-15 mins. the last time i pulled it to get it out. I tried patching it and a week later it leaked again. i patched it again and started to leak again. so i just put a new tank in it and problem solved. when i installed the new straps i slid a short piece of rubber under the straps on the edges of the tank.