man-a-fre auxillary tank question?

[wantatlc]

so, I have one of the 22 gallon man-a-fre rear auxillary gas tanks under the rear tub on my FJ. works great.

BUT..... I cannot seem to find out the answer (man-a-fre website does not have it listed from what I can see), nor have I taken the tank off to see, but does that spare tank have the setup on it for a sending unit so I could hook up a gas level gauge? if so, I would like to get another generic sending unit (like on my front tank) and hook it up to a gauage in the truck.

just poking around, you cannot see above the tank so no way to tell.

[lingo]

Mine is empty and I am going to pull it in the next day or two. I can relay what I find then.

[wantatlc]

thanks lingo- that would be helpful.

BTW, why you pulling it? mine needs to be pulled and cleaned as it has rust.

[DaveWest5150]

if your talking about the tank under the rear or a 40... man a fre didnt make those.. they were from conferr... some have the place for a sending unit some dido not.. They were using them as a transfer tank that fills you stock tank.
HTH

[lingo]

Originally Posted by wantatlc

thanks lingo- that would be helpful.

BTW, why you pulling it? mine needs to be pulled and cleaned as it has rust.

i am rebuilding the entire truck. So I thought that I would pull it and inspect it while everything else is apart. It was in the truck when I bought it so the condition is unknown. (truck didn't have an engine.)

[Steve-O]

wantatlc: It actually depends how long you have had the tank. The newer tanks we get out of Australia do come with a sending unit. If you do have the older Con-Ferr unit, I'm not sure if it will have one or not. Companies like autometer make universal ones you can add, but you have to know what your doing when modifying tanks.

[wantatlc]

Originally Posted by Steve-O

wantatlc: It actually depends how long you have had the tank. The newer tanks we get out of Australia do come with a sending unit. If you do have the older Con-Ferr unit, I'm not sure if it will have one or not. Companies like autometer make universal ones you can add, but you have to know what your doing when modifying tanks.

well, I would only do it if it had a spot for it. if no hole there for it already, I would not alter it. need it to be easy on me

that being said, without pulling it, anyway of telling if it does? it came on the rig from the PO.

BTW, this thing looks pretty old.... outside is all rusted over and inside has rust so I need to pull it and get it cleaned and lined (are new ones aluminum)?

[lingo]

I need a skid plate for mine. does any one have they have made? I was thinking about bending some tube and forming a basket around the back half of the tank. sorry for the high jack.

[wantatlc]

Originally Posted by lingo

I need a skid plate for mine. does any one have they have made? I was thinking about bending some tube and forming a basket around the back half of the tank. sorry for the high jack.

actually, now that you say that, mine is covered by a skid plate I believe. PO told me "that is a skid plate over that rear tank" I now recall. Maybe it is the skidplate that is so skanky looking when I look up under there. I will shoot a photo.

[lingo]

Originally Posted by wantatlc

actually, now that you say that, mine is covered by a skid plate I believe. PO told me "that is a skid plate over that rear tank" I now recall. Maybe it is the skidplate that is so skanky looking when I look up under there. I will shoot a photo.

Mine has the same one. I meant a skid that would take a hit and not dent my tank. The stupid thing hang so low.

[jhaha]

I just bought a universal sender, cut a hole and dropped it in. Works great, just had to bend the float arm so it didn't hit the sides or the bottom.

[wantatlc]

yeah, now when I go look, it is NOT a skid plate. it is the tank itself. 4 bolts hanging low AND I can see the gas outlet hose coming out of the tank versus coming out of a hole in a skid plate then going to the tank.

[wantatlc]

Originally Posted by jhaha

I just bought a universal sender, cut a hole and dropped it in. Works great, just had to bend the float arm so it didn't hit the sides or the bottom.

I have a generic universal sender and gauge already for my main tank..... but did you do that for a man-a-fre auxillary tank.. and it had no hole?

[jhaha]

Yes I took the aux tank, used a hole saw to cut a hole just big enough to fit the float and rod in, figured how the rod needed to be bent, drilled holes for the cap, cleaned the tank about a million times, RTV around the holes and screwed the cap down. Doesn't leak and works well.

[greenfox]

That sounds like my old gas tank. It bolts to the body with four long bolts. That tank had a sender hole in it.

[ducktapeguy]

Greenfox,

When you say it bolts to the body, which part of the body? I think I might have the same kind, mine bolts to the floor with three very long bolts that go through the tank itself. There are tubes welded all the way through for the bolts to pass through. Mine does not have a hole for the sending unit though.

How is everyone's elses tanks attached to the body? Does it mount to the frame or the floor of the tub?

[hi50phd]

Jhaha. Did you hook the sender up to the stock fuel guage? Or, an aftermarket unit. If to the stock fuel guage, which sender did you use? Thanks.

[greenfox]

Yes like you said. But not any more I welded three pieces of angle iron to the tank that bolts to the frame. I need to find some pics of that project. I have some good pics of the filler neck set up if you need some.

[jhaha]

Mine is an aftermarket autometer gauge. From what I recall the resistance of the stock sender/gauge is either half or twice that of the universal one.

[hi50phd]

Shucks, thought you might have found a matching sender. You're correct and the stock is 1/2 most "universals".

[wantatlc]

hi50phd - I just use an aftermarket one (sending unit and gauge) from JC Whitney (124229 FUEL LEVEL GAUGE WITH FLOAT) on my main tank. there are posts here about it and it works awesome. very accurate I have found. if my aux tank has this hole ready for a sending unit, I will be adding one to this tank as well when I pull it off to clean it. Did not realize some have the sending unit hole and some do not, so I will not know until I take mine off to clean. I was hoping they were all the same and I could find out if they had one, I would order it and get it on its way. But now, seems I need to take it off to find out.

-----

ducktapeguy - mine has very long bolts going through the tank as you describe. BUT, mine has 4 bolts, not 3. it mounts to the body floor, not the frame IIRC

Ugly, dirty, but works. when I pull it to clean it, I will sand it all down and paint it as well.

[greenfox]

That's the tank I have and I was worried that it would get ripped out by a rock. So I made some brackets out of angle iron and welded the angle iron to the tank. Then I bolted it to the frame for a more solid mount so I use a skid plate for the tank.

[ducktapeguy]

wantatlc,

Thanks for the pics. Mine looks almost exactly like that, but I guess all of them are probably that shape. Have you noticed any problems with the bolts warping the floor with all that weight? Since mine's out of the car right now I'm thinking of doing the same thing greenfox did, or I might make up some heavy duty tank straps to support it like a jeep tank.

Where in Socal are you located? I'll be interested in learning how you set everything up once you're finished.

[wantatlc]

ducktape -

Mine seems fine on warping the floor. All there are are LARGE fender washer (above and below) spreading the weight across the floor. I notice no ill effects above or below the body. BUT, after looking at greenfoxes setup, I suspect (as I always seem to modify my stuff) that when I take this out to clean it out, paint it up, I will get some simple angle iron and add some reinforcement as well. not that I really need it, but m0re becuase if it is out.... that is an easy project for me so WTF?

BTW, I am up in North County..... I have a prety full Aux tank, but after all of this, I am going to start drawing from it and run it dry and do the job ASAP as I can still run off the main (then swap and run off the aux while the main is done). I called a few radi places today and range seems to be $100-180 to clean, prep, line a gas tank locally. I thought of doing it myself, but this seems to be a lot of toxic crap (cleaner, liner, etc.) and I have no means of disposing of it, so it is a project I must pay to have done.

[wantatlc]

BTW, are you guys running an auxillary electric pump as well? is that a standard for these? I have a small one mounted on the frame rail and a toggle on the dash for when I switch to the aux tank (via a mini stick shift right in front of the gear shift on the floor board - hidden right under the cup holder on my tuffy center console).

[jhaha]

I run an electric fuel pump. Mine is also held up by straps, not bolts. How do you all have these things vented? (the aux tank that is)

[ducktapeguy]