[MSGGrunt]

Point well taken on the bags. I was going under the impression that with the tank empty I should bleed them to prevent a harsh ride and when the tank is filled that I would have to fill the bags. Never thought about them not reaching all the way to the top of the spring and thus only providing extra support when the weight/fuel is added. Now I am re-thinking the air lift bags.

[alia176]

Originally Posted by MSGGrunt

Point well taken on the bags. I was going under the impression that with the tank empty I should bleed them to prevent a harsh ride and when the tank is filled that I would have to fill the bags. Never thought about them not reaching all the way to the top of the spring and thus only providing extra support when the weight/fuel is added. Now I am re-thinking the air lift bags.

Don't rethink air bags, just buy them, install them, and then forget about them. Like I said previously, these aux tanks should include the air bags as part of a kit. I have the tiny 13 gallon oem aux tank and I'm going to purchase them for when I tow the trailer. It's the best of all world w/o sacrificing anything.

Folks who are uprating their springs to compensate for a full aux tank of fuel and camping gear are going to have a harsh ride when they're back home and tooling around with an empty tank and no gear! And of course the famous stink bug stance

[TrickyT]

Originally Posted by locrwln1

...I have the MAF 24 aux tank on mine.

...I have Slee's 4inch Heavy Duty Rear Springs with a 4x4labs rear bumper...

Jack,
Did you have to modify the rear tank support bracket that comes with the MAF tank? Because Luke's bumper wraps around the frame it makes the inside distance between the frame rails ~1/2" shorter and implies that the stock MAF bracket would be too long.

Also, do you have a photo showing the side profile of the MAF tank and how it hangs down below the frame? Luke went to great extent to improve the departure angle at the rear and I'm wondering how much of the tank is exposed back there.

[locrwln1]

Originally Posted by TrickyT

Jack,
Did you have to modify the rear tank support bracket that comes with the MAF tank? Because Luke's bumper wraps around the frame it makes the inside distance between the frame rails ~1/2" shorter and implies that the stock MAF bracket would be too long.

Also, do you have a photo showing the side profile of the MAF tank and how it hangs down below the frame? Luke went to great extent to improve the departure angle at the rear and I'm wondering how much of the tank is exposed back there.

On the first part, I did have to modify the rear support bracket. Wasn't too hard, just measured, put the bracket in the chop saw, cut out extra section, little welding, cleaned it up and painted it.

I don't think I have one handy, but I can tell you that it is going to take a very specific hit/rock to be able to strike the tank. The tank actually angles up right behind the rear of the tires (if that makes sense). I have hit the bumper since the install on some very steep inclines/dropoffs and the tank (so far) hasn't been hit.

I can try and get a picture in the next few days and get it posted to show the side profile.

Jack

[lt1fire]

I need to see pics of this installed when you are done. I am on the fence about this one but worried about hitting it on something and also i'm planning on getting the 4x4 labs rear bumper

[Peluo]

I just pull the trigger on the 24 MAF and 4x4 labs rear bumper. Wow truck freight for the gas tank was 180+ (don't know why they don't use regular ground UPS or Fedex, dosen't seem that big). I wanted to go for the cheaper Front Runner option but 45 gallons is to much weight.

You guys where talking about some bracket from the 24 MAF aux. gas tank that has to be cut??? i thought that 4x4labs bumper if you ordered for the MAF tank he only had to move the cross member up 3/4" and then the tank lip would bolt directly to that cross member and be level. Basically the tank would be in the same position that if you installed in a OEM bumper 80 series? the threat that i look at, the lip seems to be bolted directly to the Luke's bumper cross member.

One other question, what do you guys think i should change my rear spring to?
i have 860 right now, i will need to upgrade to 863 heavy duty or 864 super heavy duty?

Items in the rear:
-MAF 24 gallon tank
-Lukes bumper (285/75r16 toyo MT, hi-lift, 2 or 3 jerry can holder)
-Engel MT45 fridge with slide
-RTT for 3 (not permanent but would be there for 3 month to the trip to Ushuaia)
-Extreme Air compressor, 2 alpine amps, 10 inch kicker on side pannels
-in the future drawers.

[locrwln1]

Originally Posted by TrickyT

Jack,
Did you have to modify the rear tank support bracket that comes with the MAF tank? Because Luke's bumper wraps around the frame it makes the inside distance between the frame rails ~1/2" shorter and implies that the stock MAF bracket would be too long.

Also, do you have a photo showing the side profile of the MAF tank and how it hangs down below the frame? Luke went to great extent to improve the departure angle at the rear and I'm wondering how much of the tank is exposed back there.

Originally Posted by lt1fire

I need to see pics of this installed when you are done. I am on the fence about this one but worried about hitting it on something and also i'm planning on getting the 4x4 labs rear bumper

Ok, lets try some pics.

Jack

[locrwln1]

When I ordered the bumper kit from Luke, I specified the rear tank option, which allows the receiver hitch support to be mounted two inches to the rear.

If you do this, forget about trying to use the flush mounted receiver. By moving the support bracket back, it leaves you no room to insert or remove a hitch pin. I cut it back out and bought a regular section of hitch receiver and welded that in it's place. That puts the hitch pin on the out side of the bumper. Granted you loose a little departure angle because the hitch now stick out a few inches, but nothing more than the recovery brackets.

The rear tank support bracket has to have two cuts made because the mounting holes that the tank bolt to are centered. I tried to get a couple of pictures of the cuts. These are needed because the distance between the frame rails becomes narrower due to the wrap around nature of the 4x4labs bumper.

Jack

[KRAZIKRAKER]

Not Bad. I'm thinking of a spare tank as well in the distant future when I move the spare. 45 + gallons of fuel is 70 gallons; and the front runner looks a little like that. I thmight go with the 24 gallon tank. Doubling range will work for now. And when I have the money for a suspension - hadn't really figured out the weight to feul ratio until one you guys mentioned about 350 + pounds of fuel. I think some of that weight can be some truck tools & fuilds.

[AdventureBuddies]

Just picked up my new frontrunner 45 gal tank from the freight yard. Haven't opened it yet. I'm going to plum it into the oem system since I'm just swapping the 45 gal in for the 13 gal oem subtank. By the time I sell the oem subtank and with campinglabs great price, It's not that expensive for the extra capacity. By the way, campinglabs service was top notch. I also just ordered 868 springs because I was already sagging in the rear with the 864s and spacers in the rear. Lots of expedition stuff. I don't daily drive it so it's always fully loaded so no worries about stinkbug if empty. Also have airbags which are the best $80 you could spend for those that are considering getting them.