D150 Mustang Fuel Tank?

Hey all,

I have an 84 D150 that i am looking to change the fuel system in. I currently have the stock fuel tank, but with lowering the truck it seems dangerously low since it hangs well below the frame rail. Also, it needs a new pickup anyway.

So it seems like a good time to change to a fuel tank that sits between the frame rails.

I have heard of people swapping to an early style Mustang fuel tank. This sounds great in theory, but i have not seen a lot of people who have actually done it.

So... people who have swapped to Mustang tanks...can you please share photos/ install suggestions? What did you do for a fill? I can fab mounting brackets, etc.

Thanks!
Tim

not my pics. some do the filler in the bed floor, some do behing the license plate.

If he's lowered his truck, the Mustang tank looks like it sits lower than a stock frame mounted tank

Pinto anyone.

Nah, it's very little different than Ramchargers or vans. Add a trailer hitch for extra protection if you're concerned about it Pinto ing...

The tank you show is sitting a lot higher and has a shield arround it.

Why does everyone insist on lowering these trucks???

Getting too old to climb up into them?

The current trend is to lower the trucks, the old trend was to lift up the trucks.

I prefer to have the seat about butt height when I open the door. My wife is a little shorter then I am, the truck has running boards for her. When the seat is at chest height when the door is open, its just about as bad as having the seat at knee level when the door is open. I don't want to have to climb up to get in, and climb down to get out, any better then I want to bend way down to get in and then have to figure out a way to climb up to get out. The truck is suppose to work for me, not me work for a ride in it.

The new stuff is way too high, in my opinion.

When I removed the in-cab tank from my '71, I replaced it with a late-70's C-body tank. It fit perfectly between the rails in the spare-tire area, with the filler behind the plate. I don't remember the size, but it was about double the in-cab, and I'm sure it would be significantly bigger than that Mustang tank.

lowered trucks look like crap.

Okay, good to know. I'll swap it back for you.

i was trying to remember that when this topic was posted, and you remembered it for me ! thank you sir !
if i remember correctly, [there's that "remember" thing again ] the 74-78 C-bodies i owned over my lifetime were somewhere around 22-26ish gallon tanks ?
mustang tanks are maybe 15ish [?] and in cab truck tanks are maybe 14ish ?
just an old guy who knew many things years ago, but has forgotten lots due to the spiders hiding the knowledge in his noggin with cobwebs...............

I'll join in with the questionable memory thing, I put one of those 25 gallon C body tanks in an old Dodge pickup. I think I had to move the frame crossmember between the rear axle and the rear crossmember forward for that tank to fit. The moved crossmember was very close to the rear end. I also remember the fill tube (with a new gas cap) behind the plate would dump fuel if the tank was 3/4 or more full on hard acceleration, with the perspective of a 360 727, 3:23 gear drive train. That truck sat low, but the bottom of the tank was above the bottom of the rear bumper.

apperciate it

I agree and would never lower one but to each his own.

Just because no one else is saying it, I kind of like them lowered a bit. Not dragging on the ground lower, but a few inches down looks petty good if the do the complete job and not just hack it and leave it unfinished.

Lower earlier trucks, pre 73 or so almost always look better to me, but that may be because I do a lot of frame swaps and those tend to lower older trucks.
May I present two versions of the basically same truck, one raised, one lowered. Both are/were mine. Pic 1 is a 50 Dodge on a full size 80 Dodge 4x4 frame. Pic 2 is a 49 Dodge on a Dakota 4x4 frame.

Second one has a much better looking stance.

Thank you,
I like it better too.
The tires on both trucks are the same size, 235 75R 5, and the tires on both trucks are mounted on 7" wide wheels. The 1st truck was about 12" too high to go under my 7' high garage door, the 2nd truck fits under that door just fine.

In their original application, Mustang tanks were the trunk floor. The pinchweld sat on the frame rails and crossmembers. One could do similar to the bed floor.

Another option is Ford truck tanks, move your existing filler neck from in front of the wheel to behind. Up until the mid 90s the sending units were compatible with the Dodge gauges. Depending on year, an electric fuel pump is easy to add.

If you have 4WD it goes up, If you have 2WD it goes down. What i don't understand is why anyone would want to lower a 4WD but i still see questions about doing it.

My lowered 4x4 truck will likely seldom see anything off road, much more then driving through my yard.

The lowest part of my truck sheet metal has 6" of ground clearance (the front nose piece). It also has full suspension travel. Its a 4x4 because it gets driven through out the winter, and around here that can mean through some pretty nasty roads.

I'm retired that means that if we get more then 6" of snow, I don't have to go anywhere, and most of the town would be shut down anyway. It has been used in almost 6" of snow and it works just fine.

Its lowered because I want to park it in my garage, and because I don't want to have to climb up into it, and because I like it that way and its my truck.

In order to stay on topic, lots of guys that use the Mustang tank in trucks mount them off angle iron brackets bolted to either the top flange of the frame, or the bottom frame flange. Bolting to the frame flange allows some space between the tank and the bed floor to run the fuel fill someplace other then up through the bed floor, and that also protects the top of the tank.

This ... all of it

Tim, I don't have pics (I can get some) But I used a a tank bought from Leadmine Products on Ebay , it was listed as a 22 Gallon Cougar tank....basically a Mustang tank. I have a piece of 1/8" angle that spans front and rear and bolts as crossmebers in the frame. It was pretty easy to do. It does hang down further than what i would like but I don't think its really much worse than a Ramcharger style. I have a stepside and made a filler tube and it comes out at the side-rear of the bed, behind the tail light. I needed a new tank because I keep weight placement in mind and more importantly, I went fuel injection and quite frankly, modding the stock stuff was becoming a pain for the way I really wanted to do it.

I agree on all of those factors. For my 56 swap onto my 2001 Dakota, I want to locate the fuel tank behind the rear axle, mostly for weight behind the rear axle. My 56 will be a year round daily driver with 2WD up here in Green Bay. I have driven three 2WD Dakotas up here in WI since 1996. With the right tire and the right driving skills a 2WD pickup does fine, but with weight to the rear it does help. Another goal is at least 20 gallons of fuel load, so I can get more than 350 miles from tank to tank. I hope to have a fuel filler door on the left rear fender versus under the bed or behind the rear bumper. The C-body fuel tank may be the choice to work with if I can do the fuel fill routing where I want it to be.

We used to get VW bug tanks and they worked great

I’m picking up a 79 RC 4x4 rear axel s easy but how did you lower the front? btw those parts are going in the Lil Red.

So your Lit Red is currently a 4x4?
A 4x4 rear axle sits under the spring, lowering it will require moving the front and rear spring perches on the frame. The front 4x4 set up will require a lot more effort, and really can't be lowered very much. The spring perches sit under the frame, and the axle sits under the springs. If you lower it much more then an inch, you loose clearance between the spring and the frame, and the axle and the crossmember & oil pan. You would have to de-arch the front springs.

My lowered 4x4 truck is a Dakota 4x4 under 49 Dodge pickup sheet metal. There is nothing going to compare to the 70s 4x4 set ups. A Dakota 4x4 front axle has a separate center housing mounted to the motor & frame, then separate 1/2 shaft axles, and outer bearings the axle shafts pass through mounted on upper and lower control arms with torsion bar front suspension, much like the 94+ full sized 4x4 Dodge trucks have.
If you want to convert to the independent front suspension, you could probably get the front end pretty low, the put the rear axle above the spring. You may have to notch both the front and rear springs for clearance.

Here is the best pic (pic 1) I have of a Dakota 4x4 front frame section The torsion bar adjusters are in the crossmember on the left side of the pic. Pic 2 is my truck.

This will be a bit pic heavy. Also, the real world measurement of the hang down from the bottom of the framerail is 7". I dislike how everyone speculates from their keyboard without knowing the facts.

I do have a hitch on mine also, and it's hidden behind the bumper (which I "think" is a ramcharger rear bumper) I had the hitch long before the tank was installed. It's a nice additional protection, but honest to God it won't matter if you get hit from behind. People freak out so much over the whole pinto deal that was sensationalized by the media.

If you have any questions, feel free to ask. I'll try to check in as I'm not here very often.

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Thank you! Exactly which fuel tank is that and how many gallons? Those pictures gives me good ideas on a rear mounted fuel tank in the 56 pickup chassis. The only difference is I'd route the filler neck forward under the left rear fender (which is the same on my 56), where I plan to located the gas filler door I'll cut out of my 2001 Dakota donor chassis. I'll weld the filler door/recess into the left rear fender and direct the filler hose down to the fuel tank.

22 Gallon Cougar tank, this one had the extra hole for a in tank fuel pump for the fuel injection. I bought it from Leadmineproducts on Ebay...... I bought the 90 degree fuel filler fitting he offers to.

Cougar Fuel Tank

Thank you! Perfect, now I have something esle to shop for on Ebay. And my wife claims I just waste time on my laptop all the time.

mine had a 30 gallon saddle tank, went to a mustang tank mounted same as basketcase more or less.. IIRC i removed one of the frame braces for mine, gas gauge works but not accurate to scale but I have learned it over time E = 5-6 gallons bottom of E = empty. this may vary depending on size of your take and gauge. works great and helps with weight distribution and traction.

Hey Scratch! Where ya been?