1980 style REAR gas tank ?

Anyone have a 80 style Dodge truck with the extra rear gas tank?

Need some pictures of how they are mounted?

Thank you

I'll try and take pics tomorrow
There are two special rear cross members for tank mounting.

Uses the same stuff to mount it as a 81-93 RamCharger

I'm interested in these cross members. Can one of you take a width measurement on the frame rails from inside to inside?

Thanks much,

- EM

The width of the frame did not change, it was consistent from 73 through 93. Only the rear most 2 crossmembers changed, and they are riveted in place. Gene

I do not have a 73-93, hence my question about width.

When I started my latest Drag Vehicle project I began with a running, driving 1986 Ramcharger with the rear mounted gas tank. I found one of the square Summit aluminum 20 gallon tanks with the built-in sumps for $100.00. That tank fills from the center of the top with a screw-in filler, has no gauge and is filled with foam.

I should have kept the original plastic tank because it fit the truck perfectly, had the original filler tube in the left quarter panel with a cap and I could have adapted larger output fittings to the bottom rear of the tank with epoxy and made the original pickup a vent. I still have to fab proper mounts for the aluminum tank and a fireproof barrier above it that I can use to access the filler.

My 1968 Coronet had the original tank and I swapped that for a VW beetle gas tank and that worked great with the sump in the very bottom center and the filler on top. That made better sense.

Just for the record, I have not found any epoxy that seals to the Mopar plastic tanks for very long. They may seal for a few months, but will begin to seep in pretty short order.
If you have something that seals the plastic tanks long term, I pretty sure there are a lot of guys on here that would like to know about it. Gene

I used one from a earlier ram charger as mine has the pickup and fill on the back, not the top. Made my own 3/8's tube pickup. tech at our track made me build a skid plate to cover the front and bottom because of it being plastic but a nice cheap and easy way for a rear tank.

Has anyone tried a ford big bronco extra capacity tank back there? 33 gallons would go a long way!

My '64D100 has room for the tank out of a '73 Newport, although I haven't put it in yet.

R.

If you have the ability to install motors and transmissions by making mounts, you have the ability to modify a couple of frame crossmembers to accept nearly any gas tank you want to install in your truck. Its not really that hard.

The limiting factors are the length of the tank, it pretty well needs to fit between the rear axle and the rear bumper. The other limiting factor is it really needs to fit side to side between the frame rails, though exceptions can be made if you know how to weld. The end height of the tank should also be a consideration. It would suck to mount a tank that is tight up against the box floor, and is still laying on the ground. The last thing that may cause issues is how the tank needs to be filled, and where the sending unit/gas outlet, ends up.

I have installed a gas tank from a a late 70s Cordoba into the frame of a 54 Dodge pickup. That tank was 25 gal. I believe I modified one of the crossmembers slightly. We cut in 1/2 a 40 gal Bronco tank and mounted it into a 47 Plymouth. (It was too high in original form.)
I've installed a 66 gal bus tank into a 73 Dodge pickup, that one rode in the box (it was the 3rd gas tank on the truck, had the 26 gal saddle tank, the 20 gal rear tank, and the 66 gal in the box, 112 gal! Couldn't afford to fill them all if they were empty, but at 8 mpg, I still had a long range before I had to buy gas).

Bottom line, measure the tank, and measure where you want to put it. See what will need to be done to get it there. Gene